GFT: Good or bad?

[aramz]

Hey,

I am hunting around for a forex broker atm. I have been reading through various threads on here and other forums with special regards to GFT, i couldn't find that much on aussiestocks. I saw in the annual 'stockie's awards that GFT markets was rated as the number 1 forex broker in Australia. Upon reading this i did various research and the broker does look very good especially with its dealbook 360 software which looks like it's in a league of it's own. Although on various forums i read that there were alot of dodgy happenings when clients tried to withdraw money form their accounts. Also i have heard about spreads being widened when a trader turns profitable and constant requotes aswell. I am new to forex game and am diligently hunting a good broker. I want to use GFT as they trade futures and CFD's all on the same platform, have good leverage and the software looks top notch. Although the reviews i have read are shocking to say the least but then i see thats 'stockies' has them as the number 1 forex broker in oz. I am confused to say the least. Most of the reviews i read were a little outdated and i wonder if much has changed with them. Can anyone with any knowledge about GFT or anyone with prior experience with them as a broker give me a rundown on your experiences with them good or bad.

FYI i am looking to trade CFD's (doesn't have to be with the same broker as the forex broker I am looking for, i would like to cross capitalise my FX with CFD's though) and a forex trading system similar to scalping i guess but i plan on being in trades from 10mins to an hour or two so i guess it's not scalping in the traditional forex sense with regards to trading price differences between brokers. Pips i guess are important but i would like a reliable broker with a damn good software platform if possible.

Thanks

Luke

 

[Knoxy]

Re: GFT good or bad?

I traded with GFT for a year (07) and didn't have too many problems. As you say Dealbook is excellent and I found programming my own indicators pretty easy. Back then I was trading daily charts, didn't notice spread widening. Maybe I wasn't successful enough eh? Shouldn't be too much playing around with your money as GFT is major global broker. They transferred no problem when I closed.

Strangely the reason I killed the account is the difficulty I had in reading my statements. I was used to previously having every trade settled in USD but at times my account balance with them was stated with components in all 7 major currencies. Nightmare when I was trying to explain to my accountant. They might have improved this aspect, but if you can't understand what is going on at any time then you've got to move on. Good luck whichever way you go.

 

[SeM0s]

Re: GFT good or bad?

I trade with GFT UK and I think it is pretty good.

 

[Robshan]

Re: GFT good or bad?

Personally, I loved the DealBook 360 Platform .... GFT will let you continue using the demo if you open a live account, so you can still trade demo but you've actually given them some real business .... one catch is that they require you to conduct at least 1 live trade every 60 days or you will be charged an inactivity fee ... seems a bit harsh I think but then, the news feed that comes in the platform is great and the flexibility is much better than MT4.

Depending on your investment size, mini lots may not be appropriate for effective money management as a beginner (which was my biggest issue). They have no documentation on how to set up an account to trade micro lots, but it is possible.

Downsides:

- As they are regulated by the NFA (even in Australia) leverage is about to be limited to 100:1 for majors and 25:1 for exotics ... again, if you open an account with $350 trading mini lots then you cant conduct effective money management
- There are some really funky indicators etc. that can be coded for MT4 that you wont be able to leverage (such as Furious Angel's Hull MA and others for his method)
- Daily rollover isnt great if you are holding positions over multiple days as it recalculates your P&L daily. This isnt too bad if your trade is constantly moving into profit, but it is frustrating if you're holding an offside position.
- No hedging available on a single currency pair (if you're into that thing)

Pro:
- I like the way they consolidate all of your entries into the one position. When averaging in, this makes it much easier to calculate the breakeven level
- Order entry is very easy and options for pending orders are very flexible
- Great charting package

Personally, I have deactivated my GFT account for the time being and have an MT4 account with Go Markets Australia who have better spreads on the currency pair that I trade. In addition to this, I can also get 200:1 leverage as they are governed by ASIC rather than NFA.

P.S. even though my GFT live trading account is deactivated at the moment, my demo account is still available.

 

[insanedragons]

GFT good or bad

Thats great Joe

Do you mind sharing your scalping strategy w/ us and your money management along w/ it?

Ive been looking for a good scalping strat... does it work w/ all currencies or just the NZD? ... all timeframes or just certain ones?

Thanks in advance Joe.

/shred

 

[Liar's Poker]

Re: GFT good or bad?

Personally, I loved the DealBook 360 Platform .... GFT will let you continue using the demo if you open a live account, so you can still trade demo but you've actually given them some real business .... one catch is that they require you to conduct at least 1 live trade every 60 days or you will be charged an inactivity fee ... seems a bit harsh I think but then, the news feed that comes in the platform is great and the flexibility is much better than MT4.

Depending on your investment size, mini lots may not be appropriate for effective money management as a beginner (which was my biggest issue). They have no documentation on how to set up an account to trade micro lots, but it is possible.

Downsides:

- As they are regulated by the NFA (even in Australia) leverage is about to be limited to 100:1 for majors and 25:1 for exotics ... again, if you open an account with $350 trading mini lots then you cant conduct effective money management
- There are some really funky indicators etc. that can be coded for MT4 that you wont be able to leverage (such as Furious Angel's Hull MA and others for his method)
- Daily rollover isnt great if you are holding positions over multiple days as it recalculates your P&L daily. This isnt too bad if your trade is constantly moving into profit, but it is frustrating if you're holding an offside position.
- No hedging available on a single currency pair (if you're into that thing)

Pro:
- I like the way they consolidate all of your entries into the one position. When averaging in, this makes it much easier to calculate the breakeven level
- Order entry is very easy and options for pending orders are very flexible
- Great charting package

Personally, I have deactivated my GFT account for the time being and have an MT4 account with Go Markets Australia who have better spreads on the currency pair that I trade. In addition to this, I can also get 200:1 leverage as they are governed by ASIC rather than NFA.

P.S. even though my GFT live trading account is deactivated at the moment, my demo account is still available.

I know this is an old thread, but I found the above post(s) very helpful when deciding whether to go with GFT or not.

I ended up taking a risk and going with GFT despite their site saying the Dealbook 360 software doesn't work with Windows 7. Seems to be working okay though. Found it a bit annoying when I had to sign up for a separate demo account. Nonetheless, it's all done now and I'm underway.

Hopefully I'll swap to my live account once I get the hang of the software, still a bit rusty.

-Liar-

 

[oneagainstthem]

beware of GFT aka Get Fleeced Trading with us

I just opened a CFD account with GFT four weeks ago, I needed a backup to my other broker, I was told that the easiest way to deposit funds was using my credit card, what they didn't telll me was that the payment was processed in the US and my bank charged me $150 because it was deemed an International transaction, after using the platform I have discovered that the trade execution is so slow that they must be using carrier pigeons to place the trades, and I am getting requotes all the time,I havn't had the volume trade discount I was promised either and the friendly, ever so helpfull sales team member hasn't answered my calls,so I've decided to close the account, and trade elsewhere, which is another drama, GFT want to refund the initial deposit back to my credit card, which will cost me another $150, and they then want to wire the remaining funds back to my bank account, which is the same bank that issued the credit card! if ASIC had a full set of teeth companies wouldn't be allowed to trade.

 

[Paulo30]

I have found them to be good (personally), and the dealbook360 and iphone app seem to have quick transaction times.. or no worse than any others.

I can't speak much about money transfers, since I'm doing this through a white label client into GFT.

They also were able to remain liquid through the Japan earthquake markets, which I know a lot of brokers went offline with Yen.

 

[Philo Beddoe]

How safe is GFT?

How safe do you all GFT would be to have a large sum of money deposited?

Are we afforded any kind of protection or guarantees for somewhere like ASIC with a place like GFT?