I learnt to trade here at babypips. Thanks to all of you for sharing your immense experience. I have worked in a bank for many years and retired 4 years ago. But I am not financially free! I have no skill to bring me income aside from my experience with the bank. My forex trade education is going to make a great difference to that, I expect.
I have been needing help verifying a few brokers – fxpro, admiral markets, markets.com, alpari, fxcm, hotforex, profiforex?
I am a newbie. I have been trading these MT4 platforms, and sometimes I just get the feeling I was being played! When am winning, my values are stalled relative to my pips gain. But when am losing, the values run up the scale.
I also noticed that a lot of them vary my entry price by as much as 30 pips from the chart reading! So, I spend most of the trades recouping instead of gaining.
This seeming lack of transparency is being meted to me even as a demo-trader. What will happen when I go live?
I am a scalper because I do not have great amount to start with. Please, what brokers have unbiased integrity and honesty and allows small accounts of around $300 to scalp up pips for growth, and won’t mind?
Hi,
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AxiTrader: min $200
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Pepperstone: min $200
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Global Prime: min $500
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ForexNation: min $200
Cheers
Thank you all so much. As soon as I wrote my thread, I saw earlier threads like it which I read. I was directed to use the broker guide, and needing a non-DD broker, I selected 3 - hotforex, fxcm and profiforex ( which is not on the list). I have no detailed info on profiforex about their registration, regulators, location NDD or DD. All they said on their site is that they are a group of experienced traders.
From your response above I take it that FXCM is a no-go for me now, ok. GlobalPime is a DD, so, Dudest, I’ll checkout your recom and see what turns up. But, why are they not on the Broker Guide?
Thanks. I’ll be back.
I’ve been to those sites. Axitrader is restricted from my region and forexnation is up for domain sale. But pepperstone.com is good from the outside, so far. I’ve opened a live account which they are verifying. I am going to sound them out by demo-trading their MT4. They are a crop of people who sound a lot like the profiforex group, only they might be better, because they are out with their compliance info and legal docs.
Earlier on I forgot to mention that I also saw, using the broker guide, fxnet.com. What does anyone know about them as they’ve only been around since 2012? Should I consider pitching with them?
Hi Richok:
For scalping purpose, I will advise going with a fixed spread broker. At least you dont have to deal with spikes that can get you stopped out. Honestly, you wont get any different results with other brokers (sorry for being harsh). I also suggest using VPS if you can afford one. It will help with latency issues, entry price, requotes and such things.
I will not advise anyone start with huge amount of money without confirming the regulation and services the broker is offering. I was able to start trading with micro account just with 1$ with my broker and here traders are saying some brokers only allow the minimum 200$ and above. Like to me the thing sounds crazy because we dont need much to start up especially as newbies in trading, unless you wish to wipe off your account within few minutes.
Forexnation.org is the site. I have no experience with them but operating as usual.
FXnet you mention in another post. Why not instead choose a broker that is regulated in UK, US or Australia then at least you can sleep easy at night knowing that you are entitled to financial compensation if in the unfortunate event they went bust.
Oanda- minimum deposit $1 and minimum trade size nano. Established 1996 and one of the largest brokers in the world.
Consider this important things when choosing a broker!
- Security
- Transaction Cost
- Deposit and Withdrawal
- Trading Platform
- Execution
- Customer Service
To elaborate it more precisely please visit Broker101
Thanks Cams75. That gives me plenty food for thought!
Actually, the minimum to open a basic account with FXCM is $50.
Also, in regards to your original question about broker transparency, you might be interested to know that FXCM is regulated in major financial centers in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. In addition, we are one of the only retail brokers that is also a publicly-traded company (NYSE ticker: FXCM). That means information about our financials is more readily available than for forex brokers that are privately-held companies. It’s one of the reasons why traders have entrusted FXCM with $1.264 billion in client funds.
Please, I would appreciate it if you post your search results here. I am scouting for a broker as well.
Do anyone of you has the same problem like mine? I am with Pepperstone and my open trade for NZDCHF was 7 pips away from my stop loss. At the close of the day, the spread was 107 points ( 10 pips ) and stopped me out. This happen quite regularly and the spread for other pairs were like between 50 to 70 points. And I am on Razor with them, meaning a very tight spread. Do you have this happened to your brokers? Thanks, thinking of changing broker.
Min dep of hotforex is $5, micro account and $500 with premium account and allow scalping. Hope it helps.
I advice you change your broker. If your broker is a market marker, you will experience this everyday. Find an stp broker with an almost perfect MT4 platform.
Pepperstone Razor account is ECN/STP … I have a Razor account with them and was happy with it, although I haven’t used it for a while ( 5 or 6 months) because I have been really busy and have been using my ICMarkets account when I have had the chance to trade.
Anyway, I would definitely keep a close eye on it and if it happened more than a couple of times, I would also consider leaving them. Also, why not email them with details of the trade and ask for an explanation and also in the email, mention that you will be posting the email in this forum as well as on ForexPreaceArmy forums if you are not happy with their response…that will get them jumping !
Also make sure to use screen capture software such as TimeSnapper, which should help you in record keeping.
If anyone is looking for non-US good broker I recommend to trade with GAINSY - good bonuses, STP/ECN acc… They has own platform for ECN or you can use MT4 for STP. Works with CASHU, Skrill, WM e.t.c., !!! has own mobile platform for Android devices You can get a “Swap free” account if you’re Islamic user)
I have Classic STP and i’m satisfied by my broker)))
Deposit: from 10$ for STP and from 10000$ for ECN
Leverage for STP: 1:1-1:1000)))
P.S. Quick and easy withdrawing money)))
choosing a broker for the first time or when faced with a list of brokers can be hard 
but so far you are doing a good job, its ok to ask for opinions but in the end its youo who has to do the homework and just make sure to start small with min deposits and test the broker your self, if scalping and fixed spreads I think hotforex offers a fixed spread account the last i checked eurusd is at 1.8 pips but not so sure about commissions, im not a fan of bonuses, but incase you are planning to avail one make sure to understand the tos it can be a bit tricky. best of luck
I don’t see how regulation or account segregation is going to help traders succeed in forex. All FXCM keeps stressing is how regulated they are. What about your commission, slippage full platform and other factors that makes traders frown while dealing with FXCM.
Hi Pathfinder,
Welcome to the forum!
It’s no secret that the brokerage industry has been in the midst of a price war for the past couple of years. That combined with lower trading volumes over the past couple of years have caused many brokers to struggle. There was even a broker in Europe that went bankrupt after trying to entice clients with 0 pip spreads. That year also saw the failure of a US broker that had previously touted their razor thin spreads. We’ve had other brokers have to pull out of the US after being unable to meet regulatory capital requirements. Just recently an Australian broker went bankrupt as well.
If recent events have taught us anything, it’s that the financial stability of the broker you choose can have huge implications. Unfortunately, the vast majority of forex brokers are privately held companies, so it’s hard to know the state of their finances. Are they profitable, or are they barely staying afloat? How can you know whether they are safe place to keep your money?
All traders need to ask their brokers the following questions regarding their financial stability.
[ol]
[li]What are your revenues?
[/li][li]How profitable is your firm?
[/li][li]Do you have a top-tier third party accounting firm auditing your financials?
[/li][/ol]
Would you go to an unlicensed doctor to save money on medical treatment?
The biggest concern with an unregulated broker is the lack of accountability and financial transparency. Spreads are important, but it’s important to consider whether saving a few tenths of a pip is worth putting the whole account at risk.
Below are just some recent examples:
[B]Crown Forex[/B]
“Although some people with accounts were still able to get their money out at this early stage, many accounts were not refunded… [I]the company had no authorization from the SFBC for any activity in the financial sector in Switzerland.[/I]”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story. A couple of years after going bankrupt, the people from Crown Forex were at it again, this time helping others become unregulated brokers.
[B]JadeFX[/B]
“fraudulently solicited and misappropriated more than $3.2 million from more than 500 customers in the United States and throughout the world to trade forex… [I]None of the defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC.[/I]”
Good question It’s important when comparing spreads between brokers to keep in mind what execution model is being used and which brokers charge commissions on top of their spreads (noted with an asterisk in the table below). For example, FXCM offers clients the choice between two types of forex execution: No Dealing Desk (NDD) and Dealing Desk. While we believe that NDD execution provides the best all-around trading experience, we also offer dealing desk execution as an option for traders whose primary concern is low spreads.
Above is a snapshot I took from a table showing the live spreads from brokers regulated in the UK, and as you can see, our dealing desk spreads compare favorably with other brokers on the same execution model that also don’t charge commissions on top of their spreads.
While spreads are important, they are just one factor out of many to consider when choosing a broker along with 24 hour customer support, trading platforms offered, education, resources, etc. We seek to provide competitive spreads while also delivering great execution and a safe place for you to hold your funds.
Perhaps you weren’t aware of this, but slippage at FXCM works both ways. If you have a limit or take profit order, and the price gaps in favor of your trade, then you will get filled at the more favorable price which is trading in the market. This is called positive slippage or price improvement. The stats below show that FXCM clients receive price improvements just as frequently as they receive negative slippage.
It’s just that price improvements are more likely to occur with limit orders, while negative slippage is more likely to occur with stop orders, because of the momentum in the market. The lesson is to use limit orders whenever possible to open and close orders.
But what if you’re placing market orders? FXCM clients can use the Market Range feature on our Trading Station platform when placing a market order. The Market Range order type allows you to control the amount of slippage your order can receive when it executes allowing for price certainty (see image below).
A Market Range of “X” pips assures that all or part of your order will be filled within a “X” pip range of the current market price (“X” pips above or “X” pips below) if liquidity is available.
[B]Market Range Example[/B]: Assume that you place a market order to sell EUR/USD at 1.3235 with a market range of five pips. When the order triggers for execution, one of the following three scenarios can occur:
SCENARIO 1:
The market has already moved below your 5-pip Market Range and is trading at 1.3219. The execution halts and the order is automatically canceled.
SCENARIO 2:
The market is trading within your 5-pip Market Range at 1.3233. Your order executes and is filled at 1.3233.
Our Market Range feature allows FXCM clients to enjoy all the benefits of positive slippage while controlling the amount of negative slippage they can experience. This is in contrast to other brokers that re-quote their clients intead of letting them benefit from positive slippage. At FXCM, traders get no re-quotes and receive the full benefit from any positive slippage that’s available in the market. It’s another reason why traders have entrusted us with $1.264 billion in client funds.