I recently bought Japanese yen through the Currencyshares ETF FXY. The Economist magazine’s Big Mac Index points to other undervalued currencies (Hong Kong , China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand), but none of these are available through an ETF. So it looks like I need to open an account at a FOREX broker.
Many of my fellow investors recommend Oanda. Which other FOREX brokers should I consider? The important thing to note is that I will be taking the buy-hold-and-pray approach and use no leverage whatsoever. Unfortunately, most of what I read is geared to heavily leveraged hyperactive daytraders, not slothful unleveraged buy-and-hold decade traders like me.
As is the case with domestic stock brokerages, there must be NO inactive account fees, NO fees just for holding an account (like annual/quarterly fees), an assurance that I’ll earn a competitive rate on my money (within a few tenths of a percentage point of the nation’s T-Bill rate), an assurance that I won’t be invested in risky securities (analogous to derivatives in money market funds), an assurance that my broker won’t go under, and an assurance that my money is safe if my broker does go under.
Also, what happens to the customers’ money when a FOREX broker goes under? Do FOREX brokers have something analogous to the SIPC for stockbrokers? Which FOREX brokers do you believe are safest? Which FOREX brokers are the biggest and most well-established firms?
One of the costs of a FOREX broker is the spread between the interest rate it pays you vs. the interest rate you pay it. I don’t care how much interest I’d have to pay, because I will only go long on currencies and use no leverage. However, I am quite concerned about how much interest I’d earn when holding a currency. Is there a web site out there that provides this information?