[tonymand]

Originally Posted by MJMJ

My recent string of experiences with my demo account at one of the aforementioned businesses - -
The first week, everything was great - just loved it. However, last week and this week, they have failed to fully execute almost every single order I've placed - 10 lot shorts become 6 lot shorts with the remaining unexecuted 4 lots just waiting around to be triggered if, and when, the bid number gets hit again. Or my exit number is hit in a 10 lot long but only 4 lots get closed out - again with the remaining unexecuted lots still going strong, gaining or losing ground. I've been demo trading for only three weeks so imagine my confusion when this started happening...... It really hurts when your order is not fully executed as the forex landscape can (and often does) change drastically and all the while you're fumbling around trying to figure out what happened (or didn't happen), what the possible solution is, and then scramble to "fix" the balance of trade. I find that money management is impossible in these situations!! I know it is only a demo account, but really. How could one even think of live trading under these conditions? They said they didn't have the volume necessary at those times to fully execute those trades. Really? So frequently? My brother-in-law uses them too (a live account for quite some time now) and he has never had one single incident where his orders were not fully executed when they were supposed to be. When I mentioned that fact to the man at the help desk tonight (who, by the way, was helpful and friendly), he expressed surprise that he (my brother-in-law) has never experienced what I've been going through. I don't know, maybe it is just that I'm so new and what is happening with my orders happens with the same frequency to everyone (although somehow I doubt it, as I've never read about this problem in any of the Babypip forums), but the recent events have made me quite leery about placing trades.

This is unusual on a demo since orders are not being filled in anything but a virtual sense. However it is common on all live platforms. The fact of the matter is if you want to buy something at a specified price then someone must be willing to sell it to you otherwise there is no trade. Be aware that if you are trading small lots the order is not going to the real market and the liquidity exist only within the dealing platform. If you are trading at least a full lot on an ECN then your fill and slippage will depend on the volume not in the whole market but with the liquidity providers that your broker has. This is no different to trading any other instrument and is one of many reasons why excellent demo strategies fail in the real world. Get used to it and recognise this is nothing to do with the broker except in as much as they choose where they obtain their liquidity from