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
  EsotericRule said:
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
  EsotericRule said:
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
  lbj said:
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
  Ingot54 said:
...

* 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
  liviu25 said:
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
  liviu25 said:
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
  Ingot54 said:
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
  steveh2009 said:

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
  starbucks said:
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
  TheDude said:
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

    • Date: 1st April 2025.   Will Gold’s Rally Hold Strong as New Trade Tariffs Take Effect Tomorrow?   Gold continues to increase in value for a sixth consecutive day and is trading more than 17% higher in 2025. Amid fear of higher inflation, a recession and the tariffs war escalating investors continue to invest into Gold pushing demand higher. The trade policy from April 2nd onwards continues to be a key factor for the whole market. Can Gold maintain its upward trend? Trade Policy From Tomorrow Onwards Starting as soon as tomorrow, a 25% tariff will be imposed on all passenger cars imported into the United States. While this White House policy is anticipated to negatively affect European industrial performance, it will also lead to higher transportation and maintenance costs for everyday American taxpayers. The negative impact expected on both the EU and US is one of the reasons investors continue to buy Gold. Additionally, last month, President Donald Trump announced reciprocal sanctions against any trade partners that impose import restrictions on US goods. Furthermore, tariffs on products from Canada and the EU could increase even more if they attempt to coordinate a response. Overall, investors continue to worry that new trade barriers will prompt retaliatory measures, particularly from China, the Eurozone, and Japan. Any retaliation is likely to escalate the trade conflict and prompt another reaction from the US. Experts at Goldman Sachs and other investment banks warn that this will lead to rising inflation and unemployment. They also caution that it could effectively halt economic growth in the US.   XAUUSD 1-Hour Chart   The Weakness In The US Dollar Another factor which is allowing the price of XAUUSD to increase in value is the US Dollar which has been unable to maintain any bullish momentum. Despite last week’s Core PCE Price Index rising to its highest level since February 2024, the US Dollar has been unable to see any significant rise in value. Due to the US Dollar and Gold's inverse correlation, the price of Gold is benefiting from the Dollar weakness. Investors worry that new trade barriers will prompt retaliatory measures from China, the Eurozone, and Japan, potentially escalating the conflict. Experts at The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. believe that such actions by the US administration will drive rising inflation and unemployment while effectively halting economic growth in the country. Can Gold Maintain Momentum? When it comes to technical analysis, the price of Gold is not trading at a price where oscillators are indicating the instrument is overbought. The Relative Strength Index currently trades at 68.88, outside of the overbought area, since Gold’s price fell 0.65% during this morning’s session. However, even with this decline, the price still remains 0.40% higher than the day’s open price. In terms of fundamental analysis, there continues to be plenty of factors indicating the price could continue to rise. However, the price movement of the week will also partially depend on the employment data from the US. The US is due to release the JOLTS Job Vacancies for February this afternoon, the ADP Non-Farm Employment Change tomorrow, and the NFP Change and Unemployment Rate on Friday. If all data reads higher than expectations, investors may look to sell to lock in profits at the high price. Key Takeaway Points: Gold’s Rally Continues – Up 17% in 2025 as investors seek safety from inflation, recession fears, and trade tensions. Trade War Impact – New US tariffs and potential retaliation from China, the EU, and Japan drive uncertainty, boosting Gold demand. Weak US Dollar – The Dollar’s struggle supports Gold’s rise due to their inverse correlation. Gold’s Outlook – Uptrend may continue, but US jobs data could trigger profit-taking. 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.   Michalis Efthymiou 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.
    • Date: 31st March 2025.   Trump Confirms Tariffs on All Countries, Sending Stocks Lower.   The NASDAQ continues to trade lower due to the US confirming the latest tariffs will be on all countries. In addition to this, bearish volatility also is largely due to the higher inflation data from Friday. The NASDAQ declines to its lowest price since September 11th 2024. Core PCE Price Index - Inflation Increases Again! The PCE Price Index read 2.5% aligning with expert forecasts not triggering any alarm bells. However, the Core PCE Price Index rose from 0.3% to 0.4% MoM and from 2.7% to 2.8% YoY, signalling growing inflationary pressure. This increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will maintain elevated interest rates for an extended period. The NASDAQ fell 2.60% due to the higher inflation reading which is known to pressure the stock market due to pressure on consumer demand and a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Boston Fed President Susan Collins recently commented that tariffs could drive up inflation, though the long-term impact remains uncertain. She told journalists that a short-term spike is the most probable outcome but believes the current pause in monetary policy adjustments is appropriate given the prevailing uncertainties. Although, certain investment banks such as JP Morgan actually believe the Federal Reserve will be forced into cutting rates. This is due to expectations that the economy will struggle under the new trade policy. For example, JP Morgan expects the Federal Reserve to delay rate cuts but will quickly cut towards the end of 2025. Market Risk Appetite Takes a Hit! A big factor for the day is the drop in the risk appetite of investors. This can be seen from the VIX which is up almost 6%, Gold which is trading 1.30% higher and the Japanese Yen which is the day’s best performing currency. Most safe haven assets, bar the US Dollar, increase in value. It is also worth noting that all indices are decreasing in value during this morning's Asian session with the Nikkei225 and NASDAQ witnessing the strongest decline. Previously the stock market rose in value as investors heard rumours that tariffs would only be on certain countries. This bullish swing occurred between March 14th and 25th. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump indicated that the upcoming tariffs would apply to all countries, not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the US. NASDAQ - Technical Analysis In terms of technical analysis, the NASDAQ continues to obtain indications that sellers control the price action. The price opens on a bearish price gap measuring 0.30% and trades below all Moving Averages on all timeframes. The NASDAQ also trades below the VWAP and almost 100% of the most influential components (stocks) are declining in value.     The next significant support level is at $18,313, and the resistance level stands at $20,367.95. Key Takeaway Points: NASDAQ falls to its lowest since September 2024 as the US confirms tariffs on all countries, adding to inflation concerns. Core PCE inflation rises to 0.4% MoM and 2.8% YoY, increasing the likelihood of prolonged high interest rates. Investor risk appetite drops as VIX jumps 6%, gold gains 1.3%, and safe-haven assets outperform. NASDAQ shows strong bearish momentum, trading below key technical levels with support at $18,313 and resistance at $20,367.95. 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.   Michalis Efthymiou 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.
    • PM Philip Morris stock, top of range breakout at https://stockconsultant.com/?PM
    • EXC Exelon stock, nice range breakout at https://stockconsultant.com/?EXC
    • UTZ Utz Brands stock, watch for a bottom breakout at https://stockconsultant.com/?UTZ
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

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