Your broker is one of your most important partners in your trading success.
They should be fair and reliable.
To that end, these are the brokers that I suggest checking out.
Obviously, you should do your own due diligence when selecting a broker. These brokers may not be a good fit for all traders, so figure out what works for you.
By trading with these brokers, you accept 100% responsibility for your choice.
This is my opinion and is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.
Oanda
I've traded with Oanda US for years and they provide a feature that is vital to the success of new and experienced traders alike…nano lots.
This allows traders to take exactly the right amount on risk on every trade and is especially important for traders who are starting out with small accounts.
Other brokers that only allow trading through MetaTrader require you to round your lot size to the nearest micro lot.
When traders are forced to round their trades up they are taking more risk than is optimal and can lead to bigger drawdowns.
When traders have to round down, then aren't making as much as they could be. If their wins don't make up for their losses, they can experience losses, even when their trading strategy should have positive expectancy.
So if you are in the US, my favorite US broker is Oanda.
Trading with Oanda is also one of the only ways that US residents can hedge effectively in Forex.
You can trade with Oanda in other countries, so that might be an option for you too.
Learn more about Oanda here.
Update: Oanda now offers crypto trading.
Scandinavian Capital Markets
Regulations in the US and many places in Europe have become more and more restrictive.
The primary downside of this is that available leverage in Forex trading has gone down considerably. Sure, too much leverage can be dangerous for beginners.
But not enough leverage is dangerous for professionals.
Full-time traders with large accounts spread their money across multiple brokers and prefer to keep a large chunk of their trading funds in their bank. This protects them from surprise market movements.
However, this also means that they need more leverage to comfortably execute trades.
This is where a broker like Scandinavian Capital Markets is a huge asset. They are regulated in Sweden and provide good (but not excessive) leverage.
The best of both worlds.
If you are a full-time trader, then I recommend talking to Scandinavian Capital Markets.
I have met with them personally and feel that they are one of the few regulated, non-US brokers that are operating with integrity and actively work on establishing positive business relationships with their clients.
Scandinavian Capital Markets is not for new traders. You should have some experience in trading before signing up with them.
But if you are outside the US and you are an experienced trader, I feel that they are an excellent option.
Since I'm in the US, it would be a hassle for me to setup the structures necessary to trade with them. I would if I could.
Learn more about Scandinavian Capital Markets here.
Hugo's Way
A third broker that I like is Hugo's Way.
They are third on my list because they are not as regulated as the previous brokers on this list, but there are distinct advantages to trading with them.
I do trade with them and have had a good experience.
The first advantage is that they offer Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals.
There are 2 reasons why this is beneficial.
Bitcoin deposits are easy to do and you do not need to setup an additional account or bank account connection.
In addition, you can switch between Bitcoin and fiat denominated trading accounts. So when Bitcoin is low, you can trade in that account.
But when BTC does its occasional spike, you can switch your funds to a fiat account and lock in the profits.
Obviously, this can work against you too. So you have to understand the dynamics of Bitcoin if you're going to do this.
If you don't understand, then stick with a fiat based account.
Another advantage is that they provide up to 500:1 leverage.
You can setup your account with any leverage you want, all the way up to 500:1.
So if you don't feel comfortable with that amount of leverage, set it to 100:1 or even 10:1.
Finally, they also are an ECN broker, so they have tight spreads.
When you trade with an ECN broker, you save money because your transaction costs are lower.
ECN brokers will usually charge a small commission, but even with the commission, your expenses can be significantly lower.
Click here to learn more about Hugo's Way.
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