I’ve made it through the bapy pips school to the point where they’re talking about MT4, so I’d like to open a demo account. Ideally the demo account will be at the same place I’ll use for a live account. After I’m comfortable with the demo account, I’ll start a live account with probably $2000-$3000 (maybe higher if that changes my options) and will swing trade as I only have limited time during the day. Any advice? Am I leaving out any useful information?
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Oanda is a good broker for US citizens. 
Try their demo account.
I agree with Oanda.
I just opened a new account with them and their customer service is so amazing it melted my face off.
They have 50:1 leverage and lower. With $2K you should be off to a good start.
I’ve been looking around myself and they’re the best I could find.
Do they offer leverage lower than 10:1? I don’t see a need for anything other than 1:1 at this point for me and don’t see a need to go up to 10:1 anytime soon (or ever).
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Hi @jmiles,
You have already received a couple of recommendations on a well-regulated broker, and that’s the most important factor when choosing where to trade. Recently, there have been several discussions on this forum highlighting the dangers of trading with unregulated brokers:
Since you’re particularly interested in trying a demo account on the MT4 platform, you’ll be interested to know that FOREX.com is unique among US-regulated forex brokers in supporting desktop, mobile and web versions of MT4. That means you can access our MT4 platforms whether at home, the office or on the go.
We are also the the largest forex broker in the US based on client assets. That means retail traders have more money deposited with us than any other forex broker based on the latest data from the CFTC, which regulates forex trading in the US.
Thanks to our size, FOREX.com is able to offer you with customer support to answer any questions you have about your MT4 demo account with us 24 hours a day during the week via phone and live chat, unlike smaller brokers that limit their support hours to certain times of the day. Since you only have limited time during the day, it’s good to know you can reach your broker anytime day or night, since the forex market is open 24 hours a day.
Demo accounts are free, so they are a great opportunity to test the customer service of multiple brokers. FOREX.com demos default to 30 days, but that’s easily extended if you want more time to practice. In addition to our 24-hour live support mentioned above, we also have dedicated discussion thread on this forum, so please feel free to reach out to us anytime with questions: FOREX.com discussion
Hi again, @jmiles
Leverage magnifies both gains and losses, so you are right to be cautious. The good thing is that the amount of leverage you use is within your control up to the maximum allowed by regulations which is 50:1 the US. That means you are free to use less leverage if you prefer or use no leverage at all which is to trade 1:1.
You may find this earlier discussion on the topic helpful: Can I lose more than my deposit?
I spoke with a rep from FOREX.com and they said the demo account can’t be extended. Having two different answers doesn’t leave me feeling great. Is there a reason there is any time limit on the demo account? What happens if I want to test a new system on my demo account while trading on my real account X months/years from now?
Also, what options are available for leverage. 1:1 is nice, but 3:1 or 5:1 is also nice because I can’t replicate that with the standard 10:1 leverage that other brokers offer.
Based on what you have said, @jmiles, there seems to be confusion on a couple of points:
- Your demo account time with FOREX.com can indeed be extended. Simply email us your existing demo account details at social at forex dot com. (The reason demo accounts are set to expire normally after 30 days is because, as the largest forex broker in the US by client assets, we receive thousands of new demo requests every week.)
- You are free to trade on 1:1 leverage or 3:1 or 5:1 or any amount of leverage up to the 50:1 maximum allowed by US regulations for trading forex. The more lots you trade relative to the money in your account, the more leverage you are using. US regulations allow retail traders to use up to 50:1 leverage, but you are free to use less.
For example, you mentioned you are looking to start live trading with $2000 to $3000. For simplicity, let’s say you’re starting with $2000.
- 1:1 leverage with this amount of money would mean you could trade 2 micro lots (2000 currency units) and risk about 20 cents per pip.
- 3:1 leverage would mean you could trade 6 micro lots (6000 currency units) and risk about 60 cents per pip.
- 5:1 leverage would mean you could trade 10 micro lots which is 1 mini lot (10,000 currency units) and risk about $1 per pip.
To summarize, if you want to use less leverage, then trade fewer lots relative to the money in your account. If you want to use more leverage, then trade more lots relative to the money in your account. Your effective leverage is the ratio between the notional value of your open trades and the actual amount of money you have in your account.
We provide more examples to explain how leverage works in this earlier discussion: Can I lose more than my deposit?
You can try a demo on Finprotrading. They offers MT4 trading platform, which is very easy to get used to if you are starting
It is true that broker selection is always a tough decision for the forex traders. I will say that try any forex broker that you think that can fulfill your trading needs when it will come to live trading account. Even I have judged the feasibility of the trading services provided by my broker ForexChief with the use of its demo account. Now I am trading with the standard account of this broker, I am quite satisfied.