I’m a new and have been trying different demo accounts for a while now. Mostly for exposure to the mechanics of trading and trying to recognize technicals in charts (ever notice how the chart examples in books and tutorials have such easily define patterns and the real thing looks like the matrix? hehe), but also to try and decide where I’ll land when opening a small live account to get some sea legs. I’m not in any terrible rush, so I thought it would be relatively easy to review and decide. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed at this point. One of the challenges I have run into (and it is to be expected) is the subjectivity of trading brokerage and platform reviews. Just like no one trading style is right for everyone, everyone seems to find merit in different feature/function across the options available. Another challenge has been that a lot of the information is somewhat dated and either the brokerage has changed their policies or expanded their offering since the review(s) hit the 'ole interweb.
All that being said, I think I’ve narrowed things down a bit and really was just looking for some feedback. Let me toss out a few names with some color and you can smack me around and tell me what I’m missing (please?).
Here is some data that may help in your much appreciated response:
[ul]
[li]I’m primarily looking to swing trade, but want to eventually grow into shorter positions as more of my time frees up.
[/li][li]I am not interested in starting out trading standard lots since my capitalization is so low (about $10k USD).
[/li][li]I work primarily on a PC based system and when I travel, I use a tablet alot (iPad), so mobile access would be nice.
[/li][li]Ease of electronic account management is important to me - I am not a paper-checks kinda guy.
[/li][li]Ongoing access to historical data for ease of backtesting and system development is crucial (I’m a newb).
[/li][li]
[/li][/ul]
At this point, I’m leaning toward TradeStation as a first choice. My thoughts/concerns are that there isn’t really much info about TradeStation Forex on most of the popular Forex forum and review sites. I’m not sure if that is because their legacy was other trading genres and only recently have offered their forex platform account for “free” (comparatively speaking to their other trade accounts) or because so many folks are drawn to the larger, open development community base of MT4. I’ve read/heard great things about the power of the platform for customization (via their Easy Language) and data feeds (news and back testing). The spreads seem to be competitive, but it just doesn’t seem to be widespread in use. Their customer service (read:sales) has been quite helpful thus far with questions, but I’m not reading too much into that… you have to open a live account and fund it to preview their platform. Small downside - Apparently they don’t have much mobile support.
A close second runner at the moment is FXCM. They offer a wider range of choices for lot sizes (read:newb can start smaller) and have a very nice (compared to any others I’ve seen) mobile platform for the iPad as well as several platform choices for the desktop. Although they seem to be large, regulated, and reputable… their internet review pool is loaded with miserable experiences around access to profits, slippage, not filling orders, stop-loss hunting, etc. Usually, I would say a lot of the noise probably comes from traders that are sore about drawdowns due to legit trade decisions and don’t want to own up to it, but FXCM’s class action history and subsequent CFTC settlement makes me wonder. Maybe that’s all ancient history and they are sorted now. Nothing but mixed reviews out there and it’s hard to differentiate truth from perspective. One thing I can speak to is that their sales staff is quite persistent when chasing your business.
Others in the mix are Alpari US and FX Solutions, but I really don’t have enough data to comment at this point. Oanda was looked at initially because of a reputation for having a relatively shallow learning curve for beginners, but I have also read quite a bit on problems with orders and reliability that put me off a bit… that and their mobile app is virtually useless.
I’m really open to your thoughts on anything I’ve posted here… and suggestions. Even if it’s just a link to some info, reviews, comparisons, etc. I may have missed. I have no issue with RTFM.
I see that many full time traders leverage several different brokers, data feed services, and platforms (ala. MT4/5, NinjaTrader, GTS, TradeStation, Trading Station, etc.) to get the job done. I’m willing to put the time and effort into learning, but would rather be very comfortable and proficient with a single “platform of choice”… not just to cut down on chance of human error when entering/exiting with limits and stops, but also so I can focus on my analysis and developing my system.
Thanks!
-Clayton
I’ll just roll with it and see how it goes.