Oanda just another bucket shop

Discussion in 'Forex Brokers' started by MickMason, Apr 6, 2007.

  1. Your opening post on this idiotic thread:

    Another NFP day and yet another farce at Oanda!

    Looks like Oanda have finally realized, after falling profits, that playing it fair and transparent just doesn't pay the bills.

    They started out with the best of intentions, it's just a shame they couldn't keep it up. First they widen spreads, then they widen spreads even more, now NFP traders have to contend with a 30 pip spread at times like NFP and 20 pip spreads across other data!

    Despite the wide spread traders still made money so their final resort has been to take the trading platform off line during NFP, a typical bucket shop practice.

    Congratulations Oanda, you're now a fully fledged bucket shop, the only difference is that now you have wider spreads than your competitors, good move!


    I am with Oanda solely for the ability to lay-off exotic options, but I've never had a problem trading at the posted spreads during NFP. Grainted, I am not a news-trader. I'll admit that I have additional spot facilities to hedge my option exposure; spot, forwards and futures. "Other" market makers aren't hedging... their sh*t goes blank during major releases. It's sad when "requotes" have become the preferred business model. As I've stated: Trade futures or go with one of the ECNs like Hotspot, IB's IdealPro or Currenex.
     
    #51     Apr 11, 2007
  2. there's a lot of crazy talk by people who appear to have never traded before opening an
    fx account
    the presumption that anyone anywhere can enter a trade in any 'fast market' conditions
    on any exchange much less a retail fx broker is rediculous
    my early experience trading gold futures, watching prices via a Reuters feed repeatedly
    jumping up and down $10, $15 a TICK until the price settled
    the feed doesn't keep up with the price changes
    even the floor traders can't get filled

    why on earth do you expect fx trading to be any different ?


    good luck trying to bet on releases as they happen, alternatively

    understand PriceTime Movement and enter trades before releases
     
    #52     Apr 11, 2007
  3. Very true!

    lol, I'm not quite sure how else to explain this any other way than I have done already but I'll give it a shot for those who can't (won't?) understand.......

    Firstly, I don't care who people trade with, it makes no difference to me. I'm not alone when it comes to being on the receiving end of Oanda's disconnection tricks, all anyone needs to do is read the NFP threads over on the Oanda forum, it happens every month. But according to some people I guess we're all just shills, lol, a convenient excuse but sadly untrue otherwise someone would be paying me for this and they're not ;)

    The issue isn't widening spread, it's intentional disconnects of anyone who attempts to place a market order across NFP.

    If it's so impossible or unrealistic for marketmakers to fill orders then how are CMC able to do it on requote?

    There's nothing wrong with a marketmaker requoting in volatile market conditions such as NFP, it's certainly better than just disconnecting the platform, it would be more ridiculous to expect them to fill at a price which doesn't exist based on an arbitrary 30 pip spread.

    Futures? No thanks, I'm happy trading spot. ECN style brokers? No thanks, I'm not too thrilled by 50 pip slippage on stops.

    Bottom line is it's up to the individual to decide what, where, and when they trade, and who they choose to do business with. One of the benefits of forums like this is that people can post their own experiences of different marketmakers. Undoubtedly some people will get upset by negative comments about a marketmaker they thought was the best thing since sliced bread but these are my experiences of Oanda, simple as that.

    Have a great day everyone.

    Mick :)

    ps If 'PriceTime Movement' can predict an unpredictable number like NFP then that's a neat trick, all those analysts on Bloomberg would be redundant! Mind you, half of them get it wrong anyway....
     
    #53     Apr 12, 2007
  4. MickMason: "If 'PriceTime Movement' can predict an unpredictable number like NFP . . . "
    and that's the point

    PriceTime Movement doesn't predict

    a few months ago NFP bettors only had to decide on 'above or
    below the concensus' ? then it became 'what'll the revision be' ?
    now it's 'will there be a revision' ?

    we try and analyze PTM sufficiently well to trade it using
    whatever useful tools and methods that do the job

    one might look 'outside' of the PTM to see where it's going
    but, the NFP disappears on 60m, 4H and D charts

    the coincidence of PTM change tho at such times may be
    enlightening
    it might even be used to bet on the NFP
     
    #54     Apr 12, 2007
  5. Sure, more times than not it's noise and is just a tradeable kneejerk, I appreciate that which is why I believe any kind of analysis prior to release is pretty worthless for a trader who wants to actually trade the release itself.

    I can't honestly see any strategy working, momentum or straddles don't work as the moves are often quick spikes, the only way seems to be to trade on the number and/or a spike.

    Thinking back, wasn't it FXCM or someone who reversed all the profitable trades one NFP day? I read somewhere of one trader doing cartwheels around the office because he had doubled his (overleveraged) account in a couple of minutes......only to have it reversed a few hours later! What a bummer, especially if you're on the way to the local car dealership :)
     
    #55     Apr 12, 2007
  6. Pocketjacks

    Pocketjacks Guest

    It's foolish to think Oanda would intentionally freeze their platform during one of the most profitable times for them. Their servers can't handle the unusually large spike in volume. Try opening the same program 1000 times in three seconds on your PC and watch what happens to it. The same thing happened to the NYSE that Tuesday a couple months back. Going back a year when the Livedoor scandal broke out in Japan their whole system went down due to incredible short selling volume.
     
    #56     Apr 12, 2007
  7. They never freeze my platform I dont know what the hell are you talking about.
     
    #57     Apr 12, 2007
  8. Mason wants 3-pip spreads on NFP and guaranteed stops. You're delusional. JPY gapped higher a few weeks ago and took many carry traders for 100 pips. Should they be guaranteed their 20 pip stops?

    50-pip slip? It's not the dealer, it's the market. Sh!t happens. You don't seem to have the stomach for this market. Strange that Oanda is by far the largest retail dealer by capitalization.
     
    #58     Apr 12, 2007
  9. rateesquad, just check around the Oanda forums to see what happens every NFP, perhaps you're one of the rare lucky ones or maybe you don't try to place market orders at that time. It's happening, freezes and disconnects.

    Pocketjacks, sure the order flow increases but other marketmakers seem to handle it ok, Oanda mainly deal currencies whereas CMC and some other brokers deal all sorts, their load must be even heavier. If Oanda's servers can't handle the load then why don't they do something about it or at least address/acknowledge the problem, as you say it's valuable revenue and clients they're losing....unless they don't want those news trader's and their business in which case their solution is perfect.

    atticus, lol, what can I say, people on forums never cease to surprise me! No-one's asking for a guaranteed stop but someone suggested trading through an ECN style broker to which I replied I'm not thrilled by the prospect of 50 pip slippage. That's the market, sure, but marketmakers aren't the market are they, doh, they're market makers, the clue is in the name [​IMG]

    Oanda's popularity perfectly reflects the high percentage of underfunded, totally inexperienced, unemployed and unemployable people who wake up one morning and decide they're going to be traders. The majority last just a few months but like mug punters the world is full of hopefuls out to try and make a fast buck.

    Anyway, enough banter already, it's all here in this thread and on the Oanda forum, people can make up their own minds as long as they know what they're letting themselves in for.

    Happy trading all

    Mick :)
     
    #59     Apr 12, 2007
  10. Which one are you?
     
    #60     Apr 12, 2007