first PM ; Nick, We can allow more than $5m per order. However, we need to see who the client is, how they are trading, what they are trading, etc. Then we can make sure the client knows what they are doing, and understands how the market works. Unfortunately, the FX market seems to attract the least ethical traders and often the least knowledgeable traders. We've had some amazing attempts by clients trying to exploit "free money" opportunities without realising what they are actually doing. Even things as basic as buying the spot, and selling the futures, thinking they're making the difference in price... then programming an auto-trading API to do it... Steve " second PM ; Steve_IB Interactive Brokers Registered: Feb 2003 Posts: 601 response What do you care , how or what they are trading ? What is supposed to be non-ethical ?! And why you answer a public question in a private way ? Nick, It has to do with know your client rules, etc, etc I didn't want to post it on the public forum because it would illicit the type of questions that you have asked and more than likely cause the thread to degenerate in a non-constructive way. However, I responded to your question via private mail because I wanted to give you the courtesy of ensuring that you received an answer to your question. I will also extend you the courtesy of not publishing any of your private messages on the public forums. regards Steve __________________ Best Regards Steve Kelsey, CFA, CMT Interactive Brokers Group Steve, Since when does IB care how a client,what a client is trading ? What do you care about clients to exploit "free money" oppor- tunities. Why in heaven do you care about all this IF and only IF you are just the broker collecting the commissions ???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can one be trading "unethical" ???????!!!!!!!!!!! Please give an example ! As far as I know, a maximum trade size only exists in your forex products . The rumour goes that you have a dealing desk and the above observations just confirms this or the banks you work with asked you to put this limits in place............. Acoording to Forexcranium even Oanda seems to have problem with big size profitable traders, you too ?
Good job posting private PM's. Nice to see ethics are alive and well. And yes, I AM being sarcastic...
Yeah, I am on that forum. As far back as the fall of 2005, they assured me on the phone that a multi-client interface, which I already needed, was both high priority and imminent. Great! -- right up there with that rocket-science trailing stop, apparently. "Underpromise and overdeliver"... no, no, that would be sheer madness of a basic business strategy, wouldn't it?
No. The statement "unless you are losing you will always make more money with higher leverage everything else being equal" is false. And some people who warn against high leverage are basing their reason on understanding the principles of money management. Every trading strategy has an optimal leverage range, possibly dynamic over time. Below that range, you're still generating a positive equity curve, but not making as much as you safely could. You're consistently profitable, but potentially somewhat sub-optimal. That's OK. I am in no terrible rush. However, above that range -- the true value of which is unknown a priori, but can usually be estimated reasonably well -- you enter a territory of increasingly stronger negative correlations between one's long-term trading P/L and leverage employed. The more you bet each time, the more you lose over time. Your equity curve has gone negative. That's a shame. You took a sound, positive-expectancy strategy and managed to ruin it. Quite an accomplishment. Virtually no currency trading strategies, outside of sub-1-minute scalping, are optimal at, or even compatible with, leverage figures above 50:1. That's not just my opinion; it's an inescapable property of how expectancy works.
Regarding the "private" nature of those PM ; I asked a public question and there was no reason to answer private ; I have no account with IB Like you see there is nothing answered
Cvds16, What would I need to show "manners" when Steve "insults" me with an answer that uses unethical trades as a reason ? Since when does there exist a thing called unethical trades ? Maybe you can answer that question ? He didn't want to post that public because it's BS and thought I would be satisfied with such an answer.
It is "unethical", from their point of view, because retail forex is not real. They all are bucket shops to a greater or lesser degree. The only real way to trade forex is inter bank, but you need a large bank roll for it.
while I don't agree with NB for posting the PM I will say thx for posting Steve's PM as it included in his signature some alphabet soup that certainly made me take notice. Those Mr. Leeson are a couple desi's that took some serious effort.......now back to our regularly scheduled programing.
I have never posted a PM but there are times when it's permitted and this was one of those moments. I had an IB account in the past and have nothing but praise but with what I know now, I would never trade forex with serious money at IB