Its the time of year, when Brokers are here..

Its the time of year,
when brokers are here
setting traps
to lure clients to come and trade


One broker offers to give as much as 28.6% of Interest. Caveat, you need to trade 200 standard lots per month to get this bonus. Larger bonus, larger volume needed.

Another broker offers 50% deposit bonus which is withdrawable once you have made sufficient volumes. Volume needed? oh just 1 Lot per $5 of bonus... Caveat. You are not allowed to make any withdrawal until you fully accomplished the required volume. If it will take you 5 years to accomplish the volume, no withdrawal before that.

One Broker offer $300 free money, profit of which are 100% withdrawable. problem is, the account remains disabled until the promo period ends even for funded accounts and leecher accounts.

BEWARE of these pitfalls. Do not be naive. Just opt out of any crap BONUS they offer. Do not be stupid; these offers are not goodwill bonuses; they are traps.

thanks

Well if I were going to open an account anyway, and they are also offering a bonus which is helpful to me, then I would take it.

I would definitely not choose a br0ker just because they're offering a bonus.

I also would not want to alter my trading by being encouraged to over-trade just to get to keep a bonus.

If it's there and it doesn't hurt - fine. But, I think it is best to make your br0ker choice and your deposit decisions based on sound financial responsibility.

I hope you'd avoid the 2nd trap I mentioned... Its called No Withdrawal. You might not be forced/coerced but you cannot withdraw either. Opting out after the fact and they can use that against you by removing all profitable trades claiming you do not have the Margin if this bonus were not there in the first place.

Bottom Line: Be careful with their promo. Read the fine prints.
Remember, there is no Free Lunch - just baits to lure victims into their traps.

Yes, I agree. It does require due diligence.

If one allows themselves to be suckered in just because of a bonus, then maybe they shouldn't be trading.

Good thread.

So which brokers out there that are safe?

Never forget that brokers are running a business. If they are giving out freebies, you must think, if I were that brokers, why would I do so? I must do something to ensure that I get those freebies back and then some more...

Although it's no guarantee, I prefer ECN brokers (who match you with the other side) over retail brokers (who take the other side of the trade). With ECN brokers, you pay commissions, but I just can't bring myself to trade with commission-free retail brokers who essentially benefit from your losses. Of course, with ECN, you will not get 400:1 leverage, but you are also less likely to be cheated. Retail brokers (market-makers) can cheat you in many ways - unreasonably large bid-asks during fast markets, delayed quotes, breaking trades they don't like, etc... ...some you may be able to detect, but many you won't even know about.

I am sure there are "honest" retail brokers out there, but I don't have the time or energy to figure out which ones they are - there are just way too many tricks retail brokers can do to part you with your money - even without bonus programs to entice you.