Posts Tagged ‘Forex’
Is IC Markets Good For Day Trading Forex
June 9th, 2011
Recently I opened a forex trading account with IC Markets, I have traded forex before but had never used the Metatrader trading platform. The principle reason that I went with IC Markets is because they are the only real Metatrader broker in Australia who is actually an ECN. Forex trading on an “ECN” or electronic communications network allows me to scalp for little gains, the reason for this is because the spreads are very tight and don’t widen over news announcements like all the other brokers that I have dealt with.
IC Markets is the first forex broker that I have been able to use my scalping plan with, the brokers that I’ve used previously haven’t shown me a negative or zero spread nor have their spreads remained tight during market instability. Dealing with an ECN forex broker like IC Markets gives me a major advantage because I can now capitalize on significant price explosions which frequently take place around news announcements.
One thing that I have noticed since I have been trading with IC Markets is that the spreads are in fact tighter throughout European hours. This is most likely because banks are able to provide better prices during this time zone. Superior spreads throughout European hours really suits me as I live in Australia and tend to trade after work, this is also one of the major reasons I enjoy trading forex.
I did not understand what and ECN was until I started trading with IC Markets, after conducting my own research on the net I found that an ECN forex broker was the only way to trade. An ECN forex broker uses liquidity from a number of different banks, all the price feeds are aggregated to show the best bid and offer price. Sometimes when a bank sells at a much lower price than another bank is buying or vice versa you get a negative spread. Since trading with IC Markets I have seen negative spreads many times but have not yet dealt on them.
Because ECN forex brokers do not charge a commission that is built in into a widened spread but instead a commission based on the amount traded you also have the benefit of knowing precisely how much your trading costs are. Most ECN forex brokers like IC Markets will charge around $50 per million dealt this is equal to $5 per standard lot, 50c per mini lot and 5c for each micro lot traded.
So if you are tired of trading with a market maker or STP forex broker and are searching for an ECN broker that is based in Australia I can certainly vouch for IC Markets Metatrader platform. I can assure you that you will gain a huge advantage when trading with an ECN, not only will you save money you can take advantage of market instability around news periods.