Looking for the best CFD/Forex Platform

Hi Guys,

I am doing abit of research before putting my hard earned cash up to find the best CFD/Forex platform out there. I was wondering if you could enlighten me on your experiences with your current CFD/Forex provider.

I am currently lookinig at CMC, IG, GFT, City Index, MFGlobal, First Prudential and Go Markets.

I am a technical analyst so I need a reliable, stable platform to perform all my analysis, I want all the usuall indicators with the option of creating my own down the track as well as a backtest function. I want to be able to alter every aspect of my charts, i.e. trendlines, fib ratios, background colour, candle stick colour and thickness, save layouts and templates etc.

What I am looking for is:
- uptime, stability, fast execution
- large range of technical analysis indicators
- drawing tools
- I want to be able to use a demo account first to trial these features
- ability to place trailling stops
- no $$ for platform and minimal data fees
- decent support
- online training tutorials and user manuals
- browser version (I want to trade at work, have a corporate firewall, no download of platform possible)
- mobile trading (I have a PDA)
- Flexible order types (I have done some of the SITM course I need to be able to place stop entries on all markets, Aus/International CFDs, Forex, Commodities, Index), ability to tie my orders to stop and profit taking orders.


If you could provide feedback I would really appreciate it. I will be updatinig this post over the next few weeks as I start talking to the various providers.

Thanks for you help.

Regards

CFDtrader09

Hi Guys,

I'm going to start calling around today. I'm going to ask these standard questions so its fair for all brokers.

1. Do you have a demo account?
2. How many technical indicators do you have?
- Fibonacci retracement/extension(configurable)
- Gann Tools (angles and retracements)
- Cycle lines
- Stoch's, MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands etc must be configurable
- backtest function
- custom indicators
3. What markets do you offer and what are the data charges (per/month), platform?
4. Hrs support, get own account manager?
5. Ability to save layouts
6. Education/Training
7. Commissions for Aus CFDs

Thats all I can think of at the moment, I think these questions will give me enough information to make an informed decision.

Please let me know your thoughts. I'm going to call CMC today seeing that they are regarded the biggest CFD provider.

Cheers

CFDtrader09

They all have demo accounts. I would just sign up for them rather than make calls to sales staff.

By the way why do you need 1000000 indicators?

And if you really want something reliable to do TA with don't use the bucket shop data and software. Buy/pay for it from a reliable data provider.

CFDtrader2009 said:

I'm going to call CMC today seeing that they are regarded the biggest CFD provider.

CFDtrader09

Click to expand...

Wouldn't be spruuking would you CFD? My bet is you will find CMC your favorite provider

I found GTF ok so far with some one to answer the ph if you have a problem.

Wassup with this CMC mob, as a lot of Aussie Traders/Educators say they use them, Guppy, Mather, Pollard, Davey to name a few?

Maybe they have deep pockets to finance a pretty good marketing plan?

glenn_r said:

Wassup with this CMC mob, as a lot of Aussie Traders/Educators say they use them, Guppy, Mather, Pollard, Davey to name a few?

Maybe they have deep pockets to finance a pretty good marketing plan?

Click to expand...

i'm pretty confident there would be kick-backs for people like guppy, due to the amount of business they draw in. ie if they have a complaint it would be addressed and resolved ASAP, or cheap commissions.

for the rest, CMC in IMO, is only useful if there is a distinct advantage to the client. in my case, index minis = cheap education.

for a better understanding of why not to use CMC search "CMC" on this site; heaps of threads detailing provider abuse.

james

barney said:

Wouldn't be spruuking would you CFD? My bet is you will find CMC your favorite provider

Click to expand...

Well not according to what I found out today which I will go into more detail soon

James Austin said:

i'm pretty confident there would be kick-backs for people like guppy, due to the amount of business they draw in. ie if they have a complaint it would be addressed and resolved ASAP, or cheap commissions.

for the rest, CMC in IMO, is only useful if there is a distinct advantage to the client. in my case, index minis = cheap education.

for a better understanding of why not to use CMC search "CMC" on this site; heaps of threads detailing provider abuse.

james

Click to expand...

I have had a look at a few threads on ASF regarding CMCs Platform/service and its clear there is a lot of disgruntled clients out there. This thread I found was even more eye opening CMC New Charting Package as I found out that you could not even click and drag trendlines nor save your layouts.

It was enough for me to not even bother opening an demo account as these 2 things are what I find so basic, I'm scared to even think what will happen when I attempt more advance stuff.

Anyways I only had enough time to speak to CMC and IG today. I will start with CMC first.

CMC Markets
1. Do you have a demo account?
Yes, 14 day trial, no virtual cash to even test order execution, had to fill out to many details i.e. Drivers license, or if you don't have on you have to provide certified docs. Too hard IMO
2. How many technical indicators do you have?
Sales rep was not sure, reakons around 50+
- Fibonacci retracement/extension(configurable)
Tested on his demo account, only able to modify 5 variables i.e. 3 retracements and 2 extensions
- Gann Tools (angles and retracements)
Gann Fan, Gann Line
- Cycle lines
Yes, able to place vertical lines at specified intervals
- Stoch's, MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands etc must be configurable
Able to customise, however its very limited
- backtest function
No
- custom indicators
No
3. What markets do you offer and what are the data charges (per/month), platform?
3000+ markets, Indices, equity cfds, commodities, FX, Bonds, sectors. If you want to trade Australian share CFDs(top 500) then you need to pay a data fee of $41.25, if your total commissions for the month are over 50 then it gets waived. All other data is free
4. Hrs support, get own account manager?
It seems like you get a sales executive to assist you opening the account, however any further support will be directed to their client services and dealing desks. So there is that possibility that you will speak to several different people to get one thing solved. I have experienced this before and must say its not ideal.
5. Ability to save layouts
Apparently you can save your layouts, but not your chart settings(i.e. templates) not good as I plan on having different chart setups for various timeframes which I want to save and replicate on other charts.
6. Education/Training
There is webinars and a weekly CFD seminar in the head office. In terms of getting trained on the platform there seems like there is only Software Tutorials as he was not able to provide any training if I opened an account. Also there is a online community something like facebook for trades it was explained which has everyone there sharing ideas etc. Also for new clients there is Trading IQ a cfd course of some sort.
7. Commissions for Aus CFDs
.1% or 10 basis points and volume rebates for high turnover traders.

After talking to the sales exec I was quite scared to think what other CFD providers could offer if CMC are the top CFD provider. Please let me know if I missed anything or if any information I provided is incorrect. I did my best with ploughing through all the various threads and my own research on CMC and can comfortably say that they do not offer the platform/service I am after.

IG Markets
1. Do you have a demo account?
Yes, Free $100,000 Demo Account this seemed much easier to setup, as well as it didnt take to long to receive the login details. The trial last for 14 days and you get access to all the markets.
2. How many technical indicators do you have?
40+ Indicators according to their helpdesk. I was advised that these are the new IT- Finance charts, apparently CMC had the old IT finance charts before the released their own. All of that info is in the forum I reference earlier.
- Fibonacci retracement/extension(configurable)
Yes, much more than CMC
- Gann Tools (angles and retracements)
Gann Fan, Gann Angle,
- Cycle lines
No
- Stoch's, MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands etc must be configurable
Yes, indicators are very customizable
- backtest function
Yes, has some samples in there
- custom indicators
Yes, however I'm not too sure about the support provided here
3. What markets do you offer and what are the data charges (per/month), platform?
7000+ markets, Indices, equity cfds, commodities, FX, Bonds, sectors. If you want to trade Australian share CFDs then you need to pay a data fee of $37.50 or $45 depending if you are a professional or not, if you trade over 4 times the ASX data is free.
4. Hrs support, get own account manager?
Yo do, but in terms of training, the refer you to their website such as online tutorials etc.
5. Ability to save layouts
Yes
6. Education/Training
Webinars and they have their own training program called Adsense in forms of email and booklet.
7. Commissions for Aus CFDs
.1% or 10 basis points however there is volume rebates as well.

I have to admit I was much happier with what IG Markets could offer as a CFD provider and their platform seem to be quite user friendly. The only thing concerns me about it is the memory usage. I had a few charts opened and the memory usage for iexplore.exe and javaw.exe was 170,909 K and 210,000 respectively. If I am at work this would not work because it is sucking up way too much resources. You also have the ability to deal off the charts which is a useful feature however I fould the margin requirements to be abit higher than compared to CMC. I have to rate IG Markets above CMC at this point, as one of the things I'm looking for is a web/browser based platform due to work. CMC at present only have a downloaded platform.

I will update my findings on each provider as I go on however I'm going to find some time and try and look at Cityindex and Go markets platform next.

Again if you could add your feedback I would appreciate it.

Cheers

CFDtrader09

Ya kidding aren't ya???

What are you looking for with all these bells and whistles in a "free" package?

Have you actually placed a real trade yet? Have you a profitable system or an idea about a possible positive expectancy system? If you want a good system use esignals or Amibroker or something other than the bucket shops.

I doubt you will ever need or actually be able to use 5% of the stuff they give away. Because it doesn't matter. Stop looking for a free Ferrari and just learn how to drive

Trembling Hand said:

And if you really want something reliable to do TA with don't use the bucket shop data and software. Buy/pay for it from a reliable data provider.

Click to expand...

I agree as well if you are serious about your trading then you should invest in a decent trading platform. I currently use Profitsource which cost me a small fortune. I also have a free version of Incredible Charts and used Bourse Data a few years back. I'm looking for a reliable CFD provider now because I'm looking to move over to CFDs I have traded shares and FX with a US broker on the MT4 platform which I found very rich in features and very user friendly and customizable after you get used to it.

I want to be able to trade CFDs and FX all from the one account and have reliable chart data. I'm so use to Profitsource and MT4 that I guess I might be asking for too much for a free platform by CFD providers. However I will keep searching.

Thanks for your feedback TH.

Regards

CFDtrader09

CFDtrader2009 said:

Well not according to what I found out today which I will go into more detail soon

Click to expand...

ah the old reverse psych therapy CFD !!

CMC were first on your list and its not them ---who was last on your list??

GO markets ------ ok ill go with that!!

recently opened an a/c with them and so far like their platform etc -- no 1 second charts though --- cant have everything i guess --- i reckon you'll choose GO (no royalty payments required either

Cartman said:

ah the old reverse psych therapy CFD !!

CMC were first on your list and its not them ---who was last on your list??

GO markets ------ ok ill go with that!!

recently opened an a/c with them and so far like their platform etc -- no 1 second charts though --- cant have everything i guess --- i reckon you'll choose GO (no royalty payments required either

Click to expand...

I started this thread with the idea of getting feedback from fellow ASF members like yourself to give me an idea of what each CFD provider can offer in terms of service and platform in a centralised thread rather then what I had to do which was go through numerous threads on various forums on different CFD providers. The reason why I choose CMC first then IG was because I came across this article CFD providers battle it out for top spot which shows CMC still at the top still however IG and MFG seem to be gaining ground in recent years. I would be keen to see what the graph looks like next year.

I will continue to do my personal reviews on each provider however I guess in the best interest I will not say which provider I will go with. I'm more than happy to go with more than one provider if I feel it is necessary.

I am more than happy for you to fill in the blanks for GO Markets as I have yet to get a chance to go through them yet.

Regards
CFDtrader09

You may consider interest rates as a selection criteria. Both interest on open positions and your free equity.

You also may want to look at the platform's trade records and statement clarity etc... from my experience the CMC platform is a joke on this regard.

City Index are offering commission free CFD trades during January and February 2009, maybe an ideal opportunity to test drive a platform using micro positions.

skc said:

You may consider interest rates as a selection criteria. Both interest on open positions and your free equity.

You also may want to look at the platform's trade records and statement clarity etc... from my experience the CMC platform is a joke on this regard.

Click to expand...

I will definitely add this later on, atm I'm trying to find out which provider offers the best Platform. I have read numerous threads regarding CFD providers in general and have a fair idea of what most people like and dislike. I must agree that CMC seems to have the most negative comments about their new charts.

glenn_r said:

City Index are offering commission free CFD trades during January and February 2009, maybe an ideal opportunity to test drive a platform using micro positions.

Click to expand...

Thanks Glenn_r, that was good to know, I played around with City index's platform today. Here's what I found:

CityIndex
1. Do you have a demo account?
Yes, 14 day with 10k Virtual cash I have to admit that Cityindex was the fastest to respond with demo login details. Had no issues loggin in.
2. How many technical indicators do you have?
Under 20 from what I can see on the platform, please advise otherwise
- Fibonacci retracement/extension(configurable)
Yes, however it is not configurable and there were no extensions.
- Gann Tools (angles and retracements)
None
- Cycle lines
No
- Stoch's, MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands etc must be configurable
Yes, however configuring these indicators is very limited.
- backtest function
No
- custom indicators
No
3. What markets do you offer and what are the data charges (per/month), platform?
The usual such as Indices, equity cfds, commodities, FX, and Bonds. I found their margin requirements are a little bit higher than CMCs, please checkout page 22 of the PDS. The asx data fee is $38.5
4. Hrs support, get own account manager?
Did not get a chance to speak to anyone yet, can someone shed more light on this?
5. Ability to save layouts
No, it seems the platform is already set out for you. However you can load charts and save the chart templates.
6. Education/Training
The do run seminars, not too sure on what else they offer in terms of booklets or online materials.
7. Commissions for Aus CFDs
.1% or 10 basis points, check page 23 of the PDS for more info

I spent a few hrs on this platform and tried pulling it apart however as most Cityindex clients will find out its not very customizable as the platform itself is already set out for you. I found its platform very simple and intuative however if your looking for something that has more grunt then I don't think this is the best platform(please not I have not tested order execution or customer service, this can be something current clients can add in) well for what I am looking for anyways.

I was quite disappointed with the charting, it had a few tools but was very hard to configure if at all. I'm also not sure wheather you can your save layouts with your current charts setup?? I have 3 monitors so I want to be able to load specific layouts each time with all the various charts on the corresponding monitors rather then having to keep opening a new chart and apply a template which I seemed to be doing alot with the Cityindex platform.

I'm currently playing around with the Go Markets platform which is the MT4 platform which I am very familiar with it but am quite disappointed that the demo account only provides FX data. I will test this out more over the next day or two.

Regards
CFDtrader09

I really appreciate all the effort your putting in CFD. I need to update/ upgrade but the necessary legwork that you're doing for us bores me to tears, in fact I go into a cold sweat just considering doing it myself:22_yikes: so thx for all the free info, you deserve a medal.