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FOREX BROKERS UNBIASED REVIEWS
Forex Brokers Reviews is a 100% free and independent forex service. We never join any
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nor to our users. All forex brokers reviews are just based on the last test performance
of each service.
Hi guys! Let's face it, the majority of all forex brokers that support
the MetaTrader 4 platform are pure bucketshops.
The truth is you are not trading in a true market environment but
instead are in a "sandbox" type of trading environment called
dealing-desk where the broker has full control over your position. You
are winning money - he is losing it. And in such type of environment
winners are obviously not welcome... If you win consistently on a long term
basis your account can be banned or suspended and all your profits go to nowhere!
or indeed in the broker's greedy pocket!
Customer Support: good support (tickets, live support)
The Good: First innovative broker with raw spread STP environment
The Bad: Nothing bad so far. My broker of choice
I really like this one. Iamfx.com is very new however just in a few months it became a headline of the first innovative broker that "works for you", not against you like the majority of dealing desk market makers. Iamfx.com does not try to cheat you by skyrocket spreads during the asian session, sending spikes and offquotes when you try to exit the trade in profit (common broker trick).
Iamfx business model is comprehensive and fair - they give your raw (means real low interbank spread without adding additional 2-3 pips to the spread like other brokers) and charge you 1 pip commission (which used to be 2.4 pips in the past but they made right decision to lower it). This means that your scalping EAs will have a greater chance of covering the spread and reaching the TP target faster.
Here is what i found on 4xproject forum, this is a comment of one of the users which I fully agree with:
Overall I give IAMfx a triple AAA rating. I watch their MT4 and it picks up trades faster than other broker demo's I have running simultaneously. They lowered their commission awhile back too. It seems like they want to lead the charge and become the innovative broker and you can't beat the spreads. I saw a spread of 4 one day on the AUD/NZD pair one day. Tadawul has as high as 25. big difference. means more money in your pocket.
Iamfx does not make huge promotional campaigns spamming all the forums and blogs, they are growing by providing good service and I believe that "word of a mouth" is the best way for promotion for the "right company".
Iamfx is good if you trade robots like fapturbo, megadroid, robominer. forexbling, shocker, cyclone etc which require low spreads to be profitable
The only disadvantage is - they have no micro accounts however I heard they plan to introduce micro accs soon with 500 usd minimum deposit.
One more note - their currency pairs has prefix "ifx" that means if you want to backtest any robot - you need to manually download history data somewhere and then place it to "History" folder in Iamfx folder and manually rename the files. for example EURCHF5.hst will become EURCHFifx5.hst
Update November 2009 - today IAMFX added micro accounts. They also will soon offer more funding options like PayPal and credit cards.
Update January 2010 - I have prepared my video review for Iamfx. It is currently my broker of choice and here is why:
Update March 2010 - Iamfx offers some deposit bonuses this month. The broker is still performing great, top choice. Just look at these low spreads from MT4spreads.com:
Customer Support: Very good support, talked to Mr. Sanjaq
The Good: Very good spreads on scalping pairs
The Bad: no micro accounts
FXCBS broker is rather new (they were opened online in the end of 2007) however it became very popular recently after fapturbo introduced them to the general public.
FXCBS is one of the rare brokers that offer really good trading conditions - honest ECN environment, variable spreads which can be as low as 0 and fast execution.
They somehow manage to keep low spreads even during the asian session, that's why this broker is very good for fapturbo and other scalpers. Take a look on the spread history on EURGBP. The spread is as low as 0-2 when other brokers keep it around 5-12 during the asian session
The only bad thing about this broker is they currently don't accept US clients, however i talked to mr. Sanjaq and he told me that soon they are going to accept US clients as well when they finish the regulation process
Update June 2009 Good news - FXCBS lowered min. deposit to $1000 and started to accept US members!
Regulation: Location in the USA, membership in NFA, availability of CFTC.
Customer Support: Free multilingual telephone lines is in almost 40 countries.
The Good: Headquarters in New York City, one of the most reliable brokers
The Bad: MT4 trading has some offquotes issues
FXCM is an american company. It is registered in FCM and regulated by CFTC. It is also a member of NFA. It's head office is situated in New York. The company is also registered and has offices in Canada, Hong Kong, UK, Japan. It is registered in the national regulative bodies of these countries.
The company offers a complete set of client accounts: individual, incorporated, corporate, guided, partner. There are standard (minimum deposit $2000, lots on 100K) and mini (deposit from $300 or 300 or ?‚¬300 or AUD300, lots on 10K) accounts. The site has a section called ?«Education?». It offers paid online courses and free educational ?«webinars?» (interactive online seminars).
Opening demo-accounts is possible. The trading platform is FX Trading Station and it requires installation. It offers basic informative and trading services, except for graphic analysis. There is also a special appendix of FX News Software for a transmission streaming market news in the trading platform, technical levels, and FX commentary.
The new MT4 platform offers no dealing desk trading" as they claim however there are some offquotes issues in MT4 trading here. Spreads are variable and pretty small all the time. The min. deposit for MT4 trading is pretty huge but they plan to decrease it in future.
My mini-Interview with FXCM
Stephen: Welcome to FXCM's Live Chat Feature. How may I help you?
Stephen: This is Stephen. How can I help?
Mark: Hello. Could you explain - what is better TS2 or MT4 trading (I mean liquidity supply, trade execution etc)?
Stephen: Trading Station 2.0
Mark: Why? Could you tell more details?
Stephen: Many forex traders love the MetaTrader 4 platform, but want the benefits of FXCM as their broker.
Stephen: Yes
Stephen: FXCM Trading Station 2.0 allows for partial fills, more ability to place trades without requotes,
Stephen: is better for scalping
Stephen: has no order size limits
Stephen: allows for 1 click trading
Stephen: and has detachable charts
Stephen: does that explain?
Mark: yes thank you. Does TS2 have some API for Forex Robots (EA) programming or automation of trades?
Stephen: we have many resources
Stephen: http://www.fxcm.com/api-landing.jsp
Mark: BTW, do you plan to add more liquidity suppliers?
Stephen: FXCM on average executes 500 billion in monthly notional volume
Stephen: we are always looking to improve our services
Stephen: Do you currently trade FX elsewhere?
Mark: ok thank you for replies. i am already a member and like your service.. bye!
Regulation: Alpari (US), LLC is registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Futures Commission Merchant and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA)
Customer Support: Standard support
The Good: Old and professional broker: 3 companies under 1 name
The Bad: No proper live support agents
ALPARI is an old and professional broker. They have 3 companies united under 1 common name. Alpari (US), LLC is registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Futures Commission Merchant and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA)
The spreads are normal comparing to other brokers and I have not heard anything bad about them. However UK and US versions do not have live support and Russian company live support could not respond properly about the differences between their 3 companies and was very unfriendly.
Short Interview with Live Chat Alpari Russia (alpari-forex.com):
Mark | 16:33 Do you have English live support?
Mark | 16:36
Hello. I am interested in Alpari brokerage and would like to find out more about it. Are you regulated?
Mark | 16:35 are you here?
16:36 Dmitry Suvorov has joined the chat.
Dmitry Suvorov | 16:36 Hello! Yes. We are regulated by FRA.
Dmitry Suvorov | 16:36 http://kroufr.org/ If you mean Alpari IDC Corp.
Mark | 16:37 I know you have Alpari Russian, UK and US versions. I am very confused. Which one is better and more reliable? What are the differences?
Dmitry Suvorov | 16:39 All this companies are different artificial persons
Mark | 16:39 Which one is better and more reliable?
Mark | 16:42 is this a live support or what? it takes 10 mins to get your reply. do you have proper english live support?
Dmitry Suvorov | 16:43 Now you're chatting with the customer support of Alpari IDC Corp. If you have any questions about Alpari UK or Alpari US, just contact their support.
I can give you information about our company
Mark | 16:44 I ask what are the differencies between your 3 companies. Do you have different price feeds?
Dmitry Suvorov | 16:47 I answered that Alpari UK, Alpari US and Alpari IDC Corp are different brockers. About our contract specification you can check up info at http://www.alpari-forex.com/en/cspec/
UPDATE APRIL 2009 Alpari is going to decrease spreads on 16 currency pairs including popular EURGBP and EURCHF! New night spread will be 4 instead of 5! That means fapturbo clients have much more possibilities for successful trading.
Founded: 2001. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT
Platforms: Metatrader 4
Regulation: IBFX is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Customer Support: Perfect
The Good: Very quality and secure website, perfect support.
The Bad: Spreads are way too high comparing to other brokers
InterbankFX is the registered in the US, controlled by CFTC, and is member of the NFA.
Judging by the absence of dealing and stream quotations, the company is an ECN.
The West Bank is a partner ??“ a liquidity supplier. A wide set of client accounts is offered: individual, incorporated, guided, partner, and corporate. The basic trading platform ??“ MetaTrader4 is one of the best and most powerful free programmes on the modern market.
A site is done pleasantly enough and correctly. Navigation is easy and clear. Information for beginners is presented in a very detailed, separate, part of site called ???University,??? demo-accounts which are free for 30 days. In addition, to the FX Educator,??? which is offered to the client, there is an educational course (on 2 DVD's); which come together with the opening of the mini-account with $300.
The only bad here - spreads are way too high comparing to other brokers
Update February 2009 My good friend, forex insider met the president on IBFX last week on a private meeting and IBFX told good news that they are going to add liquidity supplier and decrease the spreads in future
My mini-Interview with IBFX
Client Services : Hello, my name is Ben. How can I help you?
Mark: Hello. I noticed that IBFX spreads are way too high comparing to other brokers. Could you explain?
Client Services: Since we don't fix our spreads, they can fluctuate at any time. Sometimes they are lower than other brokers, sometimes they are not. It just depends on the prices that our liquidity providers set.
Mark: Do you plan to add more liquidity suppliers soon?
Mark: How many do you have now?
Client Services: We have several, including including: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citicorp, and Barclays.
Client Services: I haven't heard anything specific about adding more liquidity providers, but we are always looking for those opportunities.
Client Services: With the state of the global economy, liquidity providers aren't as eager as they once were, so I'm not sure it will happen anytime soon.
Mark: Is IBFX a true ECN environment or dealing desk broker?
Client Services: We are a straight through order processor.. not a dealing desk.
Mark: Do you plan to decrease the spreads in future?
Client Services: Again, we don't set our spreads
Client Services: They are determined by our liquidity providers. We don't plan on becoming a dealing desk, so, no, we don't plan on fixing our spreads in the future.
Mark: Do you mean the spreads are high due to financial crisis or any other reason?
Client Services: that's one of the reasons they are high, yes
Mark: and what else?
Client Services: low liquidity, market volatility... there are a number of factors that can contribute to widening spreads.
Mark: okay thank you for reply. Good service.
Client Services: My pleasure...
Update April 2009 IBFX has announced the upcoming change to 5 digits in price quotes which also should decrease their spreads.
Regulation: Resident head office in Cyprus regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
Customer Support: Very good support + Live Chat
The Good: Perfect service and support
The Bad: Website is very confusing. Spreads are bit high comparing to other brokers
FXPRO was founded in 2006 and acquired all of North Finance's clients. It is a fully regulated European broker with resident head office in Cyprus regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
I agree that website looks really weird and messy with tons of useless graphics (what relation do waterfalls and oceans have to forex? lol) and it is really hard to find any useful links there. For example, I even could not find the link to download MT4 in all that mess. However don't be confused because the broker itself is really good
The spreads are bit high comparing to other brokers however their service is on a professional level by all means.
Few things you should note here. They don't offer microlot trading on standard account, so minimal lot increment would be 0.1 here, not 0.01. Also after creating your account they always forget to activate your account so you would get "Ping Lost" errors in Log when trying to trade until you contact them to finally activate your account.
My Mini Interview with FXPRO
Chat Information - You are now chatting with 'Lianna', May i have your FxPro account number please?
Lianna: Hello, How may I assist you?
you: Hello
you: on your salespage you adversise low spread "Spreads from 0.5pips " and I heard from your newsletter the maximum spread is 5 for EURGBP however in reality your spread is not fixed and way higher than 5. I get even 7 ! Could you explain
Lianna: At FxPro we offer floating spreads as low as 0,5-5,0 (the best retail offer in the market) Sometimes this is not possible to establish. Spreads we compose in the system depend on spreads we receive from our counterparties, and when we receive prices with already increased spreads from major liquidity providers in Forex we must increase ours. As a regulated company we always have to provide our clients the most competitive market prices, that is why we are doing our best in this situation.
you: Where are you regulated and when was founded?
Lianna: FxPro.com is proud to say that it is a fully regulated European broker, bringing with it all the benefits and security on offer in today??™s busy marketplace.
Lianna: Owned by EuroOrient Securities and Financial Services Ltd, an investment firm, resident head office in Cyprus regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (www.cysec.gov.cy ) (license number 078/07). Our company is a member of various professional bodies like CIFSA (Cyprus International Financial Services Association, http://www.cifsa.org/ ), CCCI (Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, http://www.ccci.org.cy/ ), CFSFA (Cyprus Financial Services Firms Association, http://www.cfsfa.org.cy/ ).
you: When was FXPRO founded? does it have any relation to "northfinance"?
Lianna: The brand name ???FxPro??? and the domain name ???www.FxPro.com??? are owned by
Lianna: EuroOrient Securities and Financial Services Ltd, a financial services company authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission under the license number 078/07.
Lianna: EuroOrient was registered on 31 July 2006 and received the first license in 05 March 2007.
Lianna: We acquired all of North Finance's clients and trading operations as on June 1st 2008
you: Sounds good. Do you plan to add more liquidity suppliers to decrease the spread conditions?
Lianna: not at this time sir
you: Last question - do you welcome winning EA systems such as fapturbo at fxpro?
Lianna: yes sir, we do allow these
Lianna: However, we do not provide assistance with them
you: what kind of assistance?
Lianna: Expert advisors are of course allowed on our platform, but please make sure that they are set-up correctly to allow for the 5th digit which is one of our advantages using our FxPro Metatrader4 platform. You may be able to set them yourself if possible in the settings, otherwise you will have to seek assistance from the supplier of the advisor who will of course be happy to assist.
you: okay thanks for replies. Good service.
Lianna: thank you sir
Update October 2009
Here is what we received about FxPro: "Please be aware that FXPRO broker is no longer accepting US clients! Due to a new requirement from the us for a
Very large capital requirement."
The Bad: They don't offer MT4 :( However I heard some good news...
Capital Market Services LLC began operating on the Forex market in 1999. CMS is incorporated in the USA and is a member of NFA, registered in CFTC.
CMS trades in 7 basic currency pairs (to USD) and their cross-courses, other financial instruments are not available. Information concerning term-of-trades is placed compactly on the site. The size of credit leverage is set from 400:1 to 40:1; clients have 3 variants of choice.
The site is fully translated into several languages. CMS offers the demo-accounts for an unlimited period of time. There is a page for beginners on the site, containing short, basic, information, about the Forex market and a general explanation about trading principles. The platform is powerful enough, and executes basic, informative, services (translation of quotations, exposure/execution of orders, showing of the state of positions and account), graphic and technical analysis.
Good news! MT offer!
Chat Information You are now chatting with 'Lev'
Lev: Hello. Can you please tell me your name and how I can assist you today?
Mark: Hello. Do you provide MT4 or maybe plan to provide in future? If yes, when?
Lev: we do provide it
Lev: Please contact the Account Executives
Mark: really? I only see VT Trader 2 offer on site
Lev: It was not yet updated
Mark: ok thanks
Update April 2009 - So far I am dissapointed with CMS Metatrader version. Spreads are too high comparing to other brokers on all majors..
Min. Deposit: $ 250 for mini account, $2500 for standard
Founded: GAIN Capital was founded in 1999
Platforms: FOREXTrader (with Java), Metatrader4
Regulation: FOREX.com is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (NFA ID #0339826) and a member of the National Futures Association.
Customer Support: Very good support + Live Chat
The Good: One of the largest and most reliable brokers
The Bad: Nothing really bad so far. The spreads are pretty high comparing to other brokers.
FOREX.com is of the largest and most reliable brokers. GAIN Capital was founded in 1999. FOREX.com is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (NFA ID #0339826) and a member of the National Futures Association.
Of course I have personal accounts at Forex.com and cant say anything bad about them. Support is very friendly and rather fast. Trade execution is good. However the spreads are pretty high comparing to other brokers.
Here is my short INTERVIEW with Forex.com
Mark: Hello. I am interested in Forex.com service. I would like to learn more about your company. Where were you founded? Are you regulated?
Katie: Our US headquarters is on Wall Street in New York. We also have offices in New Jersey. These strategic locations allow us to support self-directed forex traders from over 140 countries.
Katie: FOREX.com is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (NFA ID #0339826) and a member of the National Futures Association. Please visit the below link for the NFA site and click on Broker/Firm Information (BASIC) to review FOREX.com's record as an NFA member.
Katie: http://www.nfa.futures.org/
Mark: When were you founded?
Katie: GAIN Capital was founded in 1999.
Katie: For more information about our company, please click the link below.
Katie: About FOREX.com
Mark: Are you a dealing desk or ECN broker?
Katie: FOREX.com is a Market Maker and we have a dealing desk.
Mark: My friend has an account at forex.com He said your spreads are bit high. Do you plan to decrease the spreads and add fractional spreads?
Katie: We offer tighter fractional spreads.
Katie: Please click the link below for information about our spreads.
Katie: http://www.forex.com/trade_pricing.html
Mark: Do you allow EA trading. For example Fapturbo traders?
Katie: You can use an expert advisor if you like, but we do not provide support for expert advisors.
Mark: What is the margin requirement for 10K standard account?
Mark: and what is the min. deposit?
Katie: To open a live account, the minimum to fund is just $250 for a mini account, and only $2,500 for a standard account.
Katie: The margin requirement would depend on the currency pair you are trading.
Mark: for example for EURGBP?
Katie: Please click the calculator button on your ForexTrader to access the margin and pip calculator.
Katie: The margin requirement for 1 standard lot of EUR/GBP with 100:1 leverage right now is $1,284.50.
Mark: Ok thank you. Last question: how fast is the trade execution? For example in other broker I got offquotes errors for 30 minutes yesterday!
Katie: Trade execution should be instant.
Katie: If at anytime you receive any error message while trading, please call 1-908-731-0750 immediately and we will place that trade for you.
Mark: ok thank you for kind response
Katie: you are welcome!
Update April 2009 So far I am bit dissapointed with MT4 version of this broker. Spreads are way too high comparing to other brokers and the "offquote" errors are too frequent especially if you are trying to close the trade in profit :(
Customer Support: Multi-Language + Live Chat available.
The Good: Large and reliable broker
The Bad: Very slow support. Spreads are way too high
FX Direct Dealer is a legal US company, Address is 75 Park Place , 4th Floor New York , NY 10007, USA . They even have a racing (!) team lol. As they claim they are pending registration with the NFA
I used FXDD for a long time and find it pretty good however their support is very slow and far from perfect and the spreads recently are way too high. For example - how do you like this spread history chart?
I decided to make a investigation of the spread issue and ask the questions to FXDD support directly:
FXDD Investigation Chat
English Support: Welcome to FXDD Live Chat. How may I help you?
Mark: Hello. When was FXDD founded? Are you regulated?
English Support: we have been in business since 2002
English Support: we are pending registration with the NFA
English Support: and should be fully registered within a few months
Mark: Are you a dealing desk broker?
English Support: we get our rates directly from our Interbanks
English Support: there is no dealer intervention
English Support: and we pass them directly along to our clients
Mark: I see.. However your spreads on standard account are way too high comparing to other brokers. For example 5-8 on EURGBP comparing to 3-5 in other brokers. Could you explain please
English Support: we are offering the best spreads we can offer given market conditions sir
English Support: I cannot comment on what other brokers are offering
Mark: Do you consider to make the spreads lower in future?
English Support: that is out of my reach
English Support: I can tell you that we are doing everything we can to offer you the tightest possible spreads
Mark: I tried to compare FXDD standard and Xtreme. You claim lower spreads on Xtreme however I could not find any significant difference. They are same high but fractional. Please explain.
English Support: MTXtreme offers spreads of 0-2 pips on all the majors
English Support: during normal market hours
Mark: However during asian market at night GMT spreads are around 7-10 (!) which is way too high
English Support: I understand your position sir, but the spreads are what they are, I cannot change them
Mark: Okay. that is sad.. thanks for your support anyway..
English Support: no problem
Update April So far I am not happy with this broker. The Fixed Spreads on a standard FXDD account are way too high and the eXtreme account with variable spreads has frequent offquote errors and high commissions.
Founded: founded in 1994 as an Options House, ODL Securities
Platforms: Metatrader 4
Regulation: ODL Securities Inc. is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA).
Customer Support: Standard support
The Good: They offer MT4 trading platform, low spreads
The Bad: Winners are not welcome here, they banned 140 fapturbo traders recently.
I cant call this broker a scam because they are a legal company and CFTC and NFA regulated however everything I heard about them recently is only bad.
Recently the most shocking news was they banned over 140 fapturbo traders that made consistent profits for several weeks.
Here is what victim-members report:
"This morning I received the following email:
Good Morning.
Unfortunately ODL Securities has decided not to allow the FapTurbo Expert Advisor Program. ODL has notified us here at Back Bay FX that those of you on this e-mail have had your accounts suspended at ODL Securities.
Here is what members received:
It is with great regret that I am writing this email to you today. After several discussions with our risk department and line managers, it is felt that your account should be closed and the balances repaid in full. This recourse has been brought about as a result of unethical trading within your account of late; maliciously or not, with the use of a Robot/EA or not, these actions are unethical and go against the policies of ODL.
I hope this will satisfy any queries you may have about this recent suspension of your account and I wish you the best of luck with your future trading. "
So winning money is called "unethical trading" here. lol. while all other brokers find fapturbo trading fine and welcome fapturbo clients.
The bottom line: Be aware that some brokers do NOT want you making regular profits.
My Investigation Chat with ODL
I tried to contact ODL directly to find out the reasons and get explanation from first hands however could not receive any reasonable reply here.
DavidT: Welcome to Live Help, how are you today?
DavidT: hi how can i help?
Mark: Hello. I am interested in ODL service however I heard you do not allow winning scalping strategies, for example you banned all fapturbo clients. Could you explain?
Mark: are you here?
DavidT: yes
DavidT: yes fap turbo breaches our terms and conditions relevant to market abuse and the use of ficticiuous devices
Mark: however I trade fapturbo and other systems without any problem at 8 other brokers and they have no problem. Could you explain the difference.
Adil Siddiqui has joined the conversation.
AdilS: hi
Mark: hi
Mark: however I trade fapturbo and other systems without any problem at 8 other brokers and they have no problem. Could you explain the difference.
AdilS: hi
Mark: yes, hello Adil. do you see my question? looks like i had disconnection issue
AdilS: hi
Mark: Quesiton to DavidT - why do you call Expert Advisor trading a "fictitious device"? That does not make any sense to me. Do you mean ODL does not allow automated trading?
Mark: are u here?
Mark: ?
Mark: is that live chat or dead chat? guys?
Mark: looks like no one is going to anwser here..
