The Great Broker Debate- Taking the plunge!

Beginner Questions
21

[I](mauritius, not nfa regulated, their regulation over there can be purchased for 10000 USD )[/I]

This is a joke right? :confused:

[I]After looking further into the bigger names, I had a list of 3: GFT Forex, Alpari US/UK, Interbank FX. Why these three? Metatrader 4 (GFT aside- which still seems to have a good platform in DealBook360), NFA regulation, and a reputation around these forums as being the bigger names worth trading with.
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If you are interested, apart from their own platform ACM also have the MT4, but minimum is $2000

[I]Dukascopy now accept retail accounts as small as $5000 by the way. [/I]

Lots are unfortunately still in 100,000. I for one would prefer 10,000 lots otherwise it could be too costly too soon with a SL placed 80 or 90 pips on a trade. Volatile pairs would be a no-no.

[I]I am currently with Oanda at the moment and I am happy with them. I think this is the best broker for someone to start out with and is also the best broker for someone with limited funds.[/I]

eToro also has a good reputation as a starting-learning broker due to itā€™s simplicity btw.

[I]I understand the risks of leverage, but for me to feel losses, to feel gains, to really get the emotional response, I think I need to feel those larger gains or losses WITHOUT risking more than I want with my account. I feel comfortable even trading up to 400:1.
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If you honestly only get a buzz from such high leverage (:eek:!!) then Iā€™m affraid you had better forget any US based brokerā€¦the NFA wanā€™t nothing more to do with you. You need to look at Canada or Europe and Australia.

[I]they are in America, which means very high fees for deposits and withdrawals.
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ACM cover their clientā€™s PayPal fees btw, and withdrawal receipt range from 2 - 4 days.

[I]it does not take long for a person to find out that theyā€™re being ā€˜fleecedā€™ by their broker i.e. usually the ā€˜fleecingā€™ starts after the second or third profitable trade is closed and your account balance has grown!!! The ā€˜trickā€™ is to move on before your entire account has been ā€˜fleecedā€™ from you!! LOL!!!
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One other way to avoid a broker doing naughty things with you is doing what I used to do with 1 of my first brokers who will remain unnamed. Keep withdrawing your profitā€¦I never had more than $1000 in my account at any one given time.

22

Well I wanted to check back with everyone and Iā€™m happy to say I did take the plunge :slight_smile:

HOWEVER- I didnā€™t go with GFT. I donā€™t know whether it was the salesperson on the live chat that was just REALLY keen on selling me something, or whether I couldnā€™t get used to the platform quick enough; but [B]I chose to go with IBFX as my first broker.[/B]

[B]Reasons:[/B]
-MT4 is a big plus for me
-Pleasant support staff
-Mini Accounts without a minimum deposit

[B]Drawbacks:[/B]
-Still not a ECN but one day Iā€™ll get there
-Higher spreads than other brokers tested
-No instant deposits

The choice fit for me as along with the MT4 platform, I can get 400:1 leverage on a mini account. Deposit bonuses were also part of my decision to choose IBFX.

The next post will be an explanation of the experience I had signing up and applying. I wish to let people know what to expect and will try my best to keep emotion out of it. I do have to say however that I was VERY pleased with how quick everything was completed. Iā€™d sent the application in around 2:00EST and was approved by the evening, even got a call for confirmation.

23

As for the experiene signing up, as I said earlier I was quite pleased.

The online application is a quick fill HOWEVER do keep in mind you will need some information you may not always have on you:

-Employment information including addresses and numbers
-Financial worth (assets, liquidity, risk capital etc.)
-Also, scans of two govā€™t issued IDs are mandatory for non US residents.
-In addition, I also had to send in a scan of the front and back of my credit card (hide the security code and first 12 digits).

After completing the application, a second set of forms need to be filled out and either faxed and emailed to IBFX. The forms are easy to fill out; one is a W-8 form, the other is only needed if someone is managing the account for you (I didnā€™t have to fill this one out).

Once these are emailed, you do get a confirmation email/call (I got both) from IBFX.

I was expecting the whole process to take more than a few days however was quite surprised when Iā€™d even received an email the same evening that my credit card was approved too and I was ready to make my first deposit.

So far so good. I will be posting my further experiences here including how I find the spreads with the Live account, how liquidity is, how quick orders are filled, and whether my stops and tps are filled without much slippage.

I will say here though- for those looking to open a live account- DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR ANY OF THIS. IT IS SOLELY YOUR DECISION TO SIGN UP WITH THE BROKER OF YOUR CHOICE. I ONLY WISH TO PROVIDE A NEWBIEā€™S INSIGHT AS I GO INTO THE LIVE WORLD OF FOREX TRADING :slight_smile:

24

As a live customer I got an email yesterday from them saying their spreads will be tightened, so weā€™ll see if you canā€™t strike that off your list soon.

It would be nice as I agree that their current spreads leave some to be desired.

25

Yep I got that email today too and it seems as though I notice the change in spreads. Though a minor change, I noticed the GBPJPY go from around 7 pips to 5 which is nice as Iā€™m watching that pair for a nice longer term trade soon.

As for the leverage I mentioned before, I also received an email stating their compliance with NFA rulings, thus 400:1 leverage will not be the case for me, itā€™ll be adjusted to 100:1 as max leverage.

Have yet to make my initial deposit but will be doing so later in the day Wednesday. Will post how it goes :slight_smile: