Seeking Broker

[Clayton Patterson]

Can anybody recommend a good broker that is not subject to all the ridiculous U.S. regulations and that carries lots of USD pairs?

I am looking in particular for USDRUB, USDZAR, USDMXN, and other less popular pairs.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

 

[Chaz McHan]

Can anybody recommend a good broker that is not subject to all the ridiculous U.S. regulations and that carries lots of USD pairs?

I am looking in particular for USDRUB, USDZAR, USDMXN, and other less popular pairs.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Depends where YOU are in the world.

 

[Clayton Patterson]

United States. I know a number don't accept U. S. clients, but some still do.

 

[Chaz McHan]

United States. I know a number don't accept U. S. clients, but some still do.

Yes, some still do, despite the fact that the US legislature has tried to manipulate the system in such a way as to control US residents' investments as much as possible in favor of the exchanges (Chicago Mercantile Exchange, for example) and the IRS (of course). Much more could be said on this issue, but that's a different conversation.

Brokerages located outside the US, but with branches within the US (Alpari, FXCM, etc.) won't accept you at a non-US branch.

The US pressure has closed off most non-bank brokerages to US resdients.

You still have a few good choices, such as MIG bank or ACM (which I use and recommend), both in Switzerland. Even these entities have had to cave on a few points, but self traders should be fine.

 

[Clayton Patterson]

Thanks for those. I appreciate the help

However, I am on a limited budget for my investments at this time.

Are there any with lower minimum deposits that anyone is aware of?

 

[Chaz McHan]

at ACM, it's $2,000. I wouldn't recommend starting with less anyway (unless it's ZERO, i.e. a demo account)... for reasons I've written about in other posts and go over in my curriculum.

I'd be curious to know where you end up and what your reasoning was in deciding. Please update here and let us know.

 

[RahmanSL]

Not recommended to going on less than usd2,000??

I do not agree with that especially for Newbies or Traders on a limited budget.

If you are a Newbie or Trader with limited money capital, a good starting account size would be usd100 with 1:500 Leverage on a Micro account. Micro account give Traders the option to trade small money (below 0.1 lot size) risking very little of their capital since trading in cents give them 10,000 cents to trade/practice with. Some STD (and definitely ECN) account do not allow trade size of less than 0.10 lot and this can be disastrous especially if you have limited money (below usd2,000) in your account and your positions are on the losing side.

Trading micro account with 10,000 cents can even be fun as Newbies can practice to see how long/fast it takes to bring that account size up to 100,000 (USD1,000) and even 1,000,000 (USD10,000). Also, Newbies can trade 1.0 lot with the micro account (which is equivalent to 0.1 lot size in STD & ECN account) but with added advantage option to get ride of losing trades in fractions (0.9 down to 0.1) of the opened 1.0 lot positions without having/forced to close the whole 1.0 lot losing position when trying to salvage the account.

In fact, trading Micro is a real self challenge to see how much and long a time it takes to bring a small initial deposit like usd30, 40, 50, 100, or even 300 account to usd100,000. I believe it’s very possible to do that. And how do I know that?? I am working on building up a usd40 right now as I post.

That usd40 micro account started as a remnant of wiped out STD and ECN accounts which I transferred into a micro account since that’s the only type of account that I could continue trading with so little money.
I initially used that as a “taste-the-market” account (i.e entering trades to see where market is going before making an identical trade in my STD & ECN accounts if the trade proofs correct or open an opposite trade if proven wrong side of the trade). But over a period of two weeks, that usd40 increased to around usd73+ and that gave me an idea and a challenge to see whether I can turn that usd40 to usd50,000 or even usd100,000

Ok, for now it’s just an idea and a challenge, but soon as I do managed to get that usd40 micro account to around usd2,000, I will post results and screenshot here at the FPA. But PATIENCE is most definitely not my strongest virtue and I have wiped out quite a few Live accounts because of that. I was averaging daily 60-80% profits and than..wham….account wipe-out due to a few very bad trades. I have to get rid of or, at the very least, control that little “devil” (named GREED) inside me! Anyone here know a good and reliable “Exorcist”???

As for recommending Brokers, I along with the rest of the FPA Moderators and senior officers are damn reluctant to do that due to the possibility of being blamed or even sued for recommending brokers who turn out to be scammers.
Only standard recommendation is given, which is to check out the "How to select Brokers" and read the "Brokers' Reviews" section. It's very much easier to name Brokers that you should stay well away from!

Cheers and be careful out there in the forex world as it is indeed a war zone! Only plenty of "blood transfusion" (money) can save your account if it got hit by bad trades.

 

[Chaz McHan]

Yeah, I realize that there are those that disagree with me on the issue of using micro accounts. I do not recommend it. I stand firm in my opinion and have real reasons for it. Maybe I'd at some point be up to to engaging in a friendly "debate" on the topic.

Obviously there is room for those of differing positions. Ultimately people make their own decisions with their own time and money. I can suggest caution where I believe it is warranted, but ultimately I respect people's own choices and hope they make a KILLING with whatever strategy they've decided on for themselves.

That being said, I believe newbies are better served honing their skills outside of live trading and by using demo accounts before jumping in with a real commitment. Riding the fence between learning and being financially committed, I think, is the worst of both worlds... ultimately accomplishing neither goal.

As to broker recommendations: I vet the ones I use carefully and therefore have no problem recommending them. The only thing that gives me pause is that it could be construed as a recommendation to the exclusion of this or that other brokerage. I don't think that is fair, since I have no experience with the vast majority of options out there. Therefore, I remain tentative in my reviews and recommendations.

Just so there's no confusion, let me clarify that I am not an IB, referring agent, or in any way compensated for connecting any client with any brokerage. I have absolutely ZERO stake in what any other trader does, how he does it or where he does it. I mentioned my curriculum in the previous post. It's called The McHanics of Trading. I do not sell the course, do not coach or train traders for pay (Instead, I apprentice traders with the intention of eventually bringing the best of them on board with my team), I do not sell signals, do not endorse any EAs, etc. If anyone is looking for an alternate agenda in my posts, they will not find one because it's not there. I manage a private portfolio of high-net-worth clients along with my own investment stake. That's how I make my money.

 

[RahmanSL]

Engage in a friendly “debate” on the topic? : )
Nah, no need for that as micro accounts are specifically (or should be) for Newbies and those with limited budget who most certainly are part time traders or trying out their hands on trading forex to see whether they are any good at it. To full time traders, micro account would be a waste of time; I supposed!

For more than 10 months, I have Demo traded with (last count) 15 different Brokers with virtual account size ranging from usd3,000 (which is the minimum that’s being offered in all of the 15 brokers that I have tried) to usd100,000. I have thought that Demo trading is the way to go for Newbies, but now I think very differently.
Demo account is good for trying out and learning how to use the Broker’s trading platform, but once you get the hang of that, then it should be upgraded a.s.a.p to a Live micro account of (depending on your budget) usd100 with 1:500 Leverage. Opening, verifying, and funding one’s first Live account can also be a challenge to Newbies (as I have discovered) and this too should be done soonest as it can be very time consuming.

Personally, I think I have done one too many Demo accounts for my own good which (especially when I blew up carefully built up accounts to tens and hundreds of thousands of USD) made me to think and believe again and again that I was not ready to go Live. But I was thinking more of Standard and ECN accounts, which will eat Newbies alive, and never once consider Live micro account as my mindset was that it is in cents and, how can anyone make money with cents account?

What no one told me is that you can trade micro accounts like a Standard account too. Just trade with larger lot size(s) instead of 0.1 lot trades that gives you profits in cents and fraction of cents.
The advantage of micro over Standard account is the option of cutting your losing trade in fractions which most Brokers I have used don’t allow in a Standard account with min 0.1 lot size leaving you no room to reduce your losses in fractions. You either take your total lot trade losses or the losing trade get force closed by the broker when it falls below margin.
Of course if your account size is above usd3,000 trade ECN account which have much better pips spread.

Alright, you and I have put forward our views regarding micro accounts and the rest is up to Newbie-wannabe-Traders to digest and to mull over what we have posted. : )

One last point I would like to make to Newbies is that I still do Demo trading alongside my Live trades and one of them is doing fantastically well with over 200% increases in just 2 weeks of trading…and not a single losing trade.
Somehow, my Live accounts don’t seem to fare so well with 3 total wipe outs, and those that are in profits don’t have as much profits as the Demo. So, where is the logic? Maybe the answer lies in over money management in my Live accounts and not trading as fear-free-of-losing as I did with the Demo accounts.

Making money in Demo accounts seems to be too damn easy and…yes…boring! And this should be fair warning to Newbies wannabe-traders who seem to think (I did too) if they do good in Demo, they will do good in Live account. But on the other hand, Newbies can become profitable traders too…just don’t trade your Live accounts like the Demo ones. When your Live account gets wiped out, you cannot simply click on the “Open an account” on your trader’s cabinet whenever you feel like and download real money into your account like you can do so in Demo accounts for virtual money.
Don’t be overly eager to enter into what you think is a sure win trade….watch market movements carefully and set target profits. Once you have got your target profits, shut down your computer and walk away.
Be satisfied with what you have made in profits and exorcise greed from your system.

 

[Clayton Patterson]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have actually dealt with six brokers already - one of them gave a micro account with a free $25 which I have traded up to 130 in the last two months. For better or worse, it's working out alright.

I guess the issue now is that I just cannot find the pairs I need with a decent brokerage outside the U. S. with a small initial deposit.

I obviously wouldn't hold anyone responsible if I did poorly with an institution.

The recommendations I have already received are good from what I can gather through demos, etc. but at this point in my life I just don't make enough to put down over 2,000 (the trouble with paying for college...)

Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is I could still use a hand finding a high leverage non-US broker with some of the USD pairs I mentioned - viz. USDRUB, USDMXN, USDZAR, etc.

Thanks.