Best value firms for currency trading?

[superfrank]

does anyone have an opinion on the best value (transaction costs) for currency trading.

in the past i've used futures directly, IG, CityIndex etc.

the disadvantage with futures is that you can't trade pairs like GBP/JPY because it's not a real pair (i.e. it's a combination of GBP/USD and USD/JPY) and the margin requirements are high.

with spread firms the spreads are wide for the everything but the major pairs. there are also overnight financing costs.

has anyone tried brokers like FXPro?

[MarketTrader]

I was looking into these guys at the weekend.

http://www.bettingexchangeacademy.com/t ... of-trading

[switesh]

Hi superfrank,
You can trade the GBP/JPY pair on eToro (image attached).

I haven't done much on it since I opened a demo account.
Feels more like spread betting though. Also, no Ladder interface.

Regards,
Switesh

[superfrank]

they look like dreadful spreads (although maybe out of hours).

i was looking at GFT - anyone know how these spreads compare?
http://www.gftforex.com/Range-of-Market ... ndard.aspx

[switesh]

Recently sampled a demo account (unlimited access) from http://www.fxcm.com/. Excellent platform but 2-3 pip spread on majors pairs.

Here's one that provides tight spreads upto 5th decimal but haven't tried them http://www.fxcc.com/spreads

This website compares spreads across many brokers
http://www.100forexbrokers.com/compare- ... rs-spreads

[giulio2010]

Hi guys, I am thinking to explore the currency trading in the summer. Football is coming at the end of the season so I am looking to spend my time in lerning to trade on forex. I have a couple question if you did'nt mind, do you know people who actually make money out online platforms? That may sound like a stupid question but because I have met a few succesfull betfair traders and zero succesfull traders which uses online platforms, the question come natural.
What do you think of this platform below?
http://www.roboforex.com/trade-conditio ... ader5-mt5/
All advised are very welcome...thank you

[lavenham]

I have had many and various account over the years and settled on IG for the moment as I only trade two pairs - EUR/JPY and EUR/USD. I traded with Cantor for a couple of years (now Spreadex) but found that whilst their spreads were low their actual Bid and Ask prices were a bit optimistic so you had to 'add' it to the spread.

Alpari are OK but wide spreads - you have to watch some of the brokers with tighter spreads (speed of platform, getting your winnings out easily etc.)

A quick trawl on google will give you the lowdown on various MT4 brokers etc.

[giulio2010]

Thank you Lavenham for your response.
I have been looking for infos even on youtube channel but I seem to find more realistic infos about betfair then the financial online trading...
Thanks again..

[Tobedotty]

If you have a large account (100k$+), I hear dukascopy is very good indeed.

[lavenham]

Your link to Roboforex - are you planning to use a trading bot? They are very dangerous - a lot worse than trading horses automatically and that's saying something! The forex markets move quickly and can be extremely volatile - and S/Ls with Forex bots are not always guaranteed.
Dukascopy are ok but again check the spreads and 'padding' around the bid/ask prices.

[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.