ECN Brokers - Need your input
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Thread: ECN Brokers - Need your input

  1. #1
    Hi ,

    Being lured by the low spreads, lack of any dealing desk to potentially trade against youpersonally, no stop order limitations, no news trading resctrictions and fast trade executions, I'm thinking about opening a account with the ECN.

    I've included a listing of the 4 ECN brokers I'm aware of as well as a few comments which may help kick off some discussion.

    When you have experience with at least one of these ECNs, please give your input as I think it's going to be valuable to any other members considering a transfer to them also. Specifically I'm looking for overall satisfaction, trade implementation, system downtime issues, and any additional details that would aid a prospective customer make a decision...

    MB Trading - Could exchange minis in addition to complete lots, $5.00 R/T commission for EUR/USD, no news feed, without any integrated charting, 100:1 leverage, $400.00 minimum account deposit.

    COES FX - Could not find out much about these guys. Their website is quite short on details...

    HotSpotFX - $3 R/T commission on EUR/USD, real time news feed integrated into trading platform, charting by FX Trek (included with account), $7500.00 minimum account deposit, no miniature trading

    Interactive Brokers - $2.50 minimum R/T commission on EUR/USD, $25000.00 minimum trading size (1/4 EUR/USD lot, by way of example), 50:1 leverage, $2000.00 minimum account deposit, no news trading limitations, no integrated news feed, integrated charts, however limited tech. indiors.

    Please allow me to know if any of the info I listed above isn't correct.

    Thanks to all in advance for the input,

    Ian

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by ;
    Just FYI, I don't believe these commissions are round-trip. . .they are every side. This is unquestionably a fact for MB Trading and I'm not so confident about IB, but I think they are not round trip too.

    Additionally, it's actually based on the LOT size in USD. . .you are billed $5.00 for each $100,000 USD you trade (either side ).

    Therefore for example, if you enter a long position for $10,000 USD/JPY, you'll be billed $0.50 and then when you depart that position, you'll be billed an additional $0.50 to get a total of $1.00 R/T...

    On the flip side, should you buy 100,000 EUR/USD (@ 1.2000)you will actually be spending $120,000 USD for a long position, and therefore be billed $6.00 commissions for your position and then when you depart (let us say at 1.3000 for simplicity), you'll be charged $6.50 for your commissions available having obtained another $10,000 set up.

    The commissions for IB will be exactly the same, in fact. . .they charge 0.2 basis points which is the equal to $2.50 for each $50,000 US traded.

    I haven't seen how HotSpotFX functions...I don't even understand exactly what their spreads are.

    Incidentally, there's still a spread at IB and MBT, but of course, it is possible to trade inside the distribute should need be. . .but there will always be a bid/ask price.

    I have an account with MBT Right Now.

    I'm not really keen on any of these platforms, BUT, I do notice less trading/technical problems with MBT even during peak times. I have had a quote server running for 2 months, and I have had only 1 unexpected outage and it lasted only 2 minutes or so. Furthermore, they have a nicely supported API so that makes automated trading and alerting much more dependable. Unfortunately, and this is BIG flaw, I had to create all the elements needed to actually trade their platform as, let us face it, it just sucks. In addition to that, there is no historical data. There are 3rd party platforms built for MBT, for example forex capacities, but I always found 1 or 2 things wrong (I enjoyed the charting, but not the trading platform, or even vice versa, or even the platform used a lot of memory, or else I found it overly expensive, etc).

    In any event, they should be working on historic quotes in addition to integrating with MetaTrader. . .so let us hope for the best.
    MrMikal,

    Thanks for the great feedback and comments. I definitely wasn't aware that the commissions were on every side of the transaction, so that's definitely something worth taking into consideration.

    I just checked out HotSpot's trading platform and found it very rudimentary, albeit operational. It's also Java, of which I'm not a big fan. It was a 26MB download (ouch!) . I guess I'm partial to MetaTrader's interface so let us hope MBT does get their integration with MT running shortly.

    Best,

    Ian

  3. #3
    The greatest aspect of trading in an ECN is not just smaller spreads, but no spreads. In fact, the purpose is to make the spread.

    Not many ECN kind brokers on the Forex let this. I understand COES does since I've went to their main branch and seen them in action. MB doesn't, and that to me makes them worthless. I'd rather pay the spread and not need to see a flat 2 screen to conserve pip or two. However, if I could save 4 pips in and 4 pips outside. . .now that is worth my time.

    Just something to keep in mind.

  4. #4
    I've just opened an account with CoesFx. While there commissions are somewhat greater than some, I've found their customer support to be great. Additionally, they are negotiable with the commission rate. They also offer access. Which I also have found to be outstanding. I am really pleased with the corporation.

    Additionally, I did a lot of research on Interactive Brokers IdealPro FX trading platform. Their commissions are a lot cheaper, only $5.00 roundturn. The lot unit to exchange is $25,000, which makes for improved position sizing. A really good company. However, they really er more to seasoned traders. Their platform isn't easy to learn (not as simple as CoesFx). They didn't, as of a month ago, have some simple way to keep track of your FX positions on the IdealPro platform. Their customer support isn't that great so far as getting questions answered as they expect you to already know what you are doing.

    Thus, for me, at my level of experience, CoesFx was the better choice. However, if your seasoned, or already knowledgeable about TWS (IB's order entry system), then Interactive Brokers may be a better choice for you.

    John

  5. #5
    mbtrading-has-integrated-trading. Quotetracker

    Being lured by the low spreads, deficiency of any coping desk to potentially trade against you, no stop order limitations, no news trading resctrictions and fast trade executions, I am considering opening an account with an ECN.

    I've comprised a listing of the four ECN brokers I am aware of as well as a few comments that might help kick off some discussion.

    If you have experience with any of these ECNs, please give your input as I think it's going to be valuable to some other members considering a move to them also. Specifically I am looking for general satisfaction, trade execution, system downtime difficulties, and some additional details that would aid a prospective customer make a decision...

    MB Trading - Could exchange minis in addition to full lots, $5.00 R/T commission for EUR/USD, no news feed, no integrated charting, 100:1 leverage, $400.00 minimum account deposit.

    COES FX - Could not find out much about those guys. Their site is very short on details...

    HotSpotFX - $3 R/T commission on EUR/USD, real time news feed integrated into trading platform, charting by FX Trek (included with account), $7500.00 minimum account deposit, no mini trading

    Interactive Brokers - $2.50 minimum R/T commission on EUR/USD, $25000.00 minimum trading size (1/4 EUR/USD lot, for instance ), 50:1 leverage, $2000.00 minimum account deposit, no news trading limitations, no integrated news feed, integrated charts, however limited technology. indiors.

    Please let me know if any of the advice I listed above is not accurate.

    Thanks to all in advance for your input,

    Ian[/quote]

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by ;
    MB Trading - Would exchange minis in addition to full lots, $5.00 R/T commission for EUR/USD, no news feed, without any integrated charting, 100:1 leverage, $400.00 minimum account deposit.


    Please allow me to know if any of the info I listed above is not correct.

    Thanks to all in advance for your input,

    Ian
    Hi, I talked to a rep at MB Trading and he confirmed that the commissions are charged as follows: http://www.mbtrading.com/fx/commissions.asp

    That really is a 1 way fee so R/T would be twice that amount. You pay more in commissions because the amount of lots you exchange increase.

  7. #7
    Hello,

    Do I have to pay for the chart for EFX???

    What about MBT???

    Regards

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by ;
    Hi,

    Do I Must pay for the chart for EFX???

    What about MBT???

    Regards
    It is pretty well documented on these boards which EFX's new Omega platform will have charts and should be arriving Sept/Oct. Not sure on charts with MBT, though.

  9. #9
    I thought that I read in this forum EFX gets the omega planned since 2005/2006? In addition to integration using MetaTrader....

    EFX Quote server are a joke. It lagged and it still lagged now. And the excuse is like the others whined before (your ISP) after a few slip that cost me. I start MetaTrader oanda commerce at EFX/MBT using MetaTrader Quote... which was much more dependable....
    And I keep wondering, why quote sort oanda MT was not lagged as MBT....
    (metatrader with demo account @ mig)

  10. #10
    Just FYI, I don't think these commissions are round-trip. . .they are each side. This is definitely a reality for MB Trading and I'm not so confident about IB, but I believe they aren't round trip also.

    Additionally, it is actually based on the LOT dimensions in USD. . .you are charged $5.00 for every $100,000 USD you exchange (both sides).

    So for instance, if you put in a long position for $10,000 USD/JPY, you will be charged $0.50 and then when you exit that place, you will be charged another $0.50 for a total of $1.00 R/T...

    On the other hand, if you buy 100,000 EUR/USD (@ 1.2000)you will actually be spending $120,000 USD for a long position, and therefore be charged $6.00 commissions for the position and then when you exit (let us say at 1.3000 for simplicity), you will be charged $6.50 for the commissions on the sale having obtained another $10,000 in position.

    The commissions such as IB will be the same, in reality. . .they charge 0.2 basis points that is the equal to $2.50 for every $50,000 US traded.

    I haven't seen how HotSpotFX functions...I don't even understand exactly what their spreads are.

    Incidentally, there's still a spread at IB and MBT, but of course, it is possible to exchange within the distribute if need be. . .but there will always be a bid/ask price.

    I have an account with MBT Right Now.

    I'm not really keen on any of these platforms, BUT, I really do notice less trading/technical troubles with MBT even during peak times. I have had a quote server running for 2 months, and I have had only 1 sudden outage and it lasted only 2 minutes approximately. Furthermore, they have a nicely supported API so that makes automated trading and alerting much more dependable. Unfortunately, and this is BIG flaw, I needed to create all the elements needed to actually exchange their platform as, let us face it, it simply sucks. In addition to that, there's absolutely not any historical data. You can find 3rd party platforms already built for MBT, for example Currency Market capabilities, but I always found 1 or 2 things wrong (I enjoyed the charting, but not the trading platform, or vice versa, or the platform used too much memory, or else I found it overly expensive, etc).

    In any case, they should be working on historic quotes as well as incorporating with MetaTrader. . .so let us hope for the best.

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