Quote from Trader KGB:
I tested the demo, which seemed rather limited in terms of spreads vs IB. I also couldn't find a commissions quote on their website, which should be stated since it's retail.
Hmm, well I sent them the following screenshot earlier in the week. It's a comparison of the HS FXi demo, IB, and their CNX. U/J and A/J are highlighted as those are my heaviest pairs. The FXi demo has both under 1 pip, IB is at 1 and 2 pip, CNX at 3 and 5 pip.. I was going to hold off any funding until I tested their HS FXi/FXall, but they're saying the feed/spreads are the same. Questionable because those spreads are the same/worse than dealing desk spreads..Quote from cstfx:
I think for the most part that is correct. For the most part. Not every bank is a liquidity provider for Knight and FxAll, so the reps comments may not be accurate. Sincere, because he/she says what they were told, but not accurate.
It is live.. They gave me the demo at first, and I thought the same as you, that the demo must be wider than the live.. But the live feed is the same..Quote from cstfx:
Is that a live price on the currenex or demo pricing (demo's tend to have wider spreads than live) Because if it is, Jesus! 4 wide on the Aussie? I can get 1/2 that on Oanda's platform. Looks like they might be manipulating that spread.
Quote from cstfx:
Looks like they might be manipulating that spread.
It's funny that they gave you that excuse. One of our newly funded traders has been testing a high frequency EURUSD scalper written in C++ on BGC's Currenex hub (I believe they are on eSpeed) for three weeks now. The scalper is super spread sensitive and we run filters to disable it if the spread changes by a statistically significant amount from what's "normal." In the last two weeks or so, the spreads have changed, as the scalper is off many times. I don't know if it's because the banks are acting defensively to the subprime fiasco or traders are not putting on size until after summer is officially over, but there has been a change.Quote from Trader KGB:
I asked them point blank if they were padding the spreads, but they said the spread issues are due to the sub-prime meltdown, that the US banks in their network widened their spreads in defense. I haven't noticed any spread widening on IB or FXi to back that claim up though.
Quote from cstfx:
Props to a Market Maker:
For those who prefer the no-commish model, I noticed this morning that Oanda has .9 spread on the Euro and 1.5 on the cable. For those that don't need to trade volume or news, it's worth a look. Plus, they're financially sound according to recent CFTC reports.