Futures broker - any recommendations?

[bulldozer]

Any recommendations for FOREX options broker?

===============================================================

I assume this post is directed to me?

I dont reccommend brokers at the moment for many obvious reasons.

But i will say that any type of trading that carries margin, you would need to know the rules FIRST b4 you start trading. Sometimes the marg rules can make your trading that much harder to make profits and dont believe when brkrs say these rules are there to protect the clients account! They are PARTLY correct in what they say BUT NOT TOTALLY CORRECT.
Advanced derivatives traders would NOT accept the those rules by IB! Dont take my word for it do some reseach ask questions and DONT be afraid to ask! its your money they are after its YOU who pay their wages and not the other way round!
If a brkr is not helpfull with your questions or answers like a politician GET OUT FAST!! [dont even stay to finish the cup of tea]
You need to get every thing right and in your favour b4 you become a client.
Ask how many people/traders have lost good trades because of marg rules! You may have already experienced this problem?
I hope this post has help'd you somewhat?

Bull
PLAN your trade then trade the PLAN :!: then you can go to Barbados to get your TAN :cheesy:

 

[bulldozer]

Admin may i make a suggestion?

Could you leave this thread open a few more days incase we get some good interesting post?

I give you my word that i will not reply to the silly insulting ones and will no respond to those that try to provoke/draw me into a mud slinging match. Of course its your decision to remove the bad posts that could be sent by those who lack wisdom and spoil it for the rest.
I hope my request will be granted for the sake of those that wish to contribute something worthwhile that others can benefit from.

A happy week-end to all!

Rgrds

Bulldozer [john]

 

[rossored]

Sure thing.

If this or any thread proves useful, it'll remain open. If it proves useless... well

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the spreadbetting firms could try something like allowing its customers to trade directly with another trader.

Some forex companies like www.gftforex.com has "INTER TRADER EXCHANGE (ITX)" to trade directly with another trader", "a liquid-matching system allowing those conducting online forex trading to transact with each other inside the current, tight bid/offer spreads provided by GFT".

www.ex24.com allows US residents to do it.

Binexx is very similar to an options exchange, although its volume seems a bit small at the moment.

 

[peto]

I wonder if the spreadbetting firms could try something like allowing its customers to trade directly with another trader.

Some forex companies like www.gftforex.com has "INTER TRADER EXCHANGE (ITX)" to trade directly with another trader", "a liquid-matching system allowing those conducting online forex trading to transact with each other inside the current, tight bid/offer spreads provided by GFT".

www.ex24.com allows US residents to do it.

Binexx is very similar to an options exchange, although its volume seems a bit small at the moment.

http://www.betfair.com/ only offers fixed odds bets on the daily footsy and dow, but provides trades between its clients only. For Forex, IB permit the entering of bids and offers within their spread (which is actualy made by their 'liquidity providers'). The idea of a spreadbetting co offering it is interesting, they'd have to charge commission presumably or it would hardly be in thier interests, since the spread is their profit?

 

[bulldozer]

Peto,
Just a bit curious and possiblys others are too, do you trade options,ftrs,forex etc with IB?
and do you have any connections with them?
Please dont take this post the wrong way. Like i said just curious.

Bull

 

[Anonymous]

For a customer of Betfair to make consistent profits is possible but limited. Betfair being the matchmaker bringing layer and backer together and charging a fee should make Betfair a very profitable company. But from the customer's point of view, his profit compounding potential?

As things are at the moment, a customer using a spreadbet company pays a rather hefty spread. Any arbitrage is made difficult. If, say, he uses one spreadbet company and tries to arb between spot EURO/US$ and September EURO/US$, the spot is about 4 pips and the future is about 8 pips, he needs about 24 pips to breakeven.

 

[peto]

Bull: yes I trade futures with IB, no I have no further connection

Anon: (good nick!) The spread of spreadbetting companies is always going to make short term plays incl arbs mostly out of the question, I agree. They have their uses for longer term strategies (above a day), I would imagine, although I never got conststantly profitable with them.

Gone for the w/e now bye

 

[bulldozer]

For a customer of Betfair to make consistent profits is possible but limited. Betfair being the matchmaker bringing layer and backer together and charging a fee should make Betfair a very profitable company. But from the customer's point of view, his profit compounding potential?

As things are at the moment, a customer using a spreadbet company pays a rather hefty spread. Any arbitrage is made difficult. If, say, he uses one spreadbet company and tries to arb between spot EURO/US$ and September EURO/US$, the spot is about 4 pips and the future is about 8 pips, he needs about 24 pips to breakeven.

Anon,
If u are thinking of progessing to trade large/bigger contract size? ur better off trading thro a broker who is more able to get u narrow spreads at no further costs. Remember that WIDE sprds= less profits!,especially on option trades. Options are priced at £10 per point !! Get the picture?

There is no free lunch any more! except at my house :cheesy:
Also a broker can use his skills to leg possitions in.

There are 3 main things that draws clients to spreadbet firms:-
1. Tax free
2. cheap fees.
3. NO FEES.
It is said that about 90% of clients lose money over a yr period So, the question i would ask is this:- How did they benefit by those THREE attractions/sweetners? :?: :cheesy: By the way these questions on this post is open to all, not just one person.


Bull
Cheap is costly! mostimes

 

[Tentola]

FBc

Bulldozer



I’m new to T2W, but I’m back into trading and maybe you guys should look at futuresbetting.com. I’ve just opened an account and it’s basically DMA access speed but it’s tax free spread betting. I’ve used the GNI platform and this is the same speed and more or less the same per lot cost except with FB you pay it as a spread and with GNI as a brokerage.



Basically you get to see the underlying market and the depth, but when you want to trade you do it as a bet with FB who automatically hedge it in the market. You can actually see your bet being hedged so it really does feel like DMA. Hope this helps.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Anonymous]

bulldozer :

Options are priced at £10 per point

Which options do you mean?

 

[bulldozer]

bulldozer :

Which options do you mean?

UK Stocks and footsie index options are all on £10 per point.

 

[bulldozer]

Bulldozer



I’m new to T2W, but I’m back into trading and maybe you guys should look at futuresbetting.com. I’ve just opened an account and it’s basically DMA access speed but it’s tax free spread betting. I’ve used the GNI platform and this is the same speed and more or less the same per lot cost except with FB you pay it as a spread and with GNI as a brokerage.



Basically you get to see the underlying market and the depth, but when you want to trade you do it as a bet with FB who automatically hedge it in the market. You can actually see your bet being hedged so it really does feel like DMA. Hope this helps.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ten,
Thanx 4 ur post.
I think trading thru brokers has huge advantages than SB firms. Thats mainly because i trade in options and rarely in ftrs.
Thats just my opinion.

Bull
Stay lucky and be happy :cheesy:

 

[Anonymous]

If you trade contracts that don't require a fee for real time quotes, exchange fees, cancellations, amendments etc, you save. It doesn't increase your operating expenses. Likewise, if you use alternatives to trading those contracts that require a higher fee, you save, even if you cannot completely get a free lunch, or dinner, or breakfast, you might still enjoy supper.

If you try to hedge between say, Betfair and Betsson, the fee charged on net profit makes it not worthwhile, besides the low volume. To arb the FTSE between Up and Down on Betfair gives profits of about a few pence a time, if you have to sit in front of a computer for hours to make a few pence profit it doesn't seem like worthwhile enterprise, think of the electricity.

Between Intrade and Binexx financials, sometimes the divergence between the two can give rise to 5 to 8% roce, within minutes. However the quantity at the moment is about 100 lots on Intrade, effectively producing about £40 maximum profit with a £500 total trading capital on both accounts, when this occurs.
But if you take into account the bank Wire fees, the profits would be diluted or erased. Further if the net profits are transferred from say Intrade to Binexx, when the Binexx account increases the Intrade account falls, meanwhile you miss out on any further opportunities.

For example, the S&P 500 contract on Binexx can be used as an alternative to spreading on CBOE SPX options. Instead of paying for two legs in commission you pay £1 commission for the same effect, with no order cancellation fees.

Obviously there are advantages for using a broker. If you use Interactivebrokers to hedge NYMEX light sweet and IPE brent crude, any profits will be kept in one broker's account.

If a spreadbet company's customers cannot make consistent profits or continue to make losses the
the company will have to consistently rely on bringing in new customers. The spreadbet company's
staff are professionals who seldom make a mistake in their calculation, say, between spot and quarterly forex. To use one you will most probably need to take a directional bet, which means you have to be very accurate, something like Short Term Interest Rates would be the most cost-effective for spreadbets.

 

[Windlesham1]

average loss on spreadbet account-£6,000,average trading life expectancy -6 months-allegedly. There is a constant influx of newbies. I am hoping to spreadbet options when they have the 'cohones' to do it. Finspreads are supposed to offer options,and Cantor were hoping to have a platform up and running ages ago.

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe they couldn't get sufficient interest in their new platforms?

There was punt2punt last year by thegamingbourse, looked like it was going to have real time streaming quotes, futures style etc, lots of publicity eg. Investor Chronicle. Suddenly, it seems to have vanished.

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder how many traders can be induced by FREE cash?

If you open an account with www.Binexx.com once you have 1 matched order that, when settled or closed, either wins or loses £25 or more, you get £25.

But if you are a www.cityindex.co.uk account holder, and you open a Binexx account, once 2 bets have been matched on Binexx you get £50.

If you use a little ingenuity you can place riskless bets and still get the cash bonus.

I wonder how much Binexx has paid out so far in free cash? Must be a very good advertising stunt.

 

[bulldozer]

Windle,

Closed out the Sep's shorts at 17pts.
Still holding the others.
Check out ur PM.

Bull

 

[bulldozer]

Osho, stev,
Check out ur PM.
Scalping in process
Watch those Option prices.

Wind,
Got ur reply.

Dow futrs up 30 pts
Footsie up 18 [the cash] Weve gone ABOVE the 52 wk high. :shock:

Closed off some scalps!


Index Value: 5,127.50
Trade Time: 12:30PM
Change: +18.40 (+0.36%)
Prev Close: 5,109.10
Open: 5,109.10
Day's Range: 5,097.10 - 5,128.80
52wk Range: 4,283.00 - 5,121.90

Bull

 

[bulldozer]

Stev,Osho ,Windle,

Steve,
Just got ur PM, [pretty long post] Will comment later, when ive got more time.

Remaining Scalps just closed at 30 pts. See prices and dont forget 15 mins delay. Also bought some 5025 Julys puts at 8.5 [using some of the profits from scalps]

Bull