OTT: Newb to currency trading - basic question

[reykjavik]

I am interested in basic currency scalping (so basic, I won't even bother with NT).

Does anyone have any suggestions on a broker to use? I don't want to use these over-marketed enormous spread guys like fxcm. I'm just looking for a reputable company with access to a bigger network and more liquidity. They would also need a gui that I can use to place orders since I won't be using nt.

Any thoughts?

[Elliott Wave]

You might want to check into IB or MB Trading.

[reykjavik]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I looked into IB and the minimum to start an account is way too high (10K). So is the commission of $2.50 which is roughly the scalping amounts I was looking at. MB looks better, with its tighter spreads and $.50 commission, but it doesn't say anywhere what the minimum is for an account.

Anyone know if MB allows any sort of micro accounts?

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

>> Anyone know if MB allows any sort of micro accounts?
I believe MBT does, you may want to clarify with your broker.

However NT right now does not work correctly on micro lots. Next NT6.5 update (available in a 1-2 months) will overcome this limitation.

[reykjavik]

>> Anyone know if MB allows any sort of micro accounts?
I believe MBT does, you may want to clarify with your broker.

However NT right now does not work correctly on micro lots. Next NT6.5 update (available in a 1-2 months) will overcome this limitation.

Is 10K considered a micro lot?

I actually won't be using NT for my scalping. NT is way too sophisticated for me - I don't know ninjascript (or any script), I don't know algorithm, etc... I really wish I did though...

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

10K would be considered a mini-lot (no problem there).
1K would be considered a micro-lot.

[Elliott Wave]

>> Anyone know if MB allows any sort of micro accounts?
I believe MBT does, you may want to clarify with your broker.

However NT right now does not work correctly on micro lots. Next NT6.5 update (available in a 1-2 months) will overcome this limitation.

MB allows micro accounts and the minimum account size is a few hundred. Just make sure you aren't from any restricted countries like North Korea, Iran or Canada () and you should be fine.

I didn't know there was an issue with NT supporting microlots. I'm glad I found this out as I was about to switch brokers specifically for this reason.

[mojotrader]

>> Anyone know if MB allows any sort of micro accounts?
I believe MBT does, you may want to clarify with your broker.

However NT right now does not work correctly on micro lots. Next NT6.5 update (available in a 1-2 months) will overcome this limitation.

Has the micro lot feature been implemented? If so, how does it work?

I submitted a question regarding this issue several weeks ago and was told I could not specify lot sizes less that 1 but NT would notify the developers of this feature.

I currently trade forex through forex.com using the Mt4 platform but would prefer using NT for charting and order entry. However, I need the ability to scale lot sizes from 1000 on up to 100,000 like you can do on MT4 now.

What is the status of micro lot sizes?

Thanks,
Kent

P.S. MT4's order entry/management sucks big time. Solving this issue would make NT a viable alternative to MT4.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello Kent,

As far as I know only MBTrading and Gain Capital support micro lots of the supported forex brokers. As per Gain, this is not supported using NinjaTrader, see forum thread below.

http://www.ninjatrader-support2.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8367&highlight=micro+lot

You can set the lot size with MBTrading in the MBTrading Navigator. Right click in the Navigator and select Preferences-->General-->'Use lots for forex quote/order quantities: 1 lot = ......'.

When you trade your MBTrading account in NinjaTrader an order quantity of 1 will resemble the lot size defined in the MBTrading Navigator.

[mojotrader]

Hello Kent,

As far as I know only MBTrading and Gain Capital support micro lots of the supported forex brokers. As per Gain, this is not supported using NinjaTrader, see forum thread below.

http://www.ninjatrader-support2.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8367&highlight=micro+lot

You can set the lot size with MBTrading in the MBTrading Navigator. Right click in the Navigator and select Preferences-->General-->'Use lots for forex quote/order quantities: 1 lot = ......'.

When you trade your MBTrading account in NinjaTrader an order quantity of 1 will resemble the lot size defined in the MBTrading Navigator.

Thanks Jason but that didn't answer my question.

Dierk indicated the micro lot feater would be implemented in his 4/8/2009 post.

I understand MBT supports variable lot sizes but I chose not to use them because they do not provide historical data.

I currently use MT4 with Forex.com.

I would prefer to use NT w/Forex.com but won't till micro lot sizes are supported. Does this feature currently exist w/Forex.com or is it planned? If planned, what is the ETA?

Thanks,
Kent

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Dierk's post was referring to MBTrading only. Please see the release notes at Issue #2724 at the link below.

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/ReleaseNotes.html

I suggest to contact Forex.com to see if they are planning to support micro lots with NinjaTrader in the future.

[mojotrader]

Dierk's post was referring to MBTrading only. Please see the release notes at Issue #2724 at the link below.

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/ReleaseNotes.html

I suggest to contact Forex.com to see if they are planning to support micro lots with NinjaTrader in the future.

That was my next question. Who would be responsible for supporting this feature, NT or Forex.com?

To add to the confusion, MT4 supports it at Forex.com. If Mt4 supports it, why can't NT?

I suppose there's something I'm missing about all these vendor relationships. When you sign up for Mt4 at forex.com, am I really trading through forex.com or is forex.com just getting some of the spread from Mt4?

Thanks,
Kent

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

I suggest to check post #13 in the forum thread below.

http://www.ninjatrader-support2.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8367&highlight=micro+lot+Gain