I’m about to start going live with very small amounts, just to get my feet wet(I would probably only deposit about $500 and use pip values at about $0.1). But when I started looking at reviews it appears that every single FX broker is a scam. I don’t actually think they ALL are scams. But it is really hard to find good information about brokers.
I tried Forexpeacearmy but a large amount of the reviews seem really suspicious(IE dozens of very similar negative or positive reviews all on the same day. Or people who say they’re from the US but have terrible English). There are similar things on other websites.
So how do you guys decide which broker to go with?
Right now I’m thinking about FXCM. I like how easy it is to find information on their website and it looks like a guy from FXCM answers questions here. But I’m also considering thinkorswim.
I am mainly worried about actual scams. I hear a lot about positions closing way above stop losses, but I get the feeling that these may have been margin calls, but I don’t really know. And that people can’t withdraw their money.
I’ve had various accounts with FXCM for years, and I have never been “scammed” by them.
Disgruntled customers, malcontents and trouble-makers love to go on the internet and throw the word “scam” around. You should take all of that with a grain of salt.
The best thing about the internet is that anyone can post anything there.
The worst thing about the internet is that any damn fool can post any damn fool thing.
I you believe what you read in these “internet scam reviews”, then I can prove to you that CitiBank is a scam, just by googling “citibank scam”. And I can prove to you that New York Life Insurance Co. is a scam, just by googling “new york life scam”.
And I can show you “scam reviews” on the Catholic Church, or Microsoft, or the U.S. Park Service, or anything else you might want to name.
If you are a brand-new newbie here in the U.S., then [B]choose a U.S. broker.[/B] (Later in your career, you might want to look for an offshore broker — but, not now, not when you’re just starting out.)
Make a list of the 10 largest U.S. retail forex brokers (largest by market capitalization). Look at their websites. Listen to what members of this forum have to say about them. Figure out which 2, or 3, or 4 of them feel “right” to you.
Then do some serious due diligence on those 2, or 3, or 4 brokers. Start by taking notes on the things that matter most to you: things like a user-friendly platform and charting package, easy access to customer service, convenient ways to deposit and withdraw funds, low initial deposit requirement, lot-sizes appropriate for your account size, competitive spreads etc., etc. Don’t use my list; make your own list.
You might think that hundreds or thousands of other traders have already done all that due diligence stuff for every broker out there — and that’s certainly true. But, [B]their[/B] due diligence was based on [B]their[/B] needs and preferences, not yours. You have buckle down and do [B]your own[/B] due diligence.
Choosing a good broker is important. But, getting it wrong is not a fatal error. If you find that you are dissatisfied with your forex broker, change brokers. Most traders have changed brokers at least once in their career.
Just don’t go onto the internet and trash your former broker with “scam” allegations. There is much too much of that on the internet already.
Good luck to you in your search for a broker who meets [B]your[/B] requirement.
Well, at first it’s good to realize that brokers are no charity organizations. So if you make no money and lose some it doesn’t mean it’s a scam.
There are however many who play some sort of tricks. More or less all market makers fall imho into this category. Worst I had was a market maker with order execution delays of more than 15 seconds. A really really big and well known broker. When I had no issues with them 1 year or so before. And then, I made money there, so it’s not based on my disgruntled reason of loss.
My suggestions since is to go with an ecn broker right from the start. You pay commissions, but the spread is lower.
Plus go with a well regulated broker in a “sane” country. Less headaches imho if you wanna withdraw your money later.
If you read comments on brokers read between the lines. If you see too many positive comments, that is often fishy. Because people usually don’t write anything if they are satisfied. If you see too many negative comments without details what was the issue it is also often fishy, because it could be the competition of the broker. Anyhow, if you find a lot of negative comments with details what was wrong and the issue is often the same then there is imho something wrong with this broker and you will find the reasons what is wrong in the comments. No matter how many euphoric comments come afterwards from the brokers staff to delude the readers.
The for the replies guys! After using the list Buckscoder posted and learning as much as reasonable about many brokers. I think I am going to give MB Trading a try.
My problem before was because I was expecting broker reviews to be similar to things like reviews on amazon. Where you can almost certainly trust the majority of the reviews.
