Trading with aMac

[venkitti]

Traders,

I use an apple macintosh OS X and need to find a broker whose trading platform will run well.
I've been trading Aussie resource stocks and want to shift into forex.

I liked the look of Saxobank, Synthesis Bank, and Man Financial but the platforms don't gel. The idea of moving to a Windows machine is about as attractive as dropping a 100 pips on 10 Contracts!! Any Thoughts?

 

[Fxsigma]

Oanda has java based charts. but for a stand alone program i am not sure of any.

Cheers

 

[venkitti]

Fxsigma,

Just checked out OANDA ,and having looked at about 20 brokers' websites, find that their internet-based platform is real 21st century stuff. No software downloads. Also AC Markets has a 'pure' internet-based platform. I was leaning towards the ACM but read some unfavourable postings on the moneytec forum. Sure, everybody has biases and criticisms of brokers. Should we base investment decisions upon them? Probably not, but it is a fool who disregards a warning siren.

Thanks for your post. I find myself exicted about OANDA. Might demo both, or better open two live accounts. Anybody care to throw their two-bobs worth in?

Good-on-ya-mate

 

[venkitti]

Torch,

Just spent the afternoon picking up a few pips on a CBFX demo. Funny you should mention them. Liked the platform, well, its 'java smoothness' anyway. The real "bank' thing is, how should we say, reassuring? Commission, I can live with if THEY dont play games.

The Commission (USD$0.625 per USD$10000 lot or 62.5 cents per movement) effectively translates into 1.25 pips per closed trade. Trading the Aussie today on a 4pip spread, actually means 5.25pips before the profit counter starts kicking in. On a 3pip spread the ratio is worse 3+1.25 but on wider cross-rate spreads, say 5pips, it looks less unattractive, ratio wise I mean. Wide spreads on every trade. Yippee!!

Now does this straightforward, upfront, transperancy - declaring their cut - mean that they abstain from, lets say, less forthright practices? I can live and trade happily, and hopefully profitably, on an honest tote.

Losing more than my intial deposit is more than slightly diluting!! In the end, business is business is business. Got to have trust in your business partners, so its worth investigating a bit, if for nothing more than a bit of peace of mind. Doubt, scepsis, uncertainity about your broker is in no way favourable to clear-minded decision making. Nah, not a spike man, though I do like a good weekend!!

Thanks for your post digger. Keep em coming.

 

[frugi]

Venkitti have you considered using Virtual PC to run Windows only platforms on your Mac? If it's a fast G4 or better it may be satisfactory for trading.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx?pid=virtualpc

Emma chisit? About $219 US

 

[venkitti]

GammaJ,

I'll sure anyone willing to let me play with their $1,000,000 for a deposit of just $2500 (400-1) is either insane or fixing the race (Probably both!) I confess, I am a bit of a screen watcher and like to nip unfavourable movements in the bud. Good clear advice from you.

Frugi,

I use Virtual PC Me edition for reading stuff in Thai fonts, because Mac versions are unavailable. And while it functions well reading CD-ROM's, I'm unsure how it would handle live data-streams from multiple websites over my internet connection. The last thing I want is technical software foul-ups when the heat is on. Do you use it? And with whom do you trade?

Its a 800 MHz PowerPC G4 with 640 MB DDR SDRAM. (That extra RAM really likes opening many windows at once. Great for various graghs running simultaneously) Bangkok is awash with pirated software. Nuf said.

Thanks for your ideas. Pip on.