yeah, but for the small guy, FXCM seems pretty good to me. the ones you list require substantial deposits, right? surf
Not necessarily..read the details and choices offered by VCap for instance; VCap.. Professional Accounts FOREX Symbol Currency Pairs Spread Commission EUR / USD Euro / U.S. Dollar 2 Pips $30-35 Million/None USD / JPY U.S. Dollar / Japanese Yen 2 Pips $30-35 Million/None GBP / USD British Pound / U.S. Dollar 3 Pips $30-35 Million/None USD / CHF U.S. Dollar / Swiss Franc 3 Pips $30-35 Million/None EUR / GBP Euro / British Pound 3 Pips $30-35 Million/None EUR / JPY Euro / Japanese Yen 4 Pips $30-35 Million/None USD / CAD U.S. Dollar / Canadian Dollar 5 Pips $30-35 Million/None EUR / CHF Euro / Swiss Franc 5 Pips $30-35 Million/None AUD / USD Australian Dollar / U.S. Dollar 7-10 Pips $30-35 Million/None GBP / JPY British Pound / Japanese Yen 7-10 Pips $30-35 Million/None * vCap FX is not compensated via the bid/ask spread for HotSpotFXr accounts. ** vCapFX is compensated through a portion of the bid / ask spread for GAIN Capital accounts. Spreads: Bid/Ask spreads are dependent on market liquidity Commissions: Determined by monthly volume transacted and clearing firm selected Lot Size: $100,000 USD Per Lot Min Trade Size: $100,000 USD Per Lot Min. Equity: $7,000 USD minimum(HotSpot) and $2,500 (GAIN) required to open account. Margin: 1%
As you can see, HotSpot FX is only a $7,000 dollar account minimum..I think that is not bad at all for a competent set up to trade clean without all the bucketshop BS.
Hotspot is, IMO, probably the best ECN out there right now not just for retail but institution as well. Spreads are pretty tight and there is no problem with the depth of liquidity either. It is used by hedgies and banks alike. In my other posts, I have stated how I use them primarily (along with IB) as my choice for currency executions. Bucket shops are crap, but most people learn fx trading starting with one of the ubiquitous shops. Most ECN's won't let you get started with $500 to test the waters and see if you want to commit your capital to this type of trading. I, and probably like many a people here, got their start trading forex using the FXCM model. I have found over the years that most people who piss and moan about FXCM are those who try to trade the news. This platform (and the similar dealing desk platforms that have to offset your trades) cannot provide a reliable system to allow anyone to scalp the NFP. If as a trader looking to play this market but don't have the money or chops to play with the pros, well I can think of one or two reliable dd platforms to use that are well capitalized and provide a reasonably stable platform. O... what is that names?
BTW, most ECN's won't open an account with you for less than 50K, although that number seems to be giving way of late.
Dukas, FCStone, FimatFX (>50k), ADM, CapitalFx Pro, MF Global has lowered their costs to 25K1 IB requires 10k to open an account. MBTrading/EFX can get you started with as little as $400.
Sorry I didn't clarify, but what are the hard numbers on minimum bal. for each of those firms? Thanks !
You really have no credibility with this post. First of all you only have 6 posts and secondly you don't give any details. Now either you are just a disgruntled bad trader who refused to understand an explanation they gave you or you work for a competitor. Either way, it's extremely pathetic.