Well what they promise and what they can deliver may be two different things. Everyone says the sales staff at GFT are good … but just do your research before deciding. If you google ‘how to select forex broker’ you will find links to some good discussion about this.
As a newbie into FOREX I have also narrowed my choices to include GFT. I spend an hour on the phone with one of their sales reps last night and have nothing but praise for their process.
As of VERY recently, they have narrowed their spread on the majors to as low as 1 pip…
Regards
Have not forgotten anyone. I will be calling EFX tomorrow or Wednesday to ask them questions, feel them out.
If they are OK, I will probably be setting up an account of just $2000 for now in 2 to 3 weeks. Just waiting on a big commission check! lol
Yes, this is very true of GFT.
I know and I have noticed!! 
I was going to sign on with EFX. I called them today and found out that EFX is going to disappear and it will all be just MB Trading.
I was not prepared for that. I like the things I have read about MB Trading. But this was an unexpected curveball so now I am going to have to check out other ECNs as well.
I don’t really know of any others at the moment. I want a great platform and dare I hope for quality charts too? Most ECNs do not provide that so I do not expect it…but it would be nice.
If anyone can recommend a good one (hopefully USA based) please share. My money is in a separate dedicated trading bank account, now I have to find a broker.
any updates on this?
i’m a beginner and thought doing oanda then switching to an ecn broker once u have built up ur acct is the best path (such as efx)
so they will no longer offer forex? i thought mbtrading merged with efx?
I did finally decide to open an account with MB Trading. My account should be ready by next week. I think they are waaaaaaaaaaay to slow and waaaaaaaay to screwed up with their funding methods. Other brokers (good ones) can have you open and ready in 2 days or less, take deposits via credit cards, etc. I think MBT should do this too.
Screw morals. If you cannot afford to charge your credit card, then don’t do it. It is not the broker’s job to be your mommy and daddy. lol
Yes, they did buy EFX but EFX will cease to exist as I was told by their staff. It will just be MB Trading.
I have demo’d the EFX Navigator and the MB Navigator platform. They are the same thing but for some reason (in my experience) the demo with MB Trading works very well. The EFX platform crashed a lot. I do know that a lot of people have a LOVE/HATE relationship with MBT. The spreads are tight, the commissions are a bit steep IMO but they may have to charge what they charge for business reasons. I cannot say for sure.
They do have a very nice amount of order types. I believe they need more types though. Some people HATE the platform. Others love it.
I think MBT is definitely behind the times and it makes me wonder how long they will last. Personally, I honestly believe they are building themselves up so they can be bought out by a bigger, well funded broker with more money that needs the ECN edge - companies like GFT or Oanda, or whoever.
MBT lacks charts and anything else but a trading platform. I plan on eventually using Ninja Trader with MBT. The MB Navigator platform is good, but a lot of MBT traders like to skip it and use Ninja Trader. The MBT Remote Trader (web platform) is getting slammed a lot in many forums. I have not tried it and you cannot try it unless you have a LIVE account. No demo is offered.
I love a lot of things about MT4, but it also completely disgusts me and I really think it is a clunky, outdated POS(piece of garbage). lol Maybe, (but highly doubtful) MT5 will change all that. YEAH RIGHT! Can you believe that in this day and age MT4 does not allow you to have a 20, 25, 35 minute or whatever darn minute chart you want? INSANE!
DealBook 360 is freaking sweet but it does not program well. It is owned and controlled TIGHTLY by GFT, few brokers offer it and it still connects back to GFT anyway!
Ninja Trader is kind of a happy medium. It does have it’s limitations too.
So overall, I will be trading with MBT, I will have an MT4 non expiring demo account with StrategyBuilder and I will use NinjaTrader free version until I am ready to pay for it and integrate it into MB Trading.
If I am successful, I will probably add more money and go onto another, better ECN. I don’t know which but I have heard HotSpot is the place to be. Too early to tell really.
I do think MB Trading is a good company. I do believe they have good intentions, are ‘trying’ to get better, and are a diamond in the rough. Will they ever get polished? It is up to them.
very interesting. Thanks for the detailed update!
Please let us know how it goes. I too have heard hotspot and MBT are the 2 best ECN’s out there. Sounds like you have a very solid plan as well!
From what I have read and been told (I cannot say for myself because I do not have the experience or amount of money) most of the traders with serious fundage, like 100k or more, go on to greener pastures. Bigger, better ECNs/Brokers that cater to them more. Offer discounts based on high volume trades, offer better interest rates on accounts, etc, etc, etc.
So, I am but a small fish swimming in a trillion dollar pond. lol
I will have to snatch many bread crumbs before I know that kind of trading. lol
I agree , and in my research so far this is what I have found:
FXCM
- in all fairness, they were my #2 pick for a dealer - because of the next two +'s.
- FXCM software was the second best software that I saw Their software has a very intuitive interface, it was easy to learn to use, easy on the eyes, well designed. And a big plus, it was VERY fast! I really liked their software. … bested by GFT.
- they do a lot to keep traders informed through their website and webinars. They are pretty good at this.
- they make a claim to be a “non-dealing-desk” and the real issue is “ECN” meaning that the computer is handling the transactions and not a broker. The problem is the way they represent it like they are the only ones in the business doing it. Wake up FXCM, this is the 21st century.
- seemed to be staffed by lots of young people lacking experience
+/- Education - I took their $20 entry level course. Lots of good info if you are a newbie, but the format is all like a forum, really makes it stink as an educational forum in my opinion. I was told this is how they do their other classes also. They have two more classes above this for $300 and $1000. The prices can be waived if you deposit $25K. - sales people were pushy
- Boris was VERY ANTI US$ - my gosh man the USD is 20% of the global economy so how can you tell people not to trade it - what a BONEHEAD!!! Come on Boris, you have so much good advice why spoil it by telling people nott to trade the USD and saying that the USD spoils every pair it touches - come on dude! The US Economy is the largest most advanced economy on the planet - gimme a break. Where/Why would he get crazy ideas like that and if he has them, why would put them on a public video???
Forex.com issues -
- very unimpressive software for someone who claims to be THE major player.
- wide spreads unless you are big depositor
- sales guy was full of #*&@! - you get the point. He made claims that were not true. They obviously are not the oldest, biggest, best, etc, etc, etc. Where does he get all of that? And does he really think that just because they have the domain name FOREX.COM that people will believe them?? Maybe I just talked to the wrong blowhard sales guy.
- still given the other issues I am not impressed.
EFT
- I downloaded the software and installed it
- the software was so totally bad (didnt even have any charts) that I turned it off.
- if you dont have good software the how serious are you??? the software is the tool, it is the interface that allows the trader to trade. These guys dont get it. This software had to be some of the absolutely worse software I ahve seen!
- I will say it again. This software it TERRIBLE!!!
- one more time … I would absolutely hate to use this software. it sux.
GFT -
- the absolute most pleasant sales people I talked to. totally professional and non- pressuring. You actually get the feeling that you are going to get personal service. And believe it or not the same guy emails you back and calls you. Amazing! that one person contacts you and stays with you - simply amazing.
- their software is better than anything I have seen out there - bar none. I am an IT guy, so I am qualified to say this. Most of these companies have really lousy software that was obviously a minimal investment by an amateur, but GFT is different. The GFT software is in a class of its own. This software is obviously the product of much financial development and professional consultation during development. This software is no doubt the best I have seen out there.
- their spreads seemed tighter than other platforms I tried.
- I actually was more successful in the demo of GFT than I was in other demos. I attribute this to the tight spreads and the ease of use of the software.
- Education program - the education program is set up to where you pay $500 per class and then you have access to the resources of that class for a month. In comparing it to some of the other ones I used I was very impressed with their educational process. I took some of the free classes which are webinars. These are live interactive webinars which I really appreciated. You are in a class with maybe 5-15 other people and you get to ask questions - its INTERACTIVE! There is also a section of the web site that has pre-recorded video tutorials about how to do all kinds of things in their software. Long and short of it, from what I can see there are plenty of options here in the right combination of formats.
- Management, etc - read the About section of the web site (thoroughly) and compare it to other companies.
Maybe my review sounds like a pitch for GFT. Not meant to be that way, just my review of what I found so far. I came here looking for info because I am still researching. I am doing demos on everyone before I deposit my money (that’s right its MY MONEY), so I want to deposit it someplace where I really believe that I am going to (1) make more money, and (2) enjoy making money in that place. Life is to short to hate it, right?
Honestly though, maybe I will find something better than GFT, I actually hope I do. if someone knows of one, please reply and let me know!
smc
I also reviewed OANDA today:
I found their software maybe OK. I would rate out there maybe in 4th or 5th place, definitely way behind GFT and FXCM. They were better than EFT, so they were out of the crappy category and into the good category, but definitely not iin the great category.
This is what I say about pip spreads:
Spreads as long as they are tight are not going to make you a more successful in one place or the other. You cant pick your dealer platform based on who beats who by 1 pip. This is what is more important:
- is the spread consistent or is it constantly changing? If the spread is going from 2 pips to 4 pips up and down all the time then that is a problem.
- software is a bigger issue - I put a lot of emphasis on the software. You can talk all you want about pip spreads, but you can lose all that edge fighting bad software. If the software doesn�t do the job, 1-2 pips isn�t going to make you a winner. On the other hand, good software keeps you informed and makes a pleasurable experience of trading… allows for accurate analysis and decision-making, and quick execution. Being an IT guy, I know this, but I can tell from reading these boards that most of the people out there do not - they just think it is about who has the tightest spread. Really stupid and shows inexperience. Find the best software and you are definitely finding one of the most important aspects of the best platform - it shows you who is making the investment in giving the trader the right tools to do the job.
//smc
OK, I understand how you feel about this but there are 2 HUGE things wrong with your comments.
#1 - EFT is defunct. It is now completely MB Trading and even though the software is the same, the EFT demo is not being updated, etc. It is only the MB Trading software from that website that is getting tweaked, etc.
#2 - EFT/MBT is a real ECN. Most ECN’s are well known NOT to provide charts, trading tools, etc. Many people that use an ECN are using another source like MT4. Also, ECN’s usually give you very good rates, so they need to keep costs to a minimum. Charts, tools, etc can cost a lot.
Do I wish it was different? Yes. lol And I do believe MB Trading has to get off their rear ends and do more for their customers. I trade a LIVE and DEMO account with MBT and I have to say…I get fast results on entry or exits, no slippage. My scalping and day trades go very smoothly.
I just use a non-expiring MT4 demo to do my analysis and charts. StrategyBuilder is a good one, reliable demo servers. InterbankFX was good and I like their freebie extras too but their demo server hiccups scared me off. I cannot have 15 minutes of frozen data when I am about to enter a 2 lot trade to scalp 10 pips real fast!!!
On GFT -
I really do love Dealbook 360 and I think their software is the best out there.
BUT there is a huge problem with this. GFT controls DEALBOOK completely. There are a few other brokers that are licensed to use Dealbook but they are small brokers offering nothing really. Which will lead you back to GFT. Kind of pointless.
Another HUGE obstacle…is that GFT/Dealbook does not have the following like MT4 does. Custom indicators, 3rd party add-ons? Good luck finding what you want. Want some custom pivot point indicators…get ready to pay some money to a 3rd party. With MT4 you can get almost anything you want…for free and/or fee.
And I am no loyal fan of MT4 either. I think it is a truly half-a#$ed effort that develops way too slowly. What is the deal with not being able to have any time frame you want? WOW…5m, 15m, 30m,1h…hoopity doo!!!
Yes, I definitely think Dealbook is THE gold standard for others to follow, but until it is mainstream and easily accessible and open to all…I recommend sticking with MT4…unfortunately.