# Trading forex: IB, Go Markets or MFGlobal?



## hooikk (10 November 2009)

I've recently started up an account with MFGlobal, and currently jumping through the hoops in getting an IB account set up.

Does anyone have a good comparison between the 3 brokers above? I've also got an account with IG-Markets.

Go Markets seems to have good feedback for being a forex broker, and it looks like I can start out with a really small account as well (nano lots...what the??)


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## lasty (11 November 2009)

IB's platform is more like a wholesale platform than a retail.
You pay brokerage but you can bid and offer inside the spreads.
GM and MF charge no brokerage but they will make money from the spread.
Wholesale platforms generally are good for liquidity EXCEPT when there is data or news out then you have a problem.
Market makers on the other hand supposedly have better liquidity when news etc occur.
Suggestion: if you can afford it have 2 brokers..
The most important element in forex trading is liquidity and relying on one provider your at risk from the start.
Its different from shares as there is no central exchange.
Fact: The wholesale traders use a multitude of brokers and liquidity providers.
Why shouldnt you ?


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## hooikk (11 November 2009)

Ah thanks. I never quite understood how forex brokers really work. Wasn't sure if I was actually trading the forex market, or just buying into CFDs.

How is MF when it comes to trading forex? I quite like the MetaTrader platform that comes with GO Markets - looked at that a long time ago.


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## CFD (11 November 2009)

hooikk said:


> ~Wasn't sure if I was actually trading the forex market, or just buying into CFDs.




That's you choice depending on the broker. IG for example are through CFDs. Go are through the spot FX market.


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## sdmartin10 (11 November 2009)

Had an okay eperience with IG today, one of my limits didn't get filled correctly while  I was away from my desk and then the price plummetted. I called them up and they filled the order straight away at my limit. You could definitely argue that the system failing was bad (they never miss filling my stops) but at least their customer service was good and they immediately fixed it up and apologised.


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## Wysiwyg (11 November 2009)

hooikk said:


> Ah thanks. I never quite understood how forex brokers really work. Wasn't sure if I was actually trading the forex market, or just buying into CFDs.
> 
> How is MF when it comes to trading forex? I quite like the MetaTrader platform that comes with GO Markets - looked at that a long time ago.



IG Markets only have CFD Foreign Exchange trading.
Happy to be proven wrong but they mirror the market my friends. Even using Currenex feed they only mirror and I assume this mirroring does away with the additional logistics of having to register the real transaction.

I think they all have pseudo trade transactions don't they?


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## hooikk (26 November 2009)

how about GFT? Someone just mentioned it to me, but I don't really know much about them. Looks like they won some Cannex award recently as well.


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## sinner (27 November 2009)

Wysiwyg said:


> IG Markets only have CFD Foreign Exchange trading.
> Happy to be proven wrong but they mirror the market my friends. Even using Currenex feed they only mirror and I assume this mirroring does away with the additional logistics of having to register the real transaction.
> 
> I think they all have pseudo trade transactions don't they?




As far as I know, both Go and IG are passing your trades onto somebody. Go is supposed to make their money passing your volume on so it would seem silly for them to balance their orders internally? I am only saying that your retail broker is probably not the actual counterparty, but it probably IS just going into a bigger bucket.

If you are willing to go international I'd pick MB trading or IB, local probably only Go provides good service (although I am still happily with IG - never had a single problem with order fill).


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## graham_h (10 January 2010)

I went with Go and will post live results when I'm up and running next week


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