Broker for scalping?

[Mike$]

Used a lot of brokers and PFG was the perfect for scalping last year, also traded with MBTrading, but they filtered quotes too much and had high spreads in NZ session. Now I have accounts with Thinkforex, Fxopen, Exness, Nordfx with rebates from Premium Trading.
Could anyone give an advice which broker has the same spreads and is registered by FSA or NFA?

 

[Kuzu]

Hello, yes I can advise you one , I trade with Belarta BELARTA - STP broker interbank currency market FOREX
You can find one of the most competitive spreads

 

[Pharaoh]

Nice. Brand new member with no posting history jumps in and recommends a broker that's also brand new.

Does anyone want to place a wager on whether Kuzu is a client or employee of Belarta?

 

[DiF0r]

I'm currently using Hotforex and TradeFort for scalping. HotForex has wider spreads from time to time but rebates make the overall deal a bit better (I'm using bestforexrebates.net)

 

[pipdreaming]

How do you guys define scalping?
It can be about tight spread, fast execution or no requotes. But thats what everyone want in a broker.... I think scalping is more about automatized EA, some brokers are more or less happy about it hehe ; )

 

[Pharaoh]

Scalping means quick trades for a few pips.

One BIG issue. A lot of brokers say they can cancel scalp trades (especially profitable ones), but some of these don't always clearly define scalping. That leaves traders never knowing which trades might be cancelled.

 

[henyo]

my understanding of scalping is fast in fast out for a couple of pips, not all brokers allow it, and there no certain definition for scalping i guess just like what pharaoh said, I've read about trader having issues with scalping since their broker dont allow it but wont even define it for the trader, so I guess it would be a good thing to choose your broker wisely and always read their ToS.

 

[bearishfx]

Through months of research I've narrowed down that if you scalp there's only one way to do it, and that's through a decent robot (none of this $99 rubbish). Most decent EAs are only available through a developer or an EA, sometimes you can get decent forex account managers to trade for you (requires research and they are limited).

Now the next step is to choose a broker that can handle your strategy without manipulation, market making activity, restrictions on trading and other games that they play to generate profits. Through testing and many hours researching, I found that you can only trade and generate profits through scalping on an true STP/DMA broker.

The next challenge are the trading conditions. Naturally, the lower the spreads, the better it is for scalping. Take into consideration that most STPs have their chart prices marked up - that means that if your EA/Robot reads prices off the chart rather than market watch, then you might experience some triggering issues.

My recommendation would be to find a broker with raw spreads and a low commission. The raw spread will give your EA the best possible platform to trigger your orders.

Of course, account conditions and order execution is crucial also. I currently trade with a broker that uses Equinix technology that reduces latency and the execution is super fast. As well, they have specific Liquidity providers who can handle all scalping strategies as well as very good conditions (EUUSD 0.2 -0.5)

I know these brokers are limited, and you won't find them among the biggest brokers lists as 99% of them are alleged market makers. You'll have to work a little harder and dig a little deeper as I did to find them

Hope this input helps you guys find a good broker for scalping?

Rick

 

[Timmi]

as I did to find them

Your methodology is good, but if you are sincere in hoping to help, I do believe that you forgot to mention which brokers you have uncovered, that you refer to.

 

[Timmi]

I've done scalping on ThinkForex.
I checked with them first, and they saw no objection.

Trade execution is INSTANT.
I don't see slippage, they don't requote, and have never rejected or revised a trade*.

* I have seen, on occasion, what appears to be some feed errors in the EURCAD (these were extreme swings, that were successive and symmetrical/identical), and they corrected that, and offered to refund me is incurred any loss as a result. There is a certain time of night, where I've seen the GBPNZD pair to be extremely wide - maybe that is what the OP was referring to - but these high spreads don't last for long, as in general, their spreads are consistently very low and competitive around the clock. For me, when I see that, I go to bed and get me some sleep - I still do need that!

I've seen spreads on the EURUSD as low as 0.0 pips on the cTrader platform. Note that on ctrader, they add a 0.3 pip commission (which is lower than the other brokers using ctrader, and still better than other's MT "lowest spread ever registered"), while on MT4 the commission is in the spread as we are accustomed to. which brings me to my next topic.

ThinkForex spreads are extremely competitive.
However, they have two trading platforms, that utilize two different compensation/spread schemes:

MT4 platform has tight spreads, where there is no separate commission. This is probably the best for scalping.

cTrader platform, is better for standard (non scalping) trading. It is lower, but there is a 0.3 pips minimum added on opening and on closing of your trade.

If you are accustomed to MT4, and agile with it, this is just fine.

But as it turns out, cTrader is actually better for scalping. You can configure it for single click execution (with one or two clicks - mine is set to 2, because I was accidentally tapping my trackpad while intending to just hover/move the pointer). It has some convenient buttons, like double-up, or close-and-reverse, which with a single click, lets you close your position and take up the same position in the opposite direction. it will also set up a stop for you automatically, at whatever value you predetermined as default, so you can concentrate on scalping instead of fidgeting with the program.

If you can establish that ThinkForex's spreads in ctrader (plus the commission) are competitive with their MT4 spreads, during the hours that you trade, you would have a winning combination with cTrader.