|
Post by caseyar on Aug 19, 2014 16:45:35 GMT -5
In Bob Volman's book he recommends finding a broker which will have a full-turn cost of ~1pip. I understand that Trader Allen uses MB trading but even that seems to be greater than 1 pip for a full execution into and then out of the market.
I know FXCM is right now around 4 pips round trip on the USDJPY as another example.
Are there any brokers available to those in the US that offer better spreads than MB trading? I don't plan to use MB tradings limit option too much right now, but if that is the only option I will learn.
|
|
|
Post by traderAllen on Aug 21, 2014 8:35:39 GMT -5
The only other US broker that I have used personally was Forex.com there spreads are generally not bad. But I could not make a dime with them. Keep in mind is more than just spreads that you have to worry about. Order fills in order execution are to me. More important. Just because a broker shows a one pips spread does not mean that's where you're going to be filled at and if you can't place your stop loss and targets were you want that it's equally bad. That said, I'm sure there are brokers out there that are as good if not better than MB , I just haven't use them so I can't comment.
|
|
|
Post by fxoutlier on Aug 21, 2014 9:26:44 GMT -5
Although I'm in the UK, I'm also interested in this question of brokers. Prior to now I've only ever traded live with Oanda whose spreads are around 1 pip on eur/usd, however the spreads can increase to 10 or 15 pips during announcements and they always widen around NY close and are larger than 1 in the quieter asian session. You can see a graphical representation of Oanda spreads the the past week or so on their website and can adjust for max or average spreads. The thing with Oanda is, who do you use as your charting platform for tick charts, as they only have their own platform fxtrade or mt4. Do we have to have one charting platform open like ninjatrader or Volman's Prorealtime to plan trades and Oanda's fxtrade open aswell to execute. Now this might be viable if the data feeds are the same on charts and with broker, but this for now this leaves me with more questions than answers. I also have had demo's with FXCM but their spread on the eur/usd is around 2.3 however you can use ninjatrader's tick charts to trade and they do become free to use if you deposit $5000 and trade 500k volume each month. This for me is out of the question with only $3k capital max and wanting to trade micro's to learn this method of fpac. As you say though Volman insists on 1 pip max spread, so fxcm is out. Spreads do reduce if you have a $25000 account, but by how much I don't know. The thing with these 2 brokers is they are big strong entities, unlike some of the lesser known's like MB. Who would you prefer to have your cash deposited with? Regulations help but we all know companies in distress can find ways to get around these. Still it is always prudent to deposit the minimum and leverage the max in the account to keep most of our capital in safer hands, guarding our margin of course. Now this leads me to a question about caseyar's term used that Volman uses in his book, that is ''full-turn around, into and out of the market.''With Oanda, you pay the spread once and nothing else. You pay it once, win or lose. If you are long, you enter on the Ask and the trade closes when the Bid hits either the stoploss or takeprofit assuming you have them. If you enter long with a 3 pip take profit and a 3 pip stoploss and there is a 2 pip spread and the spreads stays at 2 pips during the trade, then you will lose 3 pips if it goes 1 pip against you or gain 3 pips if it goes 5 pips for you. On pages 18/19 of Tim Lucarelli's book, he states that you add the spread again on to take profit on exit, and states the market has to move 7 pips for you to take profit? Is this what is meant by a full execution into and out of the market, a full turn? I know Volman mentioned commissions added to reduced spreads but I didn't know certain brokers charge for taking profit. Is this what MB does? Oanda definitely doesn't, you pay the spread once per turn around. Another thing also that interests me to do with brokers, is this level II order flow screen that traderAllen uses. Does it come with the broker MB or with ninjatrader, or does it have to be both. Do other brokers have it? I notice that cTrader is used by MB. cTrader now has tick charts, does it also have a level II screen and is it free to use with MB as opposed to leasing ninjatrader monthly? If I can get this issue of broker and charting out of the way then I can concentrate on learning fpas. Until then I feel I'm being held back in the confusion of what to do next.
|
|
|
Post by traderAllen on Aug 22, 2014 8:17:03 GMT -5
I'm sure there are other brokers that meet all the requirements. But I do favor MB since I've been with them and had great fills and service since 2005. Not only do I have Forex accounts with them, I also have my private family hedge fund for trading equities, and options. You can open an account with MB with a small deposit of just a couple hundred dollars. Then you can download and use ninja trader absolutely free. This way as your learning you're paying nothing out and expenses. You don't need to pay for charts or data feeds.
|
|
|
Post by fxoutlier on Aug 22, 2014 9:03:15 GMT -5
That sounds good. I'll have a go with MB especially if ninjatrader is free and have a play around whilst I'm getting stuck into Bob Volmans book for a month or so, as you advised.
|
|
|
Post by traderAllen on Aug 22, 2014 13:35:24 GMT -5
You cannot beat free. I use ninja trader with MB for free for the better part of the year. The only thing you cannot do is chart trader. When you start ninja trader. It will automatically load navigator in the background. All your order entries will be done through navigator. Everything is identical with the exception of not being able to use ninja for placing orders. Once I started making good money that I decided to take some of my profit and purchased the lifetime lease. Therefore, I still do not actually take money out of my pocket to buy ninja trader. Chart trader is a much more convenient way to trade. But when you're learning, it's probably better To enter trades the hard way see get more efficient in order entry. You lose nothing opening an account with MB . However, you get to practice with ninja trader for free and you can have as many some accounts as you want with MB.
|
|
|
Post by fxoutlier on Aug 22, 2014 21:07:46 GMT -5
Yes I will sensibly start for free. I did notice the annual lease of ninjatrader was rather poor value at $600 for single broker and $900 for multiple broker compared to the lifetime lease of $995 and $1495 respectively. The six monthly and quarterly are even worse value.
|
|
|
Post by traderAllen on Aug 23, 2014 6:58:04 GMT -5
In a world where 95% of people fail(I beleave its 99%) you don't want to buy ANYTHING till you know its right for you and you will use it for life.
|
|
|
Post by golfnforex on Jan 15, 2016 14:19:09 GMT -5
Hi there allen I have a question about ninja trader. I have an account with fxcm and I understand i can use fxcms feed on ninja trader but how would i use it to trade? Not sure what you mean by i can trade through navigator? I would greatly appreciate any feedback on this matter. Thanks allen.
|
|
|
Post by traderAllen on Jan 15, 2016 16:00:13 GMT -5
Mb trading Forex was sold out to trade King so that option of using navigator is no longer available. However FXCM and ninja trader are a good option for scalping I found that the spreads are really good.
|
|