In my other market activities I have an account to trade with but that is NOT my data provider. While I see nothing wrong with having your data provider and your broker as one agency, the broker I use does not provide the tools I want to help me trade better. So I use cTrader's data feed and charting. I then place the trades with my broker. Its a bit more confusing at first but works out OK. Since cTrader just doesn't care what I do with my data, I feel the data provided is a little bit more "honest" from the standpoint of the order flow that I see through them. They are not quoting me any prices and their spread make no difference whatsoever. My broker, only sees my orders and nothing else. The data feed from them does not compromise my view of the market because my view doesn't come from them. This is how I've chosen to resolve the perceived issue of "conflict of interest" with my broker. As I am a small time trader, my positions are carried by the broker who is my counter party and because they are so small they are largely ignored...which is just fine by me.
I would add to this that we not engage in the recommendation or discussion about which broker may be "good vs bad". This not only distracts from the theme of this thread, it also creates an air of liability for anyone (including me) who "recommends" or "advises against" any particular broker. I would only add this: That you diligently research your broker for yourself using the standards that you feel are most important for your trading.
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