I am not yet ready to make the switch from a demo account to a live account, but am trying to get an idea of some reliable brokers so I can start making my decision in preparation of opening a live account.
I am looking to open an account with a small account of capital ($1000.00). I would think that trading with an established bank would be a good idea, though many of them seem to require larger initial capital deposits ($10,000.00 or more) so I would not qualify for some of them.
I have had a number of demo accounts and like the forex.com platform the most so far, but I have heard some mixed things about them. Could any of you with more experience provide some recommendations for a broker? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide.
IC Markets with servers in New York or Armada Markets with servers in London. Both are ECN brokers so you will have to pay a trading commission (you can find commission discounts if you google a bit). If you don’t want to pay a commission you could try Alpari UK or Synergy FX. ECN brokers offer tighter spreads, though.
EDIT: Looks like IC Markets does not accept US clients either, so any other recommendations would be appreciated.
Thank you for the advice. I am in the US so I believe IC Markets is the only one of those That would be available for me, but let me know if that is wrong.
I have a question about commissions for ECN brokers. Using IC Markets as an example, their commission is listed as 7 dollars per 1 lot which covers both directions. I assume this means that if I purchased 2 lots, then sold the order for a 10 pip profit (say around $200) then the commission would be $14. Since I have smaller capital to start with, I will be starting with micro or mini lots. How does commission work in that case? Is the commission assessed after making trades equivalent to 1 lot? For instance, say I participated in 10 trades, each one for one mini-lot. Would the $7.00 fee be assessed after the close of the 10th trade?
my insight: people that cant’t answer such questions for themselves should NOT trade their own or other peoples money. sorry, but that question simply shows a lack of intelligence and the ability to learn things on your own. (this in not an insult , its an advice and soon you will agree or lose even more)
when you open a trade for 0.01 lots you pay 0.07$ (yes, that is a hundreth of 7.00$, amazing, right?) and when you close it you pay another 7 cent.
When do you plan to trade?
What do you plan to trade?
Do you prefer one trading platform over the other (mt4 vs. ninjatrader, etc)?
Do you plan on withdrawing a constant $ amount each week / month?
Do you want to trade on the go (i.e. a mobile app).
As far as trading PMs (precious metals):
You can trade spot positions with FOREX.com
You can trade futures contracts with AMP Futures
You can go to a coin shop, and buy physical bullion
You can trade ETFs through a common stock broker
Thank you for the advice, but I think saying my question shows a lack of intelligence is insulting. I am quite capable of figuring out the math; however most ECN brokers say their commission is based on trading one lot. I did not know if these fees are generally assessed after total trade volume reaches one lot or if it is fractionally assessed when trades involve mini and micro lots. I think this is a reasonable question, though I apologize if I did not make the intent of my question clear. As you can see from reading my previous post, I had already figured out the math for myself, so I really wasn’t asking for an arithmetic lesson.
FOREXunlimited–thanks for your reply. I had read that article before, but I appreciate you linking it, as I feel the concepts are quite important.
In regards to your questions:
I plan to trade primarily during the London and New York Sessions and am really only going to focus on the majors for now. I do not really plan on trading precious metals at this time.
I have no strong preferences as far as platform goes, but I have enjoyed the MT4 platform up to this point and have found it rather intuitive. Regarding withdraws, I have no plans on withdrawing anything for at least a couple years. With only $1000 starting capital, I do not expect to make a reasonable profit for several years and making withdraws would just unnecessarily cut into my capital.
I would like to trade via a mobile platform at times. I have MT4 on my phone at the moment and have been using it with a few demo accounts.
In the USA Forex.com, FXCM, Interbank FX and Oanda, seem to be the big four brokers we hear the most about. If you read reviews and ask around them you’ll find none of them have perfect ratings.
On the other hand, I think you’ll also find that Forex.com, FXCM, Interbank FX and Oanda are reputable brokers and continue to have many satisfied customers.
If you’ve tried a few demo platforms and so far your favorite has been Forex.com, why not start with them. If you change your mind after using them for a while, you can always try another.
PS Oops! maybe I should have also included MB Trading?
I recently read that a specific broker checks the clients cache to determine their winnings and will modify expirys to limit winning trades. So, we should clear our cache after every $30 or $40 winning trade. Is this a common practice, or is just fantasy on the part of the writer?
For a good skilled Forex trade it is small capital is enough with a regulated broker. Because, regulated brokers are always inspired the Traders by their facilities. I had not my trading cap-ital many times by using non-regulated broker. For being an ECN and regulated trading broker, I have trading in GCI Financial. I never and ever want to trade in a non-regulated broker. Because, I know the non-regulated broker always steal the money from the traders trading capital.
If you’re in U.S. then Oanda is good because there is really no difference in terms of the leverage that you can use and then there’s FIFO too. There’s also FXCM and GAIN CAPITAL’s retail version (forex.com) and then MB Trading. I only experienced Oanda and FXCM and I can say they are great but definitely can’t say anything about the other (all I heard is they are equally great).
I knew about US and canda, regulation legislations or what ever it is called, is trying to contain the volume invested in forex to stay with in the country, but japan? thats new. hmmm for us based brokers i think a popular one is oanda, alpari as well but not sure what the conditions are for US residents best of luck
In those countries the leverage allowed is really, really bad.
It’s fortunate for those who live in European and Asian countries because they can use much bigger leverage.