Honolulu, Hawaii
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: ATC/TT, AMP/Zen-Fire, AMP/CQG
Trading: TF
Posts: 2,543 since Jun 2010
Thanks Given: 3,803
Thanks Received: 2,842
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Good questions. I am not keen on the 'terminology' as much anymore as others will have it down pat, but basically for most market maker forex brokers you are playing in their sandbox.
There are some that are more legitimate and reflect the true market, but even then spreads still make a difference.
For ES/Futures, then you are dealing with a central marketplace. I am not sure as to what is exactly sent and what not, I do not care unless I am doing some kind of HFT.
If you are new, then I suggest keeping your overhead light and plan on a good journey to continue your education. That is why Ninjatrader is so popular and with brokers like AMP, Mirus, Velocity, etc. you can get in with a pretty small account and just be sim for a while. You don't need to purchase the platform really until you are ready to go live and even then you still don't.
Sierra Charts is also a good cheap software that can do pretty much everything you would want to do. I suggest NT though since it is more widely used on this forum. My advice also is to choose a market and stick with it.
MT4 is by far better software for forex, BUT, the brokers have the connector software to that which doesn't always work in your favor. Hopefully the NFA fixes that issue in the future!
Plan on learning for a couple years before you can be consistent, but who knows, you could do it sooner.
Just give yourself plenty of room and time and it will come in my opinion. But hey, who am I to say, as I am still on that journey. I have had periods of 6 months of profitability live and then lost it all within weeks... Just be cautious, courteous to yourself!
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