Brokers Review/Comparison Table

As a Forex retailer (like you and me), we need to open an account with a Forex broker before we can trade. When you first start trading the Forex market, finding a broker is unlikely to be a major concern. You will think all brokers are the same. If you can find a trading strategy that become consistently profitable then that is the battle won, right? Unfortunately it isn’t that easy and that there are too many so-called Forex brokers out there who want to rip you off.

It will be quite challenging to find a broker that is suitable and reliable to us. Unfortunately, Forex brokers are not well regulated as stock brokers. Some brokers are registered or regulated by authority organizations, such as National Futures Association (NFA), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Association Romande des Intermédiaires Financiers (ARIF), etc., and some brokers are not. Therefore, there is no guarantee on their services to their customers (you and me). It is better to open an account with the registered or regulated broker. You need to find the broker that is reliable and suitable to you. In other words, choosing the best forex broker is important.

NFA has announced the rulings that Future Commission Merchants (FCM) with retail forex affiliates to maintain $5 million in adjusted net capital by 21 December 2007. This increase also raises to $10 million the amount of capital required for a security deposit exemption under NFA Financial Requirements Section 12(b). The attached link (pdf file) provides information on the current net capital (as of 30 April 2007) of brokers registered with NFA/CFTC.

You will need between $250 to $5000 before you can open an account with a borker. Although this is not a big sum of investment, it is still our hard earned money. Therefore, you will be searching for the 'right' broker to open an account with. Some brokers are well capitalized, and some are not. It is important to check the broker profile.

Can we find the best Forex Broker ? This is the answer that we all want to know. Before you are looking for one, please take a look at this article: the Structure of Forex Broker. All Forex traders must read this article.

Forex Brokers

You now understand the structure of Forex Broker. It will be impossible to find the best broker. Most of brokers have different features, capabilities, weaknesses and advantages. However, you should spend time to find the right broker that is reliable and suitable for you. The following are the checklists:

• Demo Account. Does the broker provide a Demo account that I can try?
• Trading/Software Platform. Is the trading platform/software user-friendly and reliable?
• Spread. What is the spread?
• Regulated. Is the broker regulated with the government authority such as NFA (National Futures Association), CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), or FDF (Swiss Federal Department of Finance), etc.?
• Commission. Does the broker offer free commission trading? Most market makers commissions are built into the spread, whereas ECN charges a small fee.
• Trade Execution. How fast does the trade execute? Are orders manually or automatically executed?
• Slippage/Requote. Does the broker often have 'requote', 'spike', 'slippage', 'downtime', etc.?
• Margin. What kind of margin does the broker offer: 50:1, 100:1, 200:1, 400:1, or 500:1 ?
• Trading Capital. What is the minimum investment to open an account?
• Rollover Interest. What other requirements or conditions are there for earning rollover interest?
• Customer Support. Does the broker provide 24 hour customer service/support?
• Reviews. Finally, find out the what other people say about brokers.

We have created a Comparison Table for forex brokers to assist you in selecting your broker. You can use the above checklist to narrow down your selection of forex brokers to fit your requirements. We hope that you will find this table helpful.

Trading foreign exchange carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. It is a challenging and potentially profitable opportunity for educated and experienced investors. However, before deciding to participate in the Forex market, you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. Most importantly, do not invest money you cannot afford to lose.

All information on this website including any review/product/traning or opinions and analysis is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial advise. The author of this website does not accept any responsibility towards the accuracy content of this website.