IB or OANDA?

S

suqil

I'm having a hard time deciding what broker I should use.

Now as far as I know these are some main points (correct me if I'm wrong):


IB:

+More secure, safer, larger firm
+Commissions not build into the spread
+Dealing directly with the banks (or something like that)
+Tight spreads
+Ability to split the bid/ask

-System not (yet) online 24/24 hours
-Minimum order size 25000
-Scaling out isn't ideal with commissions (and a minimum size)
-Generally a higher cost for someone with a small account

OANDA:

+Even tighter spreads (?)
+Basic, decent charting included
+Ability to trade any (small) size you want
+Scaling in/out is fairly cheap

-Withdrawing money has a price


Considering I'm only really interested in trading spot forex what other factors should I take into account? Which of these two brokers do you suggest?

Also, does anyone have a screenshot of how the spreads at IB look like (I saw one a while ago, but I'm interested in seeing how it is at the moment)?

And how are IB's spreads around & after news events?
 
i have an account with oanda and also fxcm too . oanda is very good so far . i have smae thought about ib or oanda too . so the best way to do is have the both account open with oanda and ib , i know that's the way i am going to do , i will close the fxcm and open account with ib .
 
Quote from suqil:

IB:

-System not (yet) online 24/24 hours

Please how can ever think about opening an account if you cant trade any time from Sunday 2200GMT-Fri2100GMT???????
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What is Oanda like over figures and when it is volatile - is there always a 2 way dealable price on auto ? What is the widest they quote euro dollar for example over say the NFP's at one extreme and say figures like retail sales, trade nos CPI etc.
 
Quote from Lon Eagle:

What is Oanda like over figures and when it is volatile - is there always a 2 way dealable price on auto ? What is the widest they quote euro dollar for example over say the NFP's at one extreme and say figures like retail sales, trade nos CPI etc.
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Oanda can and will go wide. I cannot give you anything exact but on big numbers they can be as wide as FXCM or worse. Just depends. You can run their FXGAME demo account for free and see for yourself on the next number ---try to hit'em and see how bad the fills are.

FWIW, I now have an account with IB. I don't know how good they were in the past --because I have only been a customer for a couple months. This Forex ECN they have going is great and getting better. The market makers are no joke. I have NO idea how they keep some markets so tight. Especially, the AUD at night. I have seen it 1 pip wide with Size.

Also, crosses like GBP/JPY can be way tighter than anything I have see (even tighter than Hotspot). More and more traders are using this and you can see their bids and offers in the deck right with the dealers. It is a superior model to other brokers. Now that they have realistic margins and fees ---it appears to be really taking off. Move a little money over and see for yourself. So far so good for me. If you are going to trade the Euro alot on the number---you may want to trade the Euro Futures. It is way better than the forex brokers. The ECN's like Hotspot and IB can be better than the others on the numbers simply because you have other traders you can pick off. Also you can program all kinds of hotkeys to move fast.
 
Quote from TGM:

Oanda can and will go wide. I cannot give you anything exact but on big numbers they can be as wide as FXCM or worse. Just depends. You can run their FXGAME demo account for free and see for yourself on the next number ---try to hit'em and see how bad the fills are.

FWIW, I now have an account with IB. I don't know how good they were in the past --because I have only been a customer for a couple months. This Forex ECN they have going is great and getting better. The market makers are no joke. I have NO idea how they keep some markets so tight. Especially, the AUD at night. I have seen it 1 pip wide with Size.

Also, crosses like GBP/JPY can be way tighter than anything I have see (even tighter than Hotspot). More and more traders are using this and you can see their bids and offers in the deck right with the dealers. It is a superior model to other brokers. Now that they have realistic margins and fees ---it appears to be really taking off. Move a little money over and see for yourself. So far so good for me. If you are going to trade the Euro alot on the number---you may want to trade the Euro Futures. It is way better than the forex brokers. The ECN's like Hotspot and IB can be better than the others on the numbers simply because you have other traders you can pick off. Also you can program all kinds of hotkeys to move fast.
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Thanks for that. I only really trade euro/$ and cable. I actually have an IB account for futures as do a bit of strat stuff from time to time in interest rates. I am monitoring their prices on fx. The main issue seems to be the lack of size - usually the quotes are in 2 or 3m only. I havent yet monitored it over figures becuase when they come out I am more interested in my real trading than monitoring a kind of demo account.

Have you any feeling on how wide oanda and IB go? I don't mean on leaving orders but if you click and trade on a price.

I am thinking of the futures but I am afraid I have traded spot fx for 15 years and rather like it.
 
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