Having now used Excalibur’s services for over 6 weeks I can provide my opinions on his service.

The things that I liked about Excalibur Forex was its simplicity of signals. Excalibur only trades the 4 major currency pairs, as well as the AUDUSD, the USDCAD, the EURJPY, and the GBPJPY. Each signal is sent out at 0000 GMT (and some times a little earlier) and even though there were days where I’d only access these signals an hour or two after they had been sent I still had no problems getting in (the market isn’t that volatile around that period). I will also add that the majority of exits where either through trailing stops set from the previous day or a target limit orders – with only one trade being exited at market during my sample.

The way in which I tested Excalibur’s system was by risking US$500 on each trade (which equated to 1% on my fresh demo Oanda account). I would then calculate the position size needed using Oanda’s FXMath Profit Calculator based on entry and stop loss prices.

Unfortunately during the testing period Excalibur wasn’t profitable. With risking US$500 per trade the account never went above starting capital and slipped to as low as US$45,022.60 (a tad under a 10% loss). The ending equity was US$46,174.16 (a 7.6% loss) and this excluded the profit/loss of the two open positions as at 30 April 2007.

Now I can understand the unfortunate luck of reviewing a service during a down month, so this isn’t my biggest concern, my biggest concern is whether what was reported as the ending profit/loss for the period was in fact what I had.

Excalibur report that the ending profit/loss in pips for April was -135.

My ending profit/loss in pips for April was +85 pips (BTW my opening balance as at 1 April 2007 was US$46,762.26 – so I still lost money)! Firstly the discrepancy for the difference in pips made lay in several factors: first there was an erroneously placed order on the web site to buy the USDCAD (Malcolm reported a stop loss higher than the entry price) I didn’t place a trade and informed Malcolm of the error, and by the time it was corrected the trade had already hit its stop loss – losing 60 pips). The other discrepancies lay in the EURUSD and USDCHF trades where it was by sheer luck on my part that I entered the order 2 hours late. I still kept the orders active, but the currencies never came back up and hit the entry price each losing 55 and 85 pips respectively.

Which brings us to an even stranger discrepancy: Why did you still lose money during April, even though YOU made 85 pips?? The best way to illustrate this is by using an example.

Let’s say that I have two trades on the GBPUSD and one loses 100 pips and the other makes 60 pips, netting me a loss of 40 pips. If my initial stop loss for trade #1 was 200 pips away, and my initial stop loss for trade #2 was 100 pips way what would my position size have been for each trade if I were willing to risk US$500 per trade?

We can easily do the math as follows:

Trade #1: U$500 / 0.0200 = 25,000 units
Trade #2: U$500 / 0.0100 = 50,000 units

Okay, now what would our net result be:

Trade #1: 25,000 x (0.0100) = (U$250)
Trade #2: 50,000 x 0.0060 = U$300

Our net profit = U$50.00 even though we’re net -40 pips. Even though the currency was the same, the pip value was the same, the risked amount was the same, we were still able to achive a net profit DOLLAR-wise compared to our net PIP losses.

It makes you think twice about forex signal services who provide performance statistics PIP based doesn’t it – especially if you trade their services as I have done with Excalibur by RISKING a fixed amount per trade. You’ll want to make sure that if you do employ a money management strategy such as this for a forex signal provider that you not only analyse their performance but also whether their initial stops are always a fixed distance away, or variable.

Anyway, getting back to Excalibur’s Forex I’d like to thank Malcolm for the opportunity and wish him the very best for the future with his service. If I could recommend one thing for his service it would be the capability to have alerts emailed to the user inbox, but that’s about it.

If you have similarly trialled Excalibur Forex and would like to detail your experience please do so below.

Tags: Excalibur, Excalibur Forex, Forex Signal

If you have used EasyForex’s signals and would like to add your comments, please do so by entering them below and clicking on the “Add Comment” button.

Now that I have finished my review of Excalibur Forex, I will try EasyForex’s system as well, and would encourage others to get in contact with EasyForex so that we all can provide a review (as some of us live in different time zones where we would not be able to access their signals in a timely manner – from what I can gather their signals are sent at 0200 GMT and 1300-1800 GMT [go to World Time Zone if you need to know what this corresponds to in your local time]).

I’m also aware from other reviews that I’ve seen around the place that EasyForex has excessive drawdowns – although I also am of the understanding that EasyForex take positions where interest is earned and this can somewhat alleviate the pain of these excessive drawdowns. With this in mind ensure that if you do test this service that you do so with a demo account first.

Tags: EasyForexSignals, Forex Signal

There are a couple of things that I like about Excalibur, but there are also a couple of things that I have concerns about.

I’ll quickly go through my concerns: first, their web site is relatively new (something which they made known in their comment – so new in fact that it’s only been in operation for a couple of weeks!), however, while the age of a signal service web site does draw some concern to me it’s the performance chart they have on their web site that concerns me the most. Automatically this throws up a question: are these performance results ACTUAL or HYPOTHETICAL? If the web site had been in existence since the start of their performance figures I may have been led to believe that the performance figures were ACTUAL, but as this isn’t the case it has led me to believe otherwise.

My other concern is the free trial offered. Excalibur make note on their web site that they do not offer a free trial, so I thank them for politely offering one in here, however, I think it would be far more beneficial if Excalibur offered a free trial period over an ENTIRE month rather than just PART of a month. This can help verify our performance against THEIR performance statistics for that month.

Apart from that the things I liked about Excalibur’s approach were:

Firstly, they only place trades once per day (midnight GMT) on the top currency USD pairs including EUR/JPY & GBP/JPY (and each trade includes a stop loss).

Secondly, if they don’t make 200 pips in a month you get the next month free! Something that I haven’t seen too often with signal providers.

So with my concerns I emailed Excalibur and received a reply from Malcolm who mentioned that he had traded forex for the past 6 years and that indeed his performance results are hypothetical and that he would allow a free monthly subscription. I guess we’ll see how it goes.

If any of you have taken up Malcolm’s offer for a free subscription up until the end of March in the mean time I encourage you to add your comments below on how you have found (or are finding) his service.

Tags: Excalibur, Excalibur Forex, Forex Signal

As mentioned by Don in his comment it seems Prosignal have taken on board the problems of using backtested performance figures in their reporting and, as per their web site now track their results real time, which means they INCLUDE the cost of the spread incurred in their trading results.

They state,
Back-tested Vs Real-time Past Performance: Since August 1st, 2005 the results listed in the performance table for the EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/CHF have occurred under real-time monitoring. Performance numbers prior to July 31st, 2005 were generated by back-testing on historical data. The EUR/JPY, released to the public March 2006, in its current configuration, has been running under real-time monitoring since January 2006. The results prior to January 2006 are generated on historical data.

Equally impressive is the following paragraph on their backtesting results, they state,
Performance Chart Reflects a 50% Profit Reduction in Back-Tested Returns: Back-testing plays a significant role in helping to validate and design profitable automated trading strategies. A back-tested result is a snapshot of what a trading strategy would have produced over a period of historical data. However, due to the benefit of hindsight and optimization, back-tested data often shows more profit than what you may expect in real time. To account for a potential difference between back-tested and real time outcomes, in the performance chart above, we deducted 216 pips from each month of back-tested data on the EUR/USD, 200 pips from each month of back-tested data on the GBP/USD, 225 pips from each month of back-tested data on the USD/CHF and 154 pips from each month of back-tested data on the EUR/JPY.

These deductions equal 50% of the total Net Profits over the period of hypothetical back-testing. Since August 1st, 2005 on the EUR/USD, GBP/USD & USD/CHF the results indicated in the table were produced in real-time and therefore, no deductions were made beyond August 1st, 2005 on those currency pairs. Since January 1st, 2006 on the EUR/JPY the results indicated in the table were produced in real-time and therefore, no deductions were made beyond January 1st, 2006 on the EUR/JPY. Using ProSignal’s charting software you can back-test all of our automated signals against historical data to review signal accuracy.

If this is true then their results are quite impressive and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending forex traders to their service.

Thank you Don for your comments.

Go to Prosignal.

If anyone has any comments on ProSignal that they’d like to add please feel free to add them below.

Tags: Forex Signal, ProSignal

Today I decided to visit the ProSignal page to see how these guys were going over the last few weeks.

And, sure enough, they have changed a few things (which came as no surprise to me considering they were using indicative data to back-test their system).

Here were some of the changes…

BEFORE:
> They once tracked the EURUSD and the GBPUSD both on the 15 minute chart, and when my paid trial period was over they had just issued out the EURJPY (on the 15 minute) to trade too.

AFTER:
> Now they have dropped the GBPUSD (obviously wasn’t doing well) and are now using the USDCHF on an hourly chart!

BEFORE:
> For the EURUSD & GBPUSD they stated that users should use a 40 pip initial stop loss for new trades (I think this was the same for the EURJPY, but have forgotten).

AFTER:
> Now they have blown this out to 75 pips on the EURUSD, 100 pips on the USDCHF, and 85 pips on the EURJPY!!!

For some strange reason they still claim that the two currencies make 14,000 – which was their initial claim with the EURUSD & GBPUSD currencies (of course it is on indicative data – don’t say you haven’t been warned!).

I don’t know what ProSignal thinks they can accomplish by chopping and changing their rules. Obviously they will try and see how this next round goes and if it fails tweek it some more and do it again.

Now, there’s one thing I must admit amidst all this bagging: their forex education section (which is available to all once you sign up and pay the trial fee) is very good however be sure to check out Forex Television for their great free technical analysis education on the forex market as it is similar.

Tags: Forex Signal, ProSignal

It’s important that with any forex signal provider you choose that you make sure their service fits in with your risk profile and your time schedule. There’s no point in subscribing to a signal service that trades while you sleep and places positions that have a stop loss wider than what your account can handle!

While some providers can make exorbitant amounts of pips each month I have found this not to be the case in real life. Don’t get too excited with the hype – try and read into what they are really saying. You will find that most results given by these companies are only “hypothetical” (I wonder why they are never actual??).

Don’t be afraid to trial some out though – I have learnt more from a signal provider than reading from a forex book.

One last note: it is mighty tempting to trade real money during your trial with the signal provider. Try and muster up the strength to only trade the signals on a demo platform. I know that you will miss out on the +1,000 pip days, but if the signal provider can do it on one day they should easily be able to do it again on another day. You’ll be glad you did this strategy as you’ll not know when you are trading junky signals and if you trade with real money you’ll have wasted a lot of your hard earned capital.

So start demo with each forex signal service provider you trial… you’re real account will be glad you did.

Don’t forget to consult with your professional legal financial advisor.

Here are our review links:

ProSignal

Team Forex

FXUnigma

FXTSP

GenDK

AFXI

Nostradamus

TAPS EP

ForexDealer

Another Web Site Offering Forex Signal Reviews

Tags: Forex Signal

At this web site we have other forex signal users giving their own personal experience.

This is a GREAT resource as it can help confirm or rebut our opinion on the providers we have listed here. Check it out if you are still unsure about the provider you are considering signing up with even after reading our review.

Tags: Forex Signal

Having been asked by a member if I had known or reviewed ForexDealer, of which I hadn’t, I decided to check them out for myself and see if they were any good.

After subscribing to their signal service for 2 weeks (which was extended to 4 weeks) here is what we uncovered.

PROS:

• Performance disclosed to the public;
• Stop loss and other order types disclosed (once a signal has been received);
• If no profit is made during the week you are automatically renewed for another week without cost (I think this method could be better, assume the following scenario: you lose 60 pips in your first week, you are not charge for this week. You make 10 pips in the second week, and you make 20 pips in the third week, your trial period is now over – did you make money? No. You finished down 30 pips).

CONS:

• There were a few trades that were disclosed in the performance that we did not receive, even though the sum return of those trades was negative!?
• When exit orders were given we found it difficult to exit at the exact same price he informed us to get out. I do not know whether this was due to the lag time of having him type his order out and then send, or whether he uses a different broker to the one I was using.

Overall our impression of FX-Dealer was nothing special, we personally wouldn’t use them, mainly due to the fact that we had some discrepancies with the signals we received and the performance sheet and the timing of some signals would come too early in the morning for us.

Tags: Forex Signal, ForexDealer

I personally haven’t trialled or subscribed to this organizations signal service, but I will leave this post in case anyone would like to outline their experiences on it.

It seems that TAPS EP also offer a managed fund facility for their clients, if anyone has an account with them we would like to know how their performance has been going (just add a comment below).

Tags: Forex Signal, TAPS EP

The oscillating-based compass provided by this company has been known to pick great tops and bottoms of moves, however, it does require a bit of experience and therein lies the problem. The company does not provide buy and sell signals per se and therefore the buying and selling is left up to the customer.

I have only trialled this software and didn’t find it anything special… in fact I didn’t find it any different to a range bound oscillator such as RSI or Stochastics.

Tags: Forex Signal, Nostradamus

Here is a link that provides FREE signals by a professional currency trader. I have been monitoring this trader on and off over the last year and his performance is good, but he only looks to make 20-40 pips per trade (not the big swing). It is FREE provided you trade under him and the web site link above refreshes every 5 seconds giving his updates.

Well it seems that his free service is no longer active, however, he does offer a trial account.

I have found that the owners of AFXI are very helpful.

Tags: AFXI, Forex Signal

I personally haven’t tried GenDK’s service, however I thought I would include this post here in case some of our Currency Secrets readers have and would care to comment about their service.

I have heard from some previous readers that GenDK’s signals are scattered throughout the day, therefore some may find it difficult replicating their results.

Again, if you have experienced their service please leave a comment below.

Tags: Forex Signal, GenDK

These guys used to offer a signal service, however it seems that they’ve changed their strategy and now only offer a managed fund service.

I admire this step taken by FXTSP as most signal service vendors if they were legitimate SHOULD offer a managed fund service for two primary reasons:

• Most people will not be able to trade ALL the signals that the signal vendor releases – life gets in the way
• More money can be made if the signal vendor takes a performance fee every month – think about it, if you have a successful fund that has assets of US$10m and you make 3% per month and receive a 30% performance fee you’ll be receiving US$90,000 per month. If you are selling a signal service for US$100/month you will need 900 active subscribers per month to achieve this same level.

It seems that FXTSP have also teamed up with FXCM to manage the client’s funds (which is good as the client does not need to place their funds into FXTSP’s account), and I’m sure FXTSP take the cut that FXCM offer referrers – and if I were them I’d do it too… can’t have FXCM making all the money!

Anyway, FXTSP are a smart outfit, as not too many signal vendors go the managed fund route. To me this speaks volumes.

If you currently have an account managed by FXTSP please add your experience below (click the “Leave A Comment” link, or start writing in the box)

Tags: FXTSP, Forex Signal

I have tried this company too. Their performance is hypothetical (doesn’t include the spread) and to get their results you need to trade their intraday signals PLUS their daily signals which they release twice daily.

Unfortunately I found that while they are accurate with their buy and sell signals on their intraday service they were very flexible on their exiting strategies for their daily signals. A portion of their historical results also seem very similar to Forex Strategy’s??

I found this company very ambiguous and therefore a little untrustworthy with their results. I personally couldn’t replicate the success they made during the month I was with them.

Tags: FXUnigma, Forex Signal

This group were the very first signal service provider that I tried.

These guys are completely honest yet I their system has been having some troubles (note how they have not erased their track record even though they had some serious hits during August 2003, June 2004, July 2004) – I wouldn’t discount these guys completely, keep them on your watch list. Their system is very easy to implement: simply place the orders and walk away (updated twice daily).

And their results are ACTUAL results, not hypothetical.

Tags: Forex Signal, Team Forex

ProSignal

I have used Prosignal’s service and I would challenge the claim that they make about their system making the +14,000 odd pips since 2003. Several reasons for why I would do this has to mainly do with the fact that they do not include slippage – and they WOULD incur slippage (as the orders that they generate are market orders – hence slippage will be incurred). They also don’t account for the spread in their profit figures!

Add to the fact that they also tested their system using intraday indicative data and you can begin to see why I think that their returns should be radically reduced.

I’d be wary of this organization.

Tags: Forex Signal, ProSignal