Looking to Daytrade/Short-term swing using SB

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dberliner

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Hi guys,

I would have not posted a new forum thread unless I was utterly confused by now. I tried reading this forum really thoroughly the last couple of days, but with more conflicting info that just made things worse :LOL:

Anyways, here's what I do, and I'd be happy if anyone can assist me in finding a suitable SB company for my needs: I'm basically daytrading, mainly the more popular forex pairs like EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and EUR/JPY etc. Also, sometimes I trade the indices, like the ftse, dax and the indu when the opportunity arises. Occasionally (no more than once or twice a week) I would hold a trade overnight if the market ended the day really strong/weak, but no longer than 1 night max.

I never traded on an SB company before. However, I do have vast experience in trading the markets directly (and after working with the US broker ThinkorSwim's platform the last couple of years everything the british SB companies seem to offer is miles more archaic looking).

Many here seem to recommend IG Index, and that's where I'm leaning towards. However, I understand their weakness is the larger spreads, and as a daytrader with 30pip stops max which are constantly being moved towards breakeven, this seems to make things more dangerous.

On another note, here's something else which I don't quite understand: I've opened a demo account on an LCG's white-label co. named Saxospreads. Their spread on the USD/JPY looks like this right now: 87.14/90.14... What am I missing here? is this a 300 pip spread?!? I sold 1 stake and indeed with every pip movement I'm profiting/losing 1 penny! Do I really need to make 300 pips just to b/e on my entry price?! I may end up looking very stupid, I'm aware, but that surely doesn't make any sense.. What's the average spread on this pair?

Thank you all!

Dana Berliner
 
The spread on the USD/JYP on my FXPro MetaTrader is 1 pip, 88.50 - 88.51

Why on earth do you want to use a SB company in the first place? If you actually manage to make any profit, the money you save not paying tax is a small fraction of the extra money you'd make trading with a proper broker.
 
Hey,

The tax is actually no issue for me at all. The reason I'm looking at SB's is because some of my strategies are newer so it is a risk management issue. I want to take advantage of the minimum 1£ per point to allocate different sizes to different types of trades. Also, I require a one stop shop for both indices trading and forex.

Do you have any idea for a firm that allows such small unit sizes for both indices and forex other than SB's ?
 
I'm looking at saxospreads homepage right now and for USDJPY it displays a 2 pip spread. They wouldn't ever do any business with 300 pips. To me, it looks like a problem with the demo account - I'm sure they can fix it for you.
 
Most MetaTrader accounts allow 0.1 contracts which is $1 a pip. I use FXPro.com which has this and does stocks, commodities, Forex and Indicies. I also use Windsorbrokers.biz who have 10 cents a pip and tighter stop distances.
 
£10kLoser said:
Most MetaTrader accounts allow 0.1 contracts which is $1 a pip. I use FXPro.com which has this and does stocks, commodities, Forex and Indicies. I also use Windsorbrokers.biz who have 10 cents a pip and tighter stop distances.
Click to expand...

Out of interest, what is the best bid-ask spread you can get on FTSE? I'm guessing 1pt.
Cheers
 
FXPro give 0.5 - 1 pip variable. But they do have a commssion equivalent to 1.5 pips. You could probably find better.
 
£10kLoser said:
Most MetaTrader accounts allow 0.1 contracts which is $1 a pip. I use FXPro.com which has this and does stocks, commodities, Forex and Indicies. I also use Windsorbrokers.biz who have 10 cents a pip and tighter stop distances.
Click to expand...

I know the quoted spread isn't always the fill etc...which can cause problems with certain SB firms, but looking at FXpro's forex quotes (if using a stop) are their spreads + stops better when you're looking to either swing or day trade?https://www.fxpro.com/forex.html
 
Are their spreads + stops better than what? If you mean IG Index, then the answer is definitely yes! The only problem with FXPro is that they have a minimum stop distance of 25 pips on the DOW, compared to Windsor Brokers 5 pips.
 
£10kLoser said:
Are their spreads + stops better than what? If you mean IG Index, then the answer is definitely yes! The only problem with FXPro is that they have a minimum stop distance of 25 pips on the DOW, compared to Windsor Brokers 5 pips.
Click to expand...

I meant an average 'basket' of SB firms' spread quotes. I've found with FXCM active trader the quotes are on average only 1, max 2/3 pips better than most SB firms, which tbh isn't that crucial when swinging currency pairs.

Whilst we should all strive for excellence I can fully understand why folk would choose SB over DMA from a tax avoidance standpoint, particularly when they're consistently profitable, or need 'discretion'...
 
Looking over at IG's spreads I find something odd not to my liking (and I hope to stand corrected): Seems as if their regular hours for many indices start at 8:00 AM, and that's when most spreads begin to narrow. It seems this is also relevant to the DAX Futures instrument , which actually opens the regular session at 7:00 (London time). If I trade it during that hour the spread is a very unattractive 10 for a day trader. Am I reading it correctly?

http://www.igindex.co.uk/content/files/dealing_handbook.pdf

P.S.

That's my make-or-break of using them. I'm quite disappointed as I was this close of choosing them as my primary SB'er. Seems all other SB's I've checked do indicate their "regular" spreads for the DAX begin showing up at 7:00.
 
Last edited:
dberliner said:
Looking over at IG's spreads I find something odd not to my liking (and I hope to stand corrected): Seems as if their regular hours for many indices start at 8:00 AM, and that's when most spreads begin to narrow. It seems this is also relevant to the DAX Futures instrument , which actually opens the regular session at 7:00 (London time). If I trade it during that hour the spread is a very unattractive 10 for a day trader. Am I reading it correctly?

http://www.igindex.co.uk/content/files/dealing_handbook.pdf

P.S.

That's my make-or-break of using them. I'm quite disappointed as I was this close of choosing them as my primary SB'er. Seems all other SB's I've checked do indicate their "regular" spreads for the DAX begin showing up at 7:00.
Click to expand...

IG offers Dax with 2 points spread from 7 am not 8 ...
 
tar said:
IG offers Dax with 2 points spread from 7 am not 8 ...
Click to expand...


Well, that's not what's implied from their Dealing handbook. I'll contact them about this just to make sure. Are you saying this from first-hand experience as their client?
 
£10kLoser said:
The spread on the USD/JYP on my FXPro MetaTrader is 1 pip, 88.50 - 88.51

Why on earth do you want to use a SB company in the first place? If you actually manage to make any profit, the money you save not paying tax is a small fraction of the extra money you'd make trading with a proper broker.
Click to expand...

I dont understand what these images in FXPRO's website has to do with trading :cheesy:

https://www.fxpro.com/forex.html

https://www.fxpro.com/spot-metals.html

https://www.fxpro.com/shares.html

https://www.fxpro.com/about-us.html

https://www.fxpro.com/management-team.html
 
dberliner said:
Well, that's not what's implied from their Dealing handbook. I'll contact them about this just to make sure. Are you saying this from first-hand experience as their client?
Click to expand...

Their handbook is pants - a leading example of the oft used phrase "typo"
 
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