Hi, I have recently been put on manual execution by fxcm. This was due to trading too fast (sometimes buying and selling under 3 mins). I notice that when i want to close a profitable position - it takes about 30 secs with several requotes occassionally (never requote if it makes my position more profitable, they just take the price i hit). However, if i want to close a losing position they execute it quite fast, without requoting usually. Has this happened to anyone else? Can they do this?
Yes i was. But not as profitable now on manual execution. Must be a mandate to add a bit more time and slippage to orders to manual orders, in order to give the edge (and profit) back to the broker. What i dont understand is I thought brokers were compensated by the pip spread. Therefore, why would they care if you are profitable or not? It would make more sense to keep you happy and dealing as the more you make, the bigger size you would trade with and the bigger their commission. Or have i misunderstood the client/broker relationship? I always wonder if you managed to pyramid your account consistently to 1mil+ would they tell you to f-off or would they fall over backwards for you?
That's because most (not all) of the Forex "brokers" are in fact bucket shops. You do not trade against another entity where the broker takes a commission but they are taking the other side of your trade. No different than in Jessie Livermoore's day. And that is why you want to trade futures through a reputable firm. No chance for hanky panky by the broker. Sherlock edit: you won't get a chance to get your account up that high with them. They'll do anything to make you loose.
Take you money and run far away from that crooked firm you are trading with. Find a real broker with an ENC model or trade currency futures.
Yes, you have badly misundstood the "relationship." The dealer (not "broker," because it's not brokering anything) is the bookie; you're the bettor. The dealer holds your bet; it is the counterparty. The dealer sets the score (the currency quotes on the platform) while the game is on and at the end. It decides which trade is a winner, which is a loser, which order is filled, or not filled, and at what price. Knowing all of that, care to guess who wins?
How can they decide if you win? They can only decide what quote to give you at the end, which would effect your profit/loss in terms of slippage if you accept.
To tell you a little more about what happens behind the scenes at a Retail place. Your actual order isn't sent to the major banks they deal with for approximately 2 minutes. If you clear profits and exit before then they are always at a loss. If you hold positions longer than that then they can fire the trade off to somewhere else. But to really inform you of what a market maker is I'd tell you that they are allowed to have certain manipulation of aspects within reason to what actual prices are. The only thing you really could do is get away from there retail accounts or go with another broker. Oh one more thing...They take the other side of the trade because the majority of All people loose. So they don't try to determine who will win. They just base it on the fact that most will not.
That makes sense now. As if you scalp, and win, you are hitting them every time, as they cannot offset risk. So how do the traders who consistently win in forex do it?