Going offshore to escape the CFTC

Thanks. I will add your vote to the tally.

So I was seriously considering renouncing my U.S. citizenship,
as the best European brokerages are unavailable to me. This
includes Dukascopy and LMAX. However, I decided to get creative
and explore a bit.

While in a trance-like state, I stumbled firstly upon MB Trading
which is a U.S. broker and their cTrader / cAlgo implementation.
I was quickly impressed, and discovered that this platform is actually
"the successor to MetaTrader" in many folks’ opinion.

But then I stumbled upon TradersWay for cTrader / cAlgo and then
realized it was on the list as accepting U.S. traders. I promptly opened
a cTrader 1:500 ECN account. Despite a couple of days trying to push
money in and having to have the Credit Card unblock the foreign
transaction, it was smooth as silk.

Did some live trading and monitoring, and I can say that cTrader with
the cAlgo programmability is “freakin awesome” and I come from a
Dukascopy API background where nearly everything is programmable,
and I can only say that cTrader’s C# implementation has inspired me.

I’ll be able to hack together Robots with socket network access and
user interfaces with as complex logic as I want with cAlgo in cTrader
so I will be a happy camper.

Also I’m looking into their Binary Options area as well. But I have
decided that I can live either with TradersWay and/or MB Trading and
function as a U.S. person without having to renounce my citizenship
and move to Canada !!

As I get a bit more experience with TradersWay I’ll post a followup, but
it’s a life saver for me as a U.S. person…

Good Trading !
HyperScalper

Thanks HyperTrader.

Is that a vote for [B]Trader’s Way[/B] as a “trusted broker”?

Well… I feel I need a couple of weeks before coming to such a
dramatic and potentially U.S. nationwide radical "leap of faith"
so let me hold off on that, since my reputation may well be
on the line this time… :slight_smile: HyperScalper

The mobile versions of MT4 are mostly not broker-branded like the desktop verion … you just download the vanilla app to your device and then select the broker you want. We have iOS and Android versions so you should be able to trade our accounts without an issue.

Correct. As long as your broker is listed, you can trade iphone or ipad. Metaquotes has recently upgraded the ipad version, looks like desktop, but since it is not windows based no custom indicators are supported.

Hi,

So now I have some more experience with TradersWay (TW), and
this time something completely new for me. Binary Options, on
Forex in my case.

Like many brokers, TW offers a turnkey white labelled solution based
on the SpotOption platform.

From my home office location I was having trouble with data feeds
through the browser based platform. In the end, I realized that it
was inadequacy in my router and network, so I moved to our German
Centos/Gnome Linux server and used Firefox, accessing it through VNC.
Rock solid feed, no hangs ever (which I was getting locally) and
with Price Updates from SpotOption several times per second.

Now, extreme scalping is my thing :slight_smile: I have analytics which predict price
movements in the “nano scalping” timeframe. So, I decided to
“nano scalp binary options” using a 60 second expiry time.

Dang, it works. So for me this is a new area, with returns in the range
of 60% to 80% on my Amount “invested”. So, for example, if I trade
with $10 I can expect to receive NET $6-$8 on a WIN, but I lose my
$10 if it expires worthless. All you have to do is to be correct whether
it goes UP (“Call”) or DOWN (“Put”) by any amount whatsoever, even
1 PIP and you WIN !! So Breakdowns are a good candidate for most
scalpers and I mainly look for weakness opportunities (“Put”) on these trades.

My win rates are much higher than the risk/reward ratio, and these trades
can be turned around in a matter of minutes… So, something to think
about, provided… that you can predict price movements on those
timeframes … :wink:

A MetaTrader ECN account at TradersWay is the account where the
Binary Options results are “booked”. The Binary Options profits/losses
are instantly applied.

So next time you blame your Browser for crappy streaming, be sure
you try out a Server and get “data center networking” which will
likely eliminate the problem. Ya learn something every day :slight_smile:

So I will automate the triggering here, probably using AutoHotkey or
SendKeys. In my case I can choose either a Linux box or a Windows
server, either should be fine.

SO, Clint, I will say “Trusted Broker” status looks like applying to
TradersWay.com . If I have to revoke it later, we’ll cross that bridge
when we come to it !!

As a U.S. person, I really really appreciate your list of foreign brokerages
which continue to accept us !!! It has saved my azz, in several ways, even
though currently I have a partnership with a European guy but, if I should
lose that, I’d be screwed. So this is a viable Plan B which may just become
my Plan A !!!

HyperScalper

1 Like

[U]Updated Vote Tally[/U] — [B](yes[/B] = +1 point, [B]maybe[/B] = 0, and [B]no[/B] = -1 point)

• Babypipsrocks’ “yes” vote for Forex Broker Inc moves them back into the top 4

• HyperScalper’s “yes” vote for Trader’s Way moves them into a tie for 1st place

[B]The top 5 brokers* based on points, so far —[/B]

[B]1st[/B] - Profiforex — 3 points (plus a maybe)

[B]1st[/B] - Trader’s Way — 3 points

[B]2nd[/B] - AssetsFX — 1 point (plus a maybe)

[B]2nd[/B] - Forex Broker Inc — 1 point

[B]3rd[/B] - Sensus Capital Markets — (2 maybe’s)

  • not counting FX Choice and Tallinex, which are already designated as trusted brokers

.

My cTrader experience is with their CT.ECN account. Spreads are not terrible,
but it ain’t LMAX… Level 2 Depth of Market for Forex, accessible programmatically
from their cAlgo language. Trading from a Price Ladder, Drag n Click on chart
it doesn’t get much better for the platform itself, not to mention it is
infinitely extensible through C# coding with lots and lots of examples. You
can use Visual Studio Express for Free, so long as you do not require
“addons” to better code up your cAlgo cBots (Robots).

cTrader’s HTML 5 style interface makes MetaTrader look a bit “stale” but
they offer both.

Execution fast, stable little or no slippage, but cTrader
platform is out of this world fabulous, along with cAlgo C# trading environment
and an increasing market of vendors for cAlgo “cBots”. It’s gonna make some
inroads into the MetaTrader market, I hope, from what I hear. For U.S.
traders, if leverage is your thing, 1:500 can pump up your buying power,
relative to MB Trading, the other U.S. cTrader brokerage.

Multiple simultaneous Buy Limits and Sell Limits, intra-instrument
hedging of course which I know Forex people just Love, even though
it is mainly meaningless…

Support very responsive, “out of reach” of the CFTC that’s for sure,
with multiple funding options, even including BitCoin… Anyway,
MT4 of course with ECN, I know less about that, but your Binary
Options book into your MT4 account instantly. Spoke with them
and they said they would try to get the “plugin” for MT4 which
interfaces with their SpotOption.com supplied Binary Options
system, which has a Browser Web based interface at the moment
and no explicit API, so this might be an API to the binaries.

Also, could not get my Android 4.3 rooted to run TraderWay’s cTrader
on Playstore, but then I found NONE of the cTraders on Playstore
would even start up. Spoke with their support and they sent me
an APK to install, works perfectly. Must be an issue across all of
cTrader’s white labels. cTrader Mobile is pretty awesome.

Joe Carney <[email protected]> is a very helpful support
guy, really sales, but anyway knowledgeable and prompt.

Not sure whether IRS would hassle you for trading Binaries with
a foreign brokerage, but I imagine it’s not a big issue, we’ll see…

HyperScalper

Put me down for a positive vote for TradersWay. I have been trading with them since December and they are incredibly easy to deal with. Withdrawals have been processed in under 24 hours (in my case a few minutes to a few hours).

Joe has been a great resource in addressing my support needs.

I will do a more detailed update on them later.

1 Like

H’mmmm, some people can develop the skill to profitably trade currencies, stock indexes, metals, etc. I wonder if HyperScalper believes that a trader can turn 10 dollars into millions within several years with Binary Options. I also am curious to know if the Binary Options market is big enough, like the currency markets, to absorb million dollar trades without significantly influencing that market with each trade.

Got it.

Trader’s Way takes over the no. 1 spot with 4 points.

Attached is an image of Analytics indicating a Short entry, or a PUT Binary Option entry.

This is one of a few detailed indicators the trader would use in choosing trades.

For Binary Options, with short duration such as 60 sec, 90 sec, 120 sec out to 5 minutes or so,
these would be high probability trades. A PUT need only expire 1 PIP or more below the entry
price to WIN. $100 would win about $70-$80 on a typical Binary Options venue. Of course,
you risk a loss of $100. Therefore, your Win/Loss ratio must be high to survive.

Compare this outcome to a typical Short trade in Forex instead. You would need to have a $100k position,
EUR/USD ($10/PIP), and to close your Short on an 8 PIP down move for an equivalent payout.

An 8 PIP drop is far less likely than a 2 PIP drop, in my way of thinking. Therefore, I would say
Binary options can transform “market wiggles” into profit with higher efficiency perhaps than
ordinary position trading. For me, this is the critical observation.

AS IN ALL TRADING, WITHOUT PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS ON YOUR TRADING HORIZON,
(YOUR EXPIRY TIMEFRAME) YOU CAN’T WIN.

For Binary Options, EUR/USD is not a great choice of Symbol to trade. Others, such as GBP/JPY
offer more short term price movement, which is critical in these situations. Again, however,
your predictive analytics must have accurate “traction” or you will lose. Automated triggered
“pullback” strikes are also a big help, as 1 PIP makes the difference between a WIN and a LOSS.

In Binary Options you are Winning on the backs of others who are ONLY GUESSING… Analytics
is your Edge over “the House”. Better than a Casino, I’d say, since based upon measurable
data, and you can choose WHEN to strike. I Love Trading, don’t you ? :slight_smile:

HyperScalper


Yes, HyperScalper, I love trading, too, that is, relative to other ways I can make money. Let us know in the future if you made a small fortune or more with Binary Options or with any other kind of offshore, high leveraged trading, too.

Ummm… are you with the IRS ? :slight_smile: just kidding… LOL

Good point. I believe that many brokers have a maximum trade volume size. But I think you can open up many trades at once too. Not sure if you can do a $10,000 binary options trade on any reputable platforms at the moment. Anyone know? I would not do it anyway.

Yes, one solution, other than searching for another broker, is to make consecutive trades, one right after the other, each with the maximum allowable volume until you have used up all the money in your account that you want to risk. A recent online chat with TradersWay support confirmed that this is a way to get around the volume/leverage limits on each trade most brokers impose. I was pleasantly surprised a day or two ago when I contacted Tallinex support through their online chat window, to learn that Tallinex does not automatically reduce leverage step ladder wise as the size of the account increases. The representative said basically, “depending on the circumstances,” that I might very well be able to place a million dollar currency trade using the EUR/USD currency pair, for example, [B][/B] [B]using 500 to 1 leverage[/B]. Most brokers automatically reduce leverage as the account grows. TradersWay limits leverage to 100 to 1 when the account reaches $50,000 or more, which is really not bad at all for that much money.

The money I’m trading with certainly does not even approach a million dollars, but these things are good to know in case one later does strike it rich in the financial markets. It’s at least nice to dream a little once in a while. And I am not an IRS agent, although at least one of them probably keeps an eye on this very public forum, regularly.

The IRS, the CFTC and the NFA. You can count on it.

That’s quite correct… we don’t have a step-ladder system - we have a risk-assessment system that looks at a number of factors over a rolling 30-day period and decides how it needs to adapt your leverage.

By considering things like: account type (Pro/Micro), account balance, average floating P/L, trade sizes, mix of traded pairs, whether trades are held open at weekends, etc., it can increase or restrict your leverage accordingly and treat you as an individual while minimising the risk to Tallinex.

I just wanted to reiterate what I said on 2015.03.02 but with a few more additions.

So far this week [B]Tallinex ECN-PRO[/B] account spreads have been [B]lower[/B] than all other brokers I have analyzed. Their charts are also displaying their live quotes exactly and in real time. This is something apparently not all brokers do.

[B]In my opinion Tallinex is the best broker on the list. Their ECN-PRO spreads are the lowest, their charts reflect real time quotes and they have exotic pairs. I have noticed many brokers not offering exotics. [/B]

I would also like to add that last week after trading a couple of major economic releases that my stop losses were triggered with [B]zero[/B] slippage even on [B]exotic[/B] pairs! Another important factor that I already knew about Tallinex which further separates them from the rest was already mentioned recently:

“I was pleasantly surprised a day or two ago when I contacted Tallinex support through their online chat window, to learn that Tallinex does not automatically reduce leverage step ladder wise as the size of the account increases.”

[B]My vote goes to Tallinex.[/B]