Hello all, I am new to the Forex thing and I would like to get some insight as to what kind of broker is best to use for a beginner? I will be using a mini forex account to begin with and I have read that trader-desk brokers go stop hunting and try to take your money. I have read about a firm called ForexInterbank that is supposed to have a trader-desk free mini account. Could someone please explain to me which kind of broker would be best for someone who is starting out and who would like to swingtrade and daytrade the Forex eventually. I would start out with swingtrading most likely. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I want to get the best bang for my buck but also want a reliable platform that includes everything one needs, real-time charts,free real-time quotes and no software fees. Thanks in advance. Traderdave I have experience in daytrading of equities.
May want to look at GFT. Their charts are better than most. Offer you a trial trading account. Platform is better than most. Rates are competitive. But trading forex is not what most think it is. You are really trading against the broker as it is their trading platform and controlled quotes. Think about trading the Forex Futures instead and then you are really trading the same thing without the drawbacks of an intervening broker. The cash market is the underlying so of course it trades in "lockstep" with the forex cash market. Also if you are trading equities now with a broker like Interactive Brokers -- you can also trade the Forex from your same account that you are using for equities. I have traded futures, options, equities and commodities -- as well as several years trading the forex. I sure don't see all this rush and fervor for trading the Forex cash markets. What is your attraction to do so???? The GFT is www.gftforex.com At least they are fully licensed and are substantial and your money is probably safe trading with them when and if you decide to trade "real money".
Go with Oanda. They only offer 50:1 leverage but you can trade 0.01c and +. It will give you smaller dollar amounts to gain confidence with. They are probably just about the best Market Maker out there. Use AccuCharts or North Finance demo to get MetaTrader charts.
Just starting out is not going to make a big difference who you choose. And, FX is not like leveraged equities, all you have to do is transfer your account directly from one fcm to another-its very simple. Just try anyone you like, but stay away from the high leverage in the beginning. 100:1 is plenty to start with. If you are swing trading, its not going to make any difference at all. Don't get caught up reading about stop hunting and fcms trading against clients. Thats just a lot of complaining, and shadiness occurs in equities too, just in a different way. As long as your are not trying to trade around big economic releases, you should be fine... just ignore all the complaints about the fx market not being "fair", and just focus on making money.