Best Forex Broker

HI,

Can any one tell who is best forex broker, i mean site.

Thanks
Madhusudhan

There is no "best" broker. All top brokers provide customers with similar conditions and services, so just choose any fits you )) Take a look at the spread, leverages offered, minimum deposit, withdrawal methods, etc...

I found oanda.com to be having good capital as per regulatory norms.
They have lowest charges: 0.9 Pips on Cable.
Please mind that while having Pipplets, as a feature, they do have two drawbacks:

1) Terminal is Self-Developed in Java (More Security, but i needed MetaTrade to run my MQLs)

2) Bid-Ask rates are very high during volatile times like these days.

check www.oanda.com for more info on this.

It totally depends upon ur requirements.
e.g.
low start amount (swing trading) - any market maker
low start amount (scalping) - oanda(no min amount) or fxcm micro(25$ to start)
medium start amount want better execution & spread - MBTrading (400$ to start but costs commission per trade)
high initial amount - ECN like ADM derivative, Dukascopy, FXDD etc (just google for ecn).

HTH,
AdaG.

That's true - different brokers target different segments, so you have to choose depending on your own segment )

first of all when selecting a forex broker please check wether these broker are regulated by any financial institution.. example of regulator are nfa,fsa and few more.. whats the different between a regulated broker and unregulated broker.. SAFETY.. online trading is totally different with OTC.. all the transaction is done through the net. a regulated broker need to follow the regulator strict rules and regulation.. just my 2 cents

Trading is a Zero Sum Game. Your loss is someone else's profit.
Looks like you are talking about ECN brokers or Direct access to banks otherwise if you have a broker which is a market maker you should understand that it is the broker who is getting money every time you loose and vice versa. To get profits with a market maker you must have a very solid trading strategy or must be very lucky because 'The House Always Wins'.

If your initial equity is low take your time to find the best possible broker for you and gradually try to move to ECNs for cleaner trades.

AdaG, can you throw more light on ECN brokers. I am a newby to forex.

Who are ECN brokers, how are they different from other brokers. What are the advantages one gains by selecting ECN

Is it legal to trade forex from India?

The top tier of the Forex market is transacted on what is collectively known as the Interbank. Contrary to popular belief the Interbank is not an exchange; it is a collection of communication agreements between the world’s largest money center banks.

To understand the structure of the Interbank market, it may be easier to grasp by way of analogy. Consider that in an office (or maybe even someone’s home) there are multiple computers connected via a network cable. Each computer operates independently of the others until it needs a resource that another computer possesses. At that point it will contact the other computer and request access to the necessary resource. If the computer is working properly and its owner has given the requestor authorization to do so, the resource can be accessed and the initiating computers request can be fulfilled. By substituting computers for banks and resources for currency, you can easily grasp the relationships that exist on the Interbank.

Anyone who has ever tried to find resources on a computer network without a server can appreciate how difficult it can be to keep track of who has what resources. The same issue exists on the Interbank market with regard to prices and currency inventory. A bank in Singapore may only rarely transact business with a company that needs to exchange some Brazilian Real and it can be very difficult to establish what a proper exchange rate should be. It is for this purpose that EBS and Reuters (hereafter EBS) established their services.

Layered on top (in a manner of speaking) of the Interbank communication links, the EBS service enables banks to see how much and at what prices all the Interbank members are willing to transact. Pains should be taken to express that EBS is not a market or a market maker; it is an application used to see bids and offers from the various banks.

The second tier of the market exists essential within each bank. By calling your local Bank of America branch you can exchange any foreign currency you would like. More then likely they will just move some excess currency from one branch to another. Since this is a micro-exchange with a single counterparty, you are basically at their mercy as to what exchange rate they will quote you. Your choice is to accept their offer or shop a different bank. Everyone who trades the forex market should visit their bank at least once to get a few quotes. It would be very enlightening to see how lucrative these transactions really are.

Branching off of this second tier is the third tier retail market. When brokers like Oanda, Forex.com, FXCM, etc. desire to establish a retail operation the first thing they need is a liquidity provider. Nine in ten of these brokers will sign an agreement with just one bank. This bank will agree to provide liquidity if and only if they can hedge it on EBS inclusive of their desired spread. Because the volume will be significantly higher a single bank patron will transact, the spreads will be much more competitive. By no means should it be expected these tier 3 providers will be quoted precisely what exists on the Interbank. Remember the bank is in the business of collecting spreads and no agreement is going to suspend that priority.

Retail forex is almost akin to running a casino. The majority of its participants have zero understanding how to trade effectively and as a result are consistent losers. The spread system combined with a standard probability distribution of returns gives the broker a built in house advantage of a few percentage points. As a result, they have all built internal order matching systems that play one loser off against a winner and collect the spread. On the occasions when disequilibrium exists within the internal order book, the broker hedges any exposure with their tier 2 liquidity provider.

As bad as this may sound, there are some significant advantages for speculators that deal with them. Because it is an internal order book, many features can be provided which are otherwise unavailable through other means. Non-standard contract sizes, high leverage on tiny account balances, and the ability to transact in a commission free environment are just a few of them…

An ECN operates similar to a Tier 2 bank, but still exists on the third tier. An ECN will generally establish agreements with several tier 2 banks for liquidity. However instead of matching orders internally, it will just pass through the quotes from the banks, as is, to be traded on. It’s sort of an EBS for little guys. There are many advantages to the model, but it is still not the Interbank. The banks are going to make their spread or their not go to waste their time. Depending on the bank this will take the form of price shading or widened spreads depending on market conditions. The ECN, for its trouble, collects a commission on each transaction.

Aside from the commission factor, there are some other disadvantages a speculator should consider before making the leap to an ECN. Most offer much lower leverage and only allow full lot transactions. During certain market conditions, the banks may also pull their liquidity leaving traders without an opportunity to enter or exit positions at their desired price.

I think this much information is enough to get you started umrperumal......you have to cover a lot of ground to stand in this arena. For more info just Google for Electronic Communication Networks(ECN).
Some big ECNs are,
Hotspotfxi
Duckascopy
ADM derivatives
FXDD etc.