trader_dante
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Is there anyone doing SB with E*trade?
Any comments or bad experience with this dealer?
Any input is appreciated.
Cheers
Gob00st
Yes I am.
Used almost every broker out there and I think they are the best by a mile.
Gob00st
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trader_dante, thanks for the quick reply.
But what do you mean they are the best by a mile? ?
Does that mean E*trade is best of best ?
And could you also please recommend a few good dealers for me ? Thanks in advance
Cheers
Gob00st
montmorencyt2w
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neil
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Td
Even better than Shortsandlongs.com who do not charge for guaranteed stop losses ?
Even better than Shortsandlongs.com who do not charge for guaranteed stop losses ?
montmorencyt2w
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Never used E*Trades (only in demo) to compare myself.
However, while S&L have some good points (guaranteed stops, platform simple and intuitive to use), they have some negatives: While stops may be good on some things, I notice for example on Bund it's 4. Also lack of charts. Can't open a trade with an order. (I thought the latter was supposed to be in the pipeline ages ago).
Still, they're ok. My main backup account at the moment.
Jack Hughes
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And still no-one seems to be using GFT, the Marie Celeste of spreadbetting...
trader_dante
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Hi, I've not used Fxcom but I used Prospread with my prop firm. They are pretty good if you want to take advantage of trading with the order flow and with DMA execution but lacked charting and one had to trade in lots which prevents total control over scalability.
trader_dante
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All of them have their advantages and disadvantages. It really depends what you want out of a service. Do you need charts? Do you need news? Do you need the tightest spreads? Do you need the fastest execution etc?
I like Shortsandlongs. Their strongest feature was the free guaranteed stop losses and the fact that you could use open profit as margin to pyramid. This latter factor is very, very attractive.
However, I couldn't stay with them for long because of the lack of being able to place orders which is how I open the majority of my trades.
The reason I like E*Trade is they have some of the lowest margin requirements which means less capital is tied up in supporting trades plus they have the tightest spreads around on almost every market. I've also probably been requoted once or twice with them in several years.
Companies for me to avoid are Finspreads, IG and VDM.
I got a lot of requotes with Finspreads.
I don't like the fact that with IG, I have to phone up to get access to several markets (e.g. Wheat) and that when I open an order the intial stop has to be in points and can only be edited to be price specific after being entered.
VDM were slipping me on everything and then one day shut me down out of the blue, sending me a cheque for all my profit and offering nothing in the way of explanation apart from the fact they didn't want to have me trade with them anymore.
I use CMC from time to time. I haven't had any execution issues. I like the platform too. Their spreads are a little wide though and I don't like the way that the orders are not attached to the position. E.g. If you attach a stop to a trade and then close the trade, the stop has to be cancelled otherwise it stays in and can fill you later on if the price trades there.
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B
Black Swan
Is there anyone doing SB with E*trade?
Any comments or bad experience with this dealer?
Any input is appreciated.
Cheers
Gob00st
London Capital Group provide the platform...
HawkTrader
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This isn't as good as it seems. Last time I checked their spread for GBP/USD was 6 points, the same as IG Index with a 'charged' spread. But if you don't use a gauranteed stop with IG, it's about 2-3 points...
trader_dante
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E*Trade spreads are pretty unbeatable I think.
Feel free to compare to your own company but I don't know anyone that beats them for the markets I trade and if they do, I bet they don't offer the same reliable and fast execution.
They are fixed throughout the main trading hours but alter slightly out of hours. Here are a few examples of spreads throughout the active trading periods:
EUR/USD: 2 pips
GBP/USD: 3 pips
EUR/GBP: 2 pips
USD/JPY: 2 pips
FTSE: 1 tick
DAX: 1 tick
DOW: 4 ticks
BUND: 3 ticks
US CRUDE: 6 ticks
GOLD: 5 ticks
Feel free to compare to your own company but I don't know anyone that beats them for the markets I trade and if they do, I bet they don't offer the same reliable and fast execution.
They are fixed throughout the main trading hours but alter slightly out of hours. Here are a few examples of spreads throughout the active trading periods:
EUR/USD: 2 pips
GBP/USD: 3 pips
EUR/GBP: 2 pips
USD/JPY: 2 pips
FTSE: 1 tick
DAX: 1 tick
DOW: 4 ticks
BUND: 3 ticks
US CRUDE: 6 ticks
GOLD: 5 ticks
B
Black Swan
Other than being a point more on FTSE and Dax that's the same prices as IG. Although Wall st daily cash can be as much as 6 I only bet on their S&P, which is generally 5...
I don't think there is a single SB that is best of the best.trader_dante, thanks for the quick reply.
But what do you mean they are the best by a mile? ?
Does that mean E*trade is best of best ?
And could you also please recommend a few good dealers for me ? Thanks in advance
Cheers
Gob00st
E-trade SB is a white label of London Capital Group Ltd.
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montmorencyt2w
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Interesting. BTW, I could have sworn that S&L's spread for US crude used to be 5 when I used to trade it a lot with them ages ago. I noticed today it was 6 for the daily, 10 for the future. And their Bund is 4. Currently mostly trading with Interactive Investor, who aren't too bad for currencies, although not all as good as the above. I think for my next account I'm currently torn between Fxcm and E*Trade.
Jack Hughes
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Agree on all of this. It seems to be impossible to open any bet with Fins unless it immediately goes against you, so the spreads are effectively doubled.
VDM (Gekko) are happy to break their own T&Cs when it suits them, apparently.
CMC's platform can be very confusing, and their helpdesk people appear to be just as baffled as the typical punter.
In the end it won't be any left for you, keeping up with you current rate of dissmissal.
Jack Hughes
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In the end it won't be any left for you, keeping up with you current rate of dissmissal.
You're right, gle - I've just about given up trying to trade with them, except for shares on longer tfs.
DMA is the only way, which is when you realise that if spreadbetting was banned in the UK, there would be far more proper futures brokers offering low margins and tempting commissions, as in America.
montmorencyt2w
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Well I've been reading the interesting book "Bird Hunting in Lion Country" (not too difficult to find for free on 'tinternet), and Du Toit goes on about (among other things) brokers being quite happy to let you lose, just like SB firms in this country. On the face of it, this didn't make sense, and of course people like FXCM and Prospreads make great play of not wanting you to lose which sounds great in theory. But I assume he must know what he is talking about and while I think he lives in RSA, I think he was writing for an American audience.
He goes on an awful lot about margin and leverage, and after I had a recent painful experience with margin recently I began to think about this more seriously, and took Du Toit's words to heart more than I might otherwise have done. This is why I was so harsh on the guy from Prospreads the other day in another thread although he either didn't get my point or chose not to.
To cut to the chase, I'm just wondering if DMA (or SB firms offering what appears to be DMA or a DMA-like service) is quite as good as it's cracked up to be. After all, if DMA brokers are falling over themselves to compete, something's going to give (just like it does with SB firms now here). One thing I would argue with is those small margins you mention (bearing in mind my previous comments & BHILC). Small margins are actually the last thing they should be offering (from a safety point of view), especially to naive newbies who don't know the risks, no matter how many risk warning are waved under their noses. Small margins and small minimum account sizes are just asking for people to blow up, isn't it?
Yes, if you trade with larger stakes DMA is the way to go. But many traders do not like to put £10 on the table for the FTSE future, just to give you an example. Financial SB is here to stay, and as far as I am concerned it has come a long way going back just a couple of years. I see a far greater need for traders to apply proper risk and money management, for without you won't be successful in any market, wether it is SB or DMA.
