Whip me in to shape scalpers :D

[6am]

I do not have an account with Oanda. I searched "spread" on their forum and found this message.

http://fxtrade.oanda.com/community/fxmessage/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=005744#000000

 

[Doomberg]

Wow a $6000 loss in 1 second, at least they admitted their mistake and credited him back

 

[Masquerade]

It's laughable the size he was doing and how upset he was. The guy got very lucky to get his money back.

 

[6am]

He got his money back, but the main point is that as far as I can see at Oanda you could experience any spread they wish. By increasing their spread they could take your stop losses without price movement. This is scary. 50 points spread is a bit excessive imho.

 

[Masquerade]

If you don't want a spread which reflects the underlying then go to a bucket shop which keeps spread constant regardless of the time of day. Just be prepared to deal with all the other antics they employ.

 

[JahDave]

If you don't want a spread which reflects the underlying then go to a bucket shop which keeps spread constant regardless of the time of day. Just be prepared to deal with all the other antics they employ.

I have never experienced anything like that with Oanda in 2 years of trading with them, but I guess anything can happen with brokers. I have also been trading with Forex Club for four years now and I can say that I don't trade with them during volatile times because they have someone filling my orders always in their favor. I do take some longer term positions with them because they have my favorite trading software which is their Rumus platform. It is a very good software and you can get it in a free account if you don't want to open a real account with them.

 

[kimo'sabby]

Oanda - box - tick. Can't stand MThead4.

 

[tar]

fwiw Oanda have a good reputation, they have decent (i.e. non fixed and reflective of underlying) spreads and pay you carry.

apparently they also now are on MT4 but truly thats a shocking platform so avoid it like the plague.

+1

 

[tar]

A few things;

Firstly you can't scalp with an SB firm, by defintion scalping is exploiting inefficiencies, being in/out of trades in seconds not minutes..the likes of IG/CMC won't put you on referall if you stay under their radar, you're not big enough for them to consider you a cheat <irony alert?> you'll simply run out of luck. 3 pip spread, 2 pip 'lag', 2 pip guaranteed stop..it'll fail as an edge but even if it didn't you're paying 50%+ more than you need to and forget finding a permanent method for now MM (capital preservation) is everything.
.

He dont have to use a guaranteed stop it depends on his account type , and from my own experience with IG there is no such thing as 2 pip lag .

 

[shadowninja]

So what's wrong with MT4? I can't stand O******'s java platform. Actually, I can't stand most platforms... CS, ETX, IG, Paddy...

 

[tar]

So what's wrong with MT4? I can't stand O******'s java platform. Actually, I can't stand most platforms... CS, ETX, IG, Paddy...

Execution is slower in general , if you have multiple positions you have to close one by one , font size is small and annoying , dont like the outfit in general seems unprofessional , there is some advantages of course like the customizable charts , anyway it is a personal thing , i prefer other platforms over MT4 , although could use MT4 for charting ( fx ) ...

 

[Doomberg]

Its getting mixed reviews is the ole MT4.. some say its an absolute necessity whereas others say avoid like the plague

 

[shadowninja]

Execution is slower in general , if you have multiple positions you have to close one by one , font size is small and annoying , dont like the outfit in general seems unprofessional , there is some advantages of course like the customizable charts , anyway it is a personal thing , i prefer other platforms over MT4 , although could use MT4 for charting ( fx ) ...

The execution - down to the broker.
Multiple positions - agreed. Tis annoying but not the end of the world.
Font size - should have gone to specsavers
Outfit?

 

[tar]

The execution - down to the broker.
Multiple positions - agreed. Tis annoying but not the end of the world.
Font size - should have gone to specsavers
Outfit?

I told u it is a personal choice , it is not working for me , i prefer "pairs view" like in IG's puredeal and FXCM's trading station II , dont mind MT4 charts though ...

 

[Doomberg]

Ok so i restrained myself from any trading for the last few weeks to look at my best options, everyone on here has told me to go demo before doing any more trades so i opened up a demo account with Alexander David CFD's this morning... im very happy that the platform is the same software as IG, the spreads are also the same BUT its DMA so there is no dealer intervention, so they are happy for you to do shorter trades if you like... Also they are very helpful. I'll explain what i have done today, i planned to do 20 trades only because of what i have noticed in the past... after a few hours solid trading i lose concentration and boredom trade, then when i lose i revenge trade.. this has made me lose my days profits a few times so minimising trading sessions may be the best option for me.

This morning even though i planned 20 trades i stopped at 18 because i didn't like the conditions and i'f of been trading for the sake of it, this is something that i want to stop doing in real life, so i won't do on demo either... the earlier trades in the day are at the bottom of the statement, the 1st 8 trades were early morning on GBP / USD with a 3pt spread (out of hours) and the rest were FTSE100 with a 1 pt spread and all one contract per trade which on the demo account is apparently £10 per pip per contract.

DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPBVAAR FTSE 100 - 5984.1 £ -1 5982.6 £15.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPHD5AV FTSE 100 - 5979.3 £ +1 5982.1 £28.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPHDVAV FTSE 100 - 5978.3 £ -1 5980.8 £-25.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPGFEAH FTSE 100 - 5981.6 £ -1 5979.6 £20.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPD48AG FTSE 100 - 5975.1 £ +1 5976.6 £15.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPFZ4AW FTSE 100 - 5980.3 £ -1 5977.1 £32.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPHDAAV FTSE 100 - 5972.8 £ +1 5978.1 £53.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPA96AB FTSE 100 - 5974.1 £ -1 5971.1 £30.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPC5JAD FTSE 100 - 5971.8 £ -1 5977.8 £-60.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPGWCAK FTSE 100 - 5960.8 £ +1 5971.3 £105.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPARUAE Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63451 $ +1 1.6352 $69.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYN9XYAT Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63496 $ -1 1.63444 $52.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPFX5AW Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63502 $ +1 1.63425 $-77.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYN9XRAT Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63487 $ +10 1.63533 $460.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPDKUAQ Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63463 $ +5 1.63525 $310.00
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPA7RAB Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63402 $ +4.90 1.63524 $597.80
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYN99CAL Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.6339 $ +7.54 1.63515 $942.50
DEAL Closing trades 20/04/11 CYPFXAAW Spot FX GBP/USD - 1.63405 $ +5 1.63461 $280.00
DEPO Cash Adjustments 20/04/11 42706374 Demo Account opened - - £ - 0 £100,000.00

So a good morning there, 18 wins vs 3 losses which is just over 83% wins... I got the demo account of 100k up by £1822... the majority of this was on the Forex as i was doing big money (something i wouldn't do just yet on a normal account with day trading) But even if you exclude the Forex i still made £213 from 40 mins of scalping FSTE.. I just wish it would be like that every time ha.

Despite the comments of many "Oh scalping can not be done with a spread" etc i think im getting somewhere with my strategy, and its a very basic one... I'd be very happy if i could earn £200 a day when i got in to it properly, so im going to continue with my learning quest. From now on in the demo account im only going to trade what i would do in real life, which right now would be around £10 per pip, and my goal will be between £100 and £200 per day

I will post my trades in here, good days and bad days as i need advice / constructive criticism, once i feel im completely happy with my strategy i'll move my demo to a live account and then open up a journal.

 

[shadowninja]

Forget your demo account posts. We're not interested. Post up real trades so we can laugh. And doing big money on demo means **** all apart from making you feel good about yourself.

 

[Masquerade]

So you did 10 FTSE trades and made just over 10 points? That sounds like a very painful way of doing things.

Your demo account doesn't mean **** because there's no emotion. When you're doing £10/pt for real money and just lost £60 in under a minute you won't react the same as on demo. You'll probably start trying to get the money back ASAP, maybe you'll hold on to the position, maybe start averaging. Either way, you just don't know what's going to happen till you commit money and it happens.

 

[Doomberg]

Where did you get 10 points from? The FTSE alone is 30 pips... £213 @ £10 per pip is 21.3 pips

Plus the 10 trades being 1 pip spread, and jeesh you guys can be difficult, you tell me to go demo to perfect my trading, and then when i do im told it means nothing, i know what its like to lose £60 mate, i have won and lost £1000's in single trades... Although i do agree that when day trading wanting to quickly win back a loss is can be a problem, but like i said in this mornings post... im trying to avoid all rule breaks, demo or not

 

[Doomberg]

Forget your demo account posts. We're not interested. Post up real trades so we can laugh. And doing big money on demo means **** all apart from making you feel good about yourself.

Laugh? Do you like seeing people lose then?

And yes i dropped to a smaller amount per point on the demo as i knew i'd not trade that in real life

 

[Masquerade]

Where did you get 10 points from? The FTSE alone is 30 pips... £213 @ £10 per pip is 21.3 pips

Plus the 10 trades being 1 pip spread, and jeesh you guys can be difficult, you tell me to go demo to perfect my trading, and then when i do im told it means nothing, i know what its like to lose £60 mate, i have won and lost £1000's in single trades... Although i do agree that when day trading wanting to quickly win back a loss is can be a problem, but like i said in this mornings post... im trying to avoid all rule breaks, demo or not

My mistake, I missed the £105 trade. So we'll add another 10.5 points. So 10 trades and 21 points. It doesn't really help the argument.

I've never told anyone to go to demo to perfect their trading. I think it's useless and it'd be better if they made and lost real money to trade. The only time I ever say to someone to demo is if they want to try a new platform without committing money. We all know what it's like to lose money, but that still doesn't stop us doing stupid things (myself included) I just don't think you get the same experience when it's not for money. You have the option to perfect your trading at a smaller size which I think is the best compromise.