What are the most important factors when choosing a Broker?

[fxchant]

Originally Posted by geline

Make sure you register in a large broker with proven record of reliability.
Make sure of the broker's credibility and they must have a very accessible support desk.

I think the above comments about being regulated are very important. Don't let them hold your money off-shore!

FXChant
Singing the world of forex

[shaggie]

How do i find a non dealing desk broker, i've heard the term, but never thought it was that important. I am with FX Solutions but i'm not sure if they have a non dealing desk or not, but i will check.

Thx


Not sure why this ended up here, hope for a reply

[pipbull]

Originally Posted by fxchant

Stop hunting is when your forex broker moves their quote simply to hit their customer stop orders. Remember, unless you are trading with a non-dealing-desk broker, they are trading against you, so when you sell on a stop, they are buying. They have complete price control.

FXChant
Singing the world of forex

Yes, stop hunting can and does happen but don't dwell on it. As mentioned already they tend to do it where the masses place their stops, right at key support and resistance levels. They won't start going into individual accounts to see where YOU specifically placed your stop and pick it off. When and if it happens with your particular broker, it happens to the masses at the same time. So, if you happen to use these areas as stop levels just give yourself a little more breathing room. In other words, instead of placing your stop 5 pips beyond a key level, place it 20 pips or something to that effect. I trade off the 4 hour and daily charts and i find that 20-30 pips beyond the main level is more than enough to keep you from being "hunted"

[forexcranium]

the spread on the NFP!

[seihes]

I read on another forum that most brokers would stop hunt individually. Read this link if you're interested.

I have to say I lost a lot of trust and confidence since I heard about stop hunting.

I haven't had a practical experience on the forex yet. I am still a beginner.

But after a lot of reading, I think that one should not choose a broker according to his size or capital. The market makers "make a market" for the individual traders. You don't really have access at the interbank market. Whenever you buy, the broker sells, and vice versa. So the brokers has a big capital, guess where that comes from? Probably money they made from their customers.

I'd rather pay a commission on every lot traded, rather than a commission hidden in the spread ("free commission"). So I'd be sure how much the service costs me.

I tried some non-dealing desk brokers. Since the brokers only transfer (and do not requote, or manipulate the price) the prices, you get sometimes spread as little a 1 pip. Unlike market makers, who manipulate the price and give you single quote on bid /ask, you get a few different ones with a non-dealing desk.

It seems though that the software is less sexy than that of the market maker's. For example, the two demo I downloaded do not have a charting package included. But then, I could get that somewhere else.

I am still a beginner and I do not have a practical experience in the forex market. If you're looking for those non-dealing desk broker, do like me: Google it.

[rhodytrader]

So-called pip hunting, if it occurs, is only a problem for scalpers and very short-term traders - or traders who put their stops way too close to the market price. My strong personal feeling - and I've been trading forex since before it became the sexy thing to do - is that stop hunting is used by a great many traders to place the blame elsewhere when they lose money.

To get back to the original question of this thread, some of the important things you need to look at when selecting a broker are:

• Account minimum deposit (if any)
• Transaction size flexibility
• Spreads
• Execution/Slippage
• Commissions (if any)
• Security of deposited funds
• Allowable leverage
• Currency pairs available for trading
• Usability of the trading platform

How you rank the above is a personal thing.

[vladv]

The most important factor when choosing a retail forex broker is to make sure your broker is in a jurisdiction where the retail forex is properly regulated and in good standing.You also might want to look at their reputation. You don't want to pick a small broker, but rather an established broker that is well known and has a good company history,such as Oanda,FXCM,and other like that.

[slmdj52]

The problem with using a "Non Dealing Desk" broker, is you lose the fixed spreads and the guarantee of no slippage.
Which is the lesser of 2 evils?
Thanks
Sherry

[colin]

Originally Posted by slmdj52

The problem with using a "Non Dealing Desk" broker, is you lose the fixed spreads and the guarantee of no slippage.

I think it's important to note that any guarantee of no slippage from a dealing desk broker is not a 100% guarantee. Check the fine print of their application documents. They will quite happily slip you when it suits them.

I think in the future we're going to see the non-dealing desk approach gain more traction and really take off. You only have to look at the world of stocks and futures to see to see what the future of spot brokers will look like.