Saxo Bank Review

So a few months have passed since my last review, but rest assured I haven't been slacking. In fact, I've been so busy that I simply didn't have the time to do any reviews, due to a number of "situations" in my private life and in business. Of course, I wasn't too busy to trade, and have been doing quite well, riding the waves of economic "recovery" (although I realize it is only a temporary reprieve, there is no reason not to profit from it if you can).

One of the reasons I have been very successful over the past few months, besides the fact that I'm a brilliant trader :) is that I have been trading with one of the best brokers in the business - Saxo Bank. As I always say, there are traders of many different shapes and sizes, as there are brokers, so I'm not saying Saxo Bank is ideal for EVERYONE - it isn't - but I found that it suited me and my trading style very well. It is like those kids' toys where the kid tries to fit the triangle block into the triangle slot and the square block into the square slot. You can't ask "which is the best slot?" The correct question to ask is "which slot best suits the type of block I'm holding in my hand?" If you understand that, then you will understand that the trading conditions offered by some brokers may be better suited to some trader types, while not others.

In any case, this is not a post about the generalities of what suits which trader - I presume my readers to all be big boys/girls that can figure that out on their own. What I need to be talking about here specifically, is how Saxo Bank helped my trading attain a new level of success.

So I opened an account at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore and deposited a fair amount of money into my account. Saxo Bank has been a major player in the forex world for some time now, and I didn't feel the least bit queasy about sending them a larger sum than I would some shady offshore bucket shop. Besides that, they also don't do small accounts, so it was necessary if I wanted to give them a try. The question with big, reputable brokers (that also happen to be fully regulated European banks) such as Saxo is not so much about "can I trust them with my money?" but rather "is a big faceless bank going to provide me with the type of service I want?"

I found the answer to that question to be a big, resounding YES. Saxo Bank's trading platform (Saxo Trader) is a very well designed application, which offers traders the highest level of functionality with a fairly short learning curve. Also on offer are a web trading platform (Saxo Web Trader) and a mobile trading platform (very creatively named Saxo Mobile Trader). Feel free to open a demo account and check it out - highly recommended.

One other thing many traders will like about Saxo is the mind-boggling number of instruments that are available to trade. Check this out:

1. More than 155 spot forex pairs
2. Forex Forward Outrights
3. OTC Forex Options for over 40 pairs (from short dated to one year expiries)
   
4. More than 6,000 (!) CFDs including commodities
5. Over 11,000 (!!) stocks from 23 exchanges
   
6. More than 24 index-tracking CFDs
7. Spot gold and silver as well as options
8. Over 450 futures from 15 exchanges
9. Wide range of corporate, sovereign and government bonds

So one thing is for sure, you'll never run out of things to trade.

Saxo Trader also offers complex order types and sophisticated reporting features for professional traders, and customer support is always available from the platform or by other methods - and by customer support, I mean direct contact with the dealers, not with a room full of snot-nosed kids that hate you.

Furthermore, Saxo Bank is a true innovator in the industry, constantly pushing the envelope with new advances in technology, such as the Saxo Equity Platform.

Sound too good to be true? Well it is. As always, there is a downside. Whether this downside is a deal breaker for you or not is your decision. The fact that Saxo Bank is a fully regulated bank comes with strings attached - there are rules to follow. Many, many rules. Add to that the fact that so many instruments can be traded from so many different sources, and the result is that the trading conditions get complicated. Commissions, spreads, rollovers, margin requirements, interest on net free equity... and the list goes on - it's all complicated. Saxo Bank's target market is the experienced, educated, professional trader. As such, most of their clients can deal with these complexities. Whether the inconvenience offsets the benefits is your decision.

PROS:
Fully regulated European bank;
Thousands of instruments to trade;
Very smart, award-winning platforms;
Top-notch customer service;
Great liquidity;

CONS:
Complicated trading conditions;
Small account holders are not welcome ($2,500 minimum for Mini accounts);

Quick Facts:
Headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark;
Achieved European bank status in 2001;
Offices in London, Geneva, Zurich, Milan, Prague, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing;

It should be noted that smaller investors can take advantage of Finexo, a Saxo Bank IB that lowers the bar for new deposits.

Feel free to open a demo account at Saxo Bank to check out their platform.

Baron Forex Review

I came across a unique MT4 broker about a month ago called Baron Forex. I generally like to try out places that offer something different from the standard fare. Baron Forex is headquartered in Belize, which in itself could be seen as a disadvantage from a legitimacy standpoint, but they are regulated by the IFSC. The fact that they are located in Belize also has other advantages due to its offshore location.

The two main draws that Baron Forex has is that they offer options as well as spot forex trading, and that they offer fixed spreads (under all market conditions) that are quite low compared to other market makers who keep their spreads fixed. Normally, most market makers who give their clients fixed spreads do so at the expense of a few extra pips and/or poor execution in illiquid markets. I have not noticed this while trading with Baron Forex - I even got filled without slippage on my stop loss order during the NFP release yesterday (not that I was particularly happy about it, but that's how it goes sometimes - at least my order was filled at the price I set).

I have not tried making any withdrawals yet so I can't comment on how successful that will be. I am experiencing a bit of a drawdown over the past few weeks, so chances are I won't be making a withdrawal any time soon anyway :). I don't foresee any problems, but I was a bit disappointed with the lack of withdrawal methods available and the associated fees - unless you trade high monthly volume, they will charge your for wire transfers and CC withdrawals, and those are the only 2 methods available. I would suspect that they will add a few more deposit/withdrawal methods in the near future. Baron Forex has only been around since 2008 so they probably still have a few kinks to work out in their back office.

Finally, Islamic traders can be accommodated with swap-free accounts, but again, extra charges do apply unless you trade high monthly volumes. They really do make every effort to increase clients' trading volume, which is understandable considering it's their bread and butter.

Overall, I would say that news traders should take advantage of the trading conditions on offer here: the combination of low, fixed spreads and excellent execution probably won't be around for long. Once they see the risk that exposes them to, they are bound to change some part of that deadly cocktail.

PROS:
Well-known MT4 platform;
Regulated offshore broker;
Low, fixed spreads;
News traders' and scalpers' best friend;
Great execution even in illiquid conditions (NFP!);
Trade options as well as spot FX;

CONS:
Haven't been around very long (2008);
Not many deposit/withdrawal methods;
Can't trade anything less than a mini-lot (10,000 units);

Quick Facts:
Headquarters in Belize;
Metatrader 4 (MT4) platform;
2 pip fixed spread on EUR/USD;
Established in 2008;

If you are interested in opening an account at Baron Forex, please click here.

MIG Investments Review

MIG Investments, or MIG fx, is a Swiss forex broker, regulated by ARIF. It offers fair trading conditions in one of the most tightly regulated environments in the world. It should be noted however, that ARIF regulated companies are not required to disclose their company capitalization records, and are not required to segregate client funds from company operating capital. They are one of the few non-US brokers that allow US residents to open accounts though opening up a great option to wealthy American investors.

Besides spot forex, MIG Investments also gives traders access to gold (XAU/USD) and silver (XAG/USD) trading through its Metatrader 4 (MT4) platform. Since Metatrader 5 (MT5) is due out soon, I enquired about when MIG Investments was planning to make the switch, but got no real answer, so we'll just have to wait and see (FYI, I hear Alpari is going to be one of the first MT dealers to make the switch).

Anyway, my trading with MIG Investments has been going quite well. Since there is nothing dodgy about them, I figured I was safe opening a fairly large test account with them ($5,000). If I really wanted to try them out I didn't really have a choice anyway, since minimum account opening is $2,500 for Standard accounts, and it goes up from there to $100,000 for a Professional account and $500,000 for an institutional account.

All trades are cleared through UBS, so liquidity is ample, at least for a $5,000 account holder. Maximum trade sizes are 200 standard lots (20,000,000 units) which is further proof that liquidity shouldn't be a problem even for big accounts. Scalping is discouraged, as is the case with all market makers, but I did close a few profitable trades in very short order and did not receive any warnings and no funds have gone missing from my account, so they are not absolute nazis about it.

All in all, I think MIG Investments offers a very safe and fairly inexpensive (2 pip variable spreads on EUR/USD) entry into the forex market, but capitalization is key. Much like Swiss banks, their brokers also seem to have set the bar pretty high with regards to who they do business with - that $500 micro account you wanted? Sorry, your money is no good here. With a half-mil account, you get better spreads (1 pip on EUR/USD), direct access to their market research team (not sure how worth it that is) and they will even program you EAs for you (I don't see why they choose to take on that responsibility... but they do).

PROS:
Allow American account holders - combined with Swiss secrecy and high standards;
Decent spreads;
Deep liquidity and good execution;
MT4 platform;
Gold and Silver trading;
Swiss regulation (ARIF);
$1.5 rebate per 100,000 RT on Pro accounts;

CONS:
They won't talk to you if you're poor;
Limited number of tradeable instruments;
Accounts not segregated;
No scalping policy;

Quick Facts:
Headquarters in Neuchatel, Switzerland;
Metatrader 4 (MT4) platform;
2 pip variable spreads on EUR/USD (Standard & Pro accounts);
1 pip variable spreads on EUR/USD (Institutional accounts);
Liquidity provided by UBS;
Established in 2003;

To open a 90 day demo account, please visit MIG Investments SA. Thanks for stopping by.

HY Markets Review

I opened an account with HY Markets just over a month ago and have had a really good run trading with them. I would like to warn anyone who thinks of day-trading with these guys though - don't! Besides the no scalping policy, HY Markets has unusually high spreads, particularly for smaller accounts, so if you are in and out of trades often, your costs will add up very quickly. They offer 3 types of accounts:

• Mini - $50 min. deposit, 2,000 unit min. trade size, 7 pip variable spread on EUR/USD;
• Standard - $750 min. deposit, 10,000 unit min. trade size, 5 pip variable spread on EUR/USD;
• Premium - $2,500 min. deposit, 100,000 unit min. trade size, 3 pip variable spread on EUR/USD;

I had a Standard account, and was really feeling it every time I opened a trade. I had a strong run of trades which made it seem insignificant, but I know that if I had had a string of losses, those costs would have been unbearable. The Premium account, while offering slightly better spreads (although still higher than most brokers), has the disadvantage of standard lot deal sizes. There is no way someone with a $2,500 account could handle standard lots, so I find the combination to be somewhat predatory in nature - they push traders to upgrade their accounts by providing better spreads, but then screw them by making them over-leverage due to huge minimum deal sizes.

Still though, a trader has only himself to blame if he is taken in by such practices. An experienced trader would never allow himself to be taken advantage of like that. The fault ultimately lies with you if you agree to such trading conditions.

On the positive side, for those who are well capitalized and/or don't mind the high spreads (read, longer-term traders), HY Markets offers investors a solid package, mostly because of the vast array of tradeable instruments on tap. You can trade anything from silver to cocoa to IBM to EUR/USD on the HY Markets MT4 platform. The best thing about it is that because of the way HY Markets structures their CFDs, all the instruments can be traded long or short at any time.

HY Markets also provides the safety offered by an FSA (UK) regulated broker and the financial stability of a well capitalized business that has been in the finance world since 1977.

These facts alone can easily overcome the negatives, particularly for those who are not necessarily just looking to trade forex, but other instruments.

PROS:
Safety of FSA regulation (FSA #186171);
Long-term business commitment;
Well capitalized;
Client funds are segregated from company operating capital;
Staggering array of tradable instruments;
Ability to long and short any of the instruments available;
Stop losses guaranteed against slippage;
Swap-free accounts available to Islamic traders;
Deposits and withdrawals available by Visa and MasterCard;

CONS:
Ridiculously high forex spreads for Mini and Standard accounts;
Mediocre swap rates;
Inflexible deal sizing for Premium accounts;
No demo accounts available;

Quick Facts:
Henyep Investment (UK) Ltd. in business since 1977;
Offices in London, Dubai and Hong Kong;
Downloadable (MT4), Browser, and Mobile (Pocket PC) trading platforms available;
Deposits and withdrawals by Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Wire Transfer;
Maximum Leverage 200:1 on all account types;

If you would like to open an account, please visit HY Markets. Thanks for stopping by!

AvaFX Review

If you are looking for an offshore forex broker, I would recommend giving AvaFX a chance. AvaFX is a recent entrant into the forex arena, but has built a solid reputation among traders. Over the past few weeks, I found out first hand why that's the case. Although the company is not regulated by any government body, it is audited by Ernst & Young, which adds a layer of legitimacy to it. It is also owned and operated by a large instituion - Clal Finance Ltd., with over $17 billion under management. This is also where the liquidity comes from.

To be quite honest, I could find no serious flaws with any aspect of AvaFX. Maybe it's because of the nightmare I had with the last broker I reviewed, but I don't think so. Everything I tried seemed to work well - even extremely fast trading is accepted, which is fairly unusual for a market maker, particularly one that fixes their spreads. There were some execution problems as a result of the fixed spreads during fast market moves, but this is to be expected.

The fact that Islamic friendly no-swap accounts are available at no extra charge, and to the general public (no need to "prove" your religion) is a bonus to those seeking this type of account. There is also a wide range of instruments at your disposal, from a few exotic spot currency pairs to quite a few commonly traded CFDs. A wide variety of deposit and withdrawal methods are available, and no administrative fees apply to any transactions (although there is a $500 minimum wire transfer withdrawal limit). All transaction methods are listed in "Quick Facts" below.

Depending on your trading preferences, you can choose between 3 platforms:

1. Ava Trader - a downloadable trading platform, which is the most stable;
2. AvaJava - a Java platform which runs in your browser and is Mac compatible;
3. AvaMobile - an i-Mode or WAP application that can run on any internet capable mobile phone;

PROS:
Stable, functional, versatile platform;
Fixed Spreads;
Loads of tradable instruments, including many common CFDs;
Swap-free "Islamic" accounts avalable with no extra charges;
Offshore location;
Financially stable ownership;
Excellent customer support;
Large bonus for first deposits (up to $1,200 in free cash);

CONS:
Unregulated broker;
Mediocre liquidity and execution;
In business only since 2006;

Quick Facts:
Offices in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Cyprus;
Deposits/withdrawals by Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa, Moneybookers, NETeller, PayPal, WebMoney and Wire Transfer - all with no fees;
Maximum Leverage 200:1;
Minimum trade size 5,000 units (0.5 mini lot);
Fixed spreads, EUR/USD spread 3 pips (0.0003);
AvaFX customer support available in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish;

If you would like to open an account at AvaFX, please click here. Thanks for stopping by!

ForexGen Review | ForexGen SCAM WARNING!

OK so I tried to find myself another decent swap-free broker and I came across a "company" called ForexGen. This is the reason I haven't been posting a lot lately - this scam has completely taken up my time.

From day one I could tell there was something fishy about this broker - from stolen copy on their website, to an agreement that makes very little sense etc... They are based in Norway, which I thought was a pretty safe bet, since the Scandinavian countries are known for their tough stance on crime. I thought wrong. Luckily my hunches stayed in the back of my head and I kept my account very small. This is what happened:

I opened an account and deposited some money. They took $10 out as a "deposit fee" (who does that?). OK, fine. Then I started trading. Opened a position on EUR/USD and set my exit orders as per my trading strategy, just like a good little trader ought to. The next day, the market came close to hitting my stop loss, but didn't. About 48 hours after that, my take profit target was hit, and I was a happy trader. But wait - my position didn't close. I checked my orders and they were all right. I checked the current price and it was more than 20 pips beyond my take profit order. OK, I said to myself, why not take the extra 20 pips this broker just handed to me, and close the position manually right now. No such luck. Their MT4 platform kept returning "Off quotes" and similar messages when I tried to close the position.

Then I had a brilliant idea. I figured there was something wrong with their order execution system, so I tried to "hedge" my position by opening an equal and opposite trade, in order to lock in my profits and become market neutral. Execution was terrible, but the market kept moving in my direction so when I finally got my hedge in (about 15 minutes and another 20 pips later) I breathed a sigh of relief. I could now let the broker figure out what went wrong, and everything would be just fine.

WRONG. When I tried to log in the next morning, my account had been shut down. Now I started getting a really bad feeling about this whole situation. I tried contacting the broker with no success - their customer support staff are useless. I requested withdrawals, pleaded, cried and threatened, to no avail.

To make a long story short, I ended up receiving my original deposit back several weeks after the events described above had taken place, and even that only after reporting the company to local authorities. My profits had disappeared. The authorities had already been informed of this operation and were "investigating" it when I had contacted them. Yet somehow, this operation is still in existence today.

I hereby WARN anyone considering opening an account with ForexGen - I urge you to reconsider. This is not just a badly run business - it is a deliberate scam, and the authorities in Norway are simply too inept or too corrupt to deal with it in any meaningful way.

Alpari Review

I would like to note first that the Alpari I'm talking about here is a separate company from Alpari UK and Alpari US, although the strings are pulled by the same Russian puppet masters. Alpari is run by Russians as a Seychelles company until recently (now a New Zealand company). I somehow seem to always find myself faced with a possibly dodgy situation to trade in. Maybe it's just that trading itself has lost its excitement, so I am looking for another thrill... But to be quite honest, I have had a much better experience trading with Alpari than with brokers found in much more "reputable" places. I will talk more about that in my next post, as there is a broker I have gotten myself into quite a dispute with. I have to give them a chance to unbreak my account before spewing vitriol about them, but stay tuned, it's coming.

Anyway, this post is about Alpari, and Alpari is well known among the hardcore retail forex traders as being very fair when dealing with trading disputes or ambiguities. Alpari is also well known among the same group of traders as having the best quality free historical charts data available. As a result, most people doing backtests on their MT4 Expert Advisors use Alpari data, unless they can bankroll some paid data, which is rare in the case of retail traders.

I have had personal experience with Alpari now, and can confirm that most of this reputation comes for a reason. There have been no disputes yet, so I can't report on that right now, but I have had all my orders respected to the pip so far. Combined with low spreads and a wide range of instruments to trade, Alpari is as competitive as any other MT4 broker out there. If you like MT4, then there is no reason not to give Alpari a try. Good reputation, low spreads, tons of instruments to trade, and a well-known, reliable trading platform are what you can expect from this broker.

PROS:
Stellar reputation for resolving disputes in a fair and logical manner;
MT4 platform ease of use and reliability, as well as automated trading heaven;
Lots of tradable instruments (see Quick Facts below);
Low spreads (from 1.8 pips on EUR/USD);
Been around since 1998;

CONS:
Unregulated, capitalization unknown;
MT4 platform lack of features;
Dodgy legal setup;

Quick Facts;
Tradable instruments: 51 spot currency pairs, CFDs on various US stocks, CFDs on index shares, CFDs on futures on stock indexes, CFDs on commodities and precious metals, etc.;
Headquarters in New Zealand and Moscow, Russia;
Target spread on EUR/USD is 1.8 pips (0.00018);
Established 1998;
Metatrader 4 (MT4) platform;

If you would like to open an account at Alpari, please visit their website.