The innocent question...

[skypipin]

I have been testing forex for around 2 months now, after the initial fumbling with demo accounts I began working out and testing some strategies that worked for me. I tried different trading platforms and different brokers, successfully so far, in terms of positive balance. I am trying to decide which broker to try a live account with and that's where my problems really started, I want to start with one that allows me to trade micro lots, then move to mini and finally to standard. I filtered the brokers according to the following criteria: Micro lots, NFA or CFTC registered, MT4 preferable. From the list obtained I tried to get those with fixed or low spreads and tested them. My problem is, whenever I think I have found "the one" (fast executions, reliable platform, at least on demo) I browse the net for users reviews and... Time and again I find many people label it as SCAM. There areeven some users, with many years of experience (or so they say), which label the whole of forex brokers as a complete SCAM... I wonder... What is the point of earning a profit if the guys on the other side won't let you widthraw, lock your trades when you want are on positive, make up all kinds of exccuses to wipe your account clean...etc...etc... For a newbie who is taking the first steps in this world this is quite... dissapointing. I am spending more time filtering a seemingly honest broker who allows micro lots and is registered with a major agency than, actually, learning and testing strategies... Any help? A simple advice maybe... Thanks in advance

[bobmaninc]

You cant pay to much attention to alot of reviews. If a trader looses money they will blame it on there broker and everything else in the world before accepting the fact they lost. That does not make there broker a scam. There are alot of good brokers out there. If they are registered they are most likely not a scam that dont mean they are a good broker but not a scam. I trade with fxsolutions they have micro mini and standard accounts and have MT4. I dont use the MT4 plattfrom but it is offered. You also got Oanda thats about all I know of that I can say for sure have MT4 and are certainly not a scam. Good luck. I also know with fxsolutions they are pretty quick on getting you your money when you with draw the only issue I have with them is not direct deposit you have to wait to get a check in the mail. But I dont pay bills with fx money its all play money to me so I can wait for it to come in the mail.

[Buckscoder]

Go with a reliable ecn broker. I wouldn't say all mms are a scam. Albeit a lot of reviews out there regarding market makers speak in truth. Even if they don't go intentionally after your money, they have no inherent interest in giving you a reliable server platform. That's where requotes, reconnection issues etc. etc. come from. I'd go as far to say all of them put their money in the (promotions) marketing and not in long customer relationships. They know that 90% or so of the losing trader crowd pay them money and then after that they leave. The other (profitable) 10% or so will use ecn accounts anyways.

Think of it: For a broker it's easy to statistically divide in losers and winners. A typical loser has a small account with small lots (mini and less) while a typical winner has a huge account with standard lots and more. So as broker it makes sense to invest in customer relationships of winners with reliable systems as the only money comes from commission and not so much of spread or losing trades. The losers might lose anyways and the only interest seems to be to keep them that they deposit more money, but not to let them win with effort of the brokerage.

[fedegmail]

Hello, this is the same situation I lived a few months ago. I was looking for some reliable broker and every time I found some interesting broker, I also found negative opinions on the web. I think this is the result of competition between brokers, or opinions of someone who is frustrated by losing a lot of money. Try to select 3 or 4 brokers, then you have to spend a little time to see their characteristics and their credentials, then open a demo account with 2 brokers you like more, spend a little time with a demo account and finally you can decide which is best for you to open a real account. Wish you the best, bye bye and see you soon.

[SDC]

You cant pay to much attention to alot of reviews. If a trader looses money they will blame it on there broker and everything else in the world before accepting the fact they lost.

Someone always says that in response to this kind of question, the problem with assuming the reviews are at fault and not the brokers, is, where are all the corresponding false reviews by people who made bad decisions while trading stocks calling all the stockbrokers a scam ?

[skypipin]

Go with a reliable ecn broker. I wouldn't say all mms are a scam. Albeit a lot of reviews out there regarding market makers speak in truth. Even if they don't go intentionally after your money, they have no inherent interest in giving you a reliable server platform. That's where requotes, reconnection issues etc. etc. come from. I'd go as far to say all of them put their money in the (promotions) marketing and not in long customer relationships. They know that 90% or so of the losing trader crowd pay them money and then after that they leave. The other (profitable) 10% or so will use ecn accounts anyways.

Think of it: For a broker it's easy to statistically divide in losers and winners. A typical loser has a small account with small lots (mini and less) while a typical winner has a huge account with standard lots and more. So as broker it makes sense to invest in customer relationships of winners with reliable systems as the only money comes from commission and not so much of spread or losing trades. The losers might lose anyways and the only interest seems to be to keep them that they deposit more money, but not to let them win with effort of the brokerage.

Hmmm... So, this raises the question, has any trader EVER been "allowed" by his/her broker to start with $2500 and get to $1000000? Mathematically it is quite possible with a (so they say, realistic) 1% profit a day, in 2/3 years, but in real life, has anyone really done something similar? No matter how good he/she is? And being ""allowed"" to withdraw?

[SimonTemplar]

I don't know where you are, I am in the UK and trade using ETX Capital and have nothing but praise for them. I have a five figure account with them, have never had any issue with withdrawals or deposits, each withdrawal has taken the same amount of time, gone through without any issue. So I would recommend them as a broker, but realize that you do not know me, so that means as much as the internet reviews you have seen (which I personally would not dismiss out of court - such reviews often do build up a theme).

However, some general advice which is relevant to this: I don't hold my whole trading account with my broker. I have a dedicated, ring-fenced bank account that we treat as part my trading account; the funds physically in my trading account are simply sufficient to make the mechanics of trading work, give me sufficient to cover Stops etc. Mentally, I treat the bank funds as lumped in with the funds held by my broker. I risk 1% of my pot per trade - I actually risk 1% of the combined total of this bank account and my trading account. Therefore, if there were ever to be a problem with my broker (which I stress has never happened) my exposure would be limited to the funds held directly in my trading account, while the bank account would be unaffected. This also makes it easier to move money around, as the 'bank' trading account obviously comes with online banking etc. I hold the trading account at a fixed level.

I set things up this way as I find it easier being able to use online banking, but it could also work as a model for you to protect yourself from poor practice should you be unfortunate enough to deposit funds with an unscrupulous broker.

ST

[goldenmember]

yes notice all the bad reviews are that they think te broker is hunting their stops and the broker making the market go the wrong way which is impossible tbh. The only bad things to look out for is when they don't allow withdrawals, pooe execution, requotes etc.

[pilotalexander]

You certainly should look into oanda. They have a great platform, support mt4, have fast execution, and great spreads.

[skypipin]

You certainly should look into oanda. They have a great platform, support mt4, have fast execution, and great spreads.

That's one of the brokers I am testing with, has MT4, micro accounts, is registered. On the minus side: When using MT4 the chart stops, from time to time (every 20 minutes, maybe), for a minute or so, creating "discontinuities", not that they don't warn us of some problems, when using MT4, still... It does makes me feel a bit unconfortable, although it will not kill me to have an ""awesome"" €50 of profit hanging out there waiting the signal to come back in order to be made into profit , I will start with micro, anyway, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to see If that will be an issue or not before commiting more money to the system. Maybe they just want us to use their platform instead of MT4, I'll have to check if the chart stops at the same time in their platform. I like MT4 because: It is cross-broker and you don't have to learn a new interface if you skip broker, has lots of tools (more than I could care to use, probably, but a lot to choose from), and it is easy to costumize.

Anyway, I think I'll take Buckscoder suggestion and also look for an ECN MT4 account that lets me start in micro (if any), yes there're comissions, but maybe I prefer that to the creepy feeling there's some big brother watching my deals ready to kill the server when I won the day...