And of course it would, if true, make a massive difference to the SB company given the number of transactions they do on a daily basis. An average of one pip for every transaction would soon add up.
I think it would be very interesting to run some sort of test on one of dodgier SB companies to monitor slippage and prices. Of course their defenders will say they can offer whatever price they want as its not the real market, however I think they are under an obligation to treat customers fairly.
MajorDutch
Established member
well you could send a complaint to the FSA but nothing would happen apart from you getting string of letters asking you if they have dealt with your complaint satisfactorily. Vested interests you see, that's another story.
MajorDutch
Established member
I am sure in there T&Cs that nobody every reads it basically says they can rape you and give you any price and execute what they want. They are under obligation to treat customers fairly TCF but proving price / execution manipulation would be tricky. For example if you set up 2 computers side by side, different IP's, same broker if you hit buy at the same time and one got slippage and the other didnt that really doesnt prove much. The broker can easily get out of that. Probably better to try and find ex employees with knowledge of systematic manipulation that they are willing to part with. Dont know what would be in it for you though, the regulator will probably conduct a lengthy investigation and fine them some miniscule % of their profits.
Perhaps monitoring the bid/ask spread with an open position and comparing it to the bid/ask on a separate account with no open position. Either that or doing the same thing near a live stoploss and seeing if the spread was widened to take your live trade out. I think it would be difficult to set up, but not impossible, the difficulty would be making use of the information as it would probably get deleted from most trading sites pretty quickly. Without doubt their T&Cs allow them to do as they please, whether or not they could get away with that would remain to be seen.
You know I fully understand slippage and also fully accept it when it occurs, I trade oil futures amounst most instruments so experience it often and when you have instant movement of 10 pips then it has to be accepted.
I was watching the city index trade on both occasions as it happened, each time low volatility, stop was met but not closed and over the space of 20 seconds or so was finally closed 2 pips away from my stop.
They refused to comment or respond to me on subsequent email and as mentioned no slippage previous on >500 trades and suddenly 2 in a row after withdrawal of funds very fishy, they only way to get back at them is close my account and dont expect others to follow suit but at least be aware of the issue and make their own choices if the same happens to them. Hey, if you are losing money with them then sure they will not put any slippage in as they want you with them as the spreads are great
Its all part and parcel of trading
I was watching the city index trade on both occasions as it happened, each time low volatility, stop was met but not closed and over the space of 20 seconds or so was finally closed 2 pips away from my stop.
They refused to comment or respond to me on subsequent email and as mentioned no slippage previous on >500 trades and suddenly 2 in a row after withdrawal of funds very fishy, they only way to get back at them is close my account and dont expect others to follow suit but at least be aware of the issue and make their own choices if the same happens to them. Hey, if you are losing money with them then sure they will not put any slippage in as they want you with them as the spreads are great
Its all part and parcel of trading
