FXIntel Analyzer compare 14 forex brokers (MB Trading, FXOpen MT4 ECN, PFG MT$, InterbankFX, Forex.com, BroCo Investments, IKON GM Royal, UGMFX, Alpari, Windsor Brokers, ACM, RealTrade, FXDD, Gimex-NEXTT) in REAL TIME.
You can compare different brokers’ spreads, ask and bid price. Now everybody can find best arbitrage opportunities ant take advantage of them.
Ok I’m pretty sure someone may have started something like this before but I might have missed it. So I was hoping to rake this up again.
Anyway, I wrote a simple indicator to help me keep track of fluctuating spreads. I was hoping to use these data to decide which brokers are more suitable for auto trading or any trading for that matter…
I’ve noticed IBFX can have spreads on GBPJPY up to 45 pips during “high volatility” periods. And that’s just insane.
you guys can probably help out with this research too.
BEFORE using this indicator, create a folder called “Spread_Recording” inside your
C:\Program Files\Metatrader\experts\files
This “Spread_Recording” folder will be holding all the log files written by this little indicator.
Basically what this indicator does is it will look at the current spread, write it into a file, then record that spread down. upon the next tick, if the spread changes, write the new spread into the log file. If the spread is the same, then don’t write it. This will save some disk space.
The log file name convention is set as
[Symbol]-Spread_Recorder-[Day]-[Month]-[Year].log
e.g. for the spread recording log file for the EURNZD for the day of 4th Sept 2009. The file name will be.
EURNZD-Spread_Recorder-4-9-2009.log
That means Each symbol will have it own set of files. and each day will initiate a new file. This helps in the data reading process.
An extract capture of the contents for each log file is as such.
Zen_Leow, Forexfactory.com
Ever wish you can hop on to another broker’s MT4 demo without having to download it from their site and reinstall it? Well, here’s the answer, with some demo server files you can use.
Background
Meta Trader 4 reads parameters in from a file located in the “config” directory. Essentially, you can take a server file for any broker, put it into your directory, and be able to create a demo account with that broker.
What to do
1. You need to get the .srv file for a particular broker. I’m hoping that folks on the forum will post their SRV files on this thread. I’ll kick it off in the next post.
2. Save the .srv file to your Meta Trader 4 / config directory. You’ll probably see others there already.
3. Launch MT 4.
4. Open a new account. On the second step of opening a new account, the new server(s) should show up in the list (see screenshot). Select the appropriate server.
5. MT4 has a problem where a chart that gets opened only works with the server under which it was opened. So, if you have some charts up based on your IBFX demo, then switch to your Alpari account, you’ll need to open new charts. I solve this problem by creating different profiles for different servers.
Stockwet, forexfactory.com
Why would a broker not like scalping?
Market Makers make money when we open positions. They earn from the spreads (and commission if they so charge).
When we open positions, Market Maker would hedge it against other traders OR they may pass it directly into the interbank markets. During slow Market, brokers may opt to take our position and wait for any other trader to take a counter position – this may take 1, 2, 3 or 5 minutes and if no traders took our position, they will pass it to the interbank. But if my position was closed too soon (and if in profit) while it is not hedged, the broker loose money to me – they wont like it.
Therefore, IF a broker dont like scalping, it implies that they are this kind of broker who play games against the trader. CRAP I wont trade with such a broker.
BurgerKing, forexfactory.com
Why would a broker not like Carry Traders?
Any broker gives swap points to carry traders. These amount is always LOWER than the actual swap rates in the interbank market. Therefore, if a broker gives you swap points, they themselves earn money as well. So why would they complain? EASY! They dont post our trades into the interbank! They take our position! HELL even if they hedge it with other traders, they charge higher negative swaps to other traders and broker earns swap points from both of us! There is absolutely NO REASON for any broker to not like Carry Traders! If you can think of one please post it here! Dont tell me brokers can get bored with our too-long-term positions…
BurgerKing, forexfactory.com