The single most important decision in your plans for trading forex is choosing the right broker. Forex brokers have huge advertising budgets and that allow you to see their sales pitches everywhere you look. In these reviews we will separate the sales pitch from the reality of trading with these brokers.
Best Features
- No Minimum Opening Deposit
- Custom Lot Sizes
- Trade Directly on the charts
- Custom News Feed
- Demo Accounts Never Expire
- Sub Accounts
Least liked features
- no hedging
Demo Accounts
The Oanda demo account is virtually identical to the live account. The price feed is exactly the same as the live account and demo accounts never expire.
Customer Service
Oanda provides customer service by email, chat, and phone. Oanda seems to typically be responsive to request for service via any of the 3 methods. Emails sometimes take up to 24 hours to be returned depending on the issue.
Spreads
Oanda provides variable spreads, which means that spreads can change depending on market conditions. Most of Oanda’s spreads are extremely competitive during normal market conditions. The only time that the spread jumping will usually prove to be a problem is if you are trading directly around a major news release. For example, the EUR/USD typically trades with a spread of 0.9 – 1.9 pips under normal market conditions. During a news release the spread for the EUR/USD can go as high as 10 pips.
Leverage
Oanda only allows 50:1 leverage. Many traders might consider this a disadvantage, but I consider it to be like selling a gun with a safety on it. 50:1 leverage is sufficient for forex trading. Leverage set at 100:1 and higher can be dangerous and cause you to make oversized trades just because you can.
Top Features
- Full Hedging (FXCM UK)
- Funding by Credit Card
- Microlot Trading (FXCM Micro)
Least Liked Features
- No trading on US holidays (FXCM US)
Demo Accounts
The FXCM demo account is very easy to open. It performs very much like the live account. It is sadly limited to only 30 days.
Customer Service
FXCM offers customer service by email, phone, and live chat. The customer service at FXCM has been a little slow the few times I have needed to contact them by email. Overall the customer service speed is fair, but not great.
Spreads
FXCM provides variable spreads, which means that spreads can change depending on market conditions. Spreads can widen without warning. In the case of FXCM, not all of their spreads are competitive and their spreads can expand widely depending on which markets are open and which currency pairs you are trading.
Leverage
FXCM allows 100:1 for standard accounts, 200:1 for mini accounts, and 400:1 for micro accounts
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