GFT anyone?

Hello

Just wondering if anyone is with or has had any experience with GFT forex?

I did a search here and it produced no results but this broker is apparantly 10 years old.

The spreads seem good any input would be great

B the way I found them through an add on this website and so am assuming they are a safe choice until proven otherwise.;

But I also saw Crown advertised on Forex Factory and from what I've read Crown is a scam.

Cheers

GFT are ok, good customer service but dont ever trade the news with them as their slippage during news time is horrendous. They will hold your order for some time to fill at top or bottom of the spike.

Ok I don't trade the news so thats good. I am trying to decide between Oanda and GFT. The spreads on GFT seem to be better but I have no live experience with the execution speed and all that.

Thanks foe your reply

What would you prefer, a car crash or a train wreck, both result in the same thing!

Personally I wouldn't touch either, they take the word 'bucketshop' to a whole other level




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Cindy,

The most important aspect about a broker is not their spreads. This is a rookie mistake and often the scape goat of beginning traders. The best advice I can give you is to find a broker that is well funded and executes your trades in a honest fashion. The spread should be near the bottom of your list if your an avg. trader.

Ro

Well if you say that then your saying the same about fxcm. Their prices are almost the same. But trading the news is pretty bad with GFT, you will get filled at the top or the bottom of the spike. I learned that the hard way.

Me too, I traded there for a while, market orders just sit in the working orders tab waiting to be filled at whatever price they decide and you can't cancel them!

Bucketshops have definitely got worse lately, maybe there's just too many of them going after the same business so they have to scam customers to make it worth their while.

If you trying trade the news with GFT here's what they doing

if you clicked BUY they will hold your orders 1-2 mins on the working orders... "No Way that you can cancel them".

then if the price come with your favor they will reqouta you, if the price reverse against you they will filled you.

Which broker do you use/recomend then?

From what I've read Oanda seems to be the best choice appart from any ECN's But I'm only willing to invest $5000 at the moment and I think ECN's are for larger accounts.

Oanda seems to be the general concensus anyway.

Damb I'm so sick of looking for a good broker it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

God this is funny all u news traders are upset cuz a MM does not like u, of course they don't. they can't hedge their exposure due to your trading style get over it and use a ECN. why would u use a MM to news trade???? USE A ECN!

Cindy

I trade with em and will continue to trade with em they are fine no probs at all. I am also in Australia. Orders are filled quickly closed quickly never had a freeze and never had any funny price moves to my stop. one stop I had on the price came two pips to it and went up they know were I am.

Again no probs here. I also use Alpari and Oanda. but Oanda not much trading with em can't say much.

Cheers

You know what's really funny is you seem to think that with a few thousand bucks execution with an ECN-style marketmaker is going to be any different than a bucketshop, same crap just a different name is all, a marketing exercise to entice the gullible 'cuz' they don't know any better

Trading news is no big deal as long as you have the right marketmaker, get over it!

Lost in space I'm afraid I will have to go with experience here Apocalypto put it right in my eyes...

News traders are the architects of their own demise IMO and from what I've read from the senior members on this forum.

I'm not looking to trade around news times so I'm not looking for a broker to accomadate this type of trading.

But if you're so wise on the issue maybe you could kindly share with us your broker of choice instead of making negative comments.

I think I'm sold on GFT - Thanks Acopolypto - oi oi oi

Thank you

Mate I have nothing to get over I trade with em don't care what they claim. they are ok with me never had a prob.

it's all the cry baby news traders on here destroying brokers reps. I work for a FX broker mate I have seen and heard it all.

Good trading to u

Well you obviously have to go with whoever you feel comfortable with but it would really be better to make an informed decision based on research, logic, and common sense rather than be swayed by other people's opinion of a particular marketmaker. Marketmakers aren't a one-size-fits-all, it very much depends on your trading style and time frame traded, what may be suitable for a positional trader may be totally unsuitable for short-term intraday trader.


You may benefit from the following, you may not, but hopefully someone will find it useful:

As someone else mentioned, spreads shouldn't be top of the agenda when looking for a marketmaker as advertised spreads can be deceiving. For example Oanda advertise a .9 pip spread on Eur/Usd but in practice it's more like 3 or even 4 pips by the time you take slippage and quote manipulation into account. The way a marketmaker streams quotes and executes your trades is far more important than advertised spreads.

How a marketmaker performs around fundamental data releases doesn't just affect 'news traders'. For example if a marketmaker widens their spreads unrealistically across data it can increase the chance of your stop being hit or your take-profit being missed on an existing trade. As a non-news trader you could compensate by moving your stop further away and your take-profit closer but that would obviously increase risk and reduce reward. As far as quote manipulation around data, if a marketmaker is prepared to spike or blatantly move prices for their own benefit then it obviously brings into question their integrity, if they're prepared to do that then what else could they be doing?

I often trade fundamental data releases because as a full-time trader I see no reason why I should exclude myself from some of the most potentially profitable trading opportunities, The marketmaker I choose to trade with is there to facilitate my trading activities and that is what I pay him for, I expect a reasonable standard of service. If he is unable or unwilling to offer best service then I'll go somewhere else, marketmaking is a competitive business. Fortunately I trade with an excellent marketmaker for my style of trading, they're not perfect but are about the best I've found so far.

Another important consideration is safety of funds. In today's climate the risk of insolvency is higher than it's ever been (anyone remember Refco?). Does the marketmaker you're choosing segregate client's funds and what happens if the company goes bust, is your money safe or are you just another creditor who will get x cents in the dollar?

As an aside I'd have to question the experience of someone who thinks that with a few thousand dollars execution on an ECN-style marketmaker's platform is going to be any different (or better!) than with a bucketshop but that's just me, I'm kinda quirky that way



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I know what you mean. These people make scripts that are supposed to make them millionaires, but the script eventually fails them in some way and they lose which is inevitable because their strategy and script is flawed. Then they blame the broker. Same with people who can't trade. They lose and scream about stop hunting or some other nonsense. You never hear successful traders complaining.

Well I don't know anything about scripts (whatever they are!) but I do know there are literally thousands of traders who take advantage of no-brainer fundamental releases such as a .25bp rate cut when .50bp is priced in, their success or failure obviously depends a great deal on their marketmakers business model and how they handle orders.

Like I said before, there really should be no need to exclude yourself from trading some of the most potentially profitable trading opportunities simply because your marketmaker is unable or unwilling to facilitate your trading activities.

Thank you lostinspace for the in depth reply - Who is the broker you're with if you don't mind me asking?

I am not basing my opinion by the way on one persons post I am simply trying to find the ones to do more research on because there are sooooooo many.

I would put more weight into my opiion anyway by listening to other traders opinions other than whats writen on the brokers website because it is just a sales pitch after all.

Cheers

By the way lost in space habe you ever actually had an account with Oanda? I know you mention slippage and requotes but this could surely also work in your favour if the market moves against your direction and you end up with a better price?

I have been demo trading with Oanda and whenever I can't get filled at the price I want it won't open the trade - you can even set the bounds so you only accept the price you first want.

I must admit this happens a lot and without one click trading is very frustrating, but as I was saying a lot of the time I end up getting a better price than what I first tried to get.

I know this is just the game account but I'm sure it works the same in a live market.

I agree with that Oakmaster if a few pips slippage and rewoutes here and there are the difference between profit and loss then maybe it's not the broker that is the problem here.

It would trouble scalpers though I'm sure!

This is maybe why they do it -

My guess is the brokers that openly claim to accept scalpers are the worst offenders of slippage and requotes. Think about it!

Just a guess!

I know what you mean about there being sooooooo many, I had to do the rounds myself and tried out a few before I found one which was a good fit for my trading style. At the risk of being called a shill (or worse!) I trade with CMC Markets in the UK and have done for a number of years which probably tells you what I think about them, as well as running an MT4 EA on a small account at IBFX. None of these MT4 marketmakers seem to be a particularly good choice from what I've read around the forums but as I don't actually trade the account manually what I don't see doesn't bother me! As long as there's profit on the account at the end of the month I don't really care what they get up to in-between

I can only speak from my own personal experiences of these firms, others may have had different experiences and I respect that, but as I say I believe a lot depends on trading style.

I traded a US GFT account a couple of years ago and experienced several problems mainly to do with slippage and accounting discrepancies between Order History, Account History, and EZ View Report, as well as platform connection issues and several reversed trades. About a year ago I tried them again with a UK Base10 account (mini) of my own so I could trial their Foresight AI software and the same problems existed. I closed the account when the software trial expired.

I've also traded an FX Manager account at Oanda. They started off well but deteriorated rapidly with connection problems, slippage, reversed trades, slow quotes with some massive quote discrepancies that I have never seen anywhere else before, there's another thread with an example and quite a few threads on their own forums with similar problems. When I closed the accounts I was getting on average 20% slippage on every trade. Unfortunately I never once received slippage in my favor and by setting bounds I found too may trades were not filled. Their spreads across data just became too ridiculous ie a 30 pip spread on Gbp/Usd for 15 minutes. I realize liquidity dries up around data but be serious, 15 minutes!

Having said that about Oanda I still believe they are an excellent marketmaker for a new trader. Their platform is very straightforward and orders are easy to manage leaving the trader time to focus on the market. Trade sizing is very flexible so even a small account can still adhere to sensible money management. If you set up your order tickets for the pairs you regularly trade and check the boxes to keep the tickets open you can also have one-click trading. I would say Oanda are a good first choice and once you're consistent (profitably hopefully!) you can always move on if you start noticing any problems.

As far as your last comment to oakmonster, slippage isn't so much the difference between profit and loss, it's an additional overhead which soon adds up and one which I rarely experience with my current marketmaker. Sure they requote (better and worse) if price is no longer available but that is only to be expected, but in my experience they're generally fair. Being in the UK I have the additional benefit of equity being protected up to 35k (soon to be 50k I read somewhere).

As you've found out, choosing a marketmaker that's a good fit is not easy and may at the end of the day be just down to trial and error but having a shortlist is definitely a good start!

Good Luck!