I'm running demo account on Oanda for 1,5 months, spending many hours every day. The disconnects are several times a day, off for as long as several hours, when there are important news on the way. The spread is sometimes bigger, although normally I havent encoutered such a scam (besides the evening before christmass I suppose, when it was 10pips). But the disconnects and the lag is really annoing. I'm sure this is a high-end bucket shop. They also seem to have their "cheerleading" groups (of whom some may have a profit), posting positives on many forums Ivanovich seems to be a one of them, judging by the way he writes. This is really misleading. But my research shows, that indeed Oanda is not a broker to trust. And playing before, during and after news is very dangerous (if possible) with them.
I've been running oanda next to my cx (currenex)platform. I'd like to share my experience I've had with "retail" and "institutional" platforms as far as disconnects and spreads. The disconnects do happen on both platforms. On cx the disconnects don't happen as often and last typically seconds, and no disconnects during news. With Oanda I've experienced some severe disconnects, especial during news. (Altough I don't trade on news any more.) Unfortunately, they do happen on both platforms. That's way I am running both, in case I have to hedge. Throughout the years I got tired of whining about it. As far as spreads, on more important news cx bid and offer dry up. The spreads widen to 20 - 30 pips, and the action is very wild. This last about 10 seconds or so, after that the spread settles in its usual range. I see lot of people complaining about the spreads on oanda if cx is any indication oanda's "news" spreads are not that bad. During normal times, oands's spreads beat my cx's spreads (plus commission). If you trade on cx and you don't experience it, let me know, I'll switch to your broker right away. To throw in a specific event on cx, on 12/14/2007 US CPI release I saw 2.024 bid 2.03 offer briefly. That's sounds like 60 pip spread to me! If your trading game plan is trading news only I suggest you look into some other strategy if you want move beyond retail one day. Overall, my experience with Oanda, beats FXCM (manual execution, platform freeze etc) or Refco*. If I trade retail platform, Oanda is my choice unless proven otherwise. Good Luck.
Let's be honest. Probably every broker earns money not only on usual spreads but steals ours. And I know, playing during news will always be almost a roulette but sometimes a bigger spread on Oanda occurs, where there are no news... Just some faster movements. It's easy - when lot of people have stops near the same place, hunt them all, widening the spread. But what really pisses me off with Oanda are not the spreads, but the disconnect issues. It seems to me, that when they don't know, what is happening, not only during news, often during nights!, they disconnect and wait for a profit to come. Remeber about tight stops my friends!
That's a bit like saying Beelzebub beats Satan! Oanda and FXCM, they're both as bad as one another, the only thing is FXCM don't claim to be the 'trader's friend' unlike Oanda.
I've never traded with them so I can't say, EFX are supposed to be better but I haven't traded with them either so I'm just going by what I read. I trade through CMC, a bucketshop for sure but they suit my needs. It depends on how you trade really, all brokers have their pros and cons, it's just a matter of finding one that does what you want it to do, has a stable platform, and a reliable connection.
It seems that, for a scalper with tight stops, Oanda will still be good beyond newstime, although the disconnects make ones very nervous. It is good for European trader, like me, because the main news are during American sessions (different time zones). And usually they have these 0.91 pips on EUR/USD which is very important, as every scalper knows. The execution is fast, BUY/SELL box is quick to open and the BUY/SELL points easy to manipulate. Or it is other way when You have a real account? Do You have an experience with quick 1-5 pips real-time trading?
Yes, and different brokers deal with it in different ways. Manual execution, slippage, disconnects, freeze your order and fill you where they want etc etc What are you wasting your time with 1-5 pips for anyway, 20 or 30 pips on a trade intraday trading is about average and the broker will leave you in peace. Oanda's .9 on Eur/Usd is a marketing tactic, they know new traders like to scalp and therefore spread is very important. They also know 90% or more of people who trade with them will lose their money because 99% of their clients are inexperienced newbies looking to make a fast buck. Add to that .9 a few tenths of a pip slippage in and out, lagging quotes, widened spreads, disconnects, and the picture doesn't look so rosy.
Ok. Lets say, that indeed I'm a rookie. I've only spent a few hundreds of hours playing. But it's programming ones neural network (the brain) is it not? Watching these charts for hours and learning ones emotions. After some time You will start to feel, what will happen, what most investors will tend to do. I know, I still need a lot of time, I suppose, I will be a good trader in 2-3 years if I do it almost everyday. But the prize may be enormous. It is the only way to make an exponential profit and have time for something else (not mentioning I need this money not for myself but to do something for others). You are right, when I start to better judge ang guess the market upon it's moves and the info, I will start making a few trades a day, and will probably programme my system. But sometime it is just a fun to scalp, as You may be almost sure of some moves on a 5sec tick chart. And it is learning. You know, how fast You get tired after some quick play, don't You. And if ones gets tired, he must be learning.