Forex Brokers: Main Concepts To Be Aware Of
Individual retail traders, most of whom trade in much smaller size compared to those of banks, generally trade through forex brokers instead of directly accessing the interbank market. If a trader is bullish on say, the USD/JPY, he or she will go long by buying a specific quantity of USD/JPY from the market maker, who will then effectively be short USD/JPY by selling to the trader.
No information on volume
Since buy and sell transactions are not cleared by a central system, there is no way of knowing the total volume of trade. Lack of volume data can pose a challenge to stacks or futures traders who have made the switch to currencies as they may have become used to checking volume.
Exchange rates do differ from place to place, screen to screen, depending on which parties are offering what. Cash transactions take place between countless parties at any one time, and there is no exchange which records all these transactions. For example, while the exchange rate of EUR/USD may show 1.2500/1.2503 on Broker X, the EUR/USD exchange rate on Broker Y may be 1.2505/1.2508 at the same time. There isn’t a universal absolute exchange rate of any currency pair at any given time.
Some independent traders are not even aware of this peculiar aspect of OTC dealings. Since there can be a few different prices for a currency pair at any one time, you may not be able to see what is the best available price if you trade through only one market maker. Generally, though, the rates provided by market makers to retail traders are quite close to the pricing quoted in the interbank market.
Spreads on currency pairs vary from broker to broker, with some market makers setting fixed spreads, while ECNs will have varying (usually tighter) spreads in each currency pair, depending on market liquidity. Spreads and/or commissions should preferably be calculated in advance before each trade so that you can decide where your breakeven price will be after taking into account all these business costs.
No standard data
Exchange rates differ from one market maker to another because there is no consensus specified by a centralised market Different market makers have different rates at the same time although usually not differing by more than a few pips. A trader would have to accept what is being quoted by his broker unless he compares prices with other brokers. Price charts from different price feed vendors will also look slightly different as they each have their own data source. Although, in general, the currency prices are quite similar.
Trading in forex has many secrets which one needs to know in order to be a successful trader. Sure, it is not easy, but this is the only way to success in forex.
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