I need broker help!

F

Fxtrader1982

First and foremost thank you for taking your time to read and apply to this thread.

My question is who out of the 3 listed below would you choose and why?

1. Fxcm Pro
2. CoesFX
3. Hotspot FXi

- I find that on FXCM (retail) platform their services are not up to par in any way, shape or form. Though I am not sure how the retail version differs from the institutional services besides ECN and direct phone order execution.

- I find CoesFX to be rather exceptional regarding platform stability and price quoting on their ECN, but they lack phone order execution, in this case is vary bad expecially if there platform goes down.

- I find that Hotspot FXi is also exceptional regarding stability and price quoting, but again they lack phone order execution or the ability to place an order when there platform is down.

Those that have traded on or for an institutional platform whom do you recommend? I am looking for an institutional ECN/Broker that can provide me with - Stability, Fast quoting & execution with the ability to place orders in the over phone when platform goes down... -Who do you recommend?

Kindest regards,

Jurgen
 
FXCM Pro is a Currenex based platform so you’ll get great execution but if Currenex itself goes down (which is very rare but of course possible) you won’t be able to execute trades on the phone because their dealing desk would execute them through the same platform. If the issue is on your end and not with Currenex you’ll still be able to trade on the phone. HotSpot and CoesFX are decent platforms. There are a few ECNs like them but they are too small to have 24 hour support and the trading, including your stops/limits/entry orders, won’t be anonymous, which of course won’t matter if you don’t care about that.

Trader/God
 
You need a prime broker to trade through CurrenEx. Same
with HotspotFXI (the retail version of Hotspot is untradeable,
don't bother with it). You an always call your prime broker's
dealing desk and place your order. I don't know of any prime
broker banks who are not also dealers.

If you trade CurrenEx through FXCM Pro, then FXCM is your
prime broker. However I don't recommend FXCM Pro. First
they add a pip to the spread (see attached image file). The
cost of that extra pip is much higher than the typical $10 to
$20 per million $ commission most prime brokers will charge.

Second, they only allow you to trade on CurrenEx with the
"special" wide spreads. With any other prime broker you
can trade CurrenEx, HotspotFXI, and LavaFX out of the
same account. Also EBS Prime soon for most of them. With
FXCM Pro it is only CurrenEx.

CoesFX is a nice little ECN but you put your money directly
with them and there is no dealing desk. They also start their
commission schedule at $70 per million, which is unconscionable.
You might try one of their IB's, both for a lower rate and a 24 hr
dealing desk.

Coes had some problems with regulatory capital a while back
but I think they are past that.

.
 

Attachments

Quote from Kevin Schmit:

You need a prime broker to trade through CurrenEx. Same
with HotspotFXI (the retail version of Hotspot is untradeable,
don't bother with it). You an always call your prime broker's
dealing desk and place your order. I don't know of any prime
broker banks who are not also dealers.

If you trade CurrenEx through FXCM Pro, then FXCM is your
prime broker. However I don't recommend FXCM Pro. First
they add a pip to the spread (see attached image file). The
cost of that extra pip is much higher than the typical $10 to
$20 per million $ commission most prime brokers will charge.

Second, they only allow you to trade on CurrenEx with the
"special" wide spreads. With any other prime broker you
can trade CurrenEx, HotspotFXI, and LavaFX out of the
same account. Also EBS Prime soon for most of them. With
FXCM Pro it is only CurrenEx.

CoesFX is a nice little ECN but you put your money directly
with them and there is no dealing desk. They also start their
commission schedule at $70 per million, which is unconscionable.
You might try one of their IB's, both for a lower rate and a 24 hr
dealing desk.

Coes had some problems with regulatory capital a while back
but I think they are past that.

.
More...

Why do you say the HotspotFX retail platform is untradable? I have used them for a long time with excellent results. I have also used HotspotFXI and the retail platform is exactly the same as the Institutional platform albeit with less banks posting rates, but you have the ability to post stop
loss and limit orders and you can deal over the phone if necessary. The spreads are on par with their Insitutional platform as well as IB and other ECN models. Their commissions are $30 per million unlike Coes who is much more expensive.
 
I would choose IB-ECN has a 1 pip spread for EUR/USD and asks only $20 commission per $1 mln (and use ButtonTrader as front-end).
The IB-ECN has 4 major-banks (including the DeutscheBank and UBS) as MarketMakers, which keeps the spread small and competitive.
 
Quote from taboni:
Why do you say the HotspotFX retail platform is untradable?
More...

Mostly because of the restictions they impose, at their
discretion, on certain types of orders.

From their website:

http://www.hotspotfx.com/trading/orders/

Please be advised that the following information only applies to orders entered through the electronic order system ...

Input of a New Order
New orders may only be input if the order is more then
10 points from the market....

Modifying an Active Order
If an active order is within 10 points of the market, the
order cannot be amended...

Canceling an Active Order
If an active order is within 10 points of the market, the order
cannot be canceled...


Maybe you can trade with these restrictioins. I can't.



Quote from taboni: Their commissions are $30 per million unlike Coes who is much more expensive. [/B]
More...

Coes commissoins are negotiable. I am sure that if you ask
them to match Hotspot, they will.

.
 
Quote from Kevin Schmit:

Coes commissoins are negotiable. I am sure that if you ask
them to match Hotspot, they will.
More...

Not just match... beat. The reality is that if you're doing half-decent monthly volume, I can tell you that COESfx will, in fact, easily beat every commission rate mentioned so far in this thread. Their (relatively high) published rate is not even in the ballpark.

Note that all the commission rates mentioned so far are per side, not per round-trip trade, a misleading practice. You need to double them.

If you're not doing half-decent volume, most ECNs, with the possible exception of IB, are not a way to go, anyway. Can't practice 1) sound money management / position sizing and 2) risk control on a 4- or low- to mid-5-figure account with standard size lots. A flexible size forex dealer like Oanda, IB or FX Solutions would be a far better option for accounts in that size range, for that reason alone. Or currency futures -- but not with 4 figures, for crying out loud, unless you enjoy being forced into a minimum leverage of at least 15:1 (and that's with a $10,000 account) on every 1-lot trade.
 
What does "half decent" monthly volume consist of. Everyone will discount depending on what kind of volumes you are putting through. I currently trade about 12-15mio per day and I get a discount on my amount from Hotspot. I can't believe that Coes would cut their $70 posted price by more than 60% for the kind of volume I am trading.
IB is a good option for anyone but it isn't a great enough difference in price for me to jump from a broker I am comfortable with.
Regarding Hotspot's order policy, in practice it is more like 5 pips, and even then they will try to change it for you. I have only once been flat rejected and I was trying to change an order within 2 pips of the market. They pass orders off to one of their banks and have to abide by the bank's order policy. If you have ever done any serious trading, you would know that single bank systems (Deutsche Autobahn, UBS, etc) place even greater restrictions about entering and changing orders. I have seen some platforms disallow any
changes within 15 pips of the market.
 
Quote from taboni:

. If you have ever done any serious trading, you would know that single bank systems (Deutsche Autobahn, UBS, etc) place even greater restrictions about entering and changing orders. I have seen some platforms disallow any
changes within 15 pips of the market.
More...

Deutsche Autobahn :) :)
Ah..now I understand what"car" means....

But seriously: at IB I can enter ANY order at ANY price, and can modify it to ANY price, it really does not matter where the Bid and Ask is, I can even place in in the middle of the Spread, so my Order becomes the Bid or Ask....(this I can do with Limit-Orders, StopLimit-Orders, and Trailing-orders etc).

And the nice thing: I can trade the Globex-FX Futures side-by-side (at IB), so are able to see the trade-volume and Book (market-depth) in the FX Futures market...and trade those when they give a better opportunity.
 
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