We are a group of autotraders that started our own brand new brokerage that just launched. Our technology was just recently completed. We use Metatrader4, with custom direct-connections to the liquidity providers. So it's not your typical MT4. It is important to note that we are NOT a large commercial brokerage. We started it for ourselves. Therefore the brokerage is NOT our primary business, trading is. The format is for us autotraders, we have a direct line to the liquidity providers so our spreads are like ECNs (0-1/2 pips wide during normal hours). We don't charge commissions or widen the spreads or alter the prices in any way. Only a monthly fee to help us cover costs. Our goal is to have other traders join us to increase volume. When we hit our next volume tier, we get another price break on the spread, which means even narrower spreads. The NUMBER ONE difference between us and other brokers is that we are NEVER EVER a counterparty to your trades, EVER! We go to great lengths to insure that. We don't want any part of your trades, so we NEVER EVER have the other side. Seriously. We have support for live traders, but do not have support for educating traders. We have a minimum deposit of $100, not to attract beginning traders, but to let traders try us out with minimum risk. We've been there. We understand that there are no words, and no purpose to try to tell you to "trust" us, and that you have to prove it to yourself. So $100 will allow you to trade, and see the execution, spreads and fills, etc. in live trades yourself. We don't have any trading-desk or engage in any hanky-panky. We aren't counterparty, so we can't profit from your losses. The bottom line is that we are all traders here. All of us, including you, trade on the exact same spreads, same quotes, same prices, same order execution, same everything. It's a collective afterall. If I posted this in the wrong place, I apologize in advance, feel free to kill my post : - ) Trader 5of7 @ TheCollectiveFX.com
Oops, forgot. Wire transfers in, and back out. We aren't a commercial enterprise so no credit card or paypal options.
Oh boy, I hate to rip on a trekker, I really do (I was a DS9 fan myself), but you didn't seriously just open up an unregistered shop in the US, did you? I can see you've only been online for a month or so, but you might want to check into recent regulatory history. For better or for worse, it's $20M net capital to run a local shop now (direct or white label, notice there aren't very many/any of the latter anymore). I give you respect for the interesting and honest business model (monthly fees as opposed to spread padding). I also like the personal cell phone support, nice touch. Without the net cap, you risk getting shut down by the NFA, maybe not right away, but eventually. Shoot me a PM if you're interested in some alternative ideas.
Hi and thanks! You know, you are absolutely right if we were acting as a counterparty to our client trades. Meaning that we are able to take the other side of our clients trades, trade against you and hope you lose, run and hunt stops, etc, etc, etc. We've actually gone to great legal lengths to make sure everything is forthright. The US regulations require any firm that is counterparty to client trades is mandated to be registered. This was done to protect clients, since when the broker is counterparty to the clients trades, if the client wins, the broker has to pay. They want to make sure the broker can pay the client. We ourselves are traders, and had no intention of being involved with our clients trades. We just want to trade ourselves. So this has been designed with multiple SEC aware law firms in the US, to make sure it is completely legal. We are never, ever, ever, not even for an instant or a moment, never ever a counterparty to anyone's trades. Don't want to be, don't need to be, and make sure we never are. All trades are executed AT the counterparty, in the absolute purest sense of the word. We don't profit from getting in the middle of trader's trades. The bottom line is that we are truly more a COLLECTIVE than a BROKERAGE. So technically, we aren't a "shop" either. After a great deal of study of the laws involved, I wasn't going to say it outloud, but the truth is that registering as a FCM is the legal license to profit from a trader's losses. WE DON'T WANT THAT LICENSE. So we abstain. No counterparty for us. And in fact, now we are legally barred from taking the other side of our clients trades. If I were going to trade with a broker, I would want to trade with one who LEGALLY CANNOT take the other side of my trades. Since we couldn't find one, we made one. We feel we are truly unique, and there isn't anyone else like us. The reason is that THEY have to be commercial. They have to make their money by widening the spread, trading against you and hoping you lose, running stops, etc, etc, etc. We can't do any of those things, we aren't allowed to. If we did, then the SEC would be all over us. What we actually did was go to great expense and trouble to arrange a perfect trading environment for ourselves. We decided to allow other traders to join us, because if we increase our volume, our spreads get narrower, then we all benefit. Hence the collective. Feel free to call me anytime, I would love to discuss it with you.
If this is on the level (and there's nothing to suggest it isn't, although I'm not familiar with US regulatory laws) this is a great idea and could prove extremely popular, it's what the industry needed. The lack of any sort of regulation might worry some people though, no? And how about liquidity? Why are you a better choice than other already established true ECN's who offer STP and have multiple liquidity providers and more volume and perhaps more competitive quotes? Don't get me wrong I'm not finding fault, more playing devils advocate
Hi, thanks for the comment. As for liquidity, you would be trading directly with the Tier 1 liquidity providers. So lots of liquidity. Because we don't have a dealing desk, if you ask for too much, there is no requoting, your order will be rejected. But orders up to 100 full lots shouldn't be a problem. Don't forget, you are trading with Tier 1 liquidity providers, so too much, is a very big number : -) The key difference between us and ECNs is price and accessibility. The problem with ECNs and we traded with ECNs, is that to get the best pricing, you had to deposit large sums, and to get even better pricing you had to trade large volumes, and even then the price wasn't as good as we wanted. Plus, every ECN out there charges you a commission per trade. So the commission is having an adverse effect on THAT trade. You now have bigger losers, and smaller winners. Who needs a worse off Win/Loss ratio? Not us. So we wanted to eliminate those costs of business from your trades, and your equity curve. Since they wouldn't give it to us, we created our own. Plus, in America, All-You-Can-Eat buffets are really popular. So why not an All-You-Can-Eat brokerage. Honestly, if there were something out there like this already, I wouldn't be here typing.
Thanks for your reply and explanation, I wasn't trying to be a heckler from the cheap seats I just thought these may be questions people would ask This is definitely interesting and well worth a look, very innovative, it's about time the industry had some real competition! Edit: Sorry one more question, do you offer MT4's multiple account facility for fund managers (can't remember what MT4 call it now but it's PAMM).....just remembered, it's called 'Multi-Terminal'