Hi Chris,

Both spread types would be fine. With fixed spreads, you will get same fixed rate for every trade you enter. It is a bit relaxing way to trade, since you don't have to monitor spreads you're entering at all the time. With variable spreads, you'll have a diffrent quote every time, but variable spreads tend to be lower than fixed (which is an advantage), although again it is not always the case once you start trading live - depends on a broker; and the only real way to know how spreads behave in reality is to at least demo trade for some time with a chosen broker.

For example, when you have fixed spread of 2 pips with broker A, you know the price you're going to pay.
When you go with a variable spread as low as 0.9 pips with broker B, you can expect to have a live quote from 0.9 to probably 2 pips anyway, depending on market liquidity. So, you'll be looking on average at 1.5 pips variable spread, but could also be 2.2 or 2.5 pips, since that's a variable rate. That's why demo trading is advised. It would also be good to ask a broker whether their demo trading uses real rates as in live trading.

Also, note that whatever spread it be: fixed or variable, during news announcements and other market-shaking economic and global events the spreads will widen, so it is your duty to check the spread you're entering with, otherwise you can be caught with 10, 20, 30 or even higher spread (during news like Non-Farm Payroll once a month) - at that moment it woudn't matter whether you trade with variable or fixed spread.

Hope this helps.

Hi There,

few forex broker info to share with , cheers

forex-metal
We do no have a dealing desk.
We allow scalping.
We are regulated in two jurisdictions: Panama and Uruguay .
We do not charge any commissions for trading.
We do not request a minimum deposit. It is possible to start trading with as little as a few dollars.
Minimum lot size is 0.01 lot.
Minimum trading size is 500 USD for Forex.
Maximum leverage possible is 1:500.
We offer fixed spreads: https://forex-metal.com/home/contract_parameters
____________________________________________________________________________

gomarketsaus
FX Spreads from 0.5 pips
No dealer interventions or requotes
No hedging restrictions
100% Straight Through Processing
Full, unrestricted use of Expert Advisors
Swap Free Accounts
Mini/Micro lots available
Leverage up to 300:1
No minimum account balance
________________________________________________________________________________

forex4you
- Yes we are a Non - Dealing Desk broker.
- Since we are registered in the British Virgin Islands, and there are no
currency futures regulators there - we are not regulated at the moment.
- Our commision is our spreads, details of which are available on our
website at http://www.forex4you.com/clients/conditions/
- There is no minimum deposit, you can start trading with as low as 2 USD.
- Minimum lot is 0.01 for normal accounts and 0.0001 for cent accounts.
- Maximum leverage is 1:500
- Our Spreads are fixed
- Different currency pairs have different spreads, details of which are
available on our website here http://www.forex4you.com/clients/conditions/
__________________________________________________________________________________

forexte
Yes, as long as it is not done taking advantage of technological/computer discrepencies. A
As forex is an over the counter market, we are not regulated by any one one country\'s regulatory authority, we have no complaints from our customer\'s in terms of anything illegitimate.
Initial deposit is $250 USD.
Minimum lot size is a micro lot of .01
Maximum leverage is 200:1
Our spreads are for the most part fixed but sometimes change to reflect changing market conditions.
The spreads are very low and can be seen in a demo available at
http://www.forexte.com/practice_account_download.html
_____________________________________________________________________________________

loyalforex
We are stp ndd broker
Scalping means deals less then 5minutes frequently.
we have no commissions and you can deposit for 100$.
min lot .1
max leverage 400
spreads are fixed 24hours
______________________________________________________________________________________

globalfutures
With FXSol,
a. Dealing Desk
b. Scalping –
c. Pip Spreads: please click on link to view the pip spreads
http://www.globalfutures.com/forex/accounts/spreads.asp?refid=Direct&lang=en
d. Initial Deposit
Micro account = $250 minimum
Mini account = $250
Standard = $2,000
e. Highest available leverage: 400:1
f. Spread type = Fixed

With FXCM
a. Non-Dealing Desk
b. Scalping
c. Pip Spreads: please click on link to view the pip spreads
http://www.globalfutures.com/forex/accounts/spreads.asp?refid=Direct&lang=en
d. Initial Deposit
Mini Account = $300 (not available for MT4)
Standard = $2000
e. Highest available leverage: 400:1 upon request; standard 200:1
f. Spread Type: Variable
______________________________________________________________________________________________

eglobal-forex
Yes, we are non-dealing desk broker.
We allow scalping, absolutely.
If you mean specific Forex regulators - then no, but at the moment we
are applying for one.
Spreads only.
No initial deposits.
Minimum lot for normal accounts is 0.01, for cent accounts 0.0001.
Maximum leverage 1:500.
Most of our spreads are fixed. Only small portion of them may change
during the night to another fixed values.
Spreads start from 2. Full list is available here: http://www.eglobal-forex.com/clients/conditions/
_____________________________________________________________________________________________-

2pipsforex
We allow scalping.
No commissions.
2000 usd minimum deposit.
Minimum lot is 1 lot.
Leverage 500:1
Spread is fixed one pip.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

tadawulfx
We are a Non Dealing Desk
We allow scalping with no any time limit
We are regulated under Cyprus Stock Exchange (Cy Sec)
There are no any charges involved in any transaction with TadawulFX
The minimum lot size is 0.05 (5000 base units)-Minimum deposit is $500-Maximumm leverage is 1:500
The spreads are fixed 24 hours a day
_________________________________________________________________________________________________-

activtrades
We are a non dealing desk company – all automated execution.
We do allow scalping in Standard Account and Interbank Account http://www.activtrades.com/index.aspx?page=forex_accttype
We are regulated by the FSA
The commission is made up in our spreads
Initial deposit is 250 Euros or equivalent
Minimum lot size: Micro lot in Standard Account / Mini lot in Interbank Account
Minimum trading size is 1 Micro Lot
Maximum leverage 1:400
We offer both: Fixed Spreads in Standard Account / Variable Spreads in Interbank Account
Please look at this link for Standard Account Spreads: http://www.activtrades.com/index.aspx?page=forex_spreads
Interbank Spreads obviously vary – very tight though. At the moment EURUSD 1.6 pip Spread.
_______________________________________________________________________________

ac-markets
We allow scalping.
Yes! What you click is what you get! We guarantee all fills up to an opening position of US$ 5,000,000! There will be no slippage or requotes on execution.
We are regulated by the Swiss Banking Authority:- FINMA
NO COMMISSION CHARGES & NO FEES. All costs are within our spreads.
Min account size for scalping US$5000.
Minimum 1 x Standard 100,000 lot for scalping.
Leverage 1:100.
Dealing desk / Non Dealing desk - BOTH.
Fixed Spreads - Yes.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

uwcfx
Non-Dealing Desk broker?
- Yes , non dealing desk --- dealing desk will be up/running soon .
Do you allow scalping? By scalping I mean holding a position for less than 1 minute?
- yes is allowed .
Are you registered any regulating authorities?
Yes we are regulated company under CySec(Cyprus Security & Exchange commission ) http://www.cysec.gov.cy/licence_members_1_en.aspx
Commissions charge?
We do not work based on commission charges – UWC spread are 1.5 to 4 depends on trade at time .
Initial Deposit to trade?
Initial deposit is 25$ ( will get 25$ bonus , bonus can be withdrawal after completing some trades conditions)
Minimum lot trades??
Minimum is only applicable on BONUS (10 LOTS TRADES)
Minimum Trading Size Requirement?
0.01
Maximum Leverage ratio?
1:500
Do you offer fixed or non-fixed spreads?
We offer 4 digits spreads ---which are not freez
How wide are the spreads?
Depends on market price –sometimes could attend to zero and sometimes could attend to 15 to 20 points .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

fxcbs
1. The commissions charged are $8.00 USD per standard lot, i.e. $0.80 per 0.1 lots.
2. The minimum deposit to open an account is $1,000.00.
3. The minimum contract size is 0.1 Standard lot. I.e. 10,000 base currency.
4. Our spread on all currencies starts from 0.1 pips, Our average on majors is 1 pip and our average on crosses is 2 - 3 pips. You can monitor these more closely on http://www.fxcbs.com/rates
5. The maximum leverage provided to our clients is 100:1.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

ibfx
There is no minimum deposit for any of our accounts we Recommend 250$ for the mini account and 2500$ for a standard. You can trade 0.01 lots to 50 lots per click.

You can visit this link to see all of our spreads http://www.ibfx.com/platform/contractsizes.aspx

The maximum leverage we currently offer is 400:1, but please be aware that come November 30th, 2009 there is a possibility that we will be forced by the NFA to lower all leverages it 100:1
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

avscarter
we have both dealing and non dealing desk. most of the retail business is STP ,which is auto execution.
we do allow scalping. you can definitely hold the position for less than 1 min. we are registered with IFSC and also our USA entity is regulated with NFA.
we do not charge commissions on FX. initial deposit can be as low as 1000 usd. we do not have any restrictions on the lot trades as well as have no size requirements. leverage is 100:1
we offer fixed spreads. spreads are 3 pip wide.

Hi BG,

Choosing a regulated broker is important,
but is it only those regulatory institutions listed on the main page is the most reliable one?

Hi everybody,

I have now been researching the Forex Broker world market for several weeks and my first choice is:

www.dbfx.com (Deutsche Bank in London)

It is the largest player in the world, with a 21% market share of the worlds Forex market, they are simply the best in the world. Deutsche Bank FX has the best liquidity behind prices, what god is the price from an ECN broker if it only has 10.000 or 100.000 behind it? Deutsche Bank FX say it has a at least 2-5 million USD behind it's price, all the time. DBFX offer variable spreads around 1.5 to 2.0 on the EUR/USD and no commission, with an ECN broker I can get 1.0 to 2.0 including commission.

Safety of course, your DBFX account for FX trading are fully protected by the Deposit Protection Fund of the Association of German Banks. Protection is available up to a limit that is determined based on Deutsche Bank's capital, which is currently in excess of EUR 1 billion per depositor. Good enough for me, :-)

Deutsche Bank is not a zombie bank, it is profitable and has survived the financial crises without government support .

Other strong players are UBS (15% market share), Citifx (9% market share and FDIC insurance). Citifx also offers ECN with very tight spreads and commission (1.5 to 2.0 inkl commission) and they have MT4 platform, if you are not a US or Swiss resident, you need to open a Delaware (US) LLC corporation for $299 to trade with them.

It gives me an enormous peace of mind not having to worry about if my money if safe
with the Forex broker, if the broker can facilitate my trade or not, if there is enough liquidity to get in and out of the market, that there is 24 hours quality support available
if my Internet connection goes down or something else happens.

I chose Deutsche Bank.

I use Dukascopy.

Trading with a bank is never a bad choice. Your funds are protected, withdrawals are guaranteed, you'll always get a good client support. The only thing to say negative about them - Forex spreads with banks are always higher.

Regarding C.I.M. Bank in particular - they are STPs with feeds from FXCM.
Not a bad choice, depending on the strategy you'll be using; if you plan to scalp or day-trade with many orders opened/closed per day, the spread cost would put a pressure on you, but if you plan to invest in long term strategies, you should be perfectly fine.

The Commission licenses, regulates and supervises non-bank financial institutions in Mauritius.
According to its mission and policies: http://www.gov.mu/portal/sites/ncb/fsc/homeframe.html
FSC does all necessary work to supervise and protect investors.