Please help me select a broker

So there are a lot of options out there, and I’m seeing different lists of brokers to choose from on different sites, some say you don’t want a specific type of certification and some say other things, the learning curve for such seems pretty steep. I’ve been reading through the material under the “school” section here, and I’ve got a book on Eliot Waves for forex, and I’ve fooled around with a demo account at GFT. I’m not ready to go live yet, but I want to now start practicing where I will eventually be trading.

So, some background information about me…

I am an American, I will just be trying to trade the major currency pairs (for now).

I feel that I would be a quick trader, so low spreads are a must.

When I start I will have in the range of about $5-6K to put into the account, which I think is sufficient (if not quite optimal) to start with a standard account, though I’d like your opinions on this as well. This is money I can risk, and I’m not really willing to start off with more than that. So far in demo trading I’ve not done anything with more than 1 lot at a time.

I will largely be trading at night time

I will probably be focusing on technical analysis, and will try to stay away from trading when big news is going on. At least in the beginning.

What brokers would be good for me?

Also, some further questions:

I do not really understand what “Dealing Desk” vs “non Dealing Desk.” From what I’ve gathered it affects slippage, but I don’t really understand how. So, how does it?

What is hedging, in regards to what some forex brokers don’t allow? I was looking at the forex brokers comparisons and it lists hedging as a feature. Also, same question for “Trading from charts.”

Thank you.

Hi there,

As an Amearican, you are going to battle to be accepted by many brokers outside the USA. Your government places such onerous hurdles when it comes to dealing with their citizens that the brokers quite understandably rather stay away.

Next, I suggest you dump the Elliot Waves book. Elliot Wave is pretty advanced stuff and there are many experienced traders(myself included) who do not have a grip on it, so unless you a rocket scientist on the side, you are opening a whole lot of confusion for yourself.

Rather get a handle on things like Price Action, Support and Resistance and maybe pivot points.

Hedging in the most basic sense of the word means opening an opposite direction trade so that you are protected no matter which way the market moves. The NFA(USA Gov again) recently banned hedging for what I consider to be pretty sound reasons. Nevertheless, there are some guys that wish to be free to trade whatever strategy they wish, which I guess is their right. Since NFA regulated brokers are not allowed to offer you this trading pattern, it has become a big selling point for non-NFA regulated brokers, hence the reference to “hedging allowed”.

I consider MB Trading to be a top notch broker and they are NFA regulated and they will take USA citizens. They will allow you to have a mini account which you can operate with $500 instead of $5000 as you are probably going to lose a chunk of that first account.

They have a couple of platforms available for you to choose from. I am partial to Metatrader 4 but you may take your pick. Anyway, there are probably lots more good brokers that take US citizens but I generally only recommend ones that I trade live with and that I am profitable with.

I have had a mini account with FXCM. They have suggested I may want to transfer my account to their UK division (in light of the changes in margin requirements)…which I did and have changed it to a micro account. With a micro account you can trade as low as 10 cents per pip, maybe lower. The margin requirements are lower in UK also.
I also have a IBFX micro account in which I can trade as low as 1 cent per pip which I like better than trading a demo account as it is real money as opposed to pretend money.
Either one of these accounts can be opened for less than $100, perhaps as low as $25.

I have a DEMO Acct with FXCM (UK) and their minimum deposit is $5000.

You are probably talking about a standard account. Mini’s & Micro’s have different requirements.

Dude, have a look at FX Open. Fast execution, low spreads, and they’re also an MT4 ECN.

I use Dukascopy.
Swiss.
Reliable.
Fast in execution.
ECN.
Rapid payments.

I’m happy with’em.
…and, by the way, I’m also an introducing agent for them (it means that you inscribe with me, and get back 45% commissions rebates every month), so do NOT trust me! :smiley:
Make your own idea, and see what people think about them.
And, if you choose them, and you’re interested in my offer, come back, my young padawan…(but i do NOT give you my website address, as it is against this forum’s policy… :D)

FX Open is generally good for trading since they also use MT4. The only problem that some of my friends have with them is that there seems to be a discrepancy in your orders. If you open or close a position, it may take some time for them to accept or reject it. Perhaps there is something wrong with their dealing desk. But I guess other than that, their service is ok. Why not try their demo account.

Hi. You might want to try with Forex Signs, Inc. (FSI). For beginners, this broker offers some good trading tools and even provide their private clients with forex trading advice and recommendations without charge.

Hi,

I have been trading with exness as a retail trader they are reliable and have excellent customer support.

Thanks

Awesome, except they’re not MT4. Actually, FX Open uses Dukas’ feed, so really, going with FX Open MT4 ECN is almost like having an MT4 Dukas.

Actually Varengold Bank FX would be a reliable solution as well. Your funds are secured, they are regulated, trading with MT4, speedy execution, STP Trading, no Dealing Desk, Spreads like 2 pip (variable), no commissions (besides spreads) no costs

yeah i’ve heard varengold are pretty good as well.

didn’t know that…interesting…
:slight_smile:

Yes, very…

Hey guys. I know I haven’t posted in the thread since I posted it but I came back a couple of times to read, and I appreciate the responses. Life caught up with me, and I’m going to try to get back into looking at this but I have a feeling that it’ll catch back up with me in a week. Though I know things will calm down for me in August which is when I’m going to make a real push to get some learning here done. And between then and now I’ll see what I can do.

As for the Elliot waves, I still haven’t really looked at the book, but as far as background goes… a minor in math good enough? Are they really super complicated, or is it just I’m going have have to do some algebra or calculus? I’m not a genius, but I have some quantitative background.

Anyway, I’m looking at taking $100 or so with FX Open and just playing around with it for educational purposes? Is that a good idea? I don’t mind losing some money learning how to trade.

Anyway, as for the brokers, I guess I’d be looking at the MB Trading Varengold and FX open then? I looked around and saw a lot of mention of OANDA, is that one good as well?