GCI Financial

[gcibasher]

GCI : Absolutely the worst CFD broker

GCI is absolutely the worst broker for CFD's.

First, it is the slippage. The order will take more than 45 seconds to execute.

Second, they misrepresent everything. I asked a dealer whether they pay dividends or if I short the position whether I owe dividends. CFD dealer on chat session said that no dividends were paid or due and the only costs were interest. I was surprised to see a dividend adjustment onm y report a few days later. Nothing is also mentioned on the website. I submitted a screen capture of the conversation we had and they did not even address that and kept saying that I owed the dividend as I was ex-div the day before.

Thirdly, they are not regulated by any certified body.That's like being likened to the KBG or mafia. Is it worth it?

Fourthly, they claim they have insurance liability from Allied group from sweden, if they decide to file for bankruptcy. I e-mailed Allied about this and did not hear from them. Am i supposed to believe GCI then?

Fifthly, they were fined by the CFTC in the US for trading in illegal exchange contracts and that's why they are in Belize.

 

[vivanov]

Gee, GCI you're asking.

I've worked for several small brokerages back in my home country and we used to operate several accounts with foreign brokers used for hedging purposes.

So I can say I've tried like 5-7 brokers. GCI is the worst possible experience I've had with a broker (even counting my own personal accounts). Really, I have to put that in caps. Stay away. Everything about GCI not being regulated and being forced out of the USA into Belize (offshore country) is true.

They are brutal.

They manually hit your stops. I've caught them several times hitting our stops with unreal prices (we used to use Reuters and eSignal for datafeed, so we had some idea where the market went to).

Enormous slippage when filling limit orders. Don't fall for "zero slippage policy blah-blah". I mean, of course I expect some slippage in volatile markets, but they just wait for the big move to stop and fill your order at the exact top/bottom. Quite dishonest.

Huge requotes. Frequent over 1 minute waiting time for order execution.

Really, I can go on and on, but you get the idea. I've worked in this business so I know all the dirty tricks a bucketshop broker can use against his customers. They use all of them. And they reach extremes too.

 

[neck ingold]

Im sorry to mislead..lately i have being experiencing problems with GCI...stay away !!

 

[bkbigfish]

Bucket shop

From everything I've seen about GCI Financial (although I've never traded with them), it seems obvious that it is a bucket shop. What that means is it is essentially a market-maker, or bookie, rather than a broker. You do not actually buy and sell currencies and equities on an exchange - you buy and sell them to other GCI customers. That's why there's such a restricted list of currencies and equities to buy - GCI has to match customer orders up, or else take the other side of the trade.
That's why they offer such high margins (20x or however much it is), because on such a short margin, you can easily bankrupt your account with a simple 2% movement. The odds are against you, because every stock eventually moves 2% rapidly in the wrong direction.
GCI can easily bankrupt its customers' accounts by engineering what is called a "bucket shop drive." When many customers are long a stock, they can place several sell orders on the real exchange to temporarily drive down the price 2% or so, to wipe out every customer, and then buy back the stock immediately after. This only costs them a few thousand dollars, but they can make tens of thousands from their now-bankrupt customer accounts. Higher margins ensure that customers will eventually (and usually quickly) go bankrupt.
Bucket shops need to have a reputation for paying up, which they usually do because the average customer is a loser - they come out way ahead even if some customers make decent money. However, if a customer were to win big (say, $100,000), they would probably pay, but then ban the customer from trading with them again.
Bucket shops have been illegal in the U.S. since the 1920s or 1930s. They were huge business before then, and they operated on the same basic principles as casinos, only more corrupt. For a better explanation of how they manipulate, steal, and otherwise profit off of other people's misfortune, you should read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. It chronicles the life of Jesse Livermore, considered by many the greatest stock trader of all life. He started in the bucket shops, which constantly kicked him out because he was a consistent winner. GCI would have to do the same, because if you win, it's their money you're winning.

 

[pcmeta]

Any commend on GCI Financial ?

Any commend on GCI Financial ? I don't know should I open a account with them...Thanks..

 

[tar]

From everything I've seen about GCI Financial (although I've never traded with them), it seems obvious that it is a bucket shop. What that means is it is essentially a market-maker, or bookie, rather than a broker. You do not actually buy and sell currencies and equities on an exchange - you buy and sell them to other GCI customers. That's why there's such a restricted list of currencies and equities to buy - GCI has to match customer orders up, or else take the other side of the trade.
That's why they offer such high margins (20x or however much it is), because on such a short margin, you can easily bankrupt your account with a simple 2% movement. The odds are against you, because every stock eventually moves 2% rapidly in the wrong direction.
GCI can easily bankrupt its customers' accounts by engineering what is called a "bucket shop drive." When many customers are long a stock, they can place several sell orders on the real exchange to temporarily drive down the price 2% or so, to wipe out every customer, and then buy back the stock immediately after. This only costs them a few thousand dollars, but they can make tens of thousands from their now-bankrupt customer accounts. Higher margins ensure that customers will eventually (and usually quickly) go bankrupt.
Bucket shops need to have a reputation for paying up, which they usually do because the average customer is a loser - they come out way ahead even if some customers make decent money. However, if a customer were to win big (say, $100,000), they would probably pay, but then ban the customer from trading with them again.
Bucket shops have been illegal in the U.S. since the 1920s or 1930s. They were huge business before then, and they operated on the same basic principles as casinos, only more corrupt. For a better explanation of how they manipulate, steal, and otherwise profit off of other people's misfortune, you should read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. It chronicles the life of Jesse Livermore, considered by many the greatest stock trader of all life. He started in the bucket shops, which constantly kicked him out because he was a consistent winner. GCI would have to do the same, because if you win, it's their money you're winning.

Few thousands to move the stock 2% !!! what r u talking about ?!!!

 

[poster]

I am having a mini forex account with GCI. I am new to trading, and am not even month old. But reading this, I consider shifting. If any one can suggest some good broker having a good trading and margin platform like Gci with a good track record.

 

[whipsaw]

If any one can suggest some good broker having a good trading and margin platform like Gci with a good track record.

Good standing + FSA regulated => IG Markets, GNI Touch, Saxobank (all DMA Level1 + 2)
or Global Markets & CMC (both Synthetics)

 

[sunnyjiap3]

I absolutely agree. GCI is the worst I've ever experienced! Huge slippage even in non-news time! OMG!