Forex Learning Blog

Fastbrokers is a regulated forex broker providing an absolutely unique combination of cheap ECN trading (non-dealing desk trading) and the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. Before my full review of Fastbrokers, here is the bottom line:

Pros

• an American forex broker registered with NFA and CFTC
• ECN trading with no dealing desk
• low spread
• microlots
• sophisticated forex trading platform (MetaTrader 4)
• suitable for automated trading (including free hosting of expert advisors and API)
• gold, silver, oil, futures
• payment options (bank wire, credit card, PayPal, check)
• quick and efficient customer support
• no additional fee for an Islamic swap-free forex account

Cons

• low number of exotic currency pairs
• forex trading accounts held only in USD
• a rather high minimum deposit for an ECN trading account

Recommended for

• technical trading
• scalping and high frequency trading
• news trading
• automated trading

Not recommended for

• trading of exotics

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Our comprehensive database of forex brokers, searchable through a fully interactive interface, has got a new, and I must say very interesting entry. What makes Fastbrokers absolutely unique is that they offer low-spread ECN trading combined with the popular and highly sophisticated MetaTrader 4 trading platform. As an American company, Fastbrokers is registered with both NFA and CFTC. It encourages all trading styles, including scalping and news trading. Since they are an ECN broker, you can actually trust their word that they will not trade against their clients. Another highlight is that they host the clients’ expert advisors (EA) for free, so you can enjoy the full potential of automated trading 24/7. They even feature an easy-to-use EA builder on their website. You can find more information (including spreads, leverage, and payment options) in our Fastbrokers review.

The most popular part of my website, the Forex Broker Comparison, allows readers to find a forex broker meeting their very specific needs. For example, you can search for a broker that is regulated, offers MetaTrader 4, and accepts credit cards - or anything else your trader’s heart craves for.

The page has gone through several improvements this week. The fully interactive interface is now even more user-friendly. I also added two new criteria that you can use in your search: a forex broker type and the country of registration. How do they work? You can filter your results to include only ECN brokers (who have generally better spreads and are more reliable than market makers). You can also restrict your search to a particular region, such as the European Union, Switzerland or the United States. Overall, you can now use 65 different criteria (or any combination of them) to find a forex broker that fits your needs perfectly. If you want me to add any other criterion, please leave me a comment.

Although they do not exactly advertise it, a major European forex broker is now offering a selected group of new clients a 100% cash back rebate from forex trading. This rebate is 10 times higher than the official forex rebate advertised on the broker’s website. I do not know for how long time this advantageous experiment will last. If you are interested, you can find a link to the 100% cash back rebate inside this article.
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Bollinger bands are considered to be one of the most popular tools of technical analysis. Although the simplest (and most widely known) version of this technical indicator does not predict the direction of the market, it reliably anticipates periods of low and high volatility. When used wisely, this information is usually sufficient for profitable trading of breakouts. My own profitable scalping strategy basically consists of breakout trading based on Bollinger bands. What else can this technical indicator offer to a forex trader? Let us ask the inventor of Bollinger bands himself.
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By definition, a forex trading system is robust if it remains effective under different market conditions. Robustness is what all forex trading systems should strive for. Clearly, if a profitable forex trading system can operate in various times, the profit will rise with the number of trades. Moreover, a robust trading system is to some extent immune to a sudden change in the market, meaning that risk is greatly reduced. In this article I will describe how to backtest a trading system for robustness. I will also clarify the most dangerous misunderstandings about robust trading systems and backtesting.
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I have had a real forex trading account with OANDA for three years. My experience with this forex broker is summarized in the detailed review below. But before that, here is the bottom line:

Pros

• regulated forex broker, large excess capital, good reputation
• no commission, low spread on EUR/USD and some other currency pairs
• infrequent slippage
• offers exotic currencies including CNY, gold, silver
• trades from 1 unit of the base currency

Cons

• forex charts with severely limited choice of technical indicators and time-frames
• frequent and significant widening of the spread
• very low leverage
• no hedging
• expensive automated trading
• occasional spikes
• occasional problems with the forex trading platform

Recommended for

• Carry trading
• EUR/USD trading
• manual grid trading

Not recommended for

• technical trading
• scalping
• news trading
• automated forex trading

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Shariah, the Islamic law, prohibits interest payment. However, the rollover interest is an integral part of forex trading. How can a Muslim forex trader from Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates trade currencies without violating the religious law? The answer is to find a forex broker willing to offer an account with no overnight interest. Such swap-free accounts are usually offered only to Muslims in order to prevent abuse. To substitute for the revenue from a missing swap, forex brokers also charge a flat fee for this service. The only exceptions is the American forex broker Fastbrokers, which does not charge any additional fee for its Sharia account.

A review of the online forex brokers offering an Islamic account follows. The list of Islamic forex brokers was created using an interactive comparison of forex brokers. I included only forex brokers that offer Islamic swap-free accounts, charge no commission for forex trading, and are regulated by trustworthy authorities. The five cheapest Muslim friendly brokers are ordered starting with the lowest spread (transaction cost).

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Several weeks ago, I decided to fully automatize my scalping strategy. Since my broker did not offer free automated forex trading, I started to look for a new broker. I knew exactly what I wanted: a regulated forex broker offering free automated trading, with the spread on EUR/USD lower than 2 pips, the leverage of at least 100:1, and a minimum deposit under $10,000. Believe me or not, the only way to find a forex broker meeting these simple criteria was to browse through dozens of websites and to make my own spreadsheet that would compare different offers. Although I saw many simple and outdated lists of borkers, there was no website that would allow me to choose a forex broker based on my own particular needs. I felt something was wrong. That was the moment when I came up with an idea to create what later became the Forex Learning Site.

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