Stop Loss no longer allowed? NFA

[Clint]

I think I can answer a couple of the questions raised on this thread.

Regarding non-U.S. brokers, I would suggest you consider: FXCM Ltd (UK), Alpari (UK), and ACM (Swiss) Of those three, my preference would be FXCM, because I am already an FXCM client, and I know and trust them. Also, the Financial Services Authority in the U.K., which regulates forex brokers, offers a level of protection to retail forex customers which is not available in the U.S.

Regarding liquidity providers (banks), trading platforms and data feeds: in the case of FXCM, all of these are the same for FXCM LLC (US) accounts and for FXCM Ltd (UK) accounts.

Regarding taxes: the U.S. imposes a tax claim on the worldwide income (including forex trading profits) of U.S. citizens, regardless of where they reside. You can live and work in the U.K., for example, and even hold dual US/UK citizenship, and the U.S. IRS will still claim that you owe U.S. income tax on all of your income, no matter where it is earned.

The only way to get the IRS completely off your back is to RENOUNCE your U.S. citizenship.

Many people, hearing all this for the first time, do not believe it. So, I will furnish three links to the website of a tax attorney who specializes in taxes for expatriate Americans:

*US Expatriate Tax Return Information and Preparation by Attorney &CPA with 27 years experience Don Nelson's home page.

US Citizens Living Abroad, Expatriates, IRS Income Tax Explained Tax highlights for U.S. citizens living abroad.

Foreign Bank and Financial Account IRS Reporting for U.S. Expatriates Foreign bank account reporting (FBAR) Form TDF 90-22.1, required by IRS, for U.S. persons living abroad.

As they say in poker, Read 'em and weep.

Clint

[rtv2]

Clint, have you done a dos netstat command to confirm where your data feed comes from. Not to get into an arguement but just to confirm the data feed.

I did a netstat command and found that IBFX IP number and ran it through the whois database and confirmed it does indeed come from Salt Lake city.

I get no connection from MB Trading so i cannot test or verify.

If you really want to have fun run a tracert to that IP and see the hops the actual packets travel through!

I do this because that it helps me to determine that i cannot be a short term scapler as some people are. Some people say that they are in and out in just a few seconds. Therefore if my datafeed comes from New York there is quite possibly a 2 second delay because of the many routers and switches involved in the packet delivery.

That is only to say that the closer you are to the data feed the better for very short term scalpers.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by rtv2

Clint, have you done a dos netstat command to confirm where your data feed comes from. Not to get into an arguement but just to confirm the data feed.

I have not done that (in fact, I don't have a clue how to go about it).

I'm taking the word of FXCM. They say that liquidity providers, platform functionality, etc., are the same on both sides of the pond.

I'm close to New York, and a long way from London, so I would not be surprised if there is a slight difference in signal transmission time to and from these two locations. I'll look into this.

I'm not a scalper, but I'd still like everything to be executed "instantaneously".

[rtv2]

Clint, quick question.

I loaded the clock_v1_3.mq4 and it has the following:

Local 11:37
GMT 17:37
London 18:37
Tokyo 02:37
Broker 19:37

IBFX (the broker) is in my time zone, would you happen to know why they are shown as above?

Thanks

[Clint]

Originally Posted by rtv2

Clint, quick question.

......would you happen to know why they are shown as above?

rtv2,

If I understand your question, you're asking why "Broker" is shown as 19:37, when your broker is in Salt Lake City (MDT time zone) --- which, at the time of your post, was 11:37 (the same as your local time). Have I got the question right, so far?

You're obviously using an MT4 platform (I presume from IBFX), and the app that you loaded is calling the platform "Broker".

The "off-the-shelf" version of MT4 uses Central European Time. Currently, because Europe is on Daylight Saving Time, the Central European time zone is CEST (Central European Summer Time), and CEST = GMT+2. That's the 19:37 time you are seeing.

I have two MT4 accounts, one from Alpari UK, and one from FXCM UK. The time shown in the Market Watch window on my Alpari MT4 is always CEST. But, on my FXCM MT4 it is London time (BST = GMT+1), because FXCM made some changes to the platform.

Here is an Alpari video explaining why the MT4 platform uses Central European Time:
Forex with Alpari (UK) - Alpari Academy - Video Tutorials - MetaTrader 4 Tips and Tricks

I hope this answers your question.

Clint

[rtv2]

Thanks Clint, that was it, i am still grinding away at this FX stuff. I still have 10 months to go before i go live i believe. I told my wife that i would take a full year at about 10-12 hours a day before i throw money at the market.

However, i have heard that it might be better to open up a nano or micro account to get started in the psycholgical aspect of the trading using .o1 lots.

I hate to lose money anytime or anywhere.

[akeakamai]

Originally Posted by rtv2

I hate to lose money anytime or anywhere.

You will probably blow account after account until you can change that belief you have about losing money. Even good systems will drawdown and if you don't have the emotional capacity to stay cool in that situation you will make more mistakes and compound your losses until the inevitable happens.

Demo is good for learning how the market moves and figuring out how the orders work, but I think a micro account will be the only way to learn how to work with your emotions with real money. I mean maybe you'll blow a $100 account. That's a lot of money for a haircut, but this is education towards a highly paid career. How many Harvard MBA's you think you can get for $100?

[unlimited]

rtv2,

I recommend going ahead with a nano or micro acct to get your feet wet. As others have mentioned, it's an investment in education. I did well with demos but didn't realize how emotional one can get when it comes to real money.

I've used an account to practice with cents instead of big money. Once you get your emotions in tact - and stick to your system - you'll be okay. :-D

Also, I am peeved about the new no hedging rule and no stop/loss being imposed w/ US FX brokers. Think this will wedge out th little guy. Forex has been a good friend in an unstable economy. On a good note, FXCM is asking clients if they'd like their accounts transfered to the UK.

[unlimited]

Originally Posted by Clint

The only way to get the IRS completely off your back is to RENOUNCE your U.S. citizenship.

That sucks on so many levels but I appreciate your awareness and sharing.

God bless the USA, but can we get a break so we can contribute to the rebuild of the economy and feather our nest too?

C'mon.

[rtv2]

Akeakamai, i do understand what you mean about your emotions. However i started with fundamentals on the equity side of the house. I started to read Cramers books and he advised reading some horse book, but i chose "No limit Hold'em" instead. I spent quite awhile learning to read players and the odds, statistics and the outs and what have you. I am familiar with the emotions and money as i have gambled for money, and not just play money.

I don't do anything like this until i am quite sure that the odds are in my favor.