I've been using them for a couple of years... no complaints; however, I am interested in knowing if they have a reputation of documented "crooked" or "unscruplous" practices...
Well, they say they aren't a dealing desk, but they are as they unload risk to private firms. When your long, they feed you a bid/ask 2-3 points behind. When your short, they feed you a bid/ask ahead 2-3 points. Remember they have varying liquidity providers and will provide worst long quote when your long and worst short quote when your short. IT's all built into MT4. Go to boston technologies and click on 'start your own brokerage' and you shall see all the information. Not really "crooked" it is business as usual.
You are the one clicking buy or sell, and your broker and the rest of the currency trading world does not stop and reverse price direction to catch your few dollars. If you are buying the high pip or shorting the low pip, then you need to change the way you trade. I am not defending forex.com, and I know that bucket shops (and yes, ECN's are buckets too) have certain advantages that they employ on their own behalf. But I trade with one of the most notorius buckets around - FXCM. When I was trying to be a scalper ala' Cabletrader, I did terribly. I often found myself doing the same as you - buying the high and shorting the low (and yes, no sooner would I quit the trade and the market would stampede in the direction I had anticipated.). changed my approach to trade for somewhat larger swings, and I have done well since changing my approach. Also, the fact that a few candles look as though they have the same high and yet they differ by a few pips is the way it is: Think about it - in forex, a chart is trying to make a graphic representation of price movements that are made in 1/1000ths of of 1/100th of a dollar! It is not unreasonable that two candles may look to have had identical highs or lows, and yet have those highs or lows differ by a few pips. Forex.com may or may not be better or worse than most bucket shops. Who knows? but in the end, it is possible to profit at a bucket shop, but you will need to find the strategy and approach that enables you to do so. Right now it sounds as though your current strategy may not be the best one for you.
no offense, but why do you think your competing? these "banks" are with your position, as well as against it depending on the trade. surf
The world's largest banks use algorithms to determine how to best hedge their positions - sometimes in the currency markets and sometimes elsewhere. They thrive on people who take naked positions. They use little to no leverage and risk a fractional about of their available capital while in the market. And, at the same time, they offer the neophyte massive leverage and hope you increase the size of your cost basis in the trade sufficient to blow out your account in short order. They use a tiny amount of their capital to trade against your relatively large capital outlay and massive leverage, knowing full well that they can out last you in the market. That's how they win against most clueless retail traders. So, the only way to establish a truly enduring winning history, is to find a way that allows you to engage the market using non-directional methods. In this way, the "banks" can never take the "opposite side" of your so-called "trade." Its called trade structuring and while the average retail currency trader sits behind their computer screen, trying to figure out what "direction" to trade in - the better trader spends their time trying to figure out what the optimal trade structure should be used for a given market type: Bullish, Bearish or Flat. They won't like it when you level the playing field like that, but hey - you did not create the game - you just learned how to play it properly. Besides, they realize that in the long run they still win. Why? Because the money you take from them in the currency markets as a trader, they will get right back when you open up new accounts as a depositor, looking for places to put your wealth. They know that you cannot merely hide it under a mattress, now can you. Banks rarely lose - even when they should. Let the bank become big enough, and some government entity around the world will be forced to not let them fail. Bottom line - find a good way of your own to go non-directional and get off the naked treadmill ASAP. If you are still trading naked in this market, it means that you probably don't yet know enough about this business to be out their risking real capital. Of course, it is your money - and no one can tell you what to do with it push come to shove.
So what happened, are you still trading forex? I'm guessing not since no update to the thread at all.
I have a Forex.com UK account and I have been nothing but pleased with it. No funny business going on, they even offered me a VPS free for 6 months. I run MegaDroid on it and Forex Bling and they both work great, very profitable...