IB spreads are tighter than Mbtrading

Interactive Brokers

It shouldn't really come as a surprise that IB is not as advantageous for the smallest players. That's pretty much summed up in their tagline:

The Professional's Gateway to the World Markets

Dukascopy went chasing after the mini/micro lot market too in the past year, in my opinion, a disaster for their struggle of institutional reputation. I'm glad that IB hasn't shifted focus over the years.

Thanks for pointing that out. Absolute truth.

Keep in mind that many people leg into and out of positions. ie. Add to an already existing poistion, and/or take profit on a partial position and let the rest ride. So the smallest unit you might think you'd like to trade may well be smaller than you might at first think.

Hope this discussion helps someone weight some factors they might not have considered when choosing a broker.

As I trade at MB, I want as many people on the ECN as possible as we trade with each other, no bank invloved. You have to look at many factors, so do your homework.

It isn't a surprise at all. They clearly cater to larger accounts trading full lots, and have made their fee structure to self select for that client.

I want to say that Interactive Brokers is the best broker when it comes to stocks as well as other markets but I had a horrible experiance with forex.

It is an ecn so their platform isn't the best (Im not talking about execution). I had a few occasions where a portion of a trade would not close for the life of me. I had to call support. Maybe it was just me. Every time I attempted to close the trade by opening a position in the opposite direction it would get routed incorrectly (it would not close normally). I got charged a commission each time I tried, IB would not refund even though I was instructed by support, finally the agent called the trading desk and apparently it was some glitch.

On other occasions I opened up a trade with a full lot and when i closed it somehow there was a fraction that would not close. Supposedly it was "interest" and when I ended up closing my account I had to wait till the next month for that to clear but it did not.

I did end up reopending my account up but I am only trading stocks and futures on it only.

I never had any problems with dukascopy nor mbtrading.

The interest residuals can be a serious PITA I agree.

The real fun begins when you start running multiple accounts through IB..

I see IB are offering M6 though which surprised me, I didn't know anyone actually traded micro futures!