Which criminal can we use?

[crashout]

Hello guys,

For migbank they are not really a bank, nowadays most switzerland brokers have bank in their name, like dukascopy. Because i think it's a new law in switz or a new regulation.

Dukascopy have Empty4 in beta test. In the future this should be a good alternative.

For big guys with deep pockets, there is barx from barclays, open from 5000£ and 100:1 levarage, no Empty4, they said they have a non dealing desk and they don't trade against their clients, but hum hum, should we believe in them, not sure.

There is also autobahnfx from deutschebank but don't have details about that.

I'm with Interactive Brokers since years and i'm plainfully happy .

[bobasker]

I have been running a live account with Cowboy Go Markets since 2009 and they have been excellent, I also just recently opened a live account with Cowboy IBFX Aussie which I will fund in early 2012 so we'll see how that goes.

Bob.

[Caal]

I don't understand why people want micro lots...you can run fine with 250$ on a normal account, it's all about risk management.

I can recommend LiteForex for small acounts, VantageFX or ThinkForex for larger accounts. VantageFX has the nice 100% guarantee that you NEVER get a requote. Their spreads are nice, execution speed not so great (2-3 seconds sometimes, usually 1-2). And minimum stoploss distance is 30 :\

[SteveHopwood]

So, why were Cowboy IBFX so eager to go NFA compliant? Because their use of the term NFA suggests a federal government intervention and suggests some sort of legitimacy applies to their actions.

Not exactly, although I agree with the sentiment.

All FX criminals that choose to serve US residents as clients are required to be NFA compliant by the Frank/Dodd act. While regulating FX was only a small part of the Frank/Dodd act, the supposed intent was to provide the same level of client protection afforded to commodities and futures traders. Unfortunately, they went far wide by implementing all manner of ridiculous and ineffectual limiations (50:1 leverage, FIFO, no hedging to name a few). In short, it's a Federal Government requirement to be NFA compliant if you are going to serve US resident clients.

A simple Google of NFA throws up the info that NFA is actually a federation of criminals.

Agreed.

Members imply a reluctant compliance of regulations that they developed in the first place. All of this make it easier for Cowboy IBFX to take the opposite position to their 'valued clients' when this is the only way to get such clients' trades to market.

It's not that it makes it easier to take the other side of their client's trades...they must take the other side of their client's trades unless said criminal offers ECN. There must be a counter party for non-ECN trades and that's the only way to do it...unfortunately.

I'm not defending the NFA. Far from it. I despise the inept fools that took it upon themselves to create nonsensical legislation that only makes it harder for smaller traders to remain in the market competitively. I only present this information because I've made a study of it (as one of the poor sap US residents caught in it) so I might understand it and still manage to avoid it's pitfalls.

I trade with Cowboy IBFX US (because I'm US restricted) but am still pleased with their performance as you are with their Aussie branch.

FYI. Last month Cowboy IBFX was acquired by TradeStation and is now TradeStation Forex. The Cowboy IBFX branding will still exist and they will continue to operate as Cowboy IBFX but TradeStation is now the counterparty and holds all Cowboy IBFX client accounts.

So, a tentative plus vote for Cowboy IBFX Aussie. Not sure I would trust them with a £100,000 account, but that is a while off yet.

Same for Cowboy IBFX US.

Fascinating to read this. Thanks for the info.

[4xPIPAHOLIC]

Hi All!!!

I have been trading a live account since June 2011 with AVA FX in Ireland. In the beginning I was reluctant to open an account with them with all the trashing they where getting in forums (witch in the end it was proven it was done by competitors), but went ahead and did after investigating them deeply. Also I got $1000 bonus on my $5000 deposit......that helped.
Very happy, always quick to call back, one morning 3 months ago there was a junk spike witch they corrected within 30minutes, no stop hunting, I can trade 0.01 lots, 50 pairs, I really have nothing else to say.....oh yah there spreads are a little higher than some other crims, but for me as long as they are a "Cleaner Crim" I am happy, at least I know what to look at, and have no surprises (for now).

FxPipaholic

[SteveHopwood]

Forex4you are absolute shockers. I have a live account with them that I used to use for live trading my promising EA's because they allow nano-nano lots and a $10 account allows you to trade like scoobs.

Their execution is pitifully slow and closing a trade takes long enough for it to drift into loss by the time it happens.

Frequent disconnects and one of my pals had his account shot to pieces by a spike that was a clear error, and they refused to do anything about it.

They are absolute rubbish.

[SteveHopwood]

I have started keeping lists of criminals described in post 1, to help make the situation clearer.

[youcrazykids]

Hi everyone

FXCM (UK) is my broker of choice. I am trading live. No complaints so far, from my perspective. Here are my reasons:

1) They offer micro accounts on Empty4, as well as their proprietary platforms.
2) After running identical EAs on both live and demo Empty4 accounts, execution and data feeds are identical. I've verified this personally. So, they offer demos which seem accurate.
3) No apparent stop-hunting, momentarily mammoth spreads or loss of liquidity.
4) Helpful and genuine online support, easy funding, easy withdrawl.
5) Spread-betting platforms for those of us in the UK, so you needn't worry about tax.

I have had a bad experience in the past with Forex.com (Gain Capital Ltd.) and lost the fat end of a grand. They can go and fuck themselves with a sharp object, frankly. This left me somewhat wary of criminals for a period of time before I got back into live trading with Empty4. In the interim, I used Tradefair (the financial arm of Betfair) manually, which despite its awful interface, was always good for me.

Maybe other members can vouch for FXCM and confirm my claims?

By the way, I've just noticed when previewing this entry, that the term "b r o k e r" is automatically changed to "criminal". I burst out laughing, and kicked my cup of coffee across the floor of the front room, ha ha

[SteveHopwood]

By the way, I've just noticed when previewing this entry, that the term "b r o k e r" is automatically changed to "criminal". I burst out laughing, and kicked my cup of coffee across the floor of the front room, ha ha

We try to entertain.

Thanks for your post. Finding a spread-betting crim account is on my list of to-do thingies, so it is geed tor ead this.

[Dozer]

HotForex:

I am in the USA and have been trading a large account with HotForex for about six months. Everything has gone very smoothly and as expected.

Deposits: The initial deposit was quick and accurate. I used both Credit Card deposits and Bank Wires. I'd recommend deposits by credit card, if that works for your situation. There is a maximum deposit of $5,000 USD (per deposit) for credit cards, but they go through very quickly (same day) without any fees. I realize HotForex is paying a merchant fee on the back-end for those credit card transactions, but they don't pass on those fees to their customers. I consider that an excellent business decision. Depending on your credit card (CC) company, your first CC deposit will probably get declined. Most CC companies are going to flag this as a fraudulent/suspicious transaction. I had to specifically call and authorize the transactions to HotForex. The charge went through as a purchase and didn't incur any additional fees from the CC company. I'd recommend making a small CC deposit as your first deposit to make sure everything goes smoothly before making larger deposits. The deposit bonus is not really a factor for me, but it works just as they describe it on the website. Read the disclaimers on the deposit bonus' thoroughly. The leverage on their accounts (200:1) is outstanding.

Withdrawals: I have made two withdrawals and they were very quick (less than 24hrs.) and accurate.

Customer Service: I haven't had to contact customer service much, but the few times I did, they were knowledgeable and quick to respond. They willingly will address any issues in your account that are due to issues or errors on their end. It's obvious that English isn't their first language, but it hasn't been a problem for me.

Spreads: The spreads are reasonably good and are generally stable. However, they do spike at times (news events/low liquidity) so be careful when you or your EA opens a trade. The variance in spreads is typical of a STP/ECN broker in my opinion. They have recently made some changes to their liquidity providers that seem to have made the spreads more stable.

Execution: The majority of my trades are executed quickly (1-2 seconds), but I have had some that took 10+ seconds. This wasn't during high volume times, but it didn't adversely impact my trades. I am trading from a well connected VPS, so it's unlikely the delays were due to my Empty4 setup or Internet connection. I have been seeing more slow executions and 1-3 minute disconnections at random times with the server lately. HotForex has been saying they are working on the issues with their Internet provider, and I have seen some improvements over the last few weeks. It hasn't really impacted me very much, but it might be an issue for a scalper. For what it's worth, my impression is that the issue is with their ISP and HotForex is working hard to improve the situation. Most of my trades have had very little or no slippage, but about 10% of my trades have had what I consider significant slippage (2-20 pips).

Overall, I'd highly recommend HotForex. It's an especially good option for USA traders, but be aware that there are some network and execution issues where they can make improvements.