Thursday, October 18, 2018

The Ultimate Moving Average Strategy – The 10/20 Crossover System

Do you want to know more about Moving Average and moving average crossover? With our ultimate moving average strategy you will learn what moving averages are, how to trade with moving average and much more.

The Moving Average Strategy “The 10/20 Crossover System” Explained

One of the more common and probably oldest trading systems out there is the “10/20 Crossover System.” This system relies on 2 moving averages, one focusing on 10 candles, while another is focusing on 20. A moving average is simply an average price of a set number of candles. In other words, a 10 simple moving average would be the average price of a financial instrument over the last 10 candles. In this system, the premise is that the faster moving, or 10 candle moving average shows short-term momentum, while the 20 candle moving average shows a bit more longer-term momentum. The idea is that when the shorter moving average crosses over the longer moving average, it shows that the near-term momentum is changing course.

In this example, I have the Australian dollar against the US dollar, daily timeframe. The 10 moving average is in red, while the 20 moving average is in blue. As you can see, the red moving average has crossed both above and below the blue moving average. This shows that momentum is shifting. These are signals that traders tend to pay attention to.

When the shorter period moving average crosses above the longer timeframe moving average, it shows that buying pressure is increasing. When it moves below the longer-term period moving average, it shows that selling pressure is increasing. The idea is to follow the market in both directions. However, it helps if you have some type of trend established. Because of this, you can get several false signals, but longer-term runs in the market are possible, leading to larger profits. You must be able to deal with several short-term losses followed by a couple of longer-term gains.

You are constantly in the market, either buying or selling. As you can see on this chart, there are several signals that would have fired off with small losses. However, there are a couple that produced large gains. Over the longer term, the system does tend to work, but it takes a certain amount of patience to make money trading like this.

The post The Ultimate Moving Average Strategy – The 10/20 Crossover System appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Fedreserve

Watch on YouTube here: Fedreserve
Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJqrI1ub1OEPYvml7L31dYA/videos

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

IG Broker Review – Pros and Cons Uncovered

IG Broker Review

IG is a British broker that offers Forex and CFD trading, which is one of the oldest brokerages online. This broker offers flexible opportunities through others such instruments as options as well. In fact, IG offers access to over 15,000 financial markets. This is truly a global brokerage house.

They offer a couple of different types of accounts, one being commission free while the other one provides lower spreads plus a variable commission based on the order size. They have extensive knowledge and expertise in this field as they have been around so long.

IG Group Review – Regulation & Company information

IG was initially formed in 1974 in London England. It was initially called IG Index, thick created the concept of spread betting. IG was also the first spread betting firm to introduce online dealing in 1998. The company offers CFDs in the currency markets, indices, commodities, stocks, and of course financial spread betting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as binary options. IG also offers execution only stock broking in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as the Netherlands and Germany.

IG also owns the North America Derivatives Exchange, also known as the NADEX. This is the only place to trade binary options in the United States and has been growing for some time. The company has its head office in the City of London. They are also regulated by the FCA, while binary bets are regulated by the Gambling Commission in the United Kingdom.

Trading accounts

As mentioned previously, there are two different types of accounts with IG. The Standard account, which has a maximum leverage of 1:200, has no minimum deposit. The average spread is roughly 0.6 pips on the most liquid Forex pairs, and the client is simply charged the spread for the service. The DMA account offers a different scenario where traders have as little as 0.2 pips in spread, plus commissions that can vary depending on the size of the trade. It should be noted that micro lots are not available with this broker, so small accounts can be somewhat difficult.

IG Trading conditions

Minimum Initial Deposit

There is no actual minimum deposit required to open up an account at IG, but obviously you need to fund your account to open a trade. That being said, with the inability to trade micro lots, you may wish to have a larger deposit.

IG commissions and average spreads

IG has tight spreads, including an average of 0.6 pips on the EUR/USD in their commission free accounts, and even less on the commission based ones. The pricing is superior to most other brokers, which typically are about a PIP higher.

Leverage

The maximum leverage offered by IG reach as high as 1:200, which is roughly average. There are some out there that offer more in the way of leverage, but remember that leverage is a double edge sword, and can be very destructive if you are not careful.

IG Trading platforms

IG offers its own proprietary IG platform, web-based ProRealTime, a special platform for the commission free accounts called L2 Dealer, and then of course the standard MetaTrader 4 that we all know. The web-based ProRealTime has a customizable layout and is equipped with over 100 indicators. The L2 Dealer platform offers greater liquidity as it offers trading through primary exchanges, market makers, brokers, and MTF dark pools. Obviously, the MetaTrader 4 platform is known for its ease of use, and the ability to use expert advisors.

Methods of payment

IG UK’s clients are able to deposit and withdrawal currency via credit and debit cards, or wire transfer. There are some other popular e-wallets available as well, such as BPay, China Union Pay, and PayPal.

Extras

IB is not somewhere you will be going if you need a lot of extras. For example, the education section is diverse, but not overly in-depth, nor are there columns of information dedicated to the latest financial analysis. However, if you already know what you want to do and you are looking to trade the world, you would be hard-pressed to find a better provider. With access to over 15,000 financial instruments, you will certainly find something that you’re interested in trading. If you already know what you are looking to do, IB is probably one of your best options out there.

However, if you are looking for more of a “hands-on” customer experience, you will probably find other brokers much more to your liking and suiting your needs. Regardless, IG is probably a brokerage that you should aspire to be able to use, as it can offer access to markets that other brokers can only dream of. For example, they offer the ability to trade such diverse markets as carbon emissions, US shares, of binary options, bonds, Forex, and of course indices.

The post IG Broker Review – Pros and Cons Uncovered appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

City Index Review – User Ratings, Bonus, Demo & More

City Index Review

City Index Account types

City Index offers clients to account types, CFD accounts and Forex trading accounts. There’s also a spread betting account available to UK clients, which of course features no stamp duty applicable. All accounts that city Index offer our commission free, with the exception of CFD trading on shares, and offer of leverage of up to 1:200 with variable spreads.

It should be noted that margin will be different depending on the level of account you choose. Obviously, the lower the margin, the higher initial deposit that there will be.

Trading conditions and deposits

Initial deposit

To open up an account with City Index, the minimum initial deposit is £100, which is in line with many other brokers in the United Kingdom. However, there are some brokers out there that require no initial deposit, but obviously you will need money to trade with. The minimal amount needed opens the door to the average trader without a doubt.

City Index Spreads and commission

City Index offers commission free trading with competitive spreads, especially when it comes to CFD markets. The average spread amounts to 0.73 pips on the EUR/USD pair, however in the Forex account on the MT 4 platform, the typical spread is roughly 1.6 pips in the EUR/USD market. That being said, the spreads are just a touch higher than some of their competitors in England.

Leverage

City Index offers maximum leverage levels of 1:200, which is roughly in line with most other British brokerages. There are some in the United Kingdom that offer as much as 1:500 and beyond, but quite frankly that is very dangerous trading and can greatly increase your losses. Because of this, the leverage is ample, and quite frankly more than enough for the average retail trader.

Trading platforms

City Index offers a variety of trading platforms. There is the proprietary desktop AT Pro, Advantage Web, and of course as previously mentioned MetaTrader 4. The Advantage Web software is extraordinarily customizable, and browser based, meaning that you can trade with it anywhere you have an Internet connection. This allows for extreme flexibility, and a platform agnostic situation where you can trade on either Windows or Macintosh based systems. The AT Pro is an advanced trading platform, with numerous technical indicators and customizable layout, it also offers automatic trading strategies. It even has a back testing tool, something that is extraordinarily helpful for those who are pursuing rules-based strategies.

Range of markets

It’s offerings are extraordinary. In fact, there are over 12,000 markets you can trade at City Index. This includes 21 global indices, 4500 shares, 84 currency pairs, over 25 commodities, and some of the most popular crypto currencies out there. This allows the trader to truly take advantage of global markets and the correlations that they often show. Beyond that, it allows traders to diversify away from traditional asset classes.

Payment methods

clients of City Index may use bank wire transfers, and debit/credit cards is payment methods. It’s free to make deposits from a debit card but there is a 1.5% charge if you use a credit card. This being said, it is one of the most highly regulated market makers out there.

Extras

City Index has a ton of extras for the retail trader. This includes webinars, educational series, and of course a huge amount of news and analysis available. Beyond that, they also have company earnings, and economic calendar, and trading signals. Overall, City Index is one of the more impressive brokerages that I have come across.

The post City Index Review – User Ratings, Bonus, Demo & More appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

FXPro Review – Online Forex Brokers Review

FXPro Review

FXPro is one of the largest Forex brokerages on the planet. They offer a multitude of different types of accounts, and even the ability to trade swap free if you will have religious restrictions. The brokerage even offers a free VPS service if you are a VIP client. Margin level alerts via email and SMS are also possible.

FXPro Account types

FXPro offers three different account types, the MetaTrader4 account, the MetaTrader 5 account, and the cTrader account. The MT accounts offer the ability to trade micro lots with 1:500 leverage. The MT accounts are also available in both fixed and variable spreads. The cTrader account features variable spreads with a nine dollar around turn per full lot commission, equaling to $4.50 per side. All accounts offer dynamic leverage with the ability to trade as high as the previously mentioned 1:500 level.

Besides those types of accounts, they also offer the proprietary FXPro Markets platform.

Trading conditions and deposits

Initial deposit

To open up an account with FXPro, one has to only invest $100, although the recommended minimum initial deposit is at least $500 due to the leverage involved. You can make your initial deposit with a wide range of methods including bank transfer, credit/debit card, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, China Union Pay, mPay, FasaPay, Webmoney, Moneta, Boleto, Netbanx, and eProtections. However, be aware that clients of FXPro UK Limited may only use bank transfer and credit/debit cards. Withdrawals are processed within one working day.

Spreads and commissions

They offer a choice of fixed or variable spreads, commission free for the MT accounts, and commission based fees involving the cTrader accounts. Spreads are quite tight, with the fixed spread on EUR/USD being 1.6, and the floating spread being roughly 1.2 for the same pair. On the cTrader account, spreads can be as low as 0.3 pips, but once you add the nine dollar round-trip commission fee, it turns out to be the same as paying 1.2 pips.

Leverage

FXPro offers rather high leverage levels, up to and including 1:500. This is an extreme amount of leverage, but also offers a world of opportunity. The broker offers a dynamic Forex leverage model on its MT accounts, depending on how many lot you have open. For example, if you have less than 100 open lots, the maximum leverage of 1:500 is applicable. However, once you get above the 100 lots level, then the maximum leverage is 1:200. It extends all the way to having over 500 full lots, which the max leverage at that point is 1:33, something that a retail trader will almost undoubtedly never find themselves doing.

Security of funds and Company Information

FXPro is an award-winning no dealing desk broker that offers trading in a range of instruments, including currencies, shares, spot indices, futures, spot metals and energies, all on a host of different trading platforms. Its main goal is to provide its clients with access to top-tier liquidity and offers excellent trading conditions as a result. Negative balance protection is included in your risk management, avoiding a nasty surprise such as the one that happened when the Swiss National Bank abandon its currency peg against the Euro.

The broker also regularly publishes trade execution statistics, which increases its transparency. This of course is an extraordinarily important part of the equation, going right along with the FCA regulation. Market participants depositing money in an FCA regulated Forex broker account are protected up to 50,000 British pounds via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. They are also licensed by the FSB in South Africa, and the CySEC in Cyprus.

FXPro was founded in 2006 in the United Kingdom. They serve clients from 150 countries with offices in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Dubai, and the Bahamas.

Range of markets

FXPro offers Forex pairs, cryptocurrency pairs, indices, futures, metals, shares, and energies. This gives traders the ability to trade in individual stocks such as Verizon, while going long the US dollar against the Swiss franc. The shares are from the US, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Spot metals can also be traded at the same time in grams and ounces, denominated in both euros and dollars. The index trading that’s available at FXPro is pretty impressive, including all of the usual suspects such as the Japan 225 and the UK 100, but also the candida 60, Greece 25, Swiss 20, and many other less offered markets.

Extras

This broker offers a Trading Academy, webinars, and various videos. While not necessarily the most extensive offerings, it does offer the basics that you would need.

The post FXPro Review – Online Forex Brokers Review appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

FXCM Review – Pros, Cons and Verdict – Top Ten Reviews

FXCM Review

Forex Capital Markets, FXCM as it is more commonly known, is one of the larger Forex brokers around the world. It has been around since 1999, originally starting in the United States. It has been a leading provider of foreign-exchange, CFD trading, spread betting, and related services for years. This gives traders access to some of the most liquid markets in the world. FXCM was once the largest leader of the US retail Forex trading market, but in February 2017 Forex Capital Markets LLC, the brokers US branch got renamed to Global Brokerage. This was because the branch was banned by the US National Futures Association, or NFA, and has agreed to withdraw from registration with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or the CFTC. (More on this later, in the company section as they have been purchased by others since then.)

One of the Most Reliable Forex Brokers

After violations in the US, FXCM was sold to Leucadia, a financial services company. So as such, what was left of the US brokerage client base was sold off to other Forex brokers as they are not allowed to do business with Americans. Most of the client base either went to Forex.com or Oanda. The brokerages now split up between several companies, including Forex Capital Markets Limited, FXCM Australia Pty. Limited, FXCM Israel Limited (IB), and FXCM South Africa (Pty) Ltd (IB) as well. This can cause some confusion, but at this point most transactions and customer base can be found at either the UK branch or the Australian one.

The new owners of course have been much more diligent about some of the financial dealings in the company, and they do have good standing with the various regulators in these countries. However, they have a permit staying on their name in the United States, and it’s very unlikely they will ever return. In the United Kingdom, they of course are regulated by the FCA, while Australia is regulated by the ASIC. There have been no problems in either of these brokerage houses that I am aware of.

Trading accounts

FXCM offers three different trading accounts, the Mini, the Standard, and the Active Trader. The broker offers leverage up to 1:400 for the Mini account, while it offers 1:100 for the other two. It should be noted that the Mini account features a dealing desk for those who would be concerned about it. It should be noted that indices, Forex, and commodities are all available with this broker.

Trading conditions

Initial deposit

The initial deposit needed to open an account depends on which type of account you are applying for. If you are going to get a Mini account, a minimum deposit of $50 is required. A Standard account requires a minimum deposit of $2000, while an Active Trader account requires an initial deposit of $25,000. The fee structure and spreads which are discussed in the next section very depending on the account.

Spreads and conditions

Depending on the account size, you may have either a straight spread, or a small spread in commission. For example, if you are trading a Mini account, your average spread is going to be 1.4 pips on the most liquid pairs. (It is variable) However, if you are using a Standard account, your average spread will be 0.4 pips, with a commission of $4.00 added per standard lot, per side. The commission is 3 GBP in the United Kingdom. If you are trading an Active Trader account, the spread is 0.4 pips on average, plus a commission that is anywhere from $1.80 to $4.00. This changes depending on volume. It should also be noted that there is no dealing desk for both Standard and Active Trader accounts.

It should be noted that micro lots are available on all accounts, so granularity on risk management is possible through the broker.

Leverage

The Mini account offers 1:400 leverage, which of course is plenty. In fact, it’s probably too much. The Standard account offers 1:100, as does the Active Trader account.

Trading platforms

FXCM offers MetaTrader 4, Trading Station, and NinjaTrader. Through some of the more advanced platforms like ZuluTrade and Mirror Trader. The Trading Station platform is the in house platform has plenty of accolades and has a long list of awards. It has excellent charting possibilities and has been trusted by traders for years.

Payment methods

Clients can use a debit/credit card to fund and withdraw, as well as bank wire transfer, check, and ACH.

Extras

FXCM has plenty of videos and trading guides to teach you how to trade if you are a beginner. There are plenty of webinars and there is even a live classroom. Beyond that, they have the ability to provide strong research, and that of course can help those needing an extra hand. Algorithmic trading is also possible, if you are looking to do so. Overall, this is a brokerage that offers a lot to traders, and even has a market scanner guide. The educational section is one of the strongest suits when it comes to the company.

The post FXCM Review – Pros, Cons and Verdict – Top Ten Reviews appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

FXTM Broker Review – Should You Really Trust this Forex Broker?

FXTM Broker Review – Forex Time Review

FXTM Account types

Forex Time offers several different trading accounts, which can be thought of as belonging to two groups: the standard account, and the ECN account. With the standard accounts, you get exactly what you would expect, a typical account that can be anything from the Standard type of currency count, the Cent account, and there Shares account, used for trading CFDs on stock chares that is connected to the NYSE and NASDAQ price listings. With ECN account, you have the ECN MT4 account, ECN MT5 account, ECN Zero, and Pro accounts.

Beyond that, there is also the possibility of trading a swap free Islamic account, which involves a small fee of $1.70 per lot. Forex Time allows micro, many, and standard lots available on all account types.

Trading conditions and deposits

Initial deposit

To open up an account with FXTM, you can start with as little as five dollars to begin. However, some of the more specialized or ECN accounts could ask for more in the way of deposit, extending all the way to the Pro account which begins at $25,000. As with most multi-tiered brokerages, spreads and commissions vary depending on the account size, but suffice to say the larger accounts do get the better conditions.

Forex Time offers a ton of deposit and withdrawal methods, most of which have either no fee, or very minor to say the least. Anything from Bitcoin to bank wires, credit cards, and even many of the world’s global payment systems are accepted.

Spreads and commissions

Most of the accounts that Forex Time offers are commission free. This includes standard, ECN Zero, and Pro accounts. However, with the ECN MT4 and MT5 accounts, there is a small commission fee of four dollars per standard lot round-trip.

Floating spreads are offered by this broker, but very depending on the account side. The tightest spreads of course are available on the ECN and Pro accounts, but obviously with the large initial deposit for Pro accounts, they are meant for institutional clients. As an example, with the ECN MT4 account, typical spreads start at just 0.4 pips in the EUR/USD pair. If you include the commission in that scenario, $2 x 2, this brings the trading cost for EUR/USD to roughly 0.8 pips per lot.

Leverage

Forex Time offers high leverage levels, as much as 1:1000. However, in regard to cryptocurrency CFDs, the leverage drops down to 1:10, as they tend to be much more volatile and dangerous than normal Forex markets.

Security of funds and company information

Forex Time is a multitier broker that has offices around the world and is regulated in various national regulatory bodies such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Commodities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and in some of their peripheral companies, are regulated in other such countries such as South Africa. The company was founded in 2011 by one of the cofounders of Alpari.

Range of markets

Forex Time offers a large range of markets, including currencies, CFDs on commodities, CFDs on Indices, Spot Metals, Share CFDs, and Cryptocurrency CFDs. This opens up a world of trading, as you can go along the New Zealand dollar, while shorting the US dollar. At the same time, you could look into some other exotic Forex pairs such as the Swiss franc versus the Norwegian krone. Beyond that, you have the ability to trade the energy markets, the world’s major Indices, four of the world’s most popular crypto’s, and of course spot metals, and a long list of US shares.

As the world has become much more interconnected, it’s important that you have the ability to diversify your holdings. With the truly global reach of its markets offerings, Forex Time gives you the ability to do so. Forex Time presently offers over 250 financial instruments to choose from.

Added values

Forex Time offers daily market analysis, as well as quarterly market forecasts. There are e-books, trading seminars, trading webinars, a glossary, and a plethora of educational materials that the trader can delve into.

The post FXTM Broker Review – Should You Really Trust this Forex Broker? appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

Capital Index Review – The Best Forex Broker for Global Traders

Capital Index Review

Capital Index offers a multitude of trading conditions and accounts that people will enjoy. The broker also offers its Islamic account, which of course allows traders to forgo interest due to religious reasons. Capital Index puts the world at your fingertips, giving you the ability to trade global markets.

Capital Index Regulation & Company Information

Capital Index operates multiple companies around the world. The Capital Index (Cyprus) Limited branch is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, while the Capital Index (UK) Limited is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. Beyond that, there is also Capital Index Pty Limited, a subsidiary of the Cyprus branch that operates in Australia and is registered with ASIC. All of these entities form the Capital Index group and offer essentially the same products and trading conditions.

Because of this, the company is highly regulated around the world and of course is required to adhere to safety of funds principles by the perspective regulatory bodies.

Trading accounts

Capital Index offers three main account types including: Islamic, Advanced, and Pro. The Islamic account is suitable for traders looking to forgo interest. The Advanced account is more targeted at the average trader, who isn’t looking to trade high-volume, but is looking for variable spreads. For the professional trader, the Pro account offers tight variable spreads, but spread betting is not allowed. Capital Index offers Forex, indices, commodities, bonds, metals, in the CFD and spread betting situations.

Trading conditions

Initial deposit

Capital Index requires at least an initial deposit of £/$100 to open a live account. Compared to many other brokers, it offers the lowest barrier to entry. Capital Index allows deposits via debit/credit card, wire, bank transfer and Skrill.

Spreads and commissions

Capital Index offers both fixed and variable spreads. The fixed spreads in the Classic commission free accounts amount to two pips on EUR/USD. Variable spreads are available on the upper tier accounts, amount to roughly 0.9 pips on the EUR/USD pair, but also involves commission charges of $3.50 per lot per side.

Maximum leverage

Capital Index offers leverage up to 1:30, which is low for most brokers. There are brokers out there that offer more leverage, but quite frankly high leverage levels are a bit dangerous. Obviously, you can make large profits on a small deposit, but the exact opposite is also true.

Trading platforms

Capital Index offers MetaTrader 4, which should be known by most traders. This allows you to automate your trading by using Expert Advisors, it’s a lot a robotic algorithm do its thing. There are a wealth of technical indicators, a strong back testing environment, and the charting package which is second to none.

Extras

Capital Index has a significant offering of extras, including strong analysis and educational areas. There is a glossary, a “learning to trade” section, and a large news and in the analysis situation. They even have the “idea of the day” that is quite popular. Ultimately, this is a broker that is highly regulated and gives you the ability to trade the world, something you’ll enjoy.

The post Capital Index Review – The Best Forex Broker for Global Traders appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

Darwinex Review – A Must Read Before Trading

Darwinex Review

Darwinex is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to brokers, because it is not only a brokerage, but it is also a social trading platform. This gives you the ability to open up a couple of different opportunities. There is only one account type itself, the standard account which simplifies things, and gives you the ability to either trade as per usual or follow others.

Darwinex minimum deposit

The minimum initial deposit to open up an account is $500, which is reasonable, especially considering the advanced social trading options offered by this broker. However, the social trading aspect of this broker may be one of its biggest downfalls, because quite frankly social trading platforms can lead to reliance on others who may not necessarily have much in the way of trading skill.

Trading accounts

As mentioned previously, there is only one type of account, it is the standard account. It offers a variable spread, averaging just 0.2 pips for the EUR/USD pair. You can trade micro lots, giving you the flexibility to place trades based upon your risk management profile. Beyond that, commission charges are based upon 0.0025% of the nominal value traded per lot side. This gives you the ability to save a significant amount of money in commission fees and charges.

The company

Darwinex was set up in 2012, but it didn’t start operations until 2014. It is both a broker and operator of an advanced financial technology social investment platform all regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom. It offers trading in more than 30 currency pairs, as well as several CFD indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The holding company is Tradeslide Trading Tech Limited, authorized and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom as well. Because of this, it must observe the most stringent of rules.

The company used to be an introducing broker for FXCM but terminated its relationship after the broker lost its license in America. It says it intends to find another US partner to serve as an IB.

Trading conditions

Average spreads and commissions

Darwinex offers some of the tightest spreads in the industry, averaging just 0.2 pips on EUR/USD. Even if you add the commission of five dollars per standard lot round-trip, the average trading cost for this pair would be 0.7 pips, which is very competitive. It’s closest competitor, eToro, offers a fixed spread of three pips on EUR/USD, which is significantly higher.

Leverage

Maximum leverage is 1:200, which is considered to be standard overall. There are brokers that offer more, but quite frankly at that point you are playing a dangerous game. Remember, the high leverage can significantly increase wins, but it can also do the same with losing trades.

Trading platform

Darwinex offers both the MetaTrader 4 and the MetaTrader 5 platforms. They also offer an investor platform, which is a form of signal copying software. What’s interesting about this scenario is that traders don’t control investors’ money directly, they simply send their intellectual property to Darwinex, for a 20% referral fee. The platform automatically picks the most stable trades and strategies to submit to investors.

Methods of deposit

Bank wire transactions, credit/debit cards, and online paying options such as China Union and Neteller are available.

Extras

Darwinex has a plethora of videos and webinars for educational purposes. Perhaps not the strongest of educational sections, but it certainly offers enough to get you started. This is of course all redundant if you are simply looking to follow someone else’s strategy.

The post Darwinex Review – A Must Read Before Trading appeared first on The Diary of a Trader.

FXOpen Review: A Must Read Before You Trade

FXOpen Review

FXOpen has been around for some time and is well known. The brokerage firm has been used by thousands of traders around the world and has a long history of fulfilling order flow.

FXOpen Regulation and Company Information

FXOpen is a global broker, regulated in the United Kingdom and Australia. It started as an educational center bank in 2003, and has since launched brokerage services, starting that end of the business in2005. They offer services and trading financial markets in both retail and institutional investors.

FXOpen is a registered business authorized by the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, but it also has a sister company in Australia, FXOpen AU Pty Ltd., Which is licensed by the ASIC. This ensures security of funds, as the clients of the UK broker will be automatically covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which pays compensation up to a maximum of £50,000 per regulated entity.

FXOpen ECN accounts and other trading accounts

FXOpen offers four basic account types, all of which also offer micro lots to trade. Clients are able to use either market or instant execution, as well as commission free trading or ECN execution with spreads plus commission. Beyond that, Islamic accounts are also possible, and micro accounts can also be had. Beyond that, they also offer a Crypto accounts.

FXOpen Offers and Trading conditions

Initial deposit

You can start trading at FXOpen with as little as one dollar, which of course is attractive because it gives you the ability to test out life conditions with no real danger. However, to take advantage of the ECN condition, you need to deposit at least $100.

Spreads and commissions

As they offer floating spreads, this can vary depending on liquidity. Typically on the commission free STP account, you will see spreads at roughly 1.6 pips on EUR/USD which is slightly above average. Spreads on the ECN account start from 0.2 pips on the EUR/USD, but are typically closer to 0.5 pips, and a commission of five dollars per lot, per side. Because of this, it makes the average cost of trading per lot on the EUR/USD pair approximately 1.5 pips, which is slightly higher than usual for these types of accounts. Commission discounts are available to high-volume traders and those with equity above $1000.

Leverage

FXOpen offers leverage up to 1:500, which is relatively high compared to many other FCA regulated brokers. This being the case, caution is advised when it comes to this type of leverage, as it can get you into trouble rather quickly.

Trading platforms

FXOpen offers both the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms, which many of you should be used to. It gives you the ability to use Expert Advisors, back testing, a host of advanced charting features, and of course indicators. It also comes with web and mobile versions of these platforms.

Methods of deposit

FXOpen will accept a huge range of payment methods, including credit/debit cards, bank wire, WebMoney, Skrill, Neteller, Payza, OKPAY, China Union, and both Bitcoin and Ethereum deposits. There are also some other methods as well. Because of this, money going back and forth will never be an issue.

Extras

This broker offers market analysis, trading tools, the ability to copy other traders, and a few others. As far as the educational aspect of this broker is concerned, it is a bit like to say the least. However, if you’re not looking for those types of extras it could very well work for you.

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HYCM Review – Deposit, withdrawal, regulation and trading conditions

HYCM Review – Best UK Regulated forex brokers Review

HYCM minimun deposit

To open up an account with Henyep, you can begin trading with as little as $100. In fact, you can use either the Fixed or Classic accounts with just the initial $100 deposit. To get a Raw account, you need to open up with $200.

Henyep allows deposits through bank wire, Visa, Neteller, Skrill, Mastercard, and WebMoney. There are no fees to deposit, or withdrawal. However, it should be noted that bank wires need to be at least $250. The other deposit methods can be as little as $20.

HYCM Account types

Henyep offers three different account types, all offering the opportunity to trade in micro lots. There is the Fixed account, the Classic account, and the Raw account. There are also Islamic swap free accounts available as well.
Trading conditions and deposits

Spreads and commissions

The Fixed account offers fixed spreads, with spreads being as low as 1.8 pips. The minimum trade volume is 0.01 lots, allowing for micro lot trading. The Classic account offers variable spreads, with spreads on currency pairs as low as 1.2 pips, and the ability to also trade micro lots. Beyond that, there is the Raw account, which offers the tightest spreads, but charges a commission of four dollars per lot. It also allows you to trade micro lots.

OANDA Broker Review – Pros, Cons and Verdict

Oanda Broker Review

Is Oanda a good broker? Oanda is one of the pioneers of online Forex trading. The brokerage only offers two standard client accounts, which is extraordinarily flexible. Oanda has been around since 1996, and now features several offices around the world, one of the biggest online brokerages for both institutional and retail traders.

Oanda Forex Trading accounts

As mentioned previously, Oanda only offers two types of accounts, the standard account and the premium one. These account features 1:50 maximum leverage, or 1:100 maximum leverage in the European Union or Australia, due to some restrictive legislation. The premium one is simply a tighter spread with low commissions. The broker is a market maker, so be aware that they are on the other side of the trade. However, they are also heavily regulated and therefore are audited routinely.

Oanda company information and safety of funds

Oanda is one of the pioneers of online FX trading. Established in 1996 and now has offices in Toronto, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Sydney. All of the group companies are duly regulated by the relevant authorities in the United States, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia. The company has offered Internet-based Forex trading for both retail and institutional customers. Its portfolio includes FX, index, commodity, and bond see if these, as well as precious metals.

Oanda is registered with both the CFTC and NFA, both of which are extensive with their set of rules. This is part of the reason why the leverage at Oanda is a bit lower than most other places, and hedging isn’t allowed in some countries. When a company is NFA registered, they are required to have net capital of at least $20 million to guarantee customers positions, which makes them amongst the safest brokers in the world.

Trading conditions

Initial deposit

Oanda has no minimum deposit requirement for opening an account, but obviously you need to have trading capital in the account to place a trade. You can trade for pennies as opposed to having a minimum investment of something like $250 like many other brokers, so this opens up the world to many other traders it wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity, and also allows you to trade with real money in a low risk situation.

Spreads and commissions

The spreads are variable at Oanda, with the average spread on the EUR/USD pair being 1.4 pips. There are no commissions, as it is simply a situation where the broker gets paid in the spread, as is one of the oldest business practices in the Forex world.

Maximum leverage

Oanda offers a maximum leverage of 1:50 on FX products, which is lower than many other places, but being a US regulated company it has two follow these rules. However, one of the biggest killers of retail accounts is the massive amount of leverage that is available, so quite frankly it might not be a bad thing to avoid any way.

Trading platforms

Oanda offers three different trading platforms, including FXTrade, which is its proprietary platform, and MetaTrader4. You will find FXTrade to be robust, but most traders probably use MT4 as they are more than likely familiar with it. The third platform is Protrader, which allows everything that a regular Forex trading platform will do, but also has an algorithmic strategy development tool built into it.

Payment methods

Oanda offers the ability to deposit/withdraw funds from their accounts via debit/credit card, bank wire, checks, PayPal, and UnionPay.

Extras

Oanda has a reasonable amount of extras, including a decent blog with news and analysis, and of course the educational section is pretty good. There are also webinars as you see it most large brokerage firms, and overall Oanda is probably one of the safest brokerage firms to trade within the world.

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XM broker review 2018 by Thediaryofatrader.com

XM Broker Review

XM is one of the most popular brokerages globally, as traders from around the world have used it extensively. The broker offers a wealth of global assets, including Forex, CFD stocks, CFD commodities, CFD indices, CFD metals, and CFD energies. With this, you have the ability to trade multiple markets from one platform, using familiar trading conditions.

XM Trading accounts

XM offers three separate accounts for clients to choose from, this includes: Micro, Standard, and Zero. You can choose commission free trading in both Micro and Standard accounts, or tighter spreads that involve commission fees and higher initial deposit in the Zero account. XM offers extraordinarily high leverage, depending on the market traded, which of course can vary. There are over 700 trading instruments available. Because of this, you can trade the entire world from your platform.

The company

XM is one of the most well-known brokers in the Forex world and is a member of Trading Point Group. It has over 1.5 million clients from 196 countries. They have executed over 1.4 billion trades during their tenure. In business since 2009, the market has continually progressed and expanded as traders learned about it. The company has received several awards for its efforts, not only as a Forex broker, but also for its achievements involving its clients and employees. XM is heavily regulated as any respectable brokerage firm is. They are currently regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, CySec in the European Union, and ASIC in Australia. They are also registered in several different countries beyond that. Because of this, there is plenty of regulation backing them up.

The state quite openly who they do business with, doing a large portion of their investment grade banking with Barclays Bank PLC, and many other companies who are regulated by some of the largest names in the financial world, such as the German and Dutch central banks. Beyond that, they also provide retail clients with additional protection through the Investor Compensation Fund, giving them recourse in the case of XM going insolvent.

Trading conditions

Initial deposit

The initial deposit needed to open an account with XM is just five dollars. This is extraordinarily low, as many brokerages around the world will require at least $100 as the absolute minimum. Obviously, nobody is going to get rich trading with that small amount of money, but it does give you the ability to open up a Micro account and get a feel for how the platform reacts.

Spreads and commissions

XM offers variable spreads, with the commission free accounts averaging 1.7 pips on some of the most liquid major pairs. The Zero account has better trading conditions but charges a commission of $3.50 per standard lot traded, per side. So if you think that you’re going to be trading large amounts of transactions, perhaps the Zero account would be what you’re looking for. You can open up a Zero account with as little as $100.

Leverage

if you’re looking for leverage, XM offers plenty. The leverage can be anywhere from 1:1 to 1:888. This allows the small trader to handle larger amounts of money, but also increases the risk in trading, so by all means be careful. This is completely customizable, so XM is willing to facilitate whatever needs you have.

Trading platforms

XM offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as their main platforms. The platforms allow expert advisors, sometimes referred to as “trading robots”, to be added to your trading arsenal, giving you an opportunity to take advantage of algorithmic trading. Most of you should be familiar with these platforms, but if you are not, you will find that they are preferred by most traders around the world with good reason. These are available in a total of 16 different variations, allowing Apple and Windows users alike to take advantage, as well as iPhone and Android users.

Extras

XM offers video tutorials, economic calendars, signals, technical analysis, stock market news, webinars, and special reports. As far as extras are concerned, if you are looking for those XM has them in spades. This is a great brokerage for that reason alone. The large amount of clients also suggests that they have had plenty of happy customers over the years.

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Saxo Bank Review 2018 – What Can You Expect

Saxo Bank Review

For those of you looking to trade with a real bank, this could be the broker. Saxo Bank is known around the world and has operated as both a broker and a market maker. However, there is somewhat of a high bar to entry.

Saxo Broker Regulation and Company Information

Trading accounts

Essentially, there are two different account options. There is the all-inclusive price plan, which offer spreads of 2.0 pips on EUR/USD in a fixed spread environment. There is also the volume price plan, which offers an average of 0.5 pips as a spread, plus a commission anywhere from two dollars to six dollars per side.

The company

Saxo Bank established its trading brokerage in Copenhagen during 1992. It serves both retail and institutional clients, offering trading in more than 30,000 instruments including currency, binary options, contract for difference, stocks, futures, and bonds through its in-house SaxoTrader platform. Beyond offering trading, is a fully licensed bank in Denmark and several other countries. It has offices in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, South America, and South Africa.

It is regulated in a multitude of countries including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, UAE, Switzerland, France, Australia, Singapore, and several others. Because of this, safety of funds isn’t even a thought.

Trading conditions

Initial deposit

This is where Saxo will lose some people. In order to open up an account with Saxo Bank, you need to deposit at least $10,000, or £6500 UK residents. That’s a very high minimum to overcome, as some brokers will allow you to open an account with no deposit. However, your gaining access to a monstrous amount of trading vehicles and have probably what is the most secure market condition a retail trader can find.

Spreads and commissions

Saxo Bank offers both fixed and variable spreads. It’s fixed spread is relatively average, amounting to two pips on EUR/USD, while the variable spread is very tight, being around 0.5 pips in the same pair. However, keep in mind that volume comes into play so the more you trade, the less the commission will be that’s added to variable spreads. Trading conditions can vary greatly, so keep this in mind. If you are a low volume trader, variable spreads will do you any good as it will end up being $12 per round-trip per lot, which is a bit excessive. However, if you are trading over $600 worth of commissions a month, it drops to half of that.

Maximum leverage

Saxo Bank offers maximum leverage of 1:100, which is slightly under the average for most of the EU and UK markets. However though, higher leverage can bring higher problems, so keep that in mind. There are some brokers out there offering as much as 1:1000 in the form of leverage, but that is an invitation to blow up your account.

Trading platforms

In May 2015, SaxoTrader was launched, and Saxo Bank stopped supporting MetaTrader 4 afterwards. Because of this, if you are used to MT4, you will need to learn another platform to trade at Saxo. The platform does allow you to trade from desktop, web, and mobile versions of the platform, and Saxo Bank is very quick to update its software. It has great charting, trading directly from the chart, a wealth of technical indicators, live news, technical analysis tools and indicators, as well as algorithmic trading.

Methods of deposit

Saxo Bank offers its clients the ability to deposit via bank transfer, stock transfer, and credit or debit card payments.

Extras

Saxo offers a wealth of courses, webinars, and tons of market research. There is a morning call, quarterly outlook, and a whole wealth of other ideas. In fact, most of the analysis is freely distributed without the need to even open up an account.

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