Is there any one broker that can do all THIS:

I’m looking for a broker recommendation that fits what is starting to feel like an impossible set of characteristics. Please prove me wrong, I beg you…

[ol]
[li]Based outside U.S. to avoid FIFO stupidity (preferably U.K., but anywhere well-regulated).[/li][li]Micro account availability to trade micro lots.[/li][li]Good reputation for executing trades with good spread, little slippage.[/li][li]Uses MetaTrader4 platform.[/li][/ol]
Is there anyone out there that fits this criteria?

oanda is by far the best broker around as they have excellent execution, tight spreads at 0.9pips on the eur/usd, they allow you to trade ANY amount no matter how small however they do not use mt4 but you can still open a demo account with another broker that does use mt4 and just use it for charting and execute your trades with oanda, i know many on here who follow this exact approach, myself included :slight_smile:

lee

Thanks for the reply, Lee.

Is Oanda an American broker governed by the NFA FIFO rules?

they are not effected by the new FIFO rules, from what i understand they have either cleverly found a way around it or are a US registered broker yet have branches at several other locations making them exempt although im not 100% sure so if anyone else could shed some light on this it would be greatly appreciated :slight_smile:

Can’t really shed that light, just felt I should add that Oanda never allowed hedging of the sort that other brokers did, so naturally the FIFO changes was much less of an issue to them.
Adding SL and TP to your orders still works just fine, as does it with several other brokers while yet others seem to have problems doing this under the new FIFO regulation.
Most likely the explanation for these differences is somewhere in the back office administration of the companies.

I’m still happy with Oanda, FIFO hasn’t affected my trading at all so far.

It was my understanding that the new FIFO rules also affected SLs and TSs, is this right?

Yes but it has had no effect on oanda what so ever, my stops and tp’s still execute perfectly :slight_smile:

Yes but it has had no effect on oanda what so ever, my stops and tp’s still execute perfectly :slight_smile:

i think ibfx has rewritten some of its software so that you can place stop loss and take profit orders the same as they used to before all these regs.

also im pretty sure ibfx has made it easy for you to open two or more accounts and trade them from the same mt4 and trade from the same chart which would allow you to hedge if you so desire.

Uk broker i would recommend Alpari UK(FSA regulated) been with them for over a year no problems so far

what i would say is from the 18th august they are making a policy change from fixed spreads to NON fixed, so i cant sy what’s going to happen from there on however so far they are excellent apart from requotes at news time

but you can fix that by amending your slippadge as they are a 5 decimal broker

Yep, still trading with ibfx. No problem placing sl and TP. Nothing has changed since to stupido fifo rules were inforced.

Well, I haven�t looked into it that much myself since I am only tradeing Demo so far but I am thinking of looking for a broker outside the US aswell…

There are lists of biggest traders you can google. My idea is to look for sources and investigate who they are before risking your money. Just a recommendation is not enough for me, even if I lose, I still want to be in control and not just “what I already know”.

For those who have mentioned Alpari and Oanda, can you tell me if microlots can be traded on MT4 with them? I downloaded an FXCM UK micro demo account, but apparently they only offer their proprietary software with a micro account and I’d like to learn trading - even microlots - on MT4.

Oanda is propietary too but you can trade % of avail. margin, pips, or $ amt. I like them because you can set default SL & TPs for any pr. you trade or set a default TP/SL for all prs., or combination of the two. And to move either just grab the line on the chart and move it up or down. They are geared for the more short term trader as their charts go to 5 sec. and no longer than 1 day. d.

Oanda doesn’t offer MT4, Alpari does. Both offer micro lots.

Would you know if one can trade microlots off MT4 with Alpari UK?

Yes, their .co.uk website states very clearly that you can.

Thank you for that reply! So far this would appear then to be the only broker which would allow me to practice not only with microlots, but to practice with the MT4 interface, as well.

The only drawback is that I have heard so many negative things about Alpari and their shifty spreads. What has your experience been with them?

I’ve never traded live with them but I’m slightly surprised to hear that. Back when I researched brokers I came to the finding that Alpari was one of the brokers with the best reputation. I love Oanda, but if I had to switch to a UK broker I’d go with Alpari.

Many here trade with FXCM and seem quite happy, others have heard horror stories about them and say they’re the worst. Peoples experiences can be very different and it’s best to take other’s opinions (including mine of course) with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The spread issue is not such a big deal to people like me who trade dailys and weeklies, that’s more a scalper/daytrader issue.