Hello fellow "Traitors"

[mister ed]

Hi Abe - sorry for my scaremongering post! Let me admit a bias, I am with BF on favouring eminis...

There are two types of brokers in FX, the market makers and the ECNs. The market makers are where the customers trade against the MM (notwithstanding that the MM may well hedge customer trades so neutralising this effect somewhat), the MM provides the liquidity but the risk (well, one of the risks!) the customer runs is the MM triggering stops etc. and generally behaving like a bucket shop. Having said this I think some of the MMs are getting better, realising that they can make money from a customer in the long-term as well as the short-term, so behaving less like a bucket shop. I think the improvement is also coming from some tighter application of regulations especially in the US. This makes MM brokers located in the US probably the best. Also, avoid any MM broker with 666 in the phone number

The other type of retail FX broker in the one that customers are shown prices coming from banks and the deals are routed through to the banks. These are the brokers that use ECNs - article here is a good run down but it might be a little dated so check the named brokers (and there some others not named here too). These types of brokers usually charge some sort of commission (better way of saying that is the commission is usually visible, not hidden in the spread) and their spreads can be a little wider than the MMs at times (an MM can provide an extremely tight spread if they know which way your coming from ... anyway a spread is sometimes irrelevant, you're only looking for one side of it right?

I don't know anything about IB sorry...

Have you been to the website Forex Factory? I think its a really good FX site, probably the best I have seen. I use their economic calendar even though I don't trade FX ... FX people generally seem to value good economic analysis/info.

[torero]

Abe, check out out EFX, MBTrading, Oanda. Also read this forum thoroughly to understand the issues involved: nondealingdesk.com. I traded with MBTrading for 2 years and haven't had problems so far. Only last few days, I've gotten delayed quotes (not sure if it has to due with unusual volume in the markets).

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	mister ed
	Hi Abe - sorry for my scaremongering post! Let me admit a bias, I am with BF on favouring eminis... There are two types of brokers in FX, the market makers and the ECNs. The market makers are where the customers trade against the MM (notwithstanding that the MM may well hedge customer trades so neutralising this effect somewhat), the MM provides the liquidity but the risk (well, one of the risks!) the customer runs is the MM triggering stops etc. and generally behaving like a bucket shop. Having said this I think some of the MMs are getting better, realising that they can make money from a customer in the long-term as well as the short-term, so behaving less like a bucket shop. I think the improvement is also coming from some tighter application of regulations especially in the US. This makes MM brokers located in the US probably the best. Also, avoid any MM broker with 666 in the phone number The other type of retail FX broker in the one that customers are shown prices coming from banks and the deals are routed through to the banks. These are the brokers that use ECNs - article here is a good run down but it might be a little dated so check the named brokers (and there some others not named here too). These types of brokers usually charge some sort of commission (better way of saying that is the commission is usually visible, not hidden in the spread) and their spreads can be a little wider than the MMs at times (an MM can provide an extremely tight spread if they know which way your coming from ... anyway a spread is sometimes irrelevant, you're only looking for one side of it right? I don't know anything about IB sorry... Have you been to the website Forex Factory? I think its a really good FX site, probably the best I have seen. I use their economic calendar even though I don't trade FX ... FX people generally seem to value good economic analysis/info.

Ok. Thanks Mister Ed.

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	torero
	Abe, check out out EFX, MBTrading, Oanda. Also read this forum thoroughly to understand the issues involved: nondealingdesk.com. I traded with MBTrading for 2 years and haven't had problems so far. Only last few days, I've gotten delayed quotes (not sure if it has to due with unusual volume in the markets).

Ok. Thanks Torero. I will look into those.

[monad]

AbeSMITH
If you really want to get into currency, why not opt out for currency futures (CME), a highly regulated market and the moves are similar to the forex market, except you can employ the traditional trading platform (DOM) to execute your trades with a reputable brokerage like infinity brokers, you know the commissions, you know the spread, hassle free administration.

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	monad
	AbeSMITH If you really want to get into currency, why not opt out for currency futures (CME), a highly regulated market and the moves are similar to the forex market, except you can employ the traditional trading platform (DOM) to execute your trades with a reputable brokerage like infinity brokers, you know the commissions, you know the spread, hassle free administration.

Thanks monad. I will surely look into it.

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	brownsfan019
	Tor - thanks for sharing! I'd love to see some charts for comparison purposes. Just wondering how some fx charts compare to the e-minis. I personally would like to see 5 minute charts. Or is there a good site to get past charts as well?

Brownsfan, here is the 5 minute chart of EURUSD and YM today, in that order:

As you can see, EURUSD was orderly today. Followed support and resistence very well, and lacks in the eratic movement one sees in the YM.

Now look at YM. Like something out of the wild west.

I'm not saying one is better than the other for you. You seem to be comfortable with eminies. Anyways, here is the charts you were curious about.

[Hlm]

Just to throw this thought out there...

I am NOT sure about this statistically, but they both seem very similar if you look back over time. There are days in January where the ES trended down much nicer than the GBPUSD (on the same day). FX also has a tendency to skip levels at times with news announcements and create congestion zones for the rest of the day. If you are trend trading it just depends on what levels and timeframes are currently being hit (where Market Profile steps in). I do think both are VERY tradable. In my opinion the factors that will determine which is best include such things as capital, hours you can trade, and strategy.

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	Hlm
	Just to throw this thought out there... I am NOT sure about this statistically, but they both seem very similar if you look back over time. There are days in January where the ES trended down much nicer than the GBPUSD (on the same day). FX also has a tendency to skip levels at times with news announcements and create congestion zones for the rest of the day. If you are trend trading it just depends on what levels and timeframes are currently being hit (where Market Profile steps in). I do think both are VERY tradable. In my opinion the factors that will determine which is best include such things as capital, hours you can trade, and strategy.

Thanks Hlm. Good points.

[brownsfan019]

	Quote:	AbeSmith
	Brownsfan, here is the 5 minute chart of EURUSD and YM today, in that order: As you can see, EURUSD was orderly today. Followed support and resistence very well, and lacks in the eratic movement one sees in the YM. Now look at YM. Like something out of the wild west. I'm not saying one is better than the other for you. You seem to be comfortable with eminies. Anyways, here is the charts you were curious about.

Interesting charts Abe. I guess the questions to ask yourself are:

1) Do I trade trending markets better over range bound markets?

2) Does FX actually trend as much as I think it does? In other words, have you done some serious, in-depth research or just cherry picking nice looking charts?

3) How do non-trending FX days compare to the indexes?

I agree with the suggestion to trade the EC/6E on the CME. It's a currency based futures contract so you get the best of both worlds in my opinion. Not huge volume there, but again, I have to wonder how much is needed in the beginning.