You may have great forex strategies, but if your broker runs off with your money, all your hard work and research was for nothing. Follow these five in-depth tips on how to find a great forex broker, so you end up with the right broker that meets your needs, without exposing you to any scams.
Are you going to day trade a lot or a little? Trade very small moves, or capture bigger moves?
If you day trade a lot and capture small moves, consider an ECN broker. You’ll pay a commission on trades but the spreads are much tighter, which matters when trading small moves. Search only for “ECN Forex Brokers.” If you don’t think you’ll need an ECN broker, then you still have a big pool of potential brokers left. If you’re going to do “scalp” trading, you’ll need an ECN broker. How much capital do you have? With a small amount of capital, you have to trade micro-lots. If you have over $5,000 you can start day trading mini lots. Don’t open a standard lot account unless you have at least $50,000. Choose a broker and account type (lot size) that matches your capital. When it comes to depositing and withdrawing funds from your account, different brokers offer various methods. Choose a broker that aligns with your needs No “dealing desk.” If you’re a day trader you want to be interacting directly with the market, and not sending your order to a trading desk which then initiates it in the market. That takes too much time, and often results in “re-quotes.” This is when the price has changed since you placed your order, and the broker asks you if you wish to proceed. Because of the time delay, your trade opportunity is likely gone. Make sure your broker is regulated in a country with a well established financial system. A forex broker regulated in Cyprus, for example, is better than no regulation, but you could still have problems. Pick brokers regulated by U.S., U.K., Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand or Australian authorities, as examples. You’re a day trader, so demand competitive spreads. For example, if day trading the EUR/USD during a major session expects the spread to be close to one pip (point in percentage) with a non-ECN account. Two pips are too high; eliminate that broker as an option. With an ECN account, the spread should be half a pip or less during major sessions. Look for a broker that’s available when you need them. Open a demo account with brokers you are interested in, then send them lots of emails with questions. Monitor how fast and how thoroughly they respond. If the customer service isn’t good, eliminate that broker from the list of your potentials. Be wary of these though. Unless the information comes from a credible source, and most forums are not credible sources, you’re likely to find fake reviews, both positive and negative. Most day traders will lose money, and since most traders can’t admit that to themselves, they blame others when it happens to them. Just because someone complains about losing money doesn’t make the broker they were using bad, even though the writer may blame the broker. Look up what people are saying, but maintain objectivity. Lots of false information gets published with no credible reference.
First, open a demo account and take note of the trading conditions. Your orders should execute instantly. Spreads should be tight and the platform stable, not crashing all the time.If the demo works well for several weeks, then open a live account, with a fraction of the capital you intend to deposit. For example, if you have $10,000 to deposit, start by only putting in $1,000.Trade the live account with your partial deposit for at least two weeks. During this time, continue to test customer support, asking them questions and assessing how quickly they respond.Initiate a withdrawal for some of the funds in your account. Depending on your withdrawal method, this may cost you several dollars, but it’s worth it to know whether withdrawals can be done easily.If everything seems good after all this, you’ve done your due diligence. Deposit the rest of your capital and begin trading as usual.
Nothing really comes for free. If you accept a bonus it may interfere with withdrawals, because some of the money in your account is now the broker’s money. Send an email with your account application that explicitly states you don’t want to take part in any bonuses that they have on offer.
