Does anyone have any recommendations on choosing a broker. I am trading the 5min4x and Beau recommends FXCM, so I am leaning that way. I was just wanting to know if anyone else had any other suggestions. Does anyone know anything about or use www.oanda.com ?
- Joined Mar 2004 | Status: Magic Man | 3,220 Posts
i have no specific recommendations, but i will tell you some things i look for in a good broker:
1. small spread: 3 or 4 pips on the major pairs, no more than 6 pips on any pair. this is not that important if you are making less than 20 trades a month. but watch out!!!! all those little pips add up!
2. guaranteed stops: make sure if your stop gets jumped in a fast move, make sure the brokerage will honor the stop. this could cause serious damage to your account! i once lost 20% of my account because of a missed stop.
3. no erratic ticks: for instance, in the opening of the monday market, some brokers will throw out a tick that is way out of line with the major market data suppliers. they do this to trigger stops and put more money in their pocket. you can tell if a broker throws erratic ticks simply by looking at the data after weekend breaks and comparing it to some other sources.
4. customer service: call them up and ask a random question. do they act like pompous bastards?
5. aftermarket support: if you need to use any trade automation software, you will want to make sure it works with your brokers trading software.
6. comfortable interface: make sure you like using thier trading software. they are not all created equal.
of course if you are just starting out you will want someone who has a low minimum initial deposit.
i have a whole list of brokers who offer free demo accounts at the "Forex Resources" page of this site. you can get thier by going here http://www.forexfactory.com/index.ph...orex_resources. the brokers are at the bottom of the page.
if you have an honest review of any of these brokers, go ahead and post it up here so others can get a feel for whats out there...
1. small spread: 3 or 4 pips on the major pairs, no more than 6 pips on any pair. this is not that important if you are making less than 20 trades a month. but watch out!!!! all those little pips add up!
2. guaranteed stops: make sure if your stop gets jumped in a fast move, make sure the brokerage will honor the stop. this could cause serious damage to your account! i once lost 20% of my account because of a missed stop.
3. no erratic ticks: for instance, in the opening of the monday market, some brokers will throw out a tick that is way out of line with the major market data suppliers. they do this to trigger stops and put more money in their pocket. you can tell if a broker throws erratic ticks simply by looking at the data after weekend breaks and comparing it to some other sources.
4. customer service: call them up and ask a random question. do they act like pompous bastards?
5. aftermarket support: if you need to use any trade automation software, you will want to make sure it works with your brokers trading software.
6. comfortable interface: make sure you like using thier trading software. they are not all created equal.
of course if you are just starting out you will want someone who has a low minimum initial deposit.
i have a whole list of brokers who offer free demo accounts at the "Forex Resources" page of this site. you can get thier by going here http://www.forexfactory.com/index.ph...orex_resources. the brokers are at the bottom of the page.
if you have an honest review of any of these brokers, go ahead and post it up here so others can get a feel for whats out there...
Relax and be happy.
I don't really think I "must" use FXCM to trade 5Minute Forex, but since it was recommended by Mr. Diamond I thought I would give it a try. I do like CMS and may open another account there in order to do more active trading than the 5Minute Forex demands. It would be better to have a 3 PIP spread if you're making more trades. One advantage FXCM might have is that the slippage seems to be less than CMS. My orders, stops and limits have been filled at the exact prices I wanted. I also like the platform a bit better, though I like the charts on CMS. As far as my experiences with CMS, they were mostly good with the exception of a little minor slippage, and seemed to be more times when the platform was inaccessible due to technical difficulties. I like the platform on FXCM just a bit more.
Nancy
That is funny, I began my foray into trading on FXCM demo account. I did not like their platform or their spreads. I then opened an account with CMC. Their platform is alot better and they have 3 pip spread but they do not allow one to link more than one contingent order to any entry order.
I have demoing the CMS-Forex Visual Trading platform and in my opinion it is by far the superior platform of any broker. They also have 3 pip spreads. Can you relate to us your experiences with CMS? Why do you think you must use FXCM to trade 5MinuteForex?
One other thing I noted was the spread on the Forex.com USD/JPY is 5 pips on Gain it is 4 pips. I have never had a stop not filled and Gain's customer support is excellent. They also offer to segregate your funds if you have $25000 account balance. The reason I called was I had requested a deal and got an error message. They honored my deal even though it had moved 7 pips in my direction. That is customer service!!! All said I will be transferring to Forex because I need the guarantee. Ask your stock broker if he can offer that kind of protection.