I have never traded forex before. I am a customer of Interactive Brokers. I would like to ask the experienced folks, particularly those using IB platform, which instruments do they use for trading forex? Futures, CFDs or leveraged FX?
I just find indexes and commodities easier to trade then FX pairs, never traded CFD's. Other advantages i can think of are: all transactions trough an central exchange so no more cheating brokers, actual volume, no overnight costs, ... I also feel that the futures, stocks and options community is more professional or of a higher level then the Forex community. When i was trading FX i was a member of ForexFactory, now i find that forum absolutely worthless in comparison to some other forums. Just my opinion though.
Forex is just like any other exchange. You lose if you don't know what you're doing. Can't blame losing money on anyone but yourself. I like forex because of how liquid it is. I wouldn't recommend it to someone that doesn't have a superior system and disciplined money management skills. Choosing the best broker also takes in-depth research. If in the USA I recommend Oanda.
Futures is regulated that means no games from the broker. IB one of the best in fx brokers but still...
Forex is regulated in the U.S by the The National Futures Association (NFA) & Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Seen plenty of HFT thuggery at the CME - like huge gap opens when spot price was nowhere in the ball park. A lot easier to game the much smaller futures market than spot. Both forex & futures have their pros & cons, it is naive to think the much smaller market is all squeaky clean - it's not.
Long term do forex as I might be in a trade for years, so less fees, but I hedge with options on futures. Scalping/day trading only futures with currencies. Not allowed to do CFDs in USA