Which is the best in terms of reliability and spreads?
(For $500 initial deposit.
MT4 platform.)
As I know, most brokers did not accept US clients
yes. oanda, fxcm,ib seems to be the only options. highest leverage is 50:1. spreads are 2-6 pips. no hedging. almost ridiculous compared to what is available elsewhere
can a us resident trade with brokers of other countries. is there is any way around? if anyone can suggest anything will be highly appreciated. thanks…
Hi and welcome to BabyPips! 
CFTC regulations prohibit non-US brokers from offering forex trading services to US residents. These regulations also limit leverage to 50:1 and prohibit hedging. That said, if you have multiple strategies, and one of them requires you to go long a particular currency pair while another strategy requires you to go short that same pair, I have a solution for you and other traders in the US.
With FXCM it’s possible to have two (or more) accounts joined under a single login. I do this myself to run multiple strategies. Both accounts and the trades in them are visible when you log into Trading Station. You then have the option of holding a long EUR/USD position in one account while holding a short EUR/USD position in the other.
In regards to your comment about seeing spreads of 2 to 6 pips, was this during a news event or the 5pm New York Close? I ask because FXCM’s standard account spreads for most major currency pairs typically are less than 1 pip.
FXCM is the best broker in the US hands down. I hate MT4. There Trading Station platform is the best. You can import indicators, strategies, and set alerts. Just wish they would improve their mobile app.
For an invested 500usd. You best bet to survive. With percentage risk per trade . Would be oanda. Due to their flexibility on lot sizing . You can go as low as 1 unit.
Yup.
OP: The fact that you’re calling leverage under 50:1 ridiculous, speaks [B]perfectly [/B]to the fact that most folks new to trading simply won’t make it past 90 days. Why would you need to gear up over 50:1??
I concur. Many new traders are already overwhelmed, underfunded, and psychologically inept to trade that over leveraging will crush them instantly and may blow up their accounts in no time. I also believe that many new traders do not have a trading plan, trade journal, or specific pairs to concentrate on. 500:1 leverage for someone new to trading is wrong and will make people bitter and angry and blame banks and corporations for their account blowing up to zero.
Hi Jason
I’ve been trying out the demo on mt4.
The spread i was talking about is the buy sell spread.
I’m interested in having the two accounts under single login. Is it possible with mt4?
If you can send me the details in email you are most welcome.
Thanks
Looks very good with their ecn account.
I think you are right… higher leverage has certain advantages. but it also can wipe out accounts quickly… how much leverage do you use if i may know?
thanks
I appreciate your feedback, BB!
Are there any particular improvements you’d like to see on Trading Station Mobile?
It’s worth mentioning FXCM is currently beta testing a new web-based platform.
Since it uses HTML5, it will work on mobile devices, but I must emphasize it’s not optimized for mobile.
Hi Mook, that’s what I understood, but what I’m puzzled about is your reference to 2 to 6 pips. As I mentioned, our standard account spreads for most major currency pairs typically are less than 1 pip.
This functionality is only possible with FXCM’s Trading Station platform. Note that if you have an MT4 demo with FXCM, your MT4 demo login details will work on all versions Trading Station (desktop, mobile and web).
You can even beta test our new web-based platform.
I wish I could import indicators and strategies on my mobile app. I wouldn’t mind seeing a better way to draw horizontal or vertical lines. If fxcm could make their mobile app use different timeframes like 3m or 20m charts that would be nice also as I trade a specific strategy with a specific pair on these time frames.
Thanks for sharing this feedback with me. I’ve forwarded it onto our mobile app development team.