Oanda Review
What’s The Attraction?
What attracted me to Oanda was the ability to trade any lot amount. As most brokers only allow users to trade either the standard (100k) or mini (10k) lot size Oanda is a breath of fresh air.
One other thing that attracted me to Oanda was its own user forum and plethora of information – it sure is one content rich web site! Whatever you are looking for regarding the forex market I am sure you will be able to find at Oanda.
Live & Demo Differences
As with other platforms we found no difference between the demo and live accounts, bar the reset button for demo accounts – I wish they would implement that button in the live
accounts too!!! Another excellent feature of Oanda’s demo account is that it never expires.
What We Liked About Oanda:
The charting package that came equipped with the platform was not bad. It wasn’t the best charting package we had seen, but it altogether was not the worst either. Some time frames that we like to monitor were not available which was disappointing (time frames that are not available include: 10min, 15min, 2hr, 4hr, 8hr, 12hr, 1week, 1month).
Oanda has the capacity to have multi-denominated sub accounts other than in USD with no minimum deposit. The different currency accounts available include: AUD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD & CHF and allows the user to transfer between their primary account and their sub account easily with the only restriction being that you cannot externally withdraw funds from a sub account, it must all come out of the primary account.
One other little thing that might go unnoticed by others is that Oanda display the volume currently available at the current market price. It is only seen when you place an order – it can give you an idea of what size order can be taken.
The orders screen is nothing new, however, where the orders can go is unique. Oanda do not have any restrictions on how close you can place a stop or limit order to where the current market is (I have experienced placing limit orders within the spread)!
Similarly there are no real restrictions on attaching stop and limit orders bar just covering the spread and adding one pip. Orders also have a variety of expiry times allowing you to place an expiry time of 1 hour (the earliest) to 1 month (the largest) on your orders.
Added to those features we also have Oanda paying us interest by the second for currency positions that do accrue interest – obviously it works in the reverse for positions that require us to pay. AND they also pay interest on a daily basis on your account’s capital.
What We Didn’t Like About Oanda:
The highest leverage available from Oanda is set at 50:1, which you can change to 40:1, or 30:1, or 20:1, or 10:1 if desired. We would have preferred at least the standard 100:1 leverage.
It has been stated in other forums that you will encounter more slippage with Oanda, but I personally have never enountered this slippage. However, do keep in mind that Oanda clients do experience
both negative and POSITIVE slippage – it just depends on which side you sit.
The news package offered by Oanda is not the best we have seen and could be much better. I personally think that all a forex broker would need do is have streaming live news headlines on their platform – nothing fancy, but effective in providing the latest news. Oanda do have streaming news, but it’s some weird UBS feed that doesn’t display relevant economic headlines.
Oanda is also a web based platform. I personally have never liked web based platforms, I prefer to have the platform physically on my hard drive, but that’s just my view.
In summary then…
Oanda PROS:
- Charting package okay
- Platform not bad
- Can trade any sized lots (not restricted to the $100k and $10k lots imposed by other firms)
- Account can be denominated in any currency & you can have multiple sub accounts in any currency too
- Demo account that doesn’t expire
- Active user group forum
- You can place stop and limit orders right up to the current market price bar a couple of pips
- Orders can have a range of expiry times
- Tight spreads on EURUSD (~1.5 pips!)
- Interest earned on positions by the second (for currency positions that do accrue interest)
- Interest paid daily on account capital
Oanda CONS:
- 100:1 leverage NOT offered
- Interest paid on positions by the second (for currency positions that do require you to pay interest)
- News & charting package could be better
- Slippage can occur on stop and limit orders more frequently than would otherwise be exhibited at other forex brokerage firms (can be a positive if you place limit orders)
Our Oanda Rating
Oanda is another forex broker firm that is heading in the right direction. I think you will begin to see many more advancements with this firm in the future as they seem to take a lot of what their customer base recommends to heart. I personally recommend Oanda to everyone that starts out in the forex market.
As you can see from the summary above there aren’t too many major negatives that weigh Oanda down, and that is why we have given it quite a good score. If Oanda can implement a trailing stop feature, offer 100:1 leverage and can allow OCO type orders I think we would have a near 10/10 broker!
What has been your experience with Oanda? Add your comments below
Tags: FX Oanda, FXTrade Oanda, Forex Broker, Oanda, Oanda com
July 12th, 2005 at 11:37 pm
BUT, WHAT to do about the SLIPPAGE?
September 15th, 2005 at 8:53 am
Rare slippage with Oanda. If the market is volatile, Oanda will increase spread to 3 pips instead. Of course no broker guarantees 100% fill or no slippage, because the problem is not their, it’s the exchange price. Beware with the broker that has guaranteed fill and no slippage!
October 16th, 2005 at 7:16 pm
The effective leverage at Oanda IS 100:1
November 13th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
oanda is good, because we only need $1 to start trading. but oanda didn’t accept hedging capability
i would prefer trade in http://en.valasonline.com
because they can do like oanda, but they also support a hedge capability
November 13th, 2005 at 8:05 pm
oanda didn’t accept hedging capability
i would prefer trade in http://en.valasonline.com
because they can do like oanda, but they more better
December 10th, 2005 at 5:35 pm
Another great thing about OandA is that it works on a MAC. I’ve tried ACM and their Flash also works but is very slow. I could not get their Java to work with loading Internet Explorer (not a chance) or Netscape – which is not ready for OS 10.4.
I haven’t noticed any slippage with OandA in the 4 months I’ve been trading. However, they will widen the spreads on the weekends.
As for the charts, they provide what I need. Anything else that I might need, I can get elsewhere free.
December 23rd, 2005 at 11:40 am
I’ve been using oanda fx game and it seems like they start the game on low leverage – put in an order for 500,000 units of Gbp/jpy and it used $50,000 of margin. Isn’t that about 10:1 leverage? Also, ElectricSavant, what do you mean by “effective 100:1 leverage?”
January 20th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
The game does default t low leverage- to change the leverage you must go to the account menu on the main game page and select “change leverage”, but I’m sure you have found this by now. A cool feature I ran across by accident is the ability to click and drag your stop loss indicator to you desired location without having to access the menus- sort of a manual trailing stop (auto would be better, Oanda!) Also, if you have a Mac as I do, test their platform on all the different browsers. Safari’s JAVA implementation is far superior to Firefox or IE for Oanda, tho it’s disk caching scheme make it slow down noticably over the course of the day.
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Oanda also offers low-level API for auto trading. The API is native in Java, but you can use it in C/C++, Java, VB.Net, and C#. The API cost $600/month, but you’ll get discount for each and every trade you make. It’s totally free if you make a couple of trades per months.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:55 am
Has anyone notice the 10-15 pip spreads on OANDA during opening hours (5-8pm EST) on Sunday? I asked them why they do this when all other brokers have standard spreads, and they said that’s just the way it is with OANDA.
Same with the 50:1 leverage – take it or leave it.
April 7th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
i am using leavage 10:1 in oanda real account and i think it is risky i want to make it 5:1 only ,my friends forex is not a game forex is a stratgey bussines and making 1% daily is my aim amd more than that is risky ,i think oanda is the best ever company in forex and use bloomberg radio as your source for streaming news and if you need any help go to my site and contact me over there i like to help u >
doctor orabi ibrahim abdelhamid
April 9th, 2006 at 4:11 am
I got several accounts with oanda, trading with them from 2001. since then a lots of improvement has gone with the interface. But still I need to add the following into my wish list,
1. 2h, 4h, weekly and Monthly chart.
2. Daily chart with more then a year data
3. 100:1 levarage.
4. Trailing stop.
Oanda is #1 choice for me
May 10th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
Oanda publishes informatuin about Open Orders of their clients.
I wrote a software to determine exectly where Stop Losses and Take Profits of Oanda’s clients are.
You can download it fo free from my site http://www.oanda-indicator.co.nr/
August 9th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Oanda could be the best broker out there if they would add trailing stops, OCO orders, be able to straddle the account (long/short) and increase the leverage to 100 to 1. I agree Orabi that people tend to use too much leverage, but I would like to see 100 to 1 so that I can leverage myself in very particular circumstances when scalping the market. The additional leverage could come in handy if I am already holding positions. Anyone holding positions and utilizing more than 10 to 1 is asking for trouble (even at that level it’s probably too much unless you have a reasonable stop).
September 4th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
[...] Several brokers around the place are beginning to offer micro mini positions and minimum account opening balances of around US$200-300. Forex brokers such as Oanda offer $1 lot position sizes. [...]
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:18 pm
I found Oanda about 4 mo ago and have been doing well with it. I do understand the concern with capatability but I have nothing bad to say about it and actually prefer it these days.
Ken
http://www.j-ams.org
ken@j-ams.org
November 12th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Big Plus: 24 Hour LIVE Customer Service. Downer: Rude and condescending reps. Dear Oanda, might want to consider outsourcing to India, at least we’ll be courteous.
November 14th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
I’ve never encountered a rude rep. Well, maybe once, but they were returning the attitude I was giving them. Your situation must have been similar… maybe outsourcing to India is not a good idea.
December 24th, 2006 at 3:44 am
I use Oanda, three years now, I am also using Marketiva, which has 100:1 as an only option, and Marketiva has poor quality charts, once you get used to them , you will like seeing that they go back to 1993 sometimes!
I follow both at the same time, and I noticed marketiva seems to have a 4 or 5 second advanced signal in their favour! when compared to the true signal I watch on Oanda…alsoI find M. collects a spread on entry AND on exit, so yes, …I really liike Oandas features! Also Marketiva reduces your available balance “As you place entry orders” which are not even triggered!! …now, if you have some trades already in progress, it can lead into a margin call, …for no reason! Oanda only reduces your account “As trades are actually begun” …so, in essence, you could have 20 limit orders on board, and wait, …until a couple trigger, then cancell the others, no danger to your margin call. Ok enough, I like Oanda, but watch more than one platform at once.
January 12th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Oanda is a big SCAM, they are increasing the spread 20 to 30 pips during news anouncements , this is stop hunting practice, they are the worst broker, be very carefull.
July 26th, 2007 at 10:44 am
It is strange that no one ever mentions that Oanda provides continuously compounded interest because they charge a huge interest rate spread. You are being dragged through that spread in continuous time. The bid-offer is not the only cost for a professional FX trader. From my perspective Oanda is a loan business with FX trading as a distraction. Has anyone ever looked at the roll costs versus those implied by the forward market?!? The only reason these retail platforms exist is to take your money by providing you leverage and charging a huge spread. I can’t image any professionals using this platform.
September 30th, 2007 at 11:29 am
oanda is bad for trade in news time.
http://www.fx-indo.com
January 14th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
worst demo so far. it disconnected me3 times in an hour for bout 2 minutes though net connection is ok.
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
everything looks too good for oanda,but their huge spread during the news is bad enough to hit you stoploss whereever it is.all my money disappeared at oanda because of that.
March 25th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Widening spreads allows oanda to make their money – when tens of thousands of people rush in during the news is can become difficult for the MM to effectively manage their positions – if the positions are against their positions. just don’t trade the news. sooner or later you’ll get wiped out trading the news anyway. don’t forget, MM lend you money to trade with – it makes perfect sense why the spreads widen.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:39 am
I would recommend to anybody as long as they are not trading the news. Its is especailly good for new traders as u get an unlimited demo plus a platform that is very user friendly (u dont need to watcha video to learn how to use it).
However, in the area of slippage, i can tell u its there. I have experiend its many times. But this is not unique to Oanda. As i said before, if ur not trading the news oanda is definitely one of the best out there.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 am
oh PS: is anyone knows a good platform for trading the news please let me know my email address is swabie_7@hotmail.com
July 6th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Oanda Forex has just launched a new forum for there members and clients to talk about different trading methods and tricks to making faster money on there deal books this is the link to the new forum: http://www.oandaforexforum.com/
January 19th, 2009 at 10:30 am
oanda is a market maker, and at news time the speards are crazy and thats me being nice,. funny things happen at oanda when you start making money, couldnt login to the platform, on 2 different connections,.. could of been my pc? i dont know, but any way moved on to a ECN miles apart from market makers,
if you want to gamble go to a market maker, if you want trade proper REAL in the fx market go to a ECN,. simple as that
July 27th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Ahaan… I will follow.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I have been with Oanda for about a year. Oanda is a market maker so they actively trade against there customers. They actively hunt stop losses. Oanda’s trading platform freezes often. I have lost my connection to my trading account while trading and they told me that I was having internet connectivity problems even though I could get to other web sites and log in to my email without a problem. They also did not know that I used to be a network administrator before telling me that I was having internet connectivity problems. Oanda is a highly manipulated environment. The correct term for this type of broker is a “Bucket Shop”
ECN brokers are the most free market breed of broker. They do not have a dealing desk that can be manipulated. ECN brokers want you to be successful because they make money when you make money. Oanda makes money when you loose. As time moves forward traders will opt for ECN brokers and market makers will go bust.