They actually emailed me right back which impressed me. I was pleased to find that they are not a market maker or at least claim not to be one. They are not an ecn but have "liquidity providers". Any thoughts on this??? I could be signing up with them as soon as next week after I try out a few other demos and thumb around. Here's their email response: "Dear Neal, Thank you for contacting IBFX. "No dealing desk" means we are not taking the other side of the trade and we are not a market maker, which essentially means our spreads are not fixed and can fluctuate during times of high volatility. This is what makes Interbank FX unique in the Forex Market. We only make money off a fixed portion of the spread, so when a trader enters a trade we make a fixed portion of the spread, regardless of the volatility. Basically, we want our clients to make money so they continue to trade with us, we make money when our clients place trades. We are not considered an ECN. We are a straight through processor, meaning we pass our client's orders straight through to our Liquidity Providers. If you are doing a broker comparison I would recommend opening a demo account with different brokers and testing out their services (customer service, tools, etc..). Here are some useful links: Demo Account - http://www.interbankfx.com/Downloads/MT4.exe Education - https://www.interbankfx.com/Ibfxu/Default.aspx Trading Tools - https://www.interbankfx.com/Tools/ExpertAdvisor.aspx"
Don't get smart I'm not a spamer. I'm a trader siting at home on my desktop. Next time keep your rudeness to yourself it doesn't belong here at ET.. I came over here from my email because I thought someone had a serious reply to my post. Don't waste my time if you don't have anything to say. Picking a broker is a very serious issue. I have over a dozen demos that I've signed up for including IB and MBT. In case you can't read I believe I mentioned it in the thread already. I'm trying to figure out the best route to go.. Which broker has the best set-up without getting ripped off on spreads.
Sorry to burst the bubble, but InterbankFX IS a dealing desk broker, even tho they claim it on the front of their webpage. How can I be so sure? For starters, they are a known bucket shop that will switch you to manual executions if you trade to much/too fast. Google them and take your time reading about them. Second, their platform of choice is metatrader4, which can ONLY be used in a dealing desk setup. It cannot be used to connect with the interbank directly as they trading platforms connect to the broker server (metaserver) which then does what it does to offset your trades with a.) any matching orders on their servers, then b.) with their liquidity providers. Again, take some time and google metatrader and educate yourself. Third, a no dealing desk broker DOES NOT mark up your trade and take a percentage of the spread as their commission. If they mark up the spread (they offer 2 pip EUR when the interbank has it regularly at 0-1.5 pips) then they are manipulating the price. Period. A non dealing desk broker offers STP (straight thru processing) of your order, they don't manipulate the spread. They are called ECN model brokers, like IB, Hotspot, MBT, etc. They charge you a commission, not take it from the spread. They don't care what you trade because they take no financial interest in your trade. It's like trading MSFT; your Assent account just charges you a commission, they don't sell you the stock at 31.25 when you could have gotten it at 31.24. If an equity broker did this type of trade settlement, you would go ballistic and demand their head, yet traders like you, neal, have no problem with fx brokers doing this. About offsetting trades: if they use metasever, which they do, they have to offset your trade either with their own book, other customers' orders, or in the interbank. If you rapidly trade in and out of a position, this does not give the broker a chance to offset your trade, even using lightning speed computers, and you will be frozen out of the platform and put on manual execution. Unless you are a swing trader, this will be a problem. If you think what I and others have warned you against is BS, then go ahead and open that account. If it works for you, then great, but if not, don't cry you weren't warned. You started this thread and asked for advice from those who know more than you. If you are unwilling to heed this advice, well...you know the story about a fool and his money. Good Luck with whatever decision you make. I think you'll need it.
Traders like me.. Ok.. Well you have no idea what kind of trader I am. I don't understand your way of "helping me" while at the same time talking down to me but hey you know I appreciate the advice even with a morbid tone. ha ha thanks.. First of all let me tell you a little something about me before you make assumptions. Perhaps this will educate you as well maybe or maybe not. I'm not some newbie trader I have been studying the art of trading for over 7yrs now and I continually educate myself with what I need to know. So anyway.. While I admit forex is something new to me this is why I'm asking questions on it. It's hard to find a good book on Forex and many books I've looked at and one I'm reading leave out certain details. There's no point in reading an entire book on a subject that leaves out the key. While this might be "helpful" it does not provide the chemistry to win and I know how to do that so luck is not an issue. I already have a trading style that works which I have had to make minor adjustments to for forex and implement tighter trading restrictions do to the nature of futures and leverage. As far as our so called friends the ECN's they leave out certain funtionability. I have no problem trading with the required tools and data but for some reason it's not available on buddies the ECN's platforms. I'm sure your aware that futures data and charting is harder to come by. Anyway.. um hmm.. You too.
Yes I'm looking this over.. It appears they are under allegations mainly of deceptive marketing and not getting the required deposits from retail customers. The rest is mostly legal jargon. Never-the-less they are regulated. It would be interesting to see the current status. It would seem that Interbank FX arguement is they provide liquidity and don't manually interfere. If so that would put them on a higher level than some of the bucket shops. The question is can I personally make money with them since they are easier to use. I don't need anyone's advice on trading that is a separate issue. All the fumbling around with the ECN's that don't have a truly advanced platform to trade off of is going to cost valuable time and inconveniences that take out some of their savings and may outweigh their edge. That's the issue. So anyway.. The hurdle for me will be to find a platform that has good charts/indicators, makes order placing quick and easy such as one-click from the chart, and is an ECN. I can't understand why this is such a hassle.
################################# From point of usability platform make not good impression if compare with MBT/EFX ECN or java+reserved version html for heavy network conditions of MGforex or with FXCM Author interessed to play fx contest by interbankfx (250$ start account) or fxcm (1000$ start account ) From risk point of view play 4 time's 250 $ better as one time 1000$ ,but platform of interbankfx make worst impression Your respectfully
cstfx Sorry to burst the bubble, but InterbankFX IS a dealing desk broker, even tho they claim it on the front of their webpage. How can I be so sure? For starters, they are a known bucket shop that will switch you to manual executions if you trade to much/too fast. Google them and take your time reading about them. ############################# Dear Sir Author is interessed to play fx contest .Exist 3 possibility 1.mgforex for 50$ monthly with paper money -price 1500$ margin .Platform stable (have java and html version) spread and ro is not good 2. interbankfx -250$ of real money account to start Itis good -small amount ,but platform have made not good impression 3. FXCM -1000$ real account to start . Platform make better impression as interbankfx Any relevant comment would appreciated P.S. MBT is not pure agent of principal and underetake proprietary trading acitivities . Advantage of MBT ECN only