Thread: TD Ameritrade (Thinkorswim)

I have searched the forum down and up and it seems like there hasn't been much recent discussion on Thinkorswim Currency Market trading. I have paper traded with their live feed platform for approximately two decades and have experienced a live account for the 6 months. I am a US resident so the broker choices are extremely limited. I also mainly exchange the EUR/USD and USD/JPY. I really do that Thinkorswim is backed by TD Ameritrade however their Currency Market accounts are not protected by the SIPC. I will go over some pros and cons of the experience so far and any feedback from customers of the platform is highly due to the fact I would love to stay with them.

PROS

- Charting is quite user friendly and tidy.
- Free international news and other news resources streamed live.
- Offers commission-free trading on pairs. EUR/USD and USD/JPY typical spread for the London and NY session are 1.0 without a commission.
- Also offers commission trading but at $10 per 100k (possibly a CON here)
- Great customer care.
- Backed by TD Ameritrade.
- Quick execution (at my current quantity)

CONS

- No quantity reference or indior to Currency Market.
- No advanced pattern charting.
- No automated trading.
- Bid/ask constantly shows the price x1,000,000 units so who knows exactly what their bandwidth accessibility really is.
- Not a committed Currency Market broker, therefore not much information about these issues.

So far I have had a good experience and have been profitable in newspaper trading and beginning to be profitable from the live account. My concerns are for the long run. I have seen slippage at a 10,000 order. I really don't know when TD is carrying the end of the trade or a lot about their liquidity supplier. If so, surely this can affect me as I grow the account. I'm sure I missed a few of pros and cons but I will edit as I think about them.

Any and all comments appreciated!

I looked into TD, before Registering for Oanda. I discovered that they are just a white label of Gain Capital Liquidity, as Shrike mentioned. My thought was, even if I didn't need to exchange using a middle man why would I. Additionally, I'm not especially fond of Gain Capital as a Forex broker., there's simply too much bad information out there about them.

They are currently utilizing Gain Capital for liquidity. .

Found out some good info on TD/Thinkorswim today from a very long discussion with a rep. So TD is your counterparty within their FX trading, yet because the liquidity and data is right from GAIN funds, there is absolutely no false data from TD. I've a FOREX.COM demo, and so I compared data feed and it is identical besides the spread in which case TD is better. They also ensured no liquidity issues less than 100 lots and even said it would not be any problem until 10s of millions of components. Execution speed and price if it were a micro lot order. This was a worry of mine being as though they do not reveal market thickness. So they are gambling that their 90% of traders will lose, just like anyone would. But it seems that it is pretty fair other than that. Plus they are backed by TD Bank if you grew a account you could withdraw it all. They also said that there is no dealing desk, and they are the counterparty in 100% of FX trades.

This may be a dumb question, but if they're the party they have a dealing desk to manage the risk?

Also, I only reviewed TD, Gain, and Oanda. TD is only listed as an FDM (Forex Dealer Merchants) whereas Profit and Oanda are listed as RFEDs (Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers). Does anyone know the difference between those?

So I wondered this as well, referring to this merchant desk. I asked simply if they have a customer who statistically wins where TD wouldn't take another side of this transaction. They ensured me that 100% of the forex trades, they're the counterparty and there's no table. So when I put an instantaneous trade, TD takes another side along with the liquidity comes in the quoted price minus spread.

As far as the language of Forex Dealer Merchant and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers, '' I can not say I'm aware of the difference. It does seem that TD isn't a typical Dealer Desk broker, maybe because they don't do as much forex trading as GAIN or OANDA.

This makes sense about the counter party. Interactive Brokers seemed to be setup the same manner from what I could tell until they shut down. They STPed all of their Forex trades, but since you're technically trading together with IB the regulators made them tell you they had been the counter party.

So, it's possible that TD is STPing all trades to Gain. However, because TD holds your cash, account, and is technically taking another hand, they must assert they are the Counter Party.

Good idea on that. Anyway, I'm very satisfied with them so much better. I am in a position to turn a profit and may see a long term relationship since they promise fills up to 100 lots per order without bandwidth issues. Additionally if you receive a spike in your favor it'll fill at a much better price if it is a stop or limit order. There is minor slippage but it does happen of course, that's just the market.

Another point is that their demo account is 100% the same as the live account. The difference is that they will not calculate spread for Currency Market on the demo. So if the spread is 1.0 pip, then you will fill at the ask -0.5 or bid 0.5. You may just review your transactions and subtract the current spread to avoid that. I feel it is this way as they are mainly a stock/options broker so a price filling inbetween the bid and ask is typical for stocks where it doesn't occur in Currency Market.

I have a account with Oanda, but need to transfer half of the equilibrium to TD. Can TD handle margin differently? Do you need a specific amount? Oanda charges for withdrawals that is one of the reasons to try out a new broker.

Originally Posted by ;

Good thought on this. Anyway, I'm quite satisfied with them so far. I'm able to turn a profit and may see a long-term relationship with them as they promise fills up to 100 lots per order without liquidity problems. Also if you receive a spike in your favor it will fill at a better price if it is a stop or limit order. There is slippage but it does occur of course, that's just the market. Another point is that their demo account is 100 percent the same as the account. The only difference is that they will not calculate...

So far it has worked just like a second bank account. I have deposited and withdrawn 6 characters with no problem. TD is 1:50 on pairs, and that I feel is 500. No fees for withdrawals, and no maximums. Takes to move to your regular bank account.