agree everything has its two sides, they are a decent broker IMO but they appear a little too greedy in high commissions and ridiculous rollover rate difference.
Notice there was no response from EFX to this issue. Fortunately for them almost everyone day trades and doesn't care what the rollover rates are. However, I have recently authored a trading course demonstrating the methods I use to consistenly win which focuses on the longer time frame and I am actively promoting this method and creating awareness about the unethical practices of brokers regarding interest rates. EFX is not the only one that charges twice as much on the negative side. But each broker has completely different rates and some are much more even. It is obvious that brokers make up rates as they go and they have nothing to do with the actual difference between the two rates of the currencies.
I've noticed even some of the bigger ECN brokers doing this as well. I trade with several brokers and not 2 of them are the same but all are better than what EFX is doing with their Swap rates. There are some larger banks that pay the true IRD but not many. Who do you recommend to your students?
MountainTrader.............. I have read your last post, I was not aware until now that a question was asked of me. I completely support an open forum and only intercede when something is erroneously stated or needs clarification. I will respond for EFX and MBT since the rates are identical. MBT has been on the forefront of changing the traditional way that FCM's operate in the FOREX market space (deal desk). That is, MBT keeps everything out in the open. We offer you the ability to trade directly with banks and financial institutions with no intervention. Our goal has always been to create a system and environment that offers the tightest spreads and legitimizes forex trading for a retail customer. We do this by allowing you to post your bids/offers down to 1/10 pip. Further, knowing that if you take liquidity from a bank that there is no markup/markdown. However, our prices are our prices and they are based on a nominal markup over our cost. We publish everything out in the open so that every customer knows exactly what any charge is. With regard to being unethical. These words certainly get my attention. I am having difficulty following your logic as to how we are acting in an inappropriate manner? Our rollover rates are fully published. I can certainly appreciate your desire for lower fees and they will change throughout time however this is currently what they are within our model. Lastly, allow me to state and maintain publicly that for almost a decade MB Trading has maintained its reputation as an ethical, moralistic company. We operate to serve our clients and I believe we do that quite well. Should you wish to speak with me further or even privately, please PM me. Regards, Steve
I agree that MBT/EFX seems to be upfront and honest about how they do business as well. The thing is most traders don't have a clue what true IRD rates should be and I think that was Mountain Traders point... They are getting screwed without even knowing it. But that being said MBT/EFX has been honest about publishing the rates and everyone is in business to make a profit. I would like to do business with them but I just can't get over how bad their Rollover rates are. I could easily list 5-10 brokers (even the bad bucketshops) that pay closer to what they should. Bottom line: If you have any long term strategy in place MBT/EFX is the complete wrong place to go due to the Swap rates they pay/charge. If you daytrade and are flat before 5ET they seem good.
I requested some funds backs from MBT once upon a time. Despite being a foreign exchange company the conversion rate when they sent the dollars (in the form of sterling) back to me was somthing like five cents away from the market. They thought this was reasonable and blamed their bank!
MBT custodians all accounts in US dollars to allow trading of the spot market. If there was a conversion done for you it was by a bank.
A bank ? - you mean your bank, as you instruct them and choose to hold your accounts with them. Who you allow to take a 5 cent margin - for whatever reason....... Please explain why you cant debit an account in dollars and credit it in sterling at the current spot rate. Why the need to speak to your correspondent bank anyway. You are after all involved in the fx market after all. Unless you are saying that your prime brokers charge you 5 cents for every tom/next rollover when you have a slight mismatch on exposure at the end of every day.....!!!!! Just be up front Steve. You dont want insitutional type traders or individuals who know what they are doing. You are not really an ECN but use it like a marketing badge just like others advertise 'what you see is what you get'. There is no problem in that but at least be honest.
Lon.......... We are a self clearing FCM for spot forex trading. We custodian all funds in US dollars so if someone was to request funds be sent to them in a currency other than US dollars then the bank we use to send those funds must convert. If you disagree with the conversion rate then an alternative would be for you to receive the funds in dollars and you can convert them to whatever currency you would like with your bank. Just an idea, but again MBT custodians accounts in US dollars. If you are insinuating that MBT has anything to do with the conversion rate then let me stop you there. We don't. With regards to being an ECN we absolutely use ECN technology. That is, the technology that MBT uses routes orders directly to banks in addition to allowing for posting of orders to be seen by everyone on the network. It is this kind of network that affords our customers tighter spreads and better executions. If you are implying that MBT should act as a bank because we offer spot forex trading then that we are not. MBT certainly is not a bank nor have I ever claimed to be. Regards, Steve
So if a customer has an exposure how do you cover that at the end of the day? Or are you saying that at the end of every day there is no exposure as it nets off?