What's the best broker for GBPJPY?

Hey guys,

Can anyone suggest a good broker for trading GBPJPY? i have thought about MBT, Interactive Broker since they are ECN brokers, but also thinking of Oanda..... which broker offers the best spread for gbpjpy and less slippage from your experience?

At first i have narrowed it down to only ecn brokers, but then i read an article and it says that even with ecn broker, they can still cause slippage and rip you off through their software.... so now i'm torn between ecns or market maker, oanda, mbt, IB, or whatever you guys can recommend.

I will be mainly trading GBPJPY GBPCHF.... since i will be using forex during the late hours (eastern time, u.s.) since i trade stocks and futures in the daytime.

My account size will most likely be 10k-20k because i dont want to use too much leverage.

My style of trading is daytrading via 3min, 5min, 9min charts... and will probably place 3-10 trades a day.

If anyone can recommend a good broker, i would greatly appreciate it. 'cuz right now i'm really torn between a few i have narrowed down, however, i'm opened for suggestions, and would love to hear what yo uhave to say about each of them

I trade this pair mainly through MB Trading (MBT). Usually good pip spread (currently at 4 pips plus commision) however that is during the quiet period of the day, Asian and Australasian sessions. During peak time European and US sessions can be as low as 1 + commission. compare that to the metatrader brokers etc, they are anywhere from 5 - 9 pips, albeit no commissions.

So have a look, I do like MBT as they are fast, normally no slippage (or minimal), and over two years of trading I've only had two periods where the servers dropped, all in all pretty good.

EDIT: Commission does add up, but again its a percantage of your lot size, so scalping large lots and yes you do tend to end up paying a bit, but keep your lots smallish and medium term (ie 4-5 hours per trade) its not too bad.

but isn't MBT's commission pretty high?

Depends on your trade size, Im not sure of the exact amount percentage wise, I basically work on the premise, that if I only make one pip per trade (ie come out with 1 pip profit plus spread) then it covers my commission.

So for example, MBT trade spread on GBP/JPY is 4, i need to make +5 pips to cover commission and spread. With other brokers, especially metatrader brokers, ill need to make at least that if not more just to cover the spread (sometimes as high as 9 pip spread, sometimes more during volatile times).

Right this minute spread is 2 pips on this pair on MBT, so if i was to place a trade would need +3 to breakeven. On Alpari (metatrader broker) its currently 7 pips spread.

So as you can see scalping is a pain in the butt with metatrader brokers, having to overcome a 7-9 pip spread before reaching profit, but with MBT you can generally get away with short term trades..

Heres another example, I went short on GBP/JPY approx. 2 hours ago, took profit at 45 pips, happy with that, lots are small, but consistent scalping like this does add up. If i had of traded on Alpari (for example) would have been lucky to get 40 pips.

It all depends on your style of trading, I will only hold onto a trade until it looks like it is moving against me, so shorter term trading (sort of scalping but a little longer then most scalpers), making 3-4 trades per day aiming for 30 pips profit each time. Because I trade less my commission isnt too bad, but high frequency traders, 10-20 trades per day, will pay hefty commish, and then it adds up if you cant cover it, by losing a couple per day.

i will be primarily trading small size as well, just 1 or 2 lots. and i think we trade very similarly. so mbt's commission is still pretty low for small size, and only gets hefty when you start trading larger sizes? how large?

do you have any experience with Interactive Broker? on the advertisement, they say that they have as low as 1/2 pip for some of the major currencies pairs ... but they are most likely EURUSD, USDJPY, etc etc some of the more common ones.... i wonder how large the spread GBPJPY and GBPCHF are for Interactive Broker.....

their comission is pretty low though.... so right now i'm having a hard time deciding between these two.

Im not too sure about Interactive (come on guys someone must know)....lol

Now I dont want to say too much about a particular broker (for fear of being flamed to death ..lol) but i have tried a few and Ive found that for my style of trading, medium term (well thats what i call it) scalping, MBT suits me down to the ground.

It a personal preference thing, MBT's interface was a pain in the butt to get used to but once i did it all fell into place. Basically you type in how much you want to make per pip and click buy or sell (at market price). Its not as Gucci as some brokers, but it is faster then most and Ive had no problems getting my money out of them. But for me being able to have a head start on the market, by having a low spread is hugely important. Yep commission does build up but, just remember that to cover it all you have to do is make the spread +1 pip (for the costs), and after that its all gravy.

so other than news events, MBT's GBPJPY spread is usually not above 4 right?

Does anyone here use IB, if so, what's the usual spread for GBPJPY? during the time when LONDON and Frankfort are opened.

It seems even during news periods it is fairly tight 4-6 pips. Ive been pretty serious on this pair the last two months and i havent seen it at an outrageous spread yet (ie 10-15 like some brokers). but hey who knows the market is a living thing and anything is capable, just have to play it how you see it.

yep, your pay around 2 pips round turn on 100k trade.

hmm... so he got it wrong? it's 2 pips instead of 1 pip?

how about IB? for IP it's just 2.5 bucks right? but how's their spread usually?

Re MBT commissions you'll pay 2 pips on the G/U and one pip on the U/J round trip. It is directly related to how much of the base currency you purchase, hence on gbp based pairs you will generally pay twice as much as on USD based pairs.

I just opened an account with IKON-ROYAL and have traded the GBY/JPY with a spread of 3 to 4 pips.