OANDA 8:30 am shut downs

T

trade2live

I need to ask you if the following happens to some of you as well.
I run several accounts with them, one of them was partly built trading on news. Others are more recent and less active/aggressive . Since around last year, the older account pretty much always shuts down at
8: 30 am , while the other acc may still be connected (on same PC) , but often freeze on new releases and events causing heightened volatility . I called them out on this but they deny any manipulation or problems on their side.
 
This is an ongoing problem with them - and they never comment on it. Here are some observations:

Resting stop and limit orders usually get executed as expected (and with low/none slippage too), even tho the connection to the client is broken or lagged. The execution report may be lagged up to a minute - even tho marketdata comes in. In this situation its best to assume the trade did execute and not send it again - since you will end up with 2x the position.

If you do not get disconnected during a news release and did not trade - its possible that you get disconnected when you place a trade.

Not all clients are always affected - sometimes i get disconnected and others not, and sometimes its the other way round.


I think its quite pathetic for a self-proiclaimed technology-focused company. Its either incompetence or willful negligence. I only have 2 long/mid-term strategies with them left, since they have competitive swaps and pay interest on free margin. But there are better options for short-termtrading in my opinion, their spreads aren't what they used to be.
 
trade2live, do you use Oanda's trading program or their MetaTrader 4 ? or did both
shut down ?

I'm located in the province of BC, Canada and the regulator here limits me to trading
with Canadian registered brokers only - can't use US or Euro zone brokers
I did find Oanda's FXTrade program executed trades instantly, not sure if their MT4
executes as fast
I'm ambivalent about Oanda although I'd have to re-fund my still live account with them
in order to trade spot fx, I now have an account with AMP Futures and use NinjaTrader
for order entry but use an MT4 for analysis

I have the impression of the co-owner Dr Michael Stumm who remains a fulltime
professor in computer engineering at the University of Toronto, as someone who
has the attitude of Queen Marie Antoinette, who is alleged to have said "let them
eat cake" in response to the French peasants not having bread to eat; I mean he
doesn't care what the peasants - clients want

there are some design faults, shortcomings with the Oanda platform, and it will never
be updated, it's woefully inadequate as a charting program, it does provide seconds
charts, it executes fast. there are other brokers who don't provide MT4 but Oanda
was asked for years to provide it before they finally did so

as Pippi436 said, "their spreads aren't what they used to be" rising from a minimum
of .9 to 1.2 , not much you say but a 33.3% increase none the less

my beef 'with them' is they don't have an order desk. if my system goes down and
I want to exit a trade I want to dial their desk and have it answered asap, not go
through their automated swithboard and have to wait 15 minutes or more before a
live operator answers, and, then starts an argument with me about closing the trade -
it is not something they do ???

if you do a Search on the Oanda forum regarding 'disconnections' you'll find people
have been reporting this problem for Years, as well as here on ET
http://fxtrade.oanda.com/community/fxmessage/ultimatebb.cgi

ahaaa ! just discovered trade2live this is not a new subject to you, I replied to one
of your earlier 'disconnection' threads

since I'm not trading with Oanda I won't start a complaint with the CFTC and NFA
regarding 'no trade desk' - they must be the only broker of any sort that doesn't have
one, nor make a complaint about 'disconnections'
until a formal complaint is made and they are investigated, Oanda will continue to
behave as they please
my suggestion - to anyone - is to stop complaining on forums and write a complaint
to the regulators
FXCM used to years ago notify clients via their order program that they would not accept
orders say, 15 mins before/after the say, NFP release, don't think they do that anymore
so Oanda could legitimately institute a 'cease trading' period but, deliberately disconnecting
the feed is imo illegal and Should be investigated by the regulators

once you've filed your complaint trade2live, I suggest you inform members at all the
forums that you are a member of so they can also add to the complaint
 
I had the same experience at that time. Interestingly it was when USDJPY spiked. I don't scalp but that was annoying.
 
Quote from Pippi436:

This is an ongoing problem with them - and they never comment on it. Here are some observations:

Resting stop and limit orders usually get executed as expected (and with low/none slippage too), even tho the connection to the client is broken or lagged. The execution report may be lagged up to a minute - even tho marketdata comes in. In this situation its best to assume the trade did execute and not send it again - since you will end up with 2x the position.

If you do not get disconnected during a news release and did not trade - its possible that you get disconnected when you place a trade.

Not all clients are always affected - sometimes i get disconnected and others not, and sometimes its the other way round.

I think its quite pathetic for a self-proiclaimed technology-focused company. Its either incompetence or willful negligence. I only have 2 long/mid-term strategies with them left, since they have competitive swaps and pay interest on free margin. But there are better options for short-termtrading in my opinion, their spreads aren't what they used to be.
More...

It's been a long time since I got disconnected completely but did lose connection for a minute or so during this issue.

What do you see as the better options for short term trading? I'm a very short term trader and have been satisfied with Oanda. I have a dormant MB Trading account and have been considering moving back, perhaps partially, given the spreads that Oanda is consistently at these days. The increase in spreads has skewed my strategy some but the lack of volatility this year has been the bigger killer.
 
bugscoe, with a futures account minimum of $500 and daytrading margin of $500
you can trade the Euro FX, which is you probably know the eurusd but a full lot +
a $125,000 contract, so a pip is worth $12.50
there aren't as many curriencies available as spot pairs and while there are micro
contracts, they don't have much volume, but daytrading margin is only $100 and
one pip is worth $1.25 for the $12,500 contract

6E volume mon-fri: 82,291 128,157 165,790 250,410 295,893
see attached for micro Daily volumes for gbpusd, eurusd, usdjpy
http://www.ampclearing.com/margins_req.html
http://www.ampclearing.com/contract_specs.html
AMP commissions: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=215781

if you've never used it, NinjaTrader is ok, not as comprehensive a tool set as MetaTrader
but has good order entry. there are occasional data feed problems, either it's NT or
CQG, or their combination - one or the other updating software, but no deliberate
disconnections by the broker

one thing when daytrading, futures/Globex close for one hour 5 - 6pm EST:
"Margins Explanation: (Initial vs. DayTrade)
Initial Margin is set by the exchange. This is the amount required to carry a
contract past the daily close.
DayTrade Margin is set by AMP. This is the amount required to enter into a
position per contract on an intraday basis.
These margins are in effect anytime the market is open, except the last
5 minutes of each trading session.
AMP request that you either flatten open positions or meet the exchange
required initial margin during this time period."
 

Attachments

Quote from Wallace:

bugscoe, with a futures account minimum of $500 and daytrading margin of $500
you can trade the Euro FX, which is you probably know the eurusd but a full lot +
a $125,000 contract, so a pip is worth $12.50
there aren't as many curriencies available as spot pairs and while there are micro
contracts, they don't have much volume, but daytrading margin is only $100 and
one pip is worth $1.25 for the $12,500 contract

6E volume mon-fri: 82,291 128,157 165,790 250,410 295,893
see attached for micro Daily volumes for gbpusd, eurusd, usdjpy
http://www.ampclearing.com/margins_req.html
http://www.ampclearing.com/contract_specs.html
AMP commissions: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=215781

if you've never used it, NinjaTrader is ok, not as comprehensive a tool set as MetaTrader
but has good order entry. there are occasional data feed problems, either it's NT or
CQG, or their combination - one or the other updating software, but no deliberate
disconnections by the broker

one thing when daytrading, futures/Globex close for one hour 5 - 6pm EST:
"Margins Explanation: (Initial vs. DayTrade)
Initial Margin is set by the exchange. This is the amount required to carry a
contract past the daily close.
DayTrade Margin is set by AMP. This is the amount required to enter into a
position per contract on an intraday basis.
These margins are in effect anytime the market is open, except the last
5 minutes of each trading session.
AMP request that you either flatten open positions or meet the exchange
required initial margin during this time period."
More...

Thanks for the info.

I've only tried the Euro futs on a Ninja demo to get a feel for how my strat would work with the restricted lot sizes. I really love the unlimited lot sizing that Oanda offers.

What particular benefit do you see with trading it on the futures market? The one biggy for me is the ability to close/get in a trade immediately and Oanda has been nearly perfect for me so far. There are the occasional delays but they mostly come with a sudden volatile move.
 
and today seems to be shaping up to be another no volatility day in the Euro- drives me effin crazy.

I suppose as soon as get up to shit, the move of the day will take place.
 
bugscoe, the main reason for trading the 6E is leverage, and I agree with what you
say about "unlimited lot sizing that Oanda offers"

without knowing your trading system I can't fully answer your question, however
entries can be either Mkt or Limit orders, with a Mkt order it's an instant fill but
the spread might be 2 pips above a Last Trade price on a Buy. Limit order would
be at that price and should be filled, both Mkt and Limit work the same way for
close/exit trades, instant fill on the Mkt, and like I've experienced at Oanda, for a
Buy say, you might get a lower fill if the price happens to dip a couple of pips just
when your order is entered

I've seen a 6E few high volume trades hit the market, multi thousand orders that
will be filled generally within say 2, 3 or 4 - 15 sec price bars where the price has
moved 20+ pips until the order's been filled, though a 5,000+ order went 50 or 60
pips I think, but I think the price moved in the directions of the trends
I also posted one 6E 5 sec chart of the 8:30am EST minute of an NFP release to
illustrate the difference between futures/spot trading since there used to be a lot of
'news trading' hype going on, plus Oanda not filling 'news orders' or simply shutting
the data feed down, and posted an ES - S&P mini contract chart where a 12,000
volume order hit the market and the price didn't move, well it did but the next price
bar was just 1 tick lower, so all in all, Mkt orders get filled, plus because the commission
is around $4.50 with any broker, it means a Buy at say 1.3670 closed at 1.3761
gives a profit of $8.00 which I don't think can be done with spot

attached: 'a 10 tick chart, approximately 140, 10 tick price bars between the white
vertical lines that designate the start to end of the 8:30 minute, each price bar
formed at 0.4285 sec per bar - 60 secs / 140 = 0.4285 sec per bar' - NFP release
 

Attachments

I think most market-making brokers, including Oanda, resort to disconnects as a way to "protect" themselves at the expense of their clients.

What's worse about Oanda is that when this happens, there is nothing you could do to close an open position except wait to get reconnected to the platform. Other brokers would entertain phoned-in orders in cases like those.
 
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