Smarttradefx

Hey Marv,

Wrong Dude!

I don't work for or with STFX. I am just a new (noob) client expressing my own thoughts.

chris

By praising a bucketshop in your first post?

Either you work for them, or you really ARE a "noob".

Anyway, in case it's the latter, my first advice: Get a real broker.

If they are an STP broker, how can they be a bucketshop? Pardon my ignorance if that seems naive. I know what a bucketshop is, but my understanding of a STP/ECN broker is that they can't manipulate the trades and therefore can't be a "bucketshop"

If they turn out to be bad news, who do you suggest here in canada?

Hi used2b,

What did you think about the safety of your funds? My main concern is that they will run their operation poorly, and end up using clients funds, and then go bankrupt, and all our money is unrecoverable.

Glad to hear from someone actually using them.

Good luck learning fx. My advice is invest only a little. Take the time to learn the market until your small investment builds from your earnings. The pride of knowing you built it from scratch will be worth it. Plus, it will just save you the thousands you will lose otherwise. Better to lose tens or hundreds for the first six months instead.

There's a huge gap and world of difference between what a company representative tells you in an e-mail, and how they make you 'feel' versus what is written in the client agreement which you consent to - that legal document takes precedence and is all that really matters. The 'nice' email response you receive and getting phone calls answered quickly are meaningless.

I tried their (demo) MT4 platform and it's excellent: super quick server responses, no requotes, and an ability to set SLs/TPs very close (ie., <1pip if I recall) to your current price. This makes it a better implementation than ATC, LCG, Alpari & many other top tier players.

So if you're starting with $500/$1K/$2K even though that's a lot of $ for some, in the scheme of things it isn't. And, chances are, you will lose it - due to trading stupidity, or margin call. (the latter being positioned to the advantage of the house/broker/market - ie., with a $5K account, you can get a margin call with $3500 of equity still left) Whether you lose your funds to the house/broker or the real market is irrelevant - you'll never really know and are never really able to prove it. Their customer agreement seems to say your order may not at all flow to the 'market.' I can't imagine they have many accounts beyond $10K. If I'm going to setup a $50K account, there are too many red flags: why not disclose your liquidity provider and the order flow, if you are indeed *not* a bucketshop? 200:1 leverage? Please. That's the expressway to lost accounts, when used in combination with their low percentage margin requirements; if you want greater trading power, just bet double your intended amount with a regular 100:1 account.

I don't want to get into the details of the e-mail response they provided, but it is childish, low level, filled with lies and half-truths throughout, placing the accent on completely useless 'feel good' measures - all of which are in no way any form of a guarantee, and therefore irrelevant in light of the customer agreement.

On Canadian brokers, I've tried Questtrade and CMC - each has funds protection. The Questrade interface is 1990's, FIFO, and you do not get true pricing reflective of the market; they claim 5-digits, but the price does not variate like a proper feed. And, there appears to be some form of rounding on position value, as it does not update as quickly as the spot price. CMC's platform is too funky and non-standard for me; both platforms hide their volume, which stacks things against the retail trader - why one would want to use inferior tools is beyond me. Not sure of other Canadian options - I have pretty much given up, and am looking to a professional ECN platform that has funds protection for larger accounts, outside of Canada.

But, after all my writing, if it's a few thousand one is investing, giving smarttradefx a spin is minimal risk - hopefully and obviously the goal is to profit, and, taking out the first 25%/40% or 100% (of original depost) is always a nice feeling, and, when completely successfully, at least your original deposit is reclaimed. But, it's always important to be cogniscant that many things can go wrong with your trades, the technology or the company, and, that will impact the dollars in your account.

Beljevina,

how can you judge execution speed and quality of fills by using a demo account ?

I just visited their updated website, they now have Euro denominated accounts.

Oh btw, they should brush up on their English.

It reads : "Your deposit stays in Euro's, no need to convert to USD if your in Europe"

That's two mistakes in one sentence, sounds like some high school kid, lol.

Just saw their commissions...holy shite.

lol Yeah I always laugh at those bucketshops that don't even bother hire a professional translator. Just goes to show how professional they are.

Almost all bucketshops are calling themselves STP brökers these days.

I still think you work for them.

You're right. It's an indicator and approximation of perhaps best-case scenario. The demo should talk to the same server as the live account, and one hopes they have any bridge induced or dealer plugin produced delays, as they would with the live. And usually no requotes and other delays on demo (along with an assertion on their site of 'no requotes') ring well for live operation. Also, if the demo allows trading within the spread, setting TP and SL the next pip fraction away, so too should the live.

If you test enough MT4 demos, you do actually get requotes, and general slowness - if one can't make their demo shine, then why would the live, although, as a potential customer, you appreciate the frankness, and hence, you never become a customer.

But again, a great demo doesn't alleviate the other concerns with this broker.

Separately, yes, their site is full of grammar and spelling mistakes. For me, just another red flag. But then again, Duakascopy's site has English language mistakes too.

IM only using STFX and DUKA because these brokers are honest, trading conditions are exactly what traders dream about, and customer service is a phone call away.

Never a requote.
No disconnects
Very Competitive spreads
Gold, Silver, SP, and other Futures

Metatrader actually works like its suppose to. And, I always thought it was MT4.... lol

TRUE: a lot of bucketshop brokers state ECN stp. etc. But they are not. Brokers will turn your trading functions off to prevent scalpers/arbitrage trading. Brokers delay execution for their advantage. Brokers requote your order whether entering or exiting your position.


And now FXCM is on the NYSE to raise capital as their customer basis steadily decline even with all their marketing efforts.


I've experienced all of these conditions within OCT-NOV while trying to find a broker worth using. Many failed and Only STFX held up to my standards and my standards are quite easy to fulfill.

1.) Spread on EU less than 2 pips
2.) No requotes
3.) Fast Execution
4.) Accept scalping -STP
5.) No server disconnects

Do I want a regulated broker? 50:1 leverage and FIFO? No. And, STFX knows this.

And what is a real broker?

You mean:

Gain Capital Sued $459,000 for cheating Forex Traders.
http://www.nfa.futures.org/news/news...ArticleID=3676
OR

IKON sued$320,000 by the NFA for using Virtual Broker Plugin.
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=263020

You mean? Market Makers-Interbanking

Absolutely 100 per cent true. That's why choosing a true ECN or STP broker is important.

Regarding FXCM, they are useless. They would have been better off saving their big advertising budget to give better fills to their clients instead. Enough said.

Um, no.

Gain Capital and IKON (and similar brokers) are for suckers.

If I don't have the capital to trade with a good second tier prime broker offering currenex or a similar technology, I would go with reputable retail ECN brokers such as Interactive Brokers, MBTrading, Dukascopy, etc. If I don't have the cash for those either, the only MM I would trade with is Oanda.

Hi Ipndasno,

Thanks for giving your input to this thread. In addition to your points above, I have another: safety of my funds. I worry about the fact that they have complete control over my funds and may use them any way they choose, including for operations. If they end up going under, or being mismanaged, I could lose everything, as far as I can tell. Can you speak to this concern?

Thanks in advance. Talia

Ipndasno, what commissions do you pay at STFX ?

Adding to this, I've been unable to locate any evidence that this Hong Kong company with a Canadian office is registered with the HK-FSC, at least not as SmarttradeFX.

STD accounts = Zero commission

I understand your concern as I did as well.
Considering that most traders fail, Brokers maks nothing but enormous amounts of profit with little overhead.

What they do with our funds is probably the same as any bank does. They invest it. Considering there is more Credit than Hard CASH, I'd say putting your money anywhere is not 100% safe, but saving need to be invested some how otherwise inflation will decrease your wealth 1.6-3% annually.

Given the horrendous unfoldings with JadeFX, it might be an idea to bookmark this thread with some relevant information. I'd posted some insights that are strikingly similar to JadeFX.

And just further cruising through their site gives the following gems - hopefully everyone can google what CYSEC is - with JadeFX it was Belize, here, Cyprus.

BKB Bank? Did you know STFX's Canadian "office" is at the First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West, right in the Bank of Montreal Building? Smack dab amongst other major Canadian and world renowned banks? Canadian banks are arguably some of the best in the world, but theirs ... apparently in Hong Kong. Hmm ... might be a problem getting to a teller counter, or, your money ...

And ... if you google 100 King Street West, Suite 5700, low and behold you find out they are shared offices and mailboxes! Yet, they expanded "their" Toronto office in Feb 2010.

Oh, and read the customer agreement - it explicitly states you are likely to get nothing in case of bankruptcy - just search the PDF for "bankruptcy".

And quite the wonderment of an answer on why they don't want NFA and CFTC approval. Do read what the CFTC stipulations on this are.

All, food for thought.