Hello
I am a newbie and have traded forex only on demo account with instatrader. As I have read a lot of complaints about it and many other reputed brokers on ForexPeaceArmy I am confused. There has been complaints about almost every broker, for most part a lot of complaints. Broker causing slippage, manipulating prices, draining funds and not replying,deactivating account and all funds lost etc. I didn’t know that finding a good broker was that difficult. I don’t want to be scammed. I know that no broker is perfect but you can not expect them to be that bad as I found. So, Please can anyone tell me which broker can I really rely on. I know there are a lot of traders with years of experience. Please help me. Thank You.
Go with the largest capitalized regulated broker you can find that offers quality services. You really can’t go wrong with Oanda or FXCM if you’re U.S. based. If you’re outside of the U.S. you have a much larger selection to choose from.
[QUOTE=“jadd806;618465”]Go with the largest capitalized regulated broker you can find that offers quality services. You really can’t go wrong with Oanda or FXCM if you’re U.S. based. If you’re outside of the U.S. you have a much larger selection to choose from.[/QUOTE]
Very nice. And put in way less words that I could have. Capitalization is the key, go with a low capitalized broker and you might be sorry. FXCM has had more lawsuits against it than Oanda, Just a heads up
Understand one thing about Brokers… They are not on your side. The idea is to beat both broker and banks. If you can’t you will loose money. It just is… We are the oil that greases the wheels.
On a positive front choose a broker that offers a Non dealing desk or Straight through processing model. This implies they will not interfere with your trades. FXCM has an ndd model but you have to physically enable it on your account home page. A broker that offers this will allow hedging and scalping.
When you are more well versed you can move to a true ECN model via FX Pro in the UK, minimum deposits are required and lot sizes are restricted. The sad news is most of these brokers don’t offer accounts to US residents. The best brokers are all in Cyprus. I use XM markets and they are brilliant on customer service front after 2 years still can’t complain, low spreads and never any trade manipulation.
All brokers mentioned I have accounts with…
HI jadd806. Thank you for replying. I live in India so I do have lots of choices. Which broker would you personally suggest with which you have a good experience. I have heard a lot of complaints about Oanda sometimes giving spreads as high as 90pips(really!!) and fxcm giving huge slippage, avoiding stoplosses, closing trades automatically when negative etc. See, I know maybe you think that I am going haywire but I have seen a lot of complaints on ForexPeaceArmy and not few a lot. Just type the broker name on google along with FPA and you will find those complaints.Which broker do you personally use?
Well Thank You emeraldorc. I have spent 2 days literally searching for a good broker and about their reviews. But I was exactly looking for this… a satisfied trader. Now I know with which broker to start my live account with. Thanks a ton. Happy Trading. Cheers!!!
And many thanks to your good self, I have read your letter and absorbed:
Try Alpari UK, I have MT5 ECN account with them for more than a year now and only had one price slippage(which ended in profit), but I can’t say I have tried any other broker but this one I believe is the best, they keep developing and adding new tools to help the trader like Autochartist.
Depositing and withdrawing is fast enough, and the support is great, that’s perfect for me.
Nice, thanks for the info, but a question. Why are all the best brokers in Cyprus?
I agree with this view.
Well the answer is quite simple. Cyprus is a tax haven with the tax rates in the US and other places good financial houses normally run for cover. Brokers in the US have been hit with regulations with the highest leverage at 1:50 in effect limiting the start up level in the business, this has advantages and disadvantages. Higher leverage ratios mean you open more trades with your broker because of the high leverage opportunities and low margin requirements but it is a double edge sword.
Cyprus is also still lacking in regulation but most of the brokers there are getting regulated in Australia and the UK to be more credible but the simple fact is, it’s an offshore jurisdiction so there is little probing into the affairs of these outfits. That said, these companies are the most innovative and tend to really value customers as the sheer number of them increases competition. In the US all I hear of us is OANDA and FXCM (not tried OANDA) but FXCM has its issues with a lot of complaints. They have no one-one account management which I found was an instant nightmare when I had deposit related issues. The size of their clientèle has probably led to a tier system with high net worth customers getting all the goodies but astonishingly they don’t even have a true ECN model.
There it is… So I certainly prefer the off-shores or UK brokers.
FxPro or PaxForex is where I have never had a single issue with for countless years now. As Grix said, compare and decide for yourself as in the end you need to decide what is best for you and the opinion of others should not influence your decision. I can tell you from my experience that I have met my brokers at their HQ unannounced before opening an account (may be the extreme but worth it for me).
[QUOTE=“TheLastBear;618819”]FxPro or PaxForex is where I have never had a single issue with for countless years now. As Grix said, compare and decide for yourself as in the end you need to decide what is best for you and the opinion of others should not influence your decision. I can tell you from my experience that I have met my brokers at their HQ unannounced before opening an account (may be the extreme but worth it for me).[/QUOTE]
XM markets FXCM
Great advice TheLastBear
IMO on this occasion follow my advice. It saves a world of hurt about stop hunts, etc.
FXPro run an ECN model, a must if you are serious about trading. Their Ctrader rocks it is like comparing a Rolls to a Beema in relation to MT4. A NON STARTER…
XM Markets run an STP model, slippage is rare and they are not making markets meaning no Book A and Book B clients but always ask if they are non-ECN
FXCM is the bucket shop market leader with every person in the FX world having been there. They have non-dealing desk model which can be as good as an ECN but if you have used ECN it is quite different. However this has to be enabled manually.
Take your pick. The best brokers this side of the hemisphere.
Hi Emeraldorc,
I must say I have mixed emotions regarding your comments about FXCM. I like that you refer to us as a market leader :57: but I take exception to your bucket shop reference :58:.
FXCM offers traders the choice between two types of forex execution: No Dealing Desk (NDD) and Dealing Desk (DD), however I’m confused by your statement that “this has to be enabled manually”. Can you please clarify what you meant?
Thanks,
Jason
[QUOTE=“Jason Rogers;619318”] Hi Emeraldorc, I must say I have mixed emotions regarding your comments about FXCM. I like that you refer to us as a market leader :57: but I take exception to your bucket shop reference :58:. FXCM offers traders the choice between two types of forex execution: No Dealing Desk (NDD) and Dealing Desk (DD), however I’m confused by your statement that “this has to be enabled manually”. Can you please clarify what you meant? Thanks, Jason[/QUOTE]
XM market is better , you guys don’t offer leverage , you only allow clients to trade on margin
All I care about is data. All brokers are pretty much the same other than the capitalization. A difference in a few pips in spread? Woah, such a deal breaker. It really doesn’t matter. What’s important is if the broker offers free data that is reliable and hopefully has minimal gaps. No body cares about the data I see, and that’s why 98% fail lol. I get it I really do. Sell these fancy ass looking platforms with 80 bajillion indicators with the “lowest spread” even NDD!!! Bingo, make billions off retail traders certain to lose their ass in the market. I really should open a brokerage firm. This is ridiculous. Sorry for the sour mood guys I just get sick of these being the number one posts, my fault for not unsubscribing.
I think Jesse Livermore describes you all as bucket shops (let’s not pretend :58:the game is still about cleaning margins being fair game and all). You do have a dealing desk (bucket shop, of course the dealer can’t resist the odd stop hunt) and there are so many reviews online about what the old days at FXCM were like. Seems like you have cleaned your act. Well I have an account with you.
To clarify. NDD on my account I had to go to the account tab and change it from dealing desk to Non dealing desk which was fine but I am sure a lot of your complaints are because customers at the time were not selective about this. I also later had to re-open a new sub account for MT4 as apparently a trading station account is different from an MT4 account, in any case my MT4 was automatic NDD. I can only imagine this is an oversight on trading station accounts. 
Hi Libertysilver, there seems to be some confusion here. Leverage and margin are two sides of the same coin. All retail forex brokers require traders to put up margin for their open positions. The lower the margin requirement, the higher the leverage that’s available. The higher the margin requirement, the lower the leverage that’s available.
For example, if the margin requirement on a trade is 0.5% that allows you to use up to 200:1 leverage to magnify gains and losses. Note that the minimum margin requirement and therefore the maximum available leverage can vary from one jurisdiction to the next.
CFTC regulations set the minimum margin requirement on forex trades at 2% for all US brokers which means FXCM US clients are limited to 50:1 leverage. By contrast, FXCM clients living outside the US can trade with lower margin requirements and higher leverage as a result.