Oanda

[kkarank]

Hi,

I am based in the UK and from posts on this forum it looks like onada is the best bet for FOREX trading .

My questions-

1) Do they have any minimum acccount balance requirement ?
2) Ho do you fund the account - wire ?or do they have a UK presence?
3) Do they charge commision or just live off spreads ?


Also any recos on a good charting software/free charts for forex ? I have tried netdania but not been impressed.

Cheers
KK

 

[fxmarkets]

1. No

2. wire (free transfers taking 3 biz days or pay fee for same day)

3. no commision, spread typically 1.5 eur/usd 2.7 gbp/usd 2 usd/ jpy 2.3 eur/jpy ( news spreads widen 5/15 for 5-15 mins typically)

VT trader, or meta trader for free charts. you should be able to use those o.k and zoom in for 5 second charts on oanda (to pin entries on their quote if you need that ) for session trading. depends what speed you are trading off.

Fx.

 

[notouch]

The posts you were looking at were probably old. Within the past few months OANDA has gone downhill, with wide spreads (25 pips!) and massive slippage. Just about any other broker is better than OANDA. Try the direct access route: IdealPro or MB/EFX.

 

[kkarank]

The posts you were looking at were probably old. Within the past few months OANDA has gone downhill, with wide spreads (25 pips!) and massive slippage. Just about any other broker is better than OANDA. Try the direct access route: IdealPro or MB/EFX.

25 pips and still in business ???

 

[ampro]

I think you'll find notouch is referring to data releases kkarank. They, like most shops, tend to widen their spreads around sensitive events & keep them extended for a lot longer than their direct access competitors.

They'll also regularly slip you whilst attempting to engage on & around said opportunities. Sure, even interbank spreads will skew a little when key data is printing, but generally they'll come back inline a whole lot faster than retail firms.

If part of your execution planning includes triggering off the short timeframes, a typical retail outlet such as Oanda won't offer you too many positive opportunities - they're simply not designed to accommodate this type of trade set-up.

 

[kkarank]

I think you'll find notouch is referring to data releases kkarank.....If part of your execution planning includes triggering off the short timeframes, a typical retail outlet such as Oanda won't offer you too many positive opportunities - they're simply not designed to accommodate this type of trade set-up.

Sorry ampro - what are data releases ? if not onada who then ? how about metatrader.com or www.tradinggroup.com ?

do any forex brokers offer direct market access like they do in the stock market ?

cheers

 

[ampro]

Data releases, as in Fundamental News releases.

Have a read of the thread below, that will offer an explanation. You could also do a search for IB (Interactive Brokers), there are a couple threads on this Forum offering info on them.

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/showthread.php?t=21420

 

[Doctor Leo]

They, like most shops, tend to widen their spreads around sensitive events & keep them extended for a lot longer than their direct access competitors.

Just my $0.02. I wonder why you guys are looking for American bucketshops when you have a very good and honest broker right in London? I mean IG Markets. I've been working with them for more than half a year now and I'm happy I've moved to them from Oanda. Typical spreads are from 2 to 4 pips. I've NEVER seen widened spreads even on NFP, there's NO slippage ever (except for stop execution on news like that - but even in this case you have an option of "Guaranteed stop" which costs you additional 1 to 3 pips), execution is instant for sizes up to 5 million base currency, they do not require any minimum balance, to open a position you should have only enough funds to cover your stop (if you use it), and they offer even partial contracts (like Oanda does). More to their honesty - some couple of times price was less than a pip (sic!) close to my stop order level and it hadn't been executed. It's very pleasant esp. after Oanda's stops hunting.
Personally I use a credit card for withdrawals, very convenient, but of course you can use money transfer.
Some disadvantage might be a very resource-eating terminal app which BTW is written in Java, like that of Oanda. However they offer reasonably good customizable charts with common indicators.

 

[ampro]

If you're content with your provider, & they offer you the facilities you're seeking, then all good & well Leo! After all, confidence & trust in your supplier is half the battle.

I don't think I'd categorize I.B in the bucket shop dept, but then, everyone is entitled to their views.

Again, as long as the provider offers an all round service which fits the traders style & personality, that's the best you can aim for.

Occasionally, I (& I guess a few others) prefer to engage across the micro timeframes, where I receive parity to 2 pip spreads (1 on avg on the majors) under normal market conditions, combined with pretty slick fills.

Like I say, depending on the style & trade plans, that can be a advantageous, particularly with decent size.

Each to their own, but as long as folks have a choice & can determine which provider (or combo) will suit their needs, that should be the most important consideration?

 

[Doctor Leo]

Quite agree with you, Ampro, I only wanted to ask just one question and make just one warning.
The question was - what for to deal with an American bucketshop/broker?
And the warning was - don't have business with Oanda ESPECIALLY if you trade micro timeframes with (I suppose) tight stops. You'll never get that 1.2 pips spread due to slippage and you'll be constantly blown away from market on spikes which are intrinsic to Oanda.

 

[notouch]

I've never tried IG Markets but most of us have tried IG Index which is the bucket shop of bucket shops. Having been screwed by IG Index it's hard to give IG Markets a go. They're the same company after all.

 

[turtle trader]

IG Markets have a very slow & cumbersome interface, and a poor choice of order types. The only benefit is that you can trade a wide variety of instruments through them (albeit with wide spreads on many markets). They are a 'jack of all trades' and definitely not a master of any.

If you trade as a hobby then they are probably fine, if you want to trade fx seriously then use an fx broker.

Simon

 

[FXSCALPER2]

People who worry too much about their brokers are usually climbing up the wrong tree. In FX, is you can make money with an ECN, then you can also do it spread betting. Coversly, if you cannot make money spread betting, going direct access will make absolutely no difference.

IG Markets have a very slow & cumbersome interface, and a poor choice of order types. The only benefit is that you can trade a wide variety of instruments through them (albeit with wide spreads on many markets). They are a 'jack of all trades' and definitely not a master of any.

If you trade as a hobby then they are probably fine, if you want to trade fx seriously then use an fx broker.

Simon

 

[coolTrader]

People who worry too much about their brokers are usually climbing up the wrong tree. In FX, is you can make money with an ECN, then you can also do it spread betting. Coversly, if you cannot make money spread betting, going direct access will make absolutely no difference.

Not if they start rejecting potentially winning trades and accepting potentially losing trades.

If that keeps happening the probability of you being a successful trader is slim.

As any successful trader will tell you the brokers are very important. It will be naive to think that the brokers don't matter.

 

[FXSCALPER2]

Obviously brokers do matter. You wouldn't want them too expensive, for example. However, I am speaking from personal experience. There may be brokers out there who stop people from being profitable, but in my experience whichever one I used makes very little difference. I will tell you what I am talking about.

I have been trading with CMC for over three years. During that time, I have been requoted and rejected countless times. The even took my winning away on one occasion saying I traded on 'bad price'. When I try to scalp with them I would obviously appreciate it if they took all of my orders. Now, is my profitability affected because of all these shenanigans? No. I would like to say brokers are horrible and they steal my money and so on. But that is just not what I think.

I also trade with an ECN. I pay them commission and they excute my trades better than the brokers. Howeve, when I do my books at the end of the week, I don't find them any cheaper than CMC, for example.

People who complain about FOREX brokers are looking for someone esle to blame. I may be wrong but that is what I think. A good trader will make money trading with fins, CS, CMC, FXCM, IG index or MBtrading. I have first hadn experience with all of these and, on balance, people are talking rubbish when they blame brokers for their failures. People who expect to be filled at the price they want when they want clealry don't have a basic grasp of markets.

Not if they start rejecting potentially winning trades and accepting potentially losing trades.

If that keeps happening the probability of you being a successful trader is slim.

As any successful trader will tell you the brokers are very important. It will be naive to think that the brokers don't matter.

 

[FXSCALPER2]

I forgot to ask you: how are they consistently going to reject good trades and accept bad ones?

Not if they start rejecting potentially winning trades and accepting potentially losing trades.

If that keeps happening the probability of you being a successful trader is slim.

As any successful trader will tell you the brokers are very important. It will be naive to think that the brokers don't matter.

 

[turtle trader]

People who worry too much about their brokers are usually climbing up the wrong tree. In FX, is you can make money with an ECN, then you can also do it spread betting. Coversly, if you cannot make money spread betting, going direct access will make absolutely no difference.

I agree totally, but there are minimum standards that you should be able to expect from a dealing platform - I believe IG fall short of those standards. For instance it takes too long to load up the dealing ticket, and there is no facility to exit part of a position using a stop or limit order - you either have to place a limit for the entire position or manually close part of it when a target is reached.

I'm sure there are plenty of traders who blame their tools when they should really be looking to themselves, but at the same time it can be hard enough to make money in the markets without having to deal with imposed handicaps such as these.

 

[Finlayson]

Just wanted to say FXscalper has made a good sensible post there
There are good & worse...as with most things..& we all have a choice & makes sense to get with the best you can. But I think if you are blaming your tools for bad performance then your focus is on the wrong thing.

I have had ****ty experiences with some SB companies & they were frustrating at the time....but things like this are part of the learning experiences..if you let them be

horses for courses I guess

Jay

 

[Priceman]

It will be interesting to see if CMC honour my trades now that I have a good and successful trading system in place. They have taken a fair bit of my wonga over the last couple of years and I want it back! Only problem is, nicking pips here and there at the moment due to work. Plan to do a full month soon so will post here how they play me... although I do plan to spread (no pun intended) my positions across brokers aswell to see how they all compare. As all I trade most of the time is cable I can focus on each system rather than looking for multiple opportunities, this should enable me to test each platform and decide where to stay/ who to slate. I'm not bothered about news trading, although if the opportunity is there then of course I'd get in.

Keep the info coming as I like to think it keeps them on their toes. I like the fact that a few do show up to answer for their companies mistakes, at least they look willing to help.

 

[notouch]

If you're just a point and click position trader then it probably makes no difference whether you're with a spread betting company or a direct access broker. If you have a strategy that relies on fast execution or automation then the platform makes a massive difference.