This is not a reply to Karl's post, just my own input. 
There is quite a lot of un-necessary fear and mud-slinging going on in this thread. I can entirely understand the concerns so here is my experienced view on the situation.
Firstly you (the trader) are not a bank so you will have to use a broker or supplier of trading services to engage in trading. The broker will always decide what to do with your trade request based upon a number of parameters - but the trade is taken with your broker and not with some other bank.
If the trade size is big enough your broker may pass it immediately into the interbank clearing facility, but you are not in control of that decision. Some brokers will not pass your trade onto anybody else no matter what size position you request - they are Market Makers and they will simply reject anything which they consider to be too big.
If you want to trade micro-lots there are a number of brokers around that can provide a service. Your micro-lot trade size is so small that your broker will always take the other side of your trade. You can easily spot the ones who are out to rob you because things start happening to make your life difficult, such as frequent re-quotes or inability to close a winning position. You will not know what sort of broker you have until you get into that position, and the really bad ones start out like that - according to what you can read in the Factory threads.
Please note that a broker who is a Market Maker is not necessarily out to rob you. There are plenty around who provide a good service.
If you want to trade larger positions you have to back it up with a few thousand in an account and start trading at that level. I am talking about multiples of mini-lots such as 50k or 100k (100k is often referred to as a standard lot). Even at that size of position you may not get straight into the inter-bank market.
Read the Dukascopy website if you want to know how big a position size will get you into the interbank market, I believe it is 250k but maybe 100k is enough. If you want to trade at 250k position size you should have at least $25k in your account for safe trading conditions (money management etc.). That effectively means you will open a standard account and not a retail account, and yes find $50k or more to fund it.
I have been using Dukascopy for nearly 2 years, I have a retail account and I trade 50k as a minimum position size. There has been nothing about the behaviour of my account to cause me concern. I took out a few hundred dollars recently as a test, and my trading platform continued to behave as it always has. Further, the broker is publicly offering to re-imburse traders who have been spiked-out on Gold. This is unprecedented honesty in my experience.
When or if I close my Duka account I will come back to this thread and post my reasons. In the meantime I shall continue as a satisfied customer. Good trading to you all.
There is quite a lot of un-necessary fear and mud-slinging going on in this thread. I can entirely understand the concerns so here is my experienced view on the situation.
Firstly you (the trader) are not a bank so you will have to use a broker or supplier of trading services to engage in trading. The broker will always decide what to do with your trade request based upon a number of parameters - but the trade is taken with your broker and not with some other bank.
If the trade size is big enough your broker may pass it immediately into the interbank clearing facility, but you are not in control of that decision. Some brokers will not pass your trade onto anybody else no matter what size position you request - they are Market Makers and they will simply reject anything which they consider to be too big.
If you want to trade micro-lots there are a number of brokers around that can provide a service. Your micro-lot trade size is so small that your broker will always take the other side of your trade. You can easily spot the ones who are out to rob you because things start happening to make your life difficult, such as frequent re-quotes or inability to close a winning position. You will not know what sort of broker you have until you get into that position, and the really bad ones start out like that - according to what you can read in the Factory threads.
Please note that a broker who is a Market Maker is not necessarily out to rob you. There are plenty around who provide a good service.
If you want to trade larger positions you have to back it up with a few thousand in an account and start trading at that level. I am talking about multiples of mini-lots such as 50k or 100k (100k is often referred to as a standard lot). Even at that size of position you may not get straight into the inter-bank market.
Read the Dukascopy website if you want to know how big a position size will get you into the interbank market, I believe it is 250k but maybe 100k is enough. If you want to trade at 250k position size you should have at least $25k in your account for safe trading conditions (money management etc.). That effectively means you will open a standard account and not a retail account, and yes find $50k or more to fund it.
I have been using Dukascopy for nearly 2 years, I have a retail account and I trade 50k as a minimum position size. There has been nothing about the behaviour of my account to cause me concern. I took out a few hundred dollars recently as a test, and my trading platform continued to behave as it always has. Further, the broker is publicly offering to re-imburse traders who have been spiked-out on Gold. This is unprecedented honesty in my experience.
When or if I close my Duka account I will come back to this thread and post my reasons. In the meantime I shall continue as a satisfied customer. Good trading to you all.
Minesweeper target: 284
