Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

lbj

BLACKLIST of Brokers

Recommended Posts

TOS, at least for futures. Their ES data is skewed, often shows incorrect closes, and long data gaps where none should be.

 

As is par for the course, being bought out by a Canadian Bank is the deathknell of any decent platform.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
TOS, at least for futures. Their ES data is skewed, often shows incorrect closes, and long data gaps where none should be.

 

....

 

LOL... TOS is primarily an options broker.

A few years back they added futures to their offering because many clients need to use futures contract to hedge their positions. It was never intended as a futures daytrading broker.

 

You don't use a Forex broker for stocks the same way you don't use an options broker for ES scalping...

but I won't call it a black list.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
TOS, at least for futures. Their ES data is skewed, often shows incorrect closes, and long data gaps where none should be.

 

As is par for the course, being bought out by a Canadian Bank is the deathknell of any decent platform.

 

I have to agree. TOS is good for options, but terrible for futures and stocks. Especially so these days. They used to be an outstanding platform but since they were acquired by TDAmeritrade, their customer service, platform stability and technology has declined steeply.....almost off the cliff.

 

If you trade for a living, and need a stable platform, avoid TOS. I use it, but only for certain indicators which I can't find coded in EasyLanguage...and it is not my primary trading rig.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have only used Forex Brokers, so here's my 2 pips.

 

Forex.com and Gain are the same broker. Ok, no complaints

 

FXCM Ok, no complaints.

 

Oanda Great, I love them.... Best of the "Bucket Shops".

 

Dukascopy Ok, no complaints. Not very impressed either considering They have commission, and Oanda has better spreads.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Traded with Ameritrade about 8 yrs ago. Fills were always worse off by a few cents because they routed orders to MM's (Knight) ECN who quoted off the best bid/ask of the exchange. Legal and within SFA regs. Sometimes they'd rebate the difference if I pushed on asking why they didnt route to the best price execution point (which in fairness I did have the option to specify). Mostly happened on the open.

 

If you trade FX, look at SEC regs that now specify FX bucket shops have to declare the % of profitable customers. Most come out at 20%, but Oanda come out at 50%, but this is skewed because of other business lines like FX transactions for those who need to take delivery of currency for asset purchase rather than speculate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What do people think of any of these:

 

FXCM

IB

MBT

Dukascopy

dbFX

Gain

Forex.com

Oanda

AmeriTrade

DeltaStock

 

...???

I am currently using Forex.com MT4 platform, and only in demo mode. My live trades are done with the Australian branch of IG Index - IG Markets.

 

But I would not recommend Forex.com for live trades given that all, and I mean ALL of my trades have:

 

* An undue pause prior to the response from their end (no, it is not my computer's latency) This pause can be up to 5 seconds sometimes.

* 8 out of 10 trades are requoted

* While watching price ticks on IG Markets streaming data, Forex.com data does not change.

 

By that I mean I have seen prices change by up to 10 pips, before Forex.com data catches up. Usually prices are tick-for-tick but on occasions when I am very close to an entry, the forex.com platform appears unresponsive. In fact if I had not been stalking the price I wanted on the live platform of IG markets, I would occasionally have missed my entry by around ten pips.

 

That to me is a warning - take your marbles and look for another game.

Don't play with Forex.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
...

* While watching price ticks on IG Markets streaming data, Forex.com data does not change.

 

By that I mean I have seen prices change by up to 10 pips, before Forex.com data..

 

A few years ago I noticed that Gain data was very responsive to market moves, while the data of another bucket shop broker lagged terribly, sometimes by a minute or more. I made quite a bit from that lagging broker. Their data feed was slow, but the quotes were executable. Talk about an edge - I was basically able to use Gain as a Time Machine to travel to the future to see where prices were going to be, and then use the lagging broker to travel back in time to buy or sell accordingly. This lasted for about seven trading days. What a good time that was!

 

-optiontimer

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If trading futures, you have more choice: Dorman, IB, PFG, Zaner, Mirus, AMP, Optimus if you are trading systems, etc.

If trading forex, stick to an ECN like IB which trades in the interbank market, with 16 banks. All the others - you trade against your broker and that could be a smart webpage designer, taking the other side of your trades, from his garage! Even FXCM, which is the biggest bucket shop (they trade AGAINST you), does not have a lot of volume. If you trade forex, it is probably because of volume. But you won't find much volume with a bucket shop. Only if you trade in the interbank market. Most "brokers" in forex are not interbank.

Stocks and options: also IB (Interactive Brokers). Interactive brokers incidentally has some of the lowest costs too. However, no tick data with them. Only from 1 minute up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I used for a short period Oanda and FXCM and was fairly satisfied but it was not enough for me to move from UWCFX. I am not a high volume trader but am trading on a regular basis with some months better than the other ones!

 

Best of luck!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If trading futures, you have more choice: Dorman, IB, PFG, Zaner, Mirus, AMP, Optimus if you are trading systems, etc. Interactive brokers incidentally has some of the lowest costs too. However, no tick data with them. Only from 1 minute up.
Anyone can answer this if you are an IB client:

 

Have you found any gapping issues with IB?

 

I am just asking, because of the comment that there is no tick data with IB.

Price can move a long way in 60 seconds - limit up / down for example. If this is not shown on the chart for 60 seconds (maybe I misunderstood) then traders are not to know if their stop -loss / take-profit has been hit or not.

 

A gap may be an uncommon event in any case, but can be costly. It may not make any difference to whether I use IB or not - it's just something I need to understand a little better than I do. After all, one minute is not much when trading dailies.

 

Thanks

 

Ingot

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If trading futures,

.... Interactive brokers incidentally has some of the lowest costs too. However, no tick data with them. Only from 1 minute up.

 

where did you get that information?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Anyone can answer this if you are an IB client:

If this is not shown on the chart for 60 seconds (maybe I misunderstood) then traders are not to know if their stop -loss / take-profit has been hit or not.

 

Their charts are horrible so you wouldn't use them anyway...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For charting with IB, you have 2 free excellent choices:

 

Ninjatrader and MultiCharts DT.

 

With MDT, you can trade directly on the chart or through their price ladder.

 

With NT, you can only chart. Trading off of the chart is not free.

 

IB real-time data is snapshot-based, not transaction-based. In simple terms, this means that you cannot use tick charts or volume charts. However, you will have no problems trading off of minute-based charts. You've got historical price retrieval capability.

 

The smallest price bar you can receive is 5 seconds and real-time data updates about every 0.2 seconds. Another way of thinking about it is that when a bid, ask or last price changes then you will see that price change. What you don't see are all of the trades which occur on an instrument.

 

IB is a one-stop shop for trading virtually any instrument in the world. Getting a real-time tick feed with good charting will set you back around $500 to $1300 a year. The ones yelling the loudest who think that paying between $2 to $5.50 a day to trade using tick or volume charts is expensive should probably ask this question:

 

Name me a small business other than trading which can generate 6 and 7 figure annual incomes and can exist on less than $10 of overhead per business day?

 

Really, you can't beat IB as a charting data provider if you use minute-based charts. If you want another good charting package which works with IB and has a fixed cost ( i.e., no monthly leasing), then Amibroker is an excellent choice.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IB is a one-stop shop for trading virtually any instrument in the world. Getting a real-time tick feed with good charting will set you back around $500 to $1300 a year.

 

which instruments have you traded with ib? i'm looking to start with equities and then futures. still deciding between ninja or multicharts. can you share more of your experiences about those? really appreciate any info you can provide - thanks.

-mslk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Anyone here trade with MF Global for Futures Fx and Spot Fx.

Maybe you would like to share your exprerience with them here.

 

ive used mfg for futures for years. they are pretty good as youll get institutional service levels - although they may not be the cheapest - they will fight your corner for you at the exchange should something go wrong like on the wrong side of a busted trade.

 

couldnt comment on fx - but then i think 90% of fx 'brokers' are bucket shops

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Do not use AMP brokerage they are low life thieves and they have a bad customer service

 

I had an account with them for only two months they stole $1700 from me

 

If you want a good descent brokerage firm use TransAct

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am referring here futures brokers. I am looking for a new online broker with multiple platforms. By the way just to alert others, I used farr financial who use many names and sites to lure customers with their 99 cent commission gimmick but they are unreliable and plain morons. For example they will charge randomly for platform or for any other imaginable service without any information. They will never ever stick to any fixed rule or contract.

 

So beware of their tricks. Farr financial is based in San Jose CA and use names like go futures, ironbeam and probably more.

 

You will end up getting frustrated with them and their unethical and unruly customer service that will change their stand each time they charge you for no reason.

They will give nonsensical and stupid excuses for the charges. So beware of farr financial and other services offered by them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess there are fewer offerings in the field of futures brokerage. Most are geared for large scale institutionals or CTAs. For individual pro traders there are fewer offerings but now luckily there are many platforms to choose from.

 

I think as long as you have a clear idea n a good plan with experience we can work on any good and fast functioning platform. I have tested many but most are not easy to operative with nimbleness.

Among all firetip was a pretty good platform so any one trading scalp minis etc. may like to try that.

It is now offered by many brokerage houses.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
ive used mfg for futures for years. they are pretty good as youll get institutional service levels - although they may not be the cheapest - they will fight your corner for you at the exchange should something go wrong like on the wrong side of a busted trade.

 

couldnt comment on fx - but then i think 90% of fx 'brokers' are bucket shops

 

Thank you for the information :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • TDUP ThredUp stock, watch for a top of range breakout above 2.94 at https://stockconsultant.com/?TDUP
    • TDUP ThredUp stock, watch for a top of range breakout above 2.94 at https://stockconsultant.com/?TDUP
    • NFLX Netflix stock watch, local support and resistance areas at 838.12 and 880.5 at https://stockconsultant.com/?NFLX
    • Date: 8th April 2025.   Markets Rebound Cautiously as US-China Tariff Tensions Deepen     Global markets staged a tentative recovery on Tuesday following a wave of volatility sparked by escalating trade tensions between the United States and China. The Asia-Pacific region showed signs of stability after a chaotic start to the week—though some pockets remained under pressure. Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 4.4%, dragged lower by losses in tech heavyweight TSMC. The world’s largest chipmaker fell another 4% on Tuesday and has now slumped 13.5% since April 2, when US President Donald Trump first unveiled what he called ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.   However, broader sentiment across the region turned more positive, with several markets rebounding sharply after Monday’s dramatic sell-offs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged over 6% in early trading, rebounding from an 18-month low. South Korea’s Kospi rose marginally, and Australia’s ASX 200 gained 1.9%, driven by strength in mining stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.6%, though still far from recovering from Monday’s 13.2% crash—its worst day since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.9%.   In Europe, DAX and FTSE 100 are up more than 1% in opening trade. EU Commission President von der Leyen repeated yesterday that the EU had offered reciprocal zero tariffs on manufactured goods previously and continues to stand by that offer. Others are also trying again to talk to Trump to get some sort of agreement that limits the impact.   Much of the rally appeared to be driven by dip-buying, as well as hopes that the intensifying trade war could still be defused through negotiations.   China Strikes Back: ‘We Will Fight to the End’   Tensions reached a boiling point after Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on all Chinese imports unless Beijing rolled back its retaliatory measures by April 8. ‘If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long-term trading abuses by tomorrow... the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50%,’ Trump declared on social media.   If implemented, the new tariffs would bring total US duties on Chinese goods to a staggering 124%, factoring in the existing 20%, the 34% recently announced, and the proposed 50%.   In response, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a stern warning, stating: ‘The US threat to escalate tariffs is a mistake on top of a mistake... If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.’ The ministry also called for equal and respectful dialogue, though signs of compromise on either side remain scarce.   Beijing acted quickly to contain a market fallout. State funds intervened to support equities, and the People’s Bank of China set the yuan fixing at its weakest level since September 2023 to boost export competitiveness. Additionally, five-year interest rate swaps in China fell to their lowest levels since 2020, indicating potential for further monetary easing.   Trump Talks Tough on EU Too   Trump’s hardline approach extended beyond China. Speaking at a press conference, he rejected the European Union’s offer to eliminate tariffs on cars and industrial goods, accusing the bloc of ‘being very bad to us.’ He insisted that Europe would need to source its energy from the US, claiming the US could ‘knock off $350 billion in one week.’   The EU, meanwhile, backed away from a proposed 50% retaliatory tariff on American whiskey, opting instead for 25% duties on selected US goods in response to Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs.     Volatile Wall Street Adds to the Drama   Wall Street experienced wild swings on Monday as investors processed the rapidly evolving trade conflict. The S&P 500 briefly fell 4.7% before rebounding 3.4%, nearly erasing its losses in what could have been its biggest one-day jump in years—if it had held. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank by as much as 1,700 points early in the day but later climbed nearly 900 points before closing 349 points lower, down 0.9%. The Nasdaq ended up 0.1%.   The brief rally was fueled by a false rumour that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs—rumours that the White House quickly labelled ‘fake news.’ The market's sharp reaction underscored how desperate investors are for any sign that tensions might ease.   Oil Markets in Focus: Goldman Sachs Revises Forecasts   Crude prices also reflected the uncertainty, with US crude briefly dipping below $60 per barrel for the first time since 2021. As of early Tuesday, Brent crude was trading at $64.72, while WTI hovered around $61.26.   Goldman Sachs, in a note dated April 7, lowered its average price forecasts for Brent and WTI through 2025 and 2026, citing mounting recession risks and the potential for higher-than-expected supply from OPEC+.       Under a base-case scenario where the US avoids a recession and tariffs are reduced significantly before the April 9 implementation date, Goldman sees Brent at $62 per barrel and WTI at $58 by December 2025. These figures fall further to $55 and $51, respectively, by the end of 2026. This outlook also assumes moderate output increases from eight OPEC+ countries, with incremental boosts of 130,000–140,000 barrels per day in June and July.   However, should the US slip into a typical recession and OPEC production aligns with the bank’s baseline assumptions, Brent could retreat to $58 by the end of this year and to $50 by December 2026.   In a more bearish scenario involving a global GDP slowdown and no change to OPEC+ output levels, Brent prices might fall to $54 by year-end and $45 by late 2026. The most extreme projection—based on a simultaneous economic downturn and a full reversal of OPEC+ production cuts—would see Brent plunge to below $40 per barrel by the end of 2026.   Goldman noted that oil prices could outperform forecasts significantly if there was a dramatic shift in tariff policy and a surprise in global demand recovery.   Cautious Optimism, But Warnings Persist   With both Washington and Beijing showing no signs of backing down, markets are likely to remain volatile in the days ahead. Investors now turn their attention to upcoming trade meetings and policy decisions, hoping for clarity in what has become one of the most unpredictable trading environments in recent years.   Always trade with strict risk management. Your capital is the single most important aspect of your trading business.   Please note that times displayed based on local time zone and are from time of writing this report. Click HERE to access the full HFM Economic calendar.   Want to learn to trade and analyse the markets? Join our webinars and get analysis and trading ideas combined with better understanding of how markets work. Click HERE to register for FREE!   Click HERE to READ more Market news.   Andria Pichidi HFMarkets   Disclaimer: This material is provided as a general marketing communication for information purposes only and does not constitute an independent investment research. Nothing in this communication contains, or should be considered as containing, an investment advice or an investment recommendation or a solicitation for the purpose of buying or selling of any financial instrument. All information provided is gathered from reputable sources and any information containing an indication of past performance is not a guarantee or reliable indicator of future performance. Users acknowledge that any investment in Leveraged Products is characterized by a certain degree of uncertainty and that any investment of this nature involves a high level of risk for which the users are solely responsible and liable. We assume no liability for any loss arising from any investment made based on the information provided in this communication. This communication must not be reproduced or further distributed without our prior written permission.
    • CVNA Carvana stock watch, rebound to 166.56 support area at https://stockconsultant.com/?CVNA
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.