Forex Brokers and Spreads

Forex trades are constantly growing in popularity. New Forex broker companies are opening up at a very high rate. Many people who are accustomed to working in 9-5 jobs are leaving their jobs and starting to trade with hard currency. There are many explanations for the growth of the forex currency market, some of the most obvious is its size, its simplicity, and its potential benefits.

When one thinks about foreign exchange transactions compared to other world markets, such as the stock market, some very basic differences should come to mind. These include greater liquidity, more volatility, greater multiplier effect, as well as lower trading fees and lower costs. We have already talked about the liquidity, volatility and leverage offered in the forex, so now we are going to learn a little more about trading costs and commissions, compared to other global markets.

Take the stock market, for example. When one trades with stocks, which by the way is a very common phenomenon for currency traders to test stocks before currencies (a lot of people fail to trade stocks and then go back to the forex market, and with reason), the way the transactions are carried out is for the investor to make purchases and sales by paying commissions on both sides of the transaction. What does that mean? When you trade in shares, you usually do it in collaboration with a broker, who charges you a fixed amount per transaction, a dollar amount per share, or a scale commission based on the size of your transaction. This commission applies when you buy a stock, as well as when you sell it.

Now let's talk about Forex trading. The vast majority of online Forex brokers advertise in very large letters on their website that do not charge any commission for trades. With the exception of a few brokers, the currency market allows traders to open and close positions with no commission whatsoever.

Therefore, it does not cost anything to trade in Forex. This, of course, raises the obvious question: How do Forex brokers make money?

This is where it gets complicated. It is true that many brokers do not charge direct commissions for trading in the Forex market, but brokers dedicated to currency trading do not perform trades that tell traders the goodness of their hearts. You can be sure that they are profiting from your services and these are usually quite high. They charge what are known as spreads.

Before understanding what the spreads are and how they are calculated, it is important to understand a fundamental principle on how the Forex trading system works. Everything is based on supply and demand, just like any other market. If there is a greater demand for dollars, the value of the dollar rises against other currencies. This is precisely how spreads are defined and calculated.

The spread is the difference between the price at which a broker is going to buy the currency for you and the price at which it is sold. So, for example, if you open a position where the base currency is the dollar, and since there is no shortage of dollar demand, the spread of this operation will almost always be smaller than a spread for a less common currency . Why? This is again, by supply and demand. The agent will have no problem at all in selling the dollars you just bought, so you do not need to charge the operator, bone you, a higher spread. Now that, if the base currency of the position is the Vietnamese Dong, it is understood that it is very likely that the spread will be higher.

Another feature that Forex brokers take into account when calculating spreads is the type of account in which you are trading. Mini accounts are typically associated with higher spreads. This is, of course, because the agent has to compensate for the relatively low amount of capital being traded at a higher spread, so that he can make a profit.

Now that we have established how attractive Forex trading is, it is not totally free. Next we will establish the difference between the forex spreads and the commissions of the stock market. The main difference is that in the Forex, it is usually only charged the spread of a single side of the transaction, the buying side or the selling side. When you buy or sell the currency, it is when the brokers in general, get their benefits by charging the spread.

It is extremely important that Forex traders understand the importance of the spread when it comes to choosing a forex broker. The difference that a pip can make on the spread of a broker can be the difference between a successful Forex trader and one that fails completely in the currency trading market.

To summarize, let's look at a concrete example of a spread to understand exactly how it works. Let's say we have a USD / CAD purchase price of 120.00 (which is the price at which the agent is willing to buy the USD) and a sale price of 120.05 (the price at which the agent is willing to sell the USD ). In this case, the spread is equal to 0.05, or 0.0005 dollars, and the money goes directly into the pockets of the broker.

There is a lot more to say about spreads in the Forex market, such as if a broker offers fixed or variable spreads, but at least now you have a better understanding about what they are.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EXCELLENT BROKER

When choosing a Forex broker it is very common to research all the features that are available as they should directly affect your buying decision. While this makes sense as a consumer, some of the features may not be necessary, and frankly even be overbearing.

One of the biggest overrated features that is commonly found is something called Auto chartist. This piece of software, randomly, chooses the technical patterns in the table, putting them to your attention. In theory, it's a great idea. But the reality is that by using this software, you are doing nothing to advance your knowledge as a marketer. There is no reason to trade in the forex market if you are not willing to learn it.

Another big problem with this software is that often technical guidelines are given that are suspicious by nature. For example, a pennant pattern on the five-minute chart is nothing to worry about. While the pennant pattern is displayed on the weekly chart as well, the truth is that it shows too many poor quality patterns since the software seems to lack filters to keep away some of the technical adjustments that are not so relevant.

Other factors to consider

Forums are a complete waste of time when it comes to your Forex broker. Most of the forum discussions that can be seen in these topics tend to be non-real. In other words, it's just a lot of people lighting each other on the Internet. At best, you will have plenty of ignorant people trying to convince you that your trading setup is correct, even though you have no idea what they are doing. In the worst case, it becomes a primary school including insults and nicknames.

The analysis may be exaggerated at times. It all boils down to the particular analyst that the company hires. Most of the known analysts are working for the larger brokerage firms. Quite often this is highly respected analyst, but the smaller broker may hire someone who does not necessarily know what they are doing. One of the biggest signs for a suspicious analyst is if they focus primarily on short periods of time. If the analyst tends to display a large number of graphs of five, 15, and one hour, it is very likely that your goal is to generate more trading and thus split your money faster.

One of the most common time wasters you will encounter with Forex brokers is the Dow Jones news source on their MetaTrader4 platform. Although the content of the news is certainly acceptable and professional, at the moment of receiving the news of the platform, the markets are already affected and therefore become useless. It is almost impossible to compete with brokers who use Bloomberg terminals and T-1 connections for their news services.

While not all of these services are dangerous, they may necessarily be a reason to open an account with a specific Forex broker. You will find that most forex brokers are essentially the same, and offer very identical packages. To be honest, the industry is simply not as innovative. By focusing on what is truly important to you in particular, you will find that you will not be absorbed by a Forex broker based on "empty calories."

The Uncertain Future of US Brokers

The United States of America has long been known as the "land of the free and the home of the brave", but when it comes to the Forex market, this term takes on a completely unique meaning. Increasingly restrictive NFA policies designed to protect US investors have been chasing and, in some cases, punishing US currency brokers. The rates imposed to maintain a brokerage firm are prohibitive for most, and trading conditions are limited compared to those in other regions of the world where regulation is less stringent.

In August 2012, FX Club (also known as Forex Club), formerly one of the best brokers in the United States, abandoned its RFED license, the regulation required to accept retail customers. Since then, the company has been accepting only institutional customers, and will likely continue to do so, at least for the foreseeable future. As part of this change, FX Club became another currency broker, replacing its CEO (after OANDA and GFT, among others), with Michael Klena, of E * Trade, who came to lead the change of the company.

Although the FX Club abandoned its RFED license, the NFA continued to investigate the broker, charging the company for $ 300,000 administrative violations, which the broker solved the day the claims were made.
Just two months after the FX Club closed its doors to US retailers, Advanced Markets made the same strategic decision, opting to give up its RFED license and operate only with institutional traders. This decision is much less surprising, since Admiral Markets (aka AMIFX) has always held that only a handful of retailers are admitted who presumably can transfer their accounts quickly with the broker's help if necessary.

What comes next in the forex retail market in the United States is uncertain, but if the NFA fines and increased regulations on brokers are a clue, it would not be surprising if other US brokers throw in the towel . Although I do not think that industry giants like FXCM or Forex.com will disappear in the short term, smaller entities may find themselves fighting an uphill battle. Some may not be interested in fighting much longer.

How to choose a broker to invest in the forex market?

The Broker or Broker is the financial institution in which we are going to deposit our funds to open an account and invest in Forex.


You have to take into account a number of factors to make the right decision since there are many brokers in the market and each offers a range of variables that must be taken into account.


Below we will describe the main variables that should be taken into account when choosing a broker to invest in the currency market.


1. The capital of the Broker: It is important to know the capital of the Broker because at the time we make a profit we have to be sure that the Broker has enough funds to pay us. In general Brokers do not disclose this type of information, but you can find out the payroll of employees who work for the broker, how big the organization is, how many clients operate with it, and several more factors may come to our notice.

2. Market and products offered: We have to know in which markets we plan to operate, and in what products we want to invest. There are brokers that offer foreign exchange, commodities, futures, among other financial instruments.


3. Commissions: There are brokers that do not charge commissions and that their profit comes only from the spread or exchange differential (difference between the purchase and sale price of an asset).
If we choose a Broker that if it charges commissions, we have to take into account what those commissions are; can be commissions for the purchase and sale, commissions for withdrawals of funds, commissions for maintenance of accounts.


4. Spread: The spread as we said before, is the difference between the purchase and sale price. Investors always prefer a small spread to pay less to the Broker. Spreads can be fixed or variable. If the spreads are fixed, this means that in times of greater volatility they will always remain fixed. If the spreads are variable, then in times of less volatility the spread is lower but in times of greater volatility, the spread will be greater.


5. Services: Brokers usually provide a number of services that can be of great help to traders. Technical analysis, fundamentals, recommendations, news and graphics are usually the key. Beginning investors have to take this service very seriously as the customer managers in Spanish can assist in all these issues.


6. Customer Service: We have to verify if the Broker we choose there are people who speak Spanish and can help us with any inconvenience or doubt. There are Brokers that also enable communication through chats, telephone assistance, email, and all this during the 24 hours. Besides of course those who assist us must have knowledge in financial markets.


7. Execution: One of the most important variables to take into account when choosing a Broker is the speed of executions. The best thing is that the execution is automatic, then when we want to enter or leave the market at a certain price, generally the Broker respects.


8. Stop Loss and Limits: It is necessary to find out if the broker respects the Stop Loss and limits that we place in our platforms. It is important as these are the limits of profit and loss that we allow ourselves.


9. News: Not all brokers allow their traders to trade in news feeds as the market is very volatile. For operators that operate with news, this is one of the most important points to ask.


10. Regulation: There are official entities both nationally and internationally that regulate the operation of brokers. Broker regulation is not a 100% guarantee, but it can help. The most important regulatory agencies are the NFA (United States), CFTC (United States), FSA (United Kingdom) and the CNMV (Spain).


11. Fund Withdrawals: Each Broker has different times to respond to our requests. The security of our funds is a must, therefore receiving the requested funds on time is essential. It is also good to corroborate that the bank with which the Broker works is known and respectable.


12. Trading Platform: There are different forex platforms in the market, it is important to first try out the free demo, see which tools the platform has, and if it is complete. In addition, platforms can be download, no download, for mobile phone, and more.


13. Investment: We must find out what the minimum deposit required by the Broker is if we are interested in investing small amounts.


14. Broker Type: There are different types of brokers like Market Makers, NDD, Dealing Desk or ECN. The differences between them are as follows:
- Market Makers: they are market makers.
- NDD: "No Dealing Desk". No intermediary operating room. The operations are executed automatically.
- Dealing Desk: They have an operating room that intervenes in the operations that the Investors do.
- ECN: "Electronic Communications Network". They operate directly connected to the market where market makers, banks and traders are operating offering the best bid / offer prices.

In short, it is important to choose a broker who is serious and professional and suits our needs.

Is a Good Idea to Change Forex Broker?

One important reason you may have to switch Forex broker is certainly fear for the security of your deposits. If you ever ask your broker to withdraw some funds from your account, and it becomes excessively slow or unresponsive, then this is an excellent reason to switch brokers immediately. Of course, if you hear some reliable information about your broker's financial situation or ethics, it will also be good to consider a change. It is advisable to check from time to time the professionalism of your broker, even if you have obtained some good results, requesting the withdrawal of some of your recent earnings. If there is an unwarranted delay, it is advisable to close the account immediately and, if necessary, threaten to contact the corresponding regulator.

Moving from critical reasons to more common reasons, one of the factors that urged more than one customer to change brokers is the average level of spreads that are charged. For example, there are still brokers charging a spread of 3 pips in the EUR / USD pair. While this was the norm a few years ago, today it is considered extremely expensive. Switching to a broker that offers the EUR / USD at 1.5 pips or less makes sense, since the spread becomes the "cost of doing business", and over time can generate a loss in operator income, especially if you trade frequently using short time frames.

Another good reason to switch brokers can be an unstable platform. If you find that the trading platform is disconnected very frequently or that it takes a long time to execute an operation, then this is a convincing proof of incompetence or dishonesty. Dishonesty is more likely if these disconnections or freezes happen every time you are trying to enter a trade where you would have made profits quickly. Of course, it is important not to be paranoid and not to blame your broker for all your losses. However, as the Forex market does not have a centralized place, brokers have a commercial incentive to "shadow" their spread just above levels where many of their customers have stop-losses set in open trades. determining whether your broker is acting shady is to see if these price movements do not match the price feedback of other brokers.

Watch two or three. If your broker tends to produce sudden and unexplained spikes in price, which are not followed by other brokers, it is time to think about moving away from it.
A good way to get a better understanding of whether a particular agent is the best for you is to think about what the brokers are actually doing, and see things from their point of view. In order to do this, it is helpful to start with some facts about Forex trading:

1. Most currency brokers are not really trading any currency in the market. They are simply providing a price indicator, in the movements of which their customers can bet in exchange for two effective quotas: the spread or commission, and a small charge during the night that incurs each night any position that is left open. These brokers are in antagonistic relationships with their customers: they make money when their customers lose and lose money when their customers win.

2. The remaining currency brokers tend to monitor the trades of customers who have profitable trading data, and cover the aggregate positions of these traders with a bank. These brokers have a less contradictory relationship with their customers, but they may still face problems in the proper way of covering themselves in rapidly evolving markets.

3. The real Forex market is dominated by four large banks which together account for about 85% of the market volume. These banks provide liquidity to the smaller banks, which in turn do the same with smaller banks, who then provide liquidity to the brokers, and so on in the chain in size and importance. This tends to mean that the smaller the broker, the worse the price and the spread that is willing to give, since they themselves will not be able to get premium prices. The dilemma here is that these smaller brokers tend to offer lower minimum deposits. The more money you have to deposit, the better the service that will be available to you. Of course, this does not mean that you have to go higher up the chain than the one that is appropriate for your account size. In general terms, it is a good idea to adapt the Forex broker to the size of your account.

4. Much of the Forex market has a bad reputation and is poorly regulated. When these facts are combined with the natural tendency of the human being to be tarnished by greed, it creates a profitable vacuum for unscrupulous brokerage houses that have no reputation to protect. This is not to say that small Forex brokers are fraudulent, but do not assume that your deposit is secure just because you opened an account with a broker. However, if that broker has a public reputation and is subject to regulations, you will surely be able to sleep peacefully.

There are other good specific reasons that may play a role in determining the choice a broker are as the availability of a specific pair that you want for trade, platform, quality of customer service and other "concrete" things. Now that we have covered all of the critical aspects to consider when choosing a broker, it is time to shift your focus on how you can conquer the forex markets - with hard work and patience, of course!

Five Ways to Detect a Forex Broker Scammer

If you are looking for a new Forex broker, or wondering if your broker is giving you an acceptable deal, then here is a list of some things for you to consider when doing your evaluation.

1. Not All Forex Brokers Are Thieves!

It would be very unfair to take the attitude that Forex brokers are all delinquent. What you should keep in mind, is that most Forex brokers do not place their clients' trades in the real market, and charge us spreads instead of commissions. This means that most Forex brokers are in direct conflict of interest with their customers: the more their customers lose, the more money the brokers earn. In fact, your business model is based on the failure of your customers' trades.

It is a sad fact that most Forex traders lose, but this is mainly due to poor trading methods, and does not mean that Forex brokers have to act dishonestly to make gains

However, more profits are always good news, so there are some tricks that some brokers have in their sleeves to squeeze more money out of flexible customers, and here are some things you should keep in mind.

2. Spreads or High Commissions

Spreads have fallen a lot in recent years. Of course, the more money you have to fund your account, you'll probably find better spreads available to you. This is because brokers offering better spreads often require higher minimum deposits. In any case, you really should compare your options. The days of having to pay a spread of 3 pips per EUR / USD are over.

Recently, more brokers have been introducing commission-based models, where customers pay a fixed amount of cash per trade. When you encounter this, carefully calculate how much you usually risk in a trade per pip, and then calculate that "spread" you will be paying. Sometimes these more commission spread offerings are designed to make the offer look better than it really is, and you can only discover this once you do custom calculations.

3. Financing During the Night

Unless you are a pure day trader and close all positions before 10 pm or London midnight every day, you will pay or receive a small amount (usually less than 1 pip) for each open trade you have at that moment. This is based on the interest rate differentials between the currencies that make up that particular pair, but it is structured by practically every broker as a net loss for the customer. Some brokers are much worse than others, and many do not advertise these rates - you only see it in your statement the next day once the payment or deduction has been made. If you get in touch with most brokers, they will usually be prepared to quote your overnight financing rates. Get some quotes and compare them on the same currency pairs, and maybe be surprised by the results. If you enjoy holding long-term trades, make a few calculations about how much you are likely to pay on this overnight financing. You may find that it significantly decreases or even erases your earnings.

4. Execution of Sudden Stops / Increases

It is not widely understood that brokers control their own prices. There is no central market, and most brokers are not making real trades, and they can quote whatever price they want! Of course, they have to keep the prices fairly honest, otherwise they could use the prices of other brokers to correctly predict price movements, and as a result they would lose money. So you really do not have to worry that your broker will invent the price.

What might worry you is that a broker can see where your customers are grouping their stop loss orders, and if the overall market price comes very close to triggering these stops, the broker might be tempted to quickly push their price on that level and take profits. This can be done even more easily during news announcements or sudden shocks that have the effect of raising the overall price of the market up or down. An unscrupulous broker can always send the price a little higher or lower at those times.

To be fair, mistakes are sometimes made, and brokers often compensate for trades interrupted after excessive peaks when enough of their customers complain. However, it is something for you to be careful about.

5. Interruptions

There are times when the market is fleeing in a clear direction. If you want to trade and can not get a connection with your broker, or the trade is repeatedly rejected for some unknown technical reason, then be careful. This is a type of a broker who is using unfair methods to prevent their customers from placing winning trades. If it happens a lot, it's a suspicious signal.

This is not an exhaustive list of things to consider when choosing a Forex broker, but they are the most common broker problems that can make winning in Forex much more difficult than it should be if you do not consider them.

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