No. Not even close. The advantages (some of the key ones have not even been mentioned in this thread yet) as well as well-known disadvantages of Oanda have been discussed on ET and other trading forums ad infinitum, for years. Before you claim that "after looking into it I have never been able to find any reason why they would be considered better than any other broker", try using the Search feature right here. Since you've been here since Nov. 2005, don't know how you could've missed it.
Sure thing. Keyword = Oanda, Search titles only, Show results as threads. There you go... settle in and make yourself comfortable. And, while you're at it, don't forget the CliffsNotes version, gloriously raw and unmoderated, the broker reviews section.
I never trade the news and have never been concerned about the issues that most traders compain about. All the alleged broker manipulations affect only the extreme short term traders and I only trade longer term. Many people on ET say that brokers are all scams. I agree to a certain extent. Well even if they have high leverage and are keeping trades in house, haave automated algorithms for maniplulation of price, etc, that doesn't mean that you cannot consistently win with them. There is no way that any of these brokers can prevent me from winning consistently. I'm also not interested in Oanda bashing. I just honestly have never seen any reason to choose them above any of the mainstream brokers and often wonder why so many people enthusiastically recommend them. Every time I have read the reasons for considering them great I just don't see anything there that is really exceptional or different from other brokers. It makes me think that Oanda must employ people to post on forums.
Mountaintrader, What Oanda does not do and most other retail brokers do ; 1. Stop running 2. individual pricing 3. system outgages when you want out of a profitable trade 4. requoting and all this with the best spreads around !
Thanks. Although I have been here since 2005 I rarely log in because this forum is populated with a lot of anti-success people who do not believe it is possible to trade successfully. (You don't need to do a search to see that) I'm not sure why they like to hang out here if that is their belief. Sitting around on forums all day is also counterproductive to my purpose for trading which is to enjoy life. But there are a few people here who are successful and I appreciate the input. Also since I learned to trade successfully by doing what everyone else is not doing I tend to assume that if everyone is promoting a certain broker they are probably not for me. But I keep an open mind and will continue to try to figure out if there are any legitimate reasons why Oanda is popular.
Again, I have never experienced any of these things with several other brokers and interact with hundreds of other traders who have not experienced these things except for those that are scalping and trading extreme short term.
Yes it is true, its 2 most of the time, sometimes 3, sometimes 1. But remember that you pay them 19 USD commission per RT for a 100k cable trade.