Never used a broker that went out of business so cannot comment there my friend.
got this email from LQDFX
Dear Client,
We would like to inform you that the Payment Service Provider connected to the BITCOIN deposit option available in your Client Area has recently updated their system by adding full support for SegWit bech32 addresses.
There are several technical benefits to using bech32 addresses. This newest type of Bitcoin address allows for up to 30% lower fees as transactions using Bech32 take less space in Bitcoin blocks. Also, the âbc1â address format is used by Bitcoin only, so this lowers the chance of anyone accidentally sending coins to the wrong block-chain.
We recommend all our clients that prefer using BITCOIN for their deposits, to update their settlement BTC address and replace the old BTC format address with a new type of Bech32 address by contacting their bitcoin wallet providers for further assistance, if they do not have this address in place already.
In the event you are unable to proceed to this update or need to fund urgently your account, we recommend to alternatively use the CRYPTO deposit option in your Client Area, and select Bitcoin from the drop-down list.
We remain at your disposal.
Kind Regards,
The LQDFX team
Your Loyal-Quality-Devoted FX Broker
Hmmm itâs still usable though because when in a demo, I am not simultaneously looking at a live screen so the demo is all I can rely on since I canât see the future.
you guys see this scam folder on FPA about FXCHOICE
just going threw his post he didnât address if he was or was not arbitrage trading
I use renko which is based on price movement rather then timeâŚmy preferred method of trading.
He did say this âEven if it would be arbitrage, I do not think FXChoice prohibits any kind of strategies. Plus, they did not say why they cancelled profitsâ Also looking at the enormous lot sizes he was using for the the account size in short period of time does appear to be arbitrage trading. Maybe he will share more information in the coming days to know for sure the issue. Would be nice to hear a response from FXCHOICE on the matter. FXCHOICE on their website claim they allow arbitrage trading. They did respond to him and mentioned he was doing latency arbitrage trading to manipulate the systemâŚ
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So the problem will be latency arbitrage trading? and not arbitrage trading.
Yeah, basically he noticed a delay in price data feed. It happens from time to time. Some get away with it, most do not.
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I never liked the use of the term arbitrage for this kind of thing since I always saw arbitrage trading as something totally different.
If he was taking advantage of a slow feed or similar then obviously that should be prohibited. The problem with that is, it is almost impossible to prove your innocence if, in fact, you are actually trading legitimately.
For example, I can scalp the 1-minute chart and get in right before a small move very consistently. On the flip side, if he was actually gaming the system, then surely he could take bad trades from time to time in order to hide his tracks.
From the brokerâs perspective, better to be safe than sorry, I suppose, and they do set their own rules that everyone basically has to agree to in order to trade through them.
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yeah i donât see FXCHOICE taking this guy 250k unless something was wrong, they also have a lot of 6 and 7 figure traders, if this was the norm we be hearing about it long time ago
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Hankotrade did the same thing today. At the US session open, the Dow spread was around 57, then at 9:30 when the stock market opened, it dropped to 17-27-ish, where it is now. So they do manipulate the spread at will, which I donât really like, but if you know WHEN they do it ahead of time, you can plan accordingly. Still donât like that practice, but their spreads on BTC and crypto are still really good, so Iâm keeping them on the list as a backup
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There is enough trading volume for FX, that realistically, there should not be any spreads at all. Maybe the occasional slippage, but that would likely only last for a split second and would only be seen by traders that are taking massive trades (for major pairs, anyway). So all spreads, even variable, are technically manipulated since they are manually applied by the broker and would not exist otherwise.
Since we are often dealing with several middlemen before our trades actually hit an exchange, there is likely going to be a cost for that so that everyone can get paid, unfortunately. Personally, I would prefer to eliminate brokers, altogether, and see something similar to crypto, where traders can trade directly on the exchange and the exchange provides liquidity through their own LPâs. It might eliminate a lot of the unnecessary regulation that we see being applied to brokers (maybe).
That being said, the adjustment of spreads during different times is normal practice. Brokers will tell you that it is the result of available liquidity during those times (i.e. during NY session, there is access to more liquidity during that time). Now, whether or not that is true is unknown to me.
On the one hand, it might make sense that LPâs would only be interested in tying up their capital during high-volume trading since it may be more profitable to do so. However, it might also make sense that the liquidity that is offered to the broker would always be available for the broker upon request, and not restricted at certain times.
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Iâve always read that spreads = commissions for the broker, period. You can either have zero commissions with spreads, or zero spreads with commissions. Pretty much cancels each other out at the end of the day in my book, as long as none of it outrageous.
So I guess Hanko figures with more traders getting in at 9:30am, they can lower the spread and make their money on volume of trades, which I guess is a good thing for us? Who knows.
Since Iâm a US trader on EST, I just wish they would start their lower spreads for the NY session open. I might have to wake up in the middle of the night some time and check the London session
EDIT: one last point about Hanko, they also have ECN accounts and STP accounts so the spreads will be different between account types, so I need to check that tomorrow AM as well.
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Too bad the CFTC canât âprotectâ US traders by focusing on US banks rigging the FX markets instead of a few traders wanting to trade with offshore brokersâŚ
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As far as I think, all brokers manipulate spreads to some extent even if they say they provide Raw spreads. But knowing that Hanko openly does that and it is very much visible on their trading platform makes me uncomfortable.
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No kidding. Just like with the story of Navinder in Flash Crash saga. He tried to alert authorities of the big banks âspoofingâ order flow. They didnât want to bother, so he made his own algo to beat them at their own game. He did successfully but then the authorities went after him. Such BS.
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I think if youâre a swing trader working the Daily charts, itâs pretty negligible and I wouldnât base joining or not joining solely based on spreads. But since I do a lot of day trading right now, itâs a pretty big thing and that large of a swing in spreads could be the difference between winners and losers, so itâs tough
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The term arbitrage just seems so unfitting. The term latency is definitely appropriate, I must agree.
Regarding the topic of spreads, there is no real spread in traditional, fiat currencies. The demand and trading volume is just far too high in most cases. Other than the occasional slippage, which should be mostly instantaneous, everything that we see on our end is artificial, and is just another way for other people to profit off of our backs.
Whether it is in the form of a commission, a spread, a swap, a transfer fee etc., they are all just fees that were created so that others can profit. Not to say that all of it is unnecessary, because there is always going to be overhead. But letâs be realistic. When you consider the volume traded, it starts to look ridiculousâŚin my uneducated opinion. Or is it just me? And letâs not forget that most of this is all automated these days.
For swing traders, the spread may be negligible. For day traders, and especially for scalpers, the spread can make or break a trading strategy, as already mentioned by greenflash808. However, if a broker is intentionally manipulating spreads in such a way to purposefully and knowingly cause traders to become liquidated or hit their stop-losses etc., then that question of trust and integrity must quickly become a very important factor, even for swing traders.
Most traders are content, so long as they are able to make money. That is very understandable. However, this has likely caused fees to get out of hand with most traders not giving much thought to even question it. Now, when we see a $2 round-turn commission with a tight spread and fairly reasonable swap fees, we are pleased and praise a broker for offering such great terms. However, I suspect that the reality and our expectations could be way, way better.
This is mostly all speculation, however, because admittedly, I do not truly know the actual costs involved for every single facet of a brokerâs operation. Likely, the costs to outsource customer support, web hosting/design/maintenance, I.T. support etc. are all a necessary evil for providing good, reliable service. Not to mention, the fees imposed by the umbrella brokers that allow these smaller brokers to operate through them as some white-label extension.
Since brokers seem to be a necessary evil and we seem to have no choice in the matter, then I would eventually like to see offerings that can better-accommodate different needs. I do not know how much the lower-level brokers can actually negotiate. As previously mentioned, I would just prefer to eliminate brokers altogether. But, there is too much greed and need for control to allow for that.
And although eliminating the unnecessary middlemen would likely reduce the overall costs for traders, the available options would be serverely limited by regulator groups that all seem to be in agreement that the average person just cannot be trusted to safely manage their own money.
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[quote=âWolfeTrader, post:11098, topic:35612â]
As far as I think, all brokers manipulate spreads to some extent [/quote] casinoâs always win.
trading isnât an easy job at any level. Trading is a zero-sum game.
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