FXCM is ok. Forex Swiss is too dodgy, claim to be Swiss, registered in Dominica, servers in US. Scum I believe. Fx Sol. is ok. Saxo manipulates spread against you. But they allow selling naked options if you are interested. And by the way they are NOT A BANK. Coesfx only tried demo, demo is great, but traders who had acc. with them are saying..coesfx is crap.. Hotspot is very good, but no fixed spread.
rhymeswithorange has a point. I trade EC (Euro FX futures) and BP (Sterling FX futures) rather than spot forex cross pairs simply because the spread is so discouraging. 5 bucks round trip commission sure beats 20 or 30 bucks spread (if you're lucky to get that, depending on the cross pair). Only disadvantage is that the futures are substantially less liquid than spot forex, which makes scalping a little more difficult. If you're scalping for at least 10 pips or more, there shouldn't be any problem.
Sure you can trade 100,000 for $5000 in futures - Cash vs Futures dealers 1) all of the major fund managers execute in the cash and give-up to the futures - reason - liquidity.... 2) $5000 in FX dollars at up to 400:1 leverage provides considerably more "bang for the buck" in the cash markets vs futures- but trading at anything over 10 to 1 leverage is tantamount to giving a child a loaded gun - it usually does not have a happy ending.... 3) 6 day by 24 hour market access - free quotes - no exchange fees 4) check out the complaints on the NFA - personally I'd stay away from the COES/Hotspot types of desks .... GFT/GAIN have decent platforms - all of the crosses and decent service - FXCM has too much REFCO ethic - IMHO
+I love the 1,5pip spread. - Leverage is only 50:1, slippage, no fixed spread. However if you do not trade the news (or around that time) O&A is the best choice.
No offense intended, but comparing the currencies market in which fund managers (major or otherwise) trade to forex retailers is laughable. Forex retailers cater to those who lack the know-how and resources to trade competively-priced, honest forex products. The difference is as great as that between a rigged card game in the back room of a barbershop versus the World Series of Poker (or the card room of a major casino). And, by the way, no forex retailer has even the fraction of the liquidity of the CME and Globex. When you have an account with a fx retailer, you trade its prices or not at all, subject moreover to the retailer's willingness to honor its prices -- and that is all the liquidity available to the customer. There isn't any more.
there are two kinds of forex cash brokers. 1) ECN type like IB etc. 2) the ones that make the market and trade against you. I believe the first option is preferable.
none taken.... I never said that Campbell or the like traded at FXSOL or any retail FX desk - but it is an institutional desk - just like an institutional desk in the traditional futures arena. I wasn't comparing apples to potatoes - just that John Henry can't do 40 yards at the Merc without it choking and spitting up blood....and taking all day to get them done... I just said that fund managers trade through the FX markets and then give up through EFP to the futures to satisfy regulatory compliance.... again, please read my post - I didn't say that an individual dealer is more liquid - but that the markets were.... Dealers are simply portals to the markets. It is a tiered OTC market where small trades are bundled to make larger deals who trade with their peers... all the way up to the top of the mountain. If you need additional liquidity - your dealing large enough to go to a larger tiered organization - but you may be surprised at the size a lot of them can carry... the larger firms can easily deal several yards -and that isn't even to the large firm or bank level yet. And to simply say that ALL FX dealers are crooks is a pretty broad statement... sure a lot were and some still are less than ethical - but they are regulated now - and they have realized how to manage their own risks through bundling and laying deals off and so as not to be a "bucket shop" - and gee.... so Man, RCG, Morgan, et al are just a bunch of sharks preying on the small guy - you need to review your history of the exchange floor. They can make plenty of money facilitating trades... but you know I've seen dishonesty in every field - "caveat emptor".. In the early days, if you got on their "A" list, you would be asked to leave - it's happened to me several times - but I have been with my current firm for about a year and completely pleased - their pricing is what I see on my other terminals (Bloomberg, Reuters)- stops are never run, and I can deal any size I need - so I'm happy. anyone that thinks that there are more ethics on the floor believes in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny As Soros said when asked about how the market would react to his trade (paraphrase)- "No more than the weatherman can impact weather" - Right now in Chicago - where the Merc used to have 5 currency pits trading furiously - now there is one for everything ... and most volume is electronic.... and the guys are in the pit pitching pennies to relieve boredom in between scalping your ticket.... Also, commissions are an add to the spread in futures - and exchange fees, etc...- even the floor lives off of the spread - There is always a Bid/Offer - and that spread can be anything on the floor.... "When you have an account with a fx retailer, you trade its prices or not at all, subject moreover to the retailer's willingness to honor its prices -- and that is all the liquidity available to the customer." - Ever called the floor and got the quotes "5 by 10"- said buy "20 at 10" - only to be repriced? The exact same can be said of the floor - ever had a stop run on you? The floor gives you its price and you decide whether you will take it - and that price is a derivative of the spot market. It's just another portal to a market not evil by design - but by human greed - if someone wants to trade FX, find a reputable firm - then go for it.... The thread was not about Chicago vs Spot FX - but what are some good brokers... No, I'm not a dealer - or work for any - just been trading since before the S&P's were invented - and been trading currencies for 10 years