Beginner Broker Question

Hi all, I am new and using a demo account on Oanda linked with Trading View & MT4. I have been reading about Oanda being a Market Maker and not an ECN broker. I like the Oanda interface which is very simple to use but are there any better options for brokers that are an ECN broker? I like that I can setup the trade on Trading View but close it on MT4 as the accounts sync. I tried Pepperstone but the accounts wont sync across from Trading View to MT4. Also what are peoples thought on CTrader? MT4 looks like something from last century by comparison and CTrader seems alot more intuitive.

Hi and welcome in BP community :slightly_smiling_face: check where Oanda is regulated, broker type is less important in this case in my opinion. Regards Greg

Hi, thankyou for the reply. I like Oanda as its simple to use and I can use the same account with MT4 & sync it with TradingView but was just wondering whether I should start as I mean to go on with an ECN broker.

Most brokers are market makers. No trader has become a winner because they started using an ECN. But many traders have failed because they used brokers in unregulated countries.

Trading can be quite complicated, and it is a good start to be comfortable with the broker’s platform. I have not opened an OANDA account, but I have colleagues who have been completely satisfied with their experience. As with developing a strategy or a trading plan, if you strive for perfection your progress will be very slow, and you will be taking care of the pennies but the pounds may not take care of themselves. Over 15 years of Forex and other trading, I have gone from, at the worst, a 90 page trading strategy and plan (my fault for being a career project manager) to a simple five or six page series of plans, each of which is a contributing component to my overall investment portfolio. Only two of them I constantly adjust and try out new variants, and they are both in the crypto markets. I haven’t changed my plans or rules for all other strategies for some years now.

You have (like absolutely everyone who’s relatively new to trading) misunderstood what “ECN” really means and what its significance is to retail traders. (The significance is about zero. “ECN brokers” are still your counterparty. It’s counterintuitive and not at all what you’d expect, I know, but that’s the truth of the situation.)

You’ve done well to pick Oanda. It’s hard to do much better than them. They’re honest (unlike many/most). Yes, they’re counterparty, but so are all the rest. Don’t worry about that.

Your trading platform is another matter, arguably.

It’s far, far superior to any MT product in any and every possible way. (TradingView is also quite good.)

Thankyou for the reply. Yes as a novice CTrader is seemingly leaps ahead of MT4 or MT5 but unfortunately Oanda doesnt support it. My second broker option was Pepperstone that supports all the platforms but I can`t use the same account on Trading View & then pick it up on CTrader unfortunately

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No; but Oanda and TradingView is a good combination, anyway. That’s “more than adequate” to get you started safely. :sunglasses:

Thankyou for your advice. Any advice as a simple beginners trading strategy?

Hard to answer, knowing nothing about you! But IMO this thread is worth a long, slow, careful read, anyway.

Thankyou, the comments seem good about it so I am going to have a good luck at the camelback method. Thankyou for your good advice

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I think it’s a good idea. It’s definitely based on sound, price-action principles, which bodes well. Good luck with it!

Hello, In my opinion, the type of broker matters less in this situation.