Retail Forex: A dirty little secret?

Discussion in 'Forex Brokers' started by KaliKali, Jan 10, 2006.

  1. IB forex commission works out to 0.4 pips per RT (round trip) for trades over $125,000.

    For any forex trade from $25,000 (the minimum allowed size) to $125,000, IB commission is a a flat $5.00 / RT. For the minimum $25,000 trade, that works out to 2 pips.

    Therefore, for EUR/USD:

    over $125,000 --> TEC (total effective cost) is 1.4 pips at IB and 1.5 pips at Oanda;

    $25,000 - $125,000 --> TEC is from 1.4 to 3.0 at IB and 1.5 at Oanda;

    under $25,000 --> TEC still 1.5 at Oanda, IB IDEAL Pro not an option; IB IDEAL has much wider spreads; CME currency futures on IB @$4.22 promotional rate; EUREX currency futures less for now.

    In particular, for a 100K forex trade, it's a dead heat at 1.5 pips each, not "a better result".

    However, IB EUR/USD spread is variable, not a fixed 1 pip, can be 2 or more at times. Oanda EUR/USD spread is fixed 1.5 pip, but can increase to anywhere from 1.8 to 3 pips for a few minutes around scheduled news release times and 10 on weekends (when IB is closed).

    Having said all that, a number of key factors other than commissions ought to be considered as far more important for 99%+ of traders.
     
    #21     Jan 12, 2006
  2. traderob

    traderob

    Yes, when I said "this particular type of ecn model" I was thinking of the $25,000 lot sizes, which makes IB competitive with the Mini-forex broker model. Currenex and Hotspot have much larger minimums.

    Does anyone have details about MB trading and Coes and what is the minumum size lot?
     
    #22     Jan 12, 2006
  3. MB @ 1 pip most of the day for eur and yen ... 2 at worst x flat $5 per 100k and you can trade as little 1=10k lot in the same 100k account. 100:1 leverage.
     
    #23     Jan 12, 2006
  4. katesdp

    katesdp

    The IB Min is $25K?

     
    #24     Jan 12, 2006
  5. taboni

    taboni

    Sorry Roberk my mistake
     
    #25     Jan 12, 2006
  6. traderob

    traderob

    No prob. Taboni,
    looks like I was wrong anyway if MB trading are offering $10,000 lot ecns..
     
    #26     Jan 12, 2006
  7. Hoi

    Hoi

    IB has no "mini's"....It has a minimum Order-level which is about $25.000, above that you can trade any amount until the Max Order-Level....so you can enter a trade for $26.789 if you want.
     
    #27     Jan 12, 2006
  8. katesdp

    katesdp

    I meant IB's minimum account size for FX is $25K
     
    #28     Jan 12, 2006
  9. ids

    ids

    Minimal account size is $2,000. $25,000 is a minimal lot size on IDEALPRO.
     
    #29     Jan 12, 2006
  10. Hoi

    Hoi

    No, no...you need (at least) $2000 to open an account, and can trade it as low as about $500 (which is the Margin for a $25.000 trade).
     
    #30     Jan 12, 2006