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Attachments: Leaving Oanda for Interactive Brokers
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Leaving Oanda for Interactive Brokers

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  • First Post: Nov 2, 2007 3:47am Nov 2, 2007 3:47am
Howdy guys, just posting this - it might be of some help to anyone deciding on accounts etc etc.

I may keep my Oanda account open as a backup if absolutely necessary with a smaller amount in it, but for the most part I will transfer most of my money to Interactive Brokers.

Basically the reasons are as follows:

  1. Disconnections at Oanda
  2. Spreads at Oanda in comparison to IB
  3. IB can trade Futures as well as Forex (I would like to trade both)
  4. Security of funds
  5. Lack of features to suit my trading at Oanda
  6. Better spreads/fills around news

A few things I have not been happy with at Oanda. Frequent disconnections during 'important' times being the main problem. Lack of decent spreads (in my opinion) compared to IB and some others too. All day today from before Asian session all the way to Europe GBPJPY is 7 pips on Oanda, on IB it has been between 1-5, right this second 2pips. EurJpy has been between .5 pip to 2pips, Oanda 2.3 flat. I am aware that their is commission on IB which adds up to another pip, but I still feel that the change is warranted.

I might add, Oanda often increases the spread during Europe/US times anyway.

The next thing that I don't like, and this is because of the way I want to trade so it may or may not help you, is I have the ability to use another piece of software (there are many varieties) for IB which enables me to:

  1. set stop to breakeven after 'x' pips
  2. set stop to breakeven+x after so many pips
  3. set trailing stop to start after 'x' pips
  4. allow multiple scaling in and multiple scaling outs

This enables me to let the trade handle itself a little more, and saves me some stress.

Also, funds are segregated with IB and IB has adjusted net capital of 351million according to http://www.cftc.gov/marketreports/financialdataforfcms/ which makes me feel good about where my money is.

Oh, and regarding Safety of Funds, this from their website:

Quote
Securities Account Protection

Customer securities accounts at Interactive Brokers are protected up to $30 million (including up to $1 million for cash). The market value of your stocks, options, warrants, debt, and cash -- denominated in all currencies -- is covered by this insurance. Futures, options on futures, and single stock futures are not covered, but available cash will be swept from your futures account to your securities account periodically to take advantage of insurance coverage as much as possible. As with all securities firms, this insurance provides protection against failure of a broker-dealer, not against loss of market value of securities.
This protection is provided by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and Lloyd’s of London insurers. SIPC provides the first $500,000 per customer (including up to $100,000 for cash). For customers who have received the full SIPC protection, the Lloyd’s policy provides up to an additional $29.5 million (including $900,000 for cash), subject to an aggregate limit of $150 million.
For the purpose of determining a customer account, accounts with like names and titles (e.g. Individual/John Smith and Individual/John Smith) are combined, but accounts with different titles are not (e.g. Individual/John Smith and IRA/John Smith).
SIPC is a non-profit, membership corporation funded by broker-dealers that are members of SIPC. For more information about SIPC and answers to frequently asked questions (such as how SIPC works, what is protected, how to file a claim, etc.), please refer to the following websites:



http://individuals.interactivebroker...?ib_entity=llc



Anyway, good luck
Hello dimmi,

It's good to have first hand experience with as many different brokers as you can.
They are all different in the ways they disadvantage the trader.
The trick is to find the broker that disadvantages you the least.

I have been with Oanda and Interactive brokers, and the only really big tip I can offer you with IB is ALWAYS use limit orders.
Sometimes the displayed price is not correct.

I'm now trading all my Spot currency through HotspotFX.

Good Luck,

Coder
Quoting Coder
Hello dimmi,

It's good to have first hand experience with as many different brokers as you can.
They are all different in the ways they disadvantage the trader.
The trick is to find the broker that disadvantages you the least.

I have been with Oanda and Interactive brokers, and the only really big tip I can offer you with IB is ALWAYS use limit orders.
Sometimes the displayed price is not correct.

I'm now trading all my Spot currency through HotspotFX.

Good Luck,

Coder
Thanks mate

The software I am using called Zeroline Trader (there is also Ninjatrader/Buttontrader/Brackettrader) has a 'Buy at bid' and 'Buy at ask' which creates a limit order at the current bid/ask which is handy. It has a Market button too obviously

You can also set it to chase the price if it moves. Handy!
I agree with you that IB is a good choice, probably one of the best available.

Oanda has I think only one main advantage over IB: to trade any size , and that is usefull if you have a very small account.

So i would say that Oanda is better for training, but for real trading you probably better chose IB or an ECN.
Quoting jlpi
I agree with you that IB is a good choice, probably one of the best available.

Oanda has I think only one main advantage over IB: to trade any size , and that is usefull if you have a very small account.

So i would say that Oanda is better for training, but for real trading you probably better chose IB or an ECN.

Ah, yes I would have to agree there. I think the minimum forex position is say 25,000 units in EURUSD or something along those lines. So as long as people take that into consideration.
Quoting dimmi
Ah, yes I would have to agree there. I think the minimum forex position is say 25,000 units in EURUSD or something along those lines. So as long as people take that into consideration.
I think they also charge for order changes too so when you move to BE or change stops and TP's it can cost more. I might be wrong though so its worth checking again.
Also if your risk tolerance can hande it you can trade an IRA at IB.........if you don't mind risking your retirement account'
Same Whore .... Different Dress
what currency can one open an a/c at IB with ? other than USD ?
Hello dimmi I wanted to ask you a few questions which I couldnt find on their website

1. What kind of leverage do they provide for forex?

2. Is it worth it to open an account of $10,000 or is it better if your trading account size is $100,000 (where security of funds can be an issue). What account size do you suggest with IB that counters the fee based structer?
Quoting Deadly Avenger
I think they also charge for order changes too so when you move to BE or change stops and TP's it can cost more. I might be wrong though so its worth checking again.
You're wrong about that. I think that's standard practice with stock trading but not futures or forex where you can move stops and TPs around as much as you like for no charge.
Leverage 50:1

Lots of different base currency options (GBP, EUR, JPY, HKD, AUD)

Warning: IB is definitely not for newbies so if you visit their website and can't work out things like their commission structure, leverage and data feed then you're probably better off sticking with OANDA.
Quoting Xenaga03
Hello dimmi I wanted to ask you a few questions which I couldnt find on their website

1. What kind of leverage do they provide for forex?

2. Is it worth it to open an account of $10,000 or is it better if your trading account size is $100,000 (where security of funds can be an issue). What account size do you suggest with IB that counters the fee based structer?
I would think $10,000 is fine - and an amount less than $10k you don't get paid interest on your cash balance. $10k and over you do. They require $2k min. but in my opinion, if you are able to trade 25,000 units (2.5 minis) IB is the way to go.

It's 10.09am Aussie time, Oanda is still at Sunday night spreads and will be for at least another hour .. 2 pip spread on EURJPY and on Oanda it's still 10
Quoting dimmi
I would think $10,000 is fine - and an amount less than $10k you don't get paid interest on your cash balance. $10k and over you do. They require $2k min. but in my opinion, if you are able to trade 25,000 units (2.5 minis) IB is the way to go.

It's 10.09am Aussie time, Oanda is still at Sunday night spreads and will be for at least another hour .. 2 pip spread on EURJPY and on Oanda it's still 10
it is 3 pips spread now but last week it was only 2 pips.another things i feel skeptic on Oanda is whenever i want to close my position,the price will slipped about 1-2pips.98% of the time it was like that.that mean i always win less 1-2pips but loss more 1-2pips!!!
I recently went on a foray this summer testing various other ECNs, both retail and institutional. At the end of the day, no other broker/ECN could offer both the service and spreads I receive with IB. IB's spreads are just as competitive as the larger ECNs (Currenex, Hotspot FXi, etc) and their product list simply can't be matched by any retail broker.

I just wish they would add NZD and fix the margin peculiarities..
Quoting Trader KGB
I recently went on a foray this summer testing various other ECNs, both retail and institutional. At the end of the day, no other broker/ECN could offer both the service and spreads I receive with IB. IB's spreads are just as competitive as the larger ECNs (Currenex, Hotspot FXi, etc) and their product list simply can't be matched by any retail broker.

I just wish they would add NZD and fix the margin peculiarities..
hi Trader KGB,is there any other way to view IB's live quote?i want to observe the spread for E/J,G/J and N/U etc.i tried their demo but the price in demo isn't real.
The price in demo should be real, just delayed. I think you might have been looking at their weekend data which is just there for developers.
IB currently 0.5 pips on cable, OANDA 5 pips! That's 10 times higher! This is almost an hour after the UK news came out.
Quoting amenlo9
hi Trader KGB,is there any other way to view IB's live quote?i want to observe the spread for E/J,G/J and N/U etc.i tried their demo but the price in demo isn't real.
The only way is to open a live account. The demo feed is just a playback
of random market data. The currency pairs are not even synchronized.

To answer your question:
If you open a demo account with MB Trading/EFX, you will find that the
EFX demo prices are almost identical to the live Interactive Brokers feed.

I know this because I used the EFX demo feed to check that the Interactive
brokers live feed was displaying accurate prices. Occasionally the displayed
IB prices get stuck.

Coder
Quoting Trader KGB
I just wish they would add NZD and fix the margin peculiarities..

Funny you should mention that, I was thinking of asking them when they will (if ever) allow NZD crosses in Forex. They do however allow NZD futures to be traded (NZD/USD futures).
Quoting dimmi
Funny you should mention that, I was thinking of asking them when they will (if ever) allow NZD crosses in Forex. They do however allow NZD futures to be traded (NZD/USD futures).
NZD futures are pretty quiet, unless you're trading single lots. Last I heard was they were going to offer NZD "around year end", but that time is rapidly approaching..
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