Since there are those that will come here with the pretense of being naive or having a hidden agenda to their posting, let's clarify some recent comments concerning ECN (no dealing desk/no market maker trading) vs. market makers: An ECN will let the price float because when you trade ECN, you are getting (for the most part) the unfiltered prices that the banks are quoting your broker. The broker makes his money by charging you a commission per trade (see EFX/MB recent disussion) Some are cheap, some are more expensive. During volatile moments, prices will react to suplly and demand, which will cause a widening of spreads (yes, widening) which can be as high as 20 pips depending on pairs. Price usually returns to parity within 1-2 minutes. This is what you trade, this is what DB trades, this is what BoA trades, etc. You are trading almost on bank level. A market maker will keep their spreads fixed, i.e. 3 pips on the Eur/USD when it is .5-1.0 on an ECN platform. During volatile times, the price will stay 3 pips. However, you won't be able to execute a trade during that 2 minute rush. Why? A mm WILL NOT seLL you a pair if it costs him more to get that from the bank (see above). Again, for the slow shills, a MARKET MAKER WILL NOT SELL YOU A CURRENCY PAIR DURING VOLATILE TIMES IF HE HAS TO PAY MORE FOR WHAT HE SELLS IT TO YOU. That is simple economics. What will a mm do then? either freeze the platform, requote and requote until price is back to parity, or fill you at a higher price! Now, there are some who come on here every few weeks pushing their "favorite broker". Usually it is a shill from the mentioned firm promoting their firm without paying for advertising (which is bad, bad doggie). Don't know whether the implied shill is or not. A simple check of IP address can verify. And Baron usually removes them before too long. But most who come here are experienced and know shit when they smell it. It's the noob's who might get suckered and it is their responsibility to do their own due diligence on any firm or situation before you give someone your money. And when choosing your broker, remember this: metatrader, probably the best platform for trading the forex market due to its built in, extensive charting features is only available on an market maker/dealing desk platform. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO TRADE WITH AN ECN at present, no matter what some brokers may claim. Now, you could read and chew on something posted of substance, or you could go with the smiley faces posts. It's your money. Good Trading everyone.
Recently found out that Strategy Runner supports the MT4 dll export. So EA-based trades can be routed from MT4 > SR > ECN/Currenex. http://www.strategyrunner.com/Content/Demo/MT4/MT4.html
looks like to me that the video shows how metatrader feed and positioning works with strategy runner, not how currenex on sr works with metatrader. It basically looks like a new front end to work with your existing meta platform and broker. What am I not seeing because obviously you see something i don't?
You have it right. It's a one-way relationship. The feed is still from an MT4 broker/demo, you can't set MT4 to use the ECN as the data feed. This is if you use MT4, and want to direct your trades to Currenex (or whatever ECN your broker uses that they have Strategy Runner linked to). MT4 sends the order to SR, SR sends the order to Currenex. At least this is how it was explained to me.. I wouldn't really recommend this as MT4 brokers have terrible data feeds at best, there are too many steps in the process from signal to execution, and SR adds on $10/MM to the commission cost. Not to mention you'd be deriving signals from one feed and trading on a different feed, and both feeds will never be the same pip-for-pip.
TradeBullet = TB Interactivebrokers Software = TWS MT4 Code > TB API > TB > IB TWS ( FOREX IDEAL PRO) Using MT4 BID data to excecute order, then use IB TWS trailing stop order to exit order. http://www.tradebullet.com/support/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2868 TB version 3 ( very soon to be released ) will allow sending a TWS BUY order with a TWS trailing stop. So IB ECN data is used to exit the trade. Brokers like www.atcbrokers.com ( via MT4 Pro service) are currently programming MT4 to go direct to ECN. There are others out there but they want $500k accounts, etc. I here UK brokers BGC are doing something with MT4 and ECN as well. Direct contection is one thing, but margin demands and costs also have to be considered. http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?p=1566331&posted=1#post1566331
I saw that reference on their webpage, but when I go to the metatrader webpage, there is no reference at all to any "Metatrader Pro" software, so I wonder just what it is ACT is offering. Is it actually metatrader or an interpretation of it?
Sorry the service is named "Forex Pro", they hope to offer MT4 as a platform to trade from. UPDATE on MT4 to TWS IB below Before I said MT4 Code > TradeBullet API > TB > IB TWS (Forex). With trailing stops due before 2008. There is another option, just found it... MT4 Code > TWSLink > IB TWS (Forex). Note : This is freeware for personal use, love these guys !! Trailing stops are available now ! http://www.trade-commander.org/twslink/twslink.htm
As we discovered, your old market maker broker may not be obsolete just yet. In fact, many of them have features that are an advantage or just down right prudent for new or small account traders. Some market maker brokers guarantee no negative balances. Which means you can never lose more money than you have in your account. This is a huge plus and a very smart safety feature. Also, you wonât find any ECN style brokers that guarantee stop losses. These features alone can make them the only choice for many. Many market maker brokers also have leverage up to 400 to 1. This may be attractive to some and makes those stop loss and no negative balance guarantees all the more important. Letâs face it, if you need 400 to 1 you had better have no negative balance protection! Last but not least is the advantage of fixed spreads. If you trade at odd times like early in the Asian market timeslot, fixed spreads can be better than the interbank, especially on the pound.
What you said has some merit but not for one important point you stress: even MM's can't guarantee a stop loss especially in a fast market, like Tues Fed announcement. When a market gaps, NO ONE will honor a stop that was in that range. Other than that, MM's are a good place to start for people who don't know anything and are starting fresh, like you. I won't even get into the 400:1 leverage thing!