IBFX now ECN-like?

Got this mail from IBFX. Do you think this will prevent them from stop-hunting?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Interbank FX Provides Access to Multiple Bank Liquidity Partners

SALT LAKE CITY February 08, 2008� Interbank FX ( Forex | Forex Broker | Currency Trading | Forex Trading ), a leading provider of online foreign currency (forex) trading , reveals its unique multi-bank order routing system, which provides access to liquidity and automatically executes trades with several of the world�s largest financial institutions, including Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs.

�By obtaining competitive bids for order flow on our proprietary multi-bank feed, IBFX customers achieve optimal pricing and execution, faster processing times and increased liquidity on every trade, with just one click of the mouse,� said company president and CEO Todd Crosland.

The advantages of trading with agency-based Interbank FX as compared to a single market maker platform, or �Dealing Desk� include:

� Tighter spreads (as low as two pips)

� 100% automatic execution

� No market manipulation

� Competitive pricing derived from leading money center banks

� Anonymous order execution

� Smart routing to leading banks

Interbank FX�s unique platform enables both retail and institutional customers alike to trade forex without the hidden obstacles or potential conflicts of interest of a dealing desk broker. Because IBFX currency prices are derived from its financial institution liquidity providers, its price feed most accurately reflects the natural movements of the interbank FX market. In addition, Interbank FX trading profits are generated exclusively on its markup to institutional prices, and never from a dealing desk trading against customer positions.

IBFX is the only forex trading platform where company interests are squarely aligned with those of its customers. �Our long-term success is directly tied to the success of our customers,� said Crosland. �I invite traders to put the �IBFX difference� to the test and find out what separates us from the rest of the pack.� :confused:

Interbank FX�s multi-bank liquidity feed is available on both live and demo accounts at Forex | Forex Broker | Currency Trading | Forex Trading .

Interbank FX was recently honored by Shares Magazine as the #1 Foreign Exchange Broker for 2007.

I use InterbankFX and I am pleased. So far…

I haven’t experienced any stop hunting either so maybe I’m lucky who knows.

i have been demoing with them for 5 months now and they seem to be ok.
seems like there spread is higher than most.
so you have problem with there server going down (losing connection)
and are executions of trades done quikly with the real live trading, because sometimes on demo it takes a minute to execute trade and i here live can be worst.
what do you think. ?

I do not trade the news so I really can’t help you out there. They do widen the spread during news releases. That doesn’t affect me. I have only had 2 requotes since I opened an account with them.

I will tell you this. You have to be logged onto your platform for any trailing stop to work. If you are not logged on, your trailing stop will not get honored. I found that out the hard way Monday. I’m just glad I still profited off of it.

I have lost connection a couple times. That might get annoying if you are a scalper. I’ve lost connection a few times.

I look at it this way. ALOT of people blame their broker because they are losing money.

I’ve been trading live with Interbank for a while now. I haven’t seen any problems that I wouldn’t see with any other broker. No broker is perfect.

Just my opinion. Who knows, they might have me in a special file that says, Don’t mess with this guy’s trades…LOL!!

Anyways…Good luck to you in your search.

You got a point there. Actually if you are into stock trading, it is more difficult to get a good price all the time there. And like the fx market makers, you are also at the mercy of the specialists. I worked in a bank before as a risk manager and I know how the FX traders in the treasury department create their own market for our clients. And of course, we will be trading in our interest as opposed to our clients.

That’s just the way the trading business works.

I’m sure having greater liquidity will help some, but I don’t think they’re that close to ECN levels yet.

They still really widen the stops around news releases and also frequently have server freezes - often around news releases, sometimes just randomly. :mad:

I can say that they haven’t seemed to hunt my stops, so they aren’t totally bad.

I am happy that they are at least trying to improve rather than just bragging about that best bucketshop award they got previously.

Did I miss something?

Back to the topic please!

There was one interesting thing I noticed when funding my account with IBFX.

I used a credit card. It took 2 days, and I was VERY pleased that they didn’t charge my account until just before the money showed up, and that the transaction showed up as a purchase instead of as a cash advance (better interest rates, etc.). I was less pleased with the $20 “convenience fee” that IBFX charged, but consoled myself that it was still probably cheaper than the cash advance fee my credit card issuer could have charged had the transaction been processed differently.

I think the convenience fee is specifically stated in their website.

Yes, it is stated on the website, and not even hidden in the fine print. I’d have gone from modestly annoyed at a convenience fee to being extremely angry about having been ripped off if it hadn’t been clearly disclosed in advance.

same here, I liked the fact that it showed as a purchase and I actually netted a whole bunch of “points” on my card for a few neat little trinkets.

I, like I mentioned in another post, believe that they all use some sort of subtle stop-hunting if that’s what you want to call it.

But I find it hard to call it hunting because when I get my nightly statement from them, the entry, TP and SL are plainly noted… even on the trades I cancel and never enter.

I would call it more like a stop-widening or something but again, I think they all do it.

That’s why I no longer set stops and after a few years of this, mental-stops with market evaluation seem to work better for me anyway.

For me, I’d rather be down a 100 pips and look for a reversal or offset opportunity than to see a SL, but hey, that’s just me.

Not to noob up your thread or anything, but what is “stop hunting”?

Also, I don’t trade the news either, but my system does rely heavily on take profits being accurately executed. Is this going to be a problem with IBFX? For example, if my t/p is hit during a peak news time, will it still go through?

And about trailing stops not working once you close the platform, that’s a real bummer. That problem doesn’t happen with t/p’s or regular s/l’s, does it?

When a broker spikes prices up or down to try and hit clustered stop losses.

Take profits and stop losses are still good when platform is closed. Only trailing stops are not honored when you close your platform. Just remember to account for the spread when selecting your take profits and stop losses. I’d hate for a pip or two to cost you tons of money in the long run.