Which Trading Platform?

Where there is muck there’s brass and I guess that’s applicable to trading platforms too.

Looking beyond the bells and whistles of the most commonly deployed trading platforms used by traders in the market today and instead perusing over some of the recent reviews and it becomes fairly apparent that traders are overall disappointed with what is available. Admittedly bad news travels faster than good news, particularly in the globally interconnected world. Obviously, nobody is jumping with joy when they see money slip through their fingers, more so professional traders. But you would be side stepping the issue to assume that these reviews/complaints are just about traders who are sore losers, blaming the trading software for their losses. After all, when you get numerous traders complaining about the same problems with the same software trading platforms offered by their brokers, then we could assume that there might be something in it.

Let’s start with FXCM, which happens to be the world’s leading FOREX online trading and Contract for Difference (CFD) broker. Generally speaking the reviews for FXCM are sadly in the dumps. While many traders would agree that on the surface FXCM is excellent. The broker has friendly staff that are customer orientated. They tend to provide good quality educational resources and the paper trading demo platform is well designed, clearly laid out and excellent to use. Most traders have reported no real issues with funding their account, or moving funds out of their trading accounts. Moreover, there didn’t seem to be any problems with the trading platform, no unexplained slippage while buying and selling. However, the problem arises where it really matters, in the price dealings. There is a general consensus amongst traders that a movement against your position usually moves faster than price movements in your favor. 

FXCM get quotes from a number of banks, but some traders have complained that they are offered rates least favorable to them. Instead the broker takes the most favorable rate and the difference between the most and least favorable rate represent their profit, making it easy for FXCM to cream the profits from traders. Apparently only 23 percent of trades are profitable with FXCM. 

Other complaints from traders concerning FXCM platform is that executing orders tends to be frustrated during heavy volume trading hours, which often leaves traders unable to lock in their profits or cut their losses during a fast market. In some instances the software platform frustratingly froze when trying to execute orders. A number of traders have complained about seeing price gravitate towards their stop losses, then mysteriously spiking up. One trader complained that sometimes FXCM can actually hit his stop losses from as much as 20 price interest points (PIPS), which measures the amount of change in the exchange rate for a currency pair. Other complaints concerning the FXCM platform include, in some instances, inaccurate charts. The FX rates don’t always correspond to the true market exchanges rates, instead quotes using FXCM platform tend to favor the broker at the expense of the trader. Another complaint was the lengthy time it takes to open an account after funds have been sent. In one case a trader sent 25,000 USD into his trading account from a joint account, so the funds were not accepted, nor were they sent back to him after two weeks had elapsed. 

But by far the broker with the worse review was the Danish Bank, Saxo Bank. The help desk was rated rude, unhelpful and arrogant by most traders. Many traders reported strange things happening with their stop losses and margins. “What they do with stops, is they wait and see if the price bounces up, and then they trigger the stop,” claimed one trader. But while operating a “bucket shop,” doing pseudo-brokerage is illegal in many states in the US it is perfectly legal in the EU. An Information Technology professional, who specifically develops software systems for banks, decided to put the Saxo Bank software to the test. This insider made some interesting revelations. He argued that his motive for trading was purely to test the system, not to make a profit. However, whatever strategy he applied just didn’t work. He believed it had nothing to do with his trading strategy; instead it was the software that was programmed deliberately to work against him. He claimed that the software was engineered to “intelligently” wipe out balances from traders’ accounts, through either lost connections, screen jam, not enough margin, price moves against his position until the trader changes his bet or panics. Furthermore, he added that Saxo Bank has a different approache for different types of clients, which is determined when the applicant declares his profession and trading experience at the time when he opens the account with them. Indeed, there are a number of lawsuits against Saxo Bank and their license is now under threat.

CMC Capital markets was also heavily criticized for similar problems, frozen screens, running stops, wide margins and dealing prices not reflecting the real market. Furthermore, their next generation software has also been given the thumbs down. Referring to the next generation software platform, one trader said, “It allows them to tinker with the 'rules' more easily - they'll change spreads and margin requirements suddenly.”

They are also starting to charge "Price data feed" for shares on 01 Dec 2012. 

However, the trading platform with the best review was Finexo, which was set up in 2003 by veterans of the global financial industry and is one of world’s fastest growing online Forex brokers. Generally traders are happy with the platform fast executions and excellent customer service.

It is no surprise that Finexo is one of the fastest growing online brokers in the world. Indeed, what research is suggesting is that the market is crying out for decent software trading platforms. But just as choosing the right execution broker, which deploys a fair platform to execute trades online is important for traders so too is having at your disposal a comprehensive analysts and trading package. WinWay TradingExpert Pro, was developed by a successful trader, Darren Winters, for specifically traders in mind. The trading software package contains a complete array of analysis tools, thereby sharpening your trading decisions, making them timelier; more decisive, quicker and right on the money. Certainly, the WinWay Trading package software, combine with a fair play online execution broker, are critical partners to making your trades more profitable.