FAP Turbo robot review - 4 BROKERAGES AT ONCE - Page 13 - Pip Cop

**rsmereka** · 2009-02-23, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannaberich

Was wondering if anyone could recommend good VPS in Australia that is affordable

I remember that the Forex Goldmine site had the availability of a VPS. I am pretty sure they are in Austrailia. I also remember that the price was very good in comparison.

Rick

**rsmereka** · 2009-02-23, 12:15 PM

I am really irritated at this and it's something you should know.

I have had a live account with IBFX for over a year now and after FAP Turbo's success in December 08 and then started not trading and loosing big time, I put FAP Turbo on hold.

Last week, I opened an IBFX demo account to test FAP Turbo after I got reports that FAPT was trading well again. I also put FAP Turbo back onto my live account.

The live IBFX account running FAPT made not one trade all of last week. The demo account made 10 trades (see the attachment for the details).

I checked the expert log on the live account and it was filled with 'spread too wide' errors and a couple of 'misquote' errors.

This confirms that there is a major difference in demo verses live with IBFX and it smells foul.

Based on this experience and FAPT either not trading on IBFX or trading in a loosing manner and the evidence (here) that Alpari has much spreads, I am closing my IBFX live account and opening an Alpari account.

Rick

**PipCop** · 2009-02-23, 12:28 PM

Interesting.

Personally, I think this is going to be a big issue in the very near future. Providing users with a demo account that serves up data that is significantly different than the live feed is deceptive. If customers are allowed and expected to be able to practice on a demo account, the data needs to be identical - or at least 99.9% accurate - to the live feed. If they can't provide the same data as their live feed, then they should not even offer

demo accounts.

I for one think customers should hold companies accountable for this false accounting method they are providing.

**rsmereka** · 2009-02-23, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PipCop

Interesting.

Personally, I think this is going to be a big issue in the very near future. Providing users with a demo account that serves up data that is significantly different than the live feed is deceptive. If customers are allowed and expected to be able to practice on a demo account, the data needs to be identical - or at least 99.9% accurate - to the live feed. If they can't provide the same data as their live feed, then they should not even offer

demo accounts.

I for one think customers should hold companies accountable for this false accounting method they are providing.

I completely agree.

How do we suggest that we hold the brokers accountable? I am doing so my taking my business elsewhere and by being as vocal as possible.

I suggest a sister site to pipcop, lets call it pipwarden, pipbrokertrustee, pipcopfink or brokerrat. It's job would be to:
1. verify the prices and spread

between demo account and live are consistent
2. ascertain the best broker

for a specific currency pair

Another issue I have is with Metatrader and the brokers where the spread

is not available. Other than FAPT which shows you the current spread

. The spread

is nowhere to be found. I think it should be part of the statement.

Rick

**PipCop** · 2009-02-23, 01:13 PM

The first step is to gather data. I am working on a system which will do exactly that. Once we do that, we can publish the results and spread

the word. By virtue of simply advertising the truth, word will spread

. Some people (read: lawyers) may even want to take it upon themselves to seek a lawsuit against the companies if they are being exceptionally deceptive. After all, it is illegal to engage in a business practice that is damaging to consumers:

From http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Section_5_of_the_FTC_Act

Quote:

An act or practice is deceptive if it involves a representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances, and the representation, omission, or practice is material.[2]
Thus, an advertisement is deceptive if it includes material information that is false or that is likely to mislead a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances. Likewise, an advertisement is deceptive if it omits material information, and that omission is likely to mislead a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances.[3] Requiring accurate disclosure of material terms allows consumers to compare similar services offered by one or multiple providers and weigh the different terms being offered in making decisions about what services to purchase.

Personally, I think these brokerages are just asking for trouble. I am amazed no one has taken action previously.

**rsmereka** · 2009-02-23, 01:44 PM

Quote:

The first step is to gather data. I am working on a system which will do exactly that.

Can you describe the data collection system?

Just out of curiosity (no pressure

), when may we expect to see/use this?

Rick

**PipCop** · 2009-02-23, 03:38 PM

I posted the TicksInMySql.ex4 EA around here somewhere. Basically, I am going to modify it to capture additional data, such as the spread

, and then let it loose on each brokers demo accounts and their live accounts (for any account that I have open, or where someone will give me an investor password to their live account). Then I'll save all that data in the database and create some sort of reporting tool. From there, we can extract data such as differences between live and demo, spreads, and anything else we can measure.

I am crazy busy with things, but I want to get the data collection in place within a month if I can. Reporting will then probably be 30-60 days after that to get the system built.

vogelezang · 2009-02-23, 03:42 PM

Rick, Pipcop, Everybody,
The spread

IS always available. It is just the difference between bid and ask. I do agree FAP makes it very easy by just calculating for you and displaying it constantly but any calculator can tell you the spread

.
From personal experiance: I'; testing FAPT on several accounts, but I have gt-shadow running live since 2 weeks. And also have gt-shadow running on various demo-accounts. Because of problems with several brokers (especcialy PFG FX, they only let the ea trade when it suited them, cost me a lot of money) I went to 2 weeks of paperwork to get a live account with IBfx. Since the live account was for $350 (all I am prepared to lose) I also made a 350 demo account, also with IBfx. Now my gt-shadow on an IBfx demo account does profits of about $1,75, several times a day. In a few weeks the demo account is up from 350 to around 550 with a DD of approx 80.
The live account doe sprofits of about 0,30. The account is up from 350 to 385 but the DD is approx 65,-. This means the broker

is making more profit then I do, all because of the spread

.
If anyone can advise a broker

with the same spreads on the live accont as on the demo, please let me know....

**rsmereka** · 2009-02-23, 03:59 PM

Quote:

The spread

IS always available. It is just the difference between bid and ask.

At the moment the trade is initiated, sure the spread

is there, if you are watching. But historically comparing spreads once the trade is open is really not possible without some sort of special programming.

Quote:

I posted the TicksInMySql.ex4 EA around here somewhere

I just did a board search and did not find anything.

When I am working with SQL data, I use SQLite. It is very fast, multiuser and embedded so no dedicated server is required. My favourite combination is Apache, SQLite and Php.

Tell me, when you call MySQL from MQL, are you using a dll as the interface? There is a dll version of SQLite. If I can be of any help with this venture, please let me know.

Rick

**PipCop** · 2009-02-23, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsmereka

I just did a board search and did not find anything.

Google to the rescue!

http://codebase.mql4.com/en/492

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsmereka

When I am working with SQL data, I use SQLite. It is very fast, multiuser and embedded so no dedicated server is required. My favourite combination is Apache, SQLite and Php.

I have two dedicated offsite servers plus 4 servers at my house, and have been using MySql for years, and I am planning on using them to handle the tasks, so I should be okay - but thanks for the suggestions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsmereka

Tell me, when you call MySQL from MQL, are you using a dll as the interface? There is a dll version of SQLite. If I can be of any help with this venture, please let me know.

Rick

I've attached the EA here. You can check it out fully.