Hey Sonja,

Yes, I still use Oanda. The leverage is fine, you shouldn’t be trading with more than 50:1 anyway, especially when you are first starting out.

Honestly, even the best brokers can run into trouble. That’s one of the risks of trading. Here’s a post about it: https://www.tradingheroes.com/3-simple-ways-avoid-fxcm-alpari-like-broker-risk/

You need to do your own homework and feel comfortable with the broker, but Oanda has worked for me and several professional traders I know.

…and I don’t get paid to say that (although I wish I did 🙂 )

Hope your trading is going well!

BTW, I just found your blog and am sitting here reading through a bunch of your posts now 🙂

Hi Laura,

I’m not sure if the V20 platform is more secure. Their technology tends to lag behind the times, but it is usually an improvement over the previous version, so I would assume that security is better in V20.

I was never able to find any information backing up that they store passwords unencrypted, but I assume that he was talking about a demo account. I’ve worked at a bank and given all of the US regulation, I don’t see any way that this could be the case for live money accounts.

Here’s the thing with brokers…in talking with a lot of pro traders and working at a hedge fund right after 9/11, I learned that you can’t really trust any broker. So as you probably know, this means having accounts at multiple brokers and keeping a good portion of your risk capital at your bank and not in your brokerage accounts. A certain amount of due diligence should be done on a broker, but at the end of the day, the best course of action is not to have all your money in one place.

Cool, let me contact you privately about a possible mastermind type arrangement.

Hope you are trading well!

Cheers,
Hugh

Hi Hugh.

I also currently trade with OANDA and also like them. But I’m thinking of (literally, physically) moving offshore (especially if Trump is elected) to trade larger amounts. After reading about these security issues, I’m even more motivated.

As you know, OANDA just introduced their new V20 platform. Do you know if that’s any more secure? Or were you able to find out if their existing platform is now more secure? I’d love any insight you can offer. I had intended to migrate to Dukascopy before the (relatively) recent US money-laundering and tax-evasion laws made that impossible. Unless you have an overseas address.

It also seemed as if kleaders’ comment may have been based on limited information, given it was a demo account and OANDA is US regulated. Thoughts?

Look forward to hearing back from you. Also looking forward to possibly talking more frequently. For some time now, I’ve been seeking out an “accountability partner” at a similar performance level. It sounds like you could be that person. (I’m full-time).

And, since I’m not interested in selling my knowledge or books — I wouldn’t mind being able to recommend someone in my place when I’m asked to give a talk on the topic. Cheers!

P.S. Just started following you on Twitter. I haven’t really been active there. Was using the account to test a trade reporting platform when first looking for an accountability partner.

 @kleaders Thanks for the heads up, I’ll contact them and see where they are on this.  They are a great broker, but they can be a little behind the times when it comes to tech.  It took them forever to get trailing stops and MT4, haha.