Best value firms for currency trading?

[giulio2010]

Tx switesh, I am learning throw the demo, the link you have posted here is very useful
http://www.fxcm.com/
I got this movement today. Is 15.8 and 15.3 green the equivalent of 15 ticks profit in horses?
Sorry for my ignorance. I don't know much about this type of trading.

[switesh]

I got this movement today. Is 15.8 and 15.3 green the equivalent of 15 ticks profit in horses?

What pair was this? If you were using FXCM platform then try and take the entire screenshot of the chart with the Pair and Price (quoted to the 5th decimal on all majors).

Usually the majors have an average daily volatility of around 100 to 130 pips. There is usually more activity mid-week, and the crossover time between UK and US brings most activity.

I don't actively trade currencies, but I've been running a Random experiment in demo account since Jan this year. I will post the strategy and the result on this thread in a few day's time.

BTW, before you think of actively trading currencies please read the book 'Beat the Forex Dealer by Agustin Silvani'.

You don't want your broker/dealer to be on the other side of your trade, AND you certainly don't want to compete with the latency of the retail trader.

[giulio2010]

BTW, before you think of actively trading currencies please read the book 'Beat the Forex Dealer by Agustin Silvani'.

You don't want your broker/dealer to be on the other side of your trade, AND you certainly don't want to compete with the latency of the retail trader.

Thanks for both advices. It's all very usefull.
I have taken an other snapshoot, that may be a better one with more details.
Thank again
P.S. I clicked buy exactly when the price started to go up and closed my position excactly when the market started to reverse ( to go down). I think is 20 ticks profit if I understoot correctly...

[NR169]

Two very simple rules to apply.

1. Never trade without placing stops.
2. Make sure on a daily basis that you are aware of the economic calendar.

Trading FX defeats 90% of small players. The psychology of letting a bad position roll on "It must come back soon" is well known.

Good luck

[giulio2010]

Two very simple rules to apply.

1. Never trade without placing stops.
2. Make sure on a daily basis that you are aware of the economic calendar.

Thanks for the advices. On the graph above I had the stops and limits in place. I was very close to hit the limit ( profit) but the price started to go down a bit so I closed the trade manually.
In horses the stop and loss is a suicide tool but here I understand the greater importance of it and is very, very useful.

[giulio2010]

You don't want your broker/dealer to be on the other side of your trade, AND you certainly don't want to compete with the latency of the retail trader.

After you wrote this advice, I started to find news regarding this FXCM and they are not good news. This FXCM is accused of scamming clients, there are a lot allegations under this name on the web and class actions.
So until I find some trustable one, It will be only demos..

[Golfer]

Oanda!

I'd avoid spreadbetting company's personally.

[switesh]

Hi Traders,
Beginning this year I conducted the following Forex experiment in Demo mode using FXCM trading platform.

I have some theoretical knowledge but almost no practical knowledge of the workings or underpinning of the Forex market. Using a bit of Forex theory and my small experience at BF trading I created a very simple forex strategy.

The basic idea was to test that if I were to select the pair and direction entirely Randomly could I achieve a result close to breakeven or perhaps even slightly positive?

Pairs:
EUR/USD
USD/JPY
GBP/USD
USD/CHF
EUR/CHF
AUD/USD
USD/CAD
NZD/USD
EUR/GBP
EUR/JPY
GBP/JPY
GBP/CHF


Trade Entry:

• Randomly select 1 major pair per/day from the list above.
  Randomly select Long or Short Entry
  Trade size - 1 lot (I know it's small but it's ok for an experiment)

Entry Adjustment:
Ask for a price if possible - i.e. do not place trade at the best available price, but rather place the entry a few pips out the money because the average 5 to 15 minute volatility would get me in at a slightly better price more often than not.

Trade Exit:

• Profit target: 100 pips
  Stop-loss: 50 pips
  Thus giving us a roughly 1:2 Risk:Reward per trade

Thought Process:
Before deploying this strategy I looked at the Average Daily Range for the major pairs and found that they all had roughly at-least 100 pip range, if not more. So that gave me the basis to place my Entry & Exit orders within this range to ensure I can get in and out of trades in a matter of day or 2 at max.
Also, being aware of the massive time lag retails traders experience compared to Prop desks I thought I might go for a swing trade, because if I attempted scalping they would beat me to the trigger every time.

PS: The trades were done commission free since the experiment was carried out in Demo mode. Commissions have often have a significant impact on the net PL.

There are a couple of things that can throw this basic strategy into a consistent negative returns if done with real money in live mode:

• The dealer or broker can see your Stop-loss (and take advantage of it).
  Slippage may be much higher than quoted.

Would like to hear what traders make of it (Betfair traders or Forex traders). I've attached the spreadsheet of the trades.

[lavenham]

Speaking as a successful day trader, this approach is really scary to me. Have you checked out the spreads on some of the pairs? Also intra day volatility can easily wipe out a 50 tick S/L in a fraction of a second on occasions.
Do check for important news releases for the pair as these can cause massive reversals which can stop you out.

I wish you the best of luck with this approach.

[Tobedotty]

Also, being aware of the massive time lag retails traders experience compared to Prop desks I thought I might go for a swing trade, because if I attempted scalping they would beat me to the trigger every time.

As soon as you think about the "over-round" on your bet if you're scalping, you realise that it is not worth it.

[switesh]

Do check for important news releases for the pair as these can cause massive reversals which can stop you out.

I wish you the best of luck with this approach.

Thanks lavenham.

I usually keep a casual eye on FOMC reports and various reserve bank's periodic interest rate announcements. But I don't actually trade currencies (I have neither the $$ nor the thorough Understanding). This time around I was just out to do some random trading.

I do however like watching the markets - like you described, events that trigger massive reversal.

[giulio2010]

I have find this one which seems quite good. I have opened an account last week, they verified my identity ( passport and gas bill)and fund my account with $5 of real money without deposit. I am now lerning to trade and with real cash, without a single deposit.
I have had few succesfull trades last week and this week, I am now on $7 ( $2 profit )...

[giulio2010]

It's starting to get interesting. As I said before I signed to Agea and without deposit I was given $5 real money to trade...It's seems little ofc, but for lerning it's a big bonus and without deposit..
Good day today...25 ticks in one trade.

[Dave Angel]

Can anyone tell me roughly how much I would actually make on a £2(profit) trade when trading with a forex account after commission etc?

[Dallas]

Most if not all dont charge commission, they get there cut from the spread of the buy and sell price which differs depending on which currency pair is being traded and also on the fx platform you use, plenty offer free demo accounts for you to try so you ll get a idea of how much you can make or lose per PIP etc.