Forex Trading Platforms

scrosbie

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Just in the research stage before commence my foray into forex trading. A lot of reading and virtual trading.

Would be really helpful to hear from anybody prepared to share their views, experience and recommendations for the numerous trading platforms.

Thanks :?:
 
scrosbie

I trade with Oanda Oanda who IMHO are one of the best if you are starting out with limited capital. Go there and open a demo account and give it a go.

Also, join the forum which has alot of good FX traders.

Cheers Snip
 
You also want to look at the currency you want your account held in. Most only do euro or dollar. Fxcm uk offer pounds as well.
 
Trading Platform

Thanks for the feed back.

I intend to have a closer look at Oanda and fxcm.

One further question on fxcm, their spread on Euro/pound seems quite wide compared to others. I think that they are 5 pips and others are 3 pips.

Am I missing something in making that judgement?
 
Hi scrosbie

FXCM are 4 pips on Euro/$ and 5 on GBP/$

what you get for the extra pip is guarenteed stop and limit orders. Even if the market gaps your stops are taken at the price you entered them - there is no slippage. Same for limit entry/exit orders.

Been using FXCM daily for about 3 months now and happy so far.
 
FXCM

I would personally recommend FXCM - not only for their guaranteed orders with no slippage, but also because they have a strong UK presence and you can fund your account in pounds.

In my opinion, it can feel uncomfortable sending sums of trading money to companies outside of the UK.

Also, although Oanda offer the best spreads and order sizes, FXCM have much better margin rates (up to 200/1) whereas Oanda only allow something like 30/1 I think.

Hope this helps. Obviously, all this is just my opinion. It's horses for courses at the end of the day.


Cheers

Damian
 
Oanda advantages:
-- 2pip spread on EUR/USD
-- 1$ minimum position size(FXCM and others is 10,000$)
-- No time limit on Demo/game account.
-- Best trading platform

disadvantages
-- Can get slippage on market orders, although you can control it.
-- Increased spreads on weekends and sometimes on important announcements
-- Can only fund account in USD or EUR
-- Charts could be better


The Max leverage is 50:1, but I consider anything above this is suicide.

Unless you trade in very large amounts, you can adjust your position size to fit your money management strategy. Very important as far as I'm concerned.

Cheers Snip
 
Complete newcomer to FX markets and am currently in the research process. I was also looking for a potential FX broker and am considering FXCM. Would appreciate an answer to the following :
May sound a daft question but in the simulator where the amounts to trade start with £10 etc- is this the same as betting £10 a point with an SB?
What is the minimum account requirement which would be necessary to trade with this organisation.
The simulator which i downloaded displays EOD data- is there a facility to display other charts (ie Candlesticks) in a live environment.- if so what timescales do these cover on FXCM- ie minute 5 minute bars etc?
Thx in advance
Mick
 
Mik1973

I think the 'amount' you refer to is the number of '000 of the currency that you are trading. eg if the currency is EUR/USD and the amount is 10, you would buy/sell $10,000. This is one mini-lot and is equivalent to a $1/pip bet.

I think the minimum to open a mini account is £300. I am just about to open an account with them, as I like the idea of guaranteed stops and limits.

The chart plugin that I downloaded is realtime...
 
Hello Everyone,
Another newbie here hoping to gain some knowledge from you guys. ;) I only started putting small amounts of money on forex last week, I use my SB account with CMC. It concerns me that when the market moves against me before going in the direction I anticipated, I lose my stake/point and have to win it back the other side of my entry point before I can make profit, where as if I had bought shares for example I could buy at X amount and sell for Y amount and fluctuations in price between buy and sell would make no difference!

Is there any way I can buy and sell forex like shares rather than betting on it?

Also an unrelated question..... I am giving myself four months full time (8-8 every day) to try and make a go of this trading game, I have already done 4 weeks but only started betting very small stakes last week mainly on UK shares SB, but am very interested in forex also. I am starting with only £2500 and would like to be earning £3000 a month by the end of the 4 months.

When you've stopped laughing, I'd love to hear peoples views on what they think my chances are of succeeding! :)
 
Thx for your response waytogo. I'm still getting my head around " buying lots". I'm so used to dealing with SBs that using other types of brokers is something completely new to me. Any chance of giving an example (an idiots guide) of buying lots as well as explaining the difference between a "normal lot" and a "mini lot". Would appreciate if you could give feedback when you get your account up and running to explain the pros and cons.
Good luck with your trading,
Mick
 
Zenda - Shattered my dreams with one almighty blow!
I'l get on with it anyway, see where it takes me eh.
As a great philosipher once said 'Every expert - once was a beginer'
 
mik1973

1 lot on the EUR/USD is $100,000 or $10/pip. 1 mini lot is just 1/10th of that.

Have you looked at the T2W beginner's guide to Forex? Do as much reading around as you can and have a play around with any of the various demo accounts on offer (FXCM, Oanda, CMS-Forex etc) - you'll soon get the hang of how it works. Also I went to a free seminar at FXCM last week - they are very helpful bunch of guys who are happy to talk to you whatever your level of knowledge. I am certainly not an expert as I have only just started looking at forex.

Red Eye

I would say that 4 months is probably not long enough to achieve what you want. '3-5 years of 12 hour days' according to one trading expert, unless you have a very good teacher/mentor is perhaps nearer the mark. However, if you are cautious, and only trading with money you can afford to lose, then go for it - you'll never know unless you try.
 
any more?

Hi waytogo

I am totally new to forex as well. Just got curious because received some preview cd with fx trading site this morning (spam ?) directly to my door box.

Thanks for suggestion on seminars at FXCM.
Do you know anymore places similar to this? With live discussion on it..

Thanks!
 
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