For trading in any financial market you need a broker. As the Forex market isn’t regulated, you have to make a better due diligence to find a good broker than in any other financial market that is regulated like stocks, futures or options.

I have encountered several things that you should avoid in a broker. All the criteria I’m going to refer have to be accomplished in order for you to have safety of funds.

In the first place, you should avoid forex brokers that are based offshore, in third world countries or brokers that don’t even state where they are based. I’m telling you this because of the safety of your funds. As there are many forex broker scams, you need to pay special attention to this factor. If your present broker or the broker you are thinking of opening an account with has this characteristic, my advice is to look somewhere else.

In the second place, the forex broker you choose can’t trade against you. This may seem new to you but there are a lot of forex brokers out there that are doing this. Of course, as they are stronger than you, a simple trader, they will always win and you will always lose. Please be aware of this situation.

In the third place, you should read reviews about your broker or the broker you are thinking of using. It is always important to read what other traders think about them, their executions, their spreads and even their customer support. You should read their webpage but nothing is better that asking or reading about them from someone that is already using their services.

Finally, don’t let the money and greed talk too loud. If a forex broker allows you to trade with just $100, it’s because they allow you to have a big leverage. Using big leverage is not a good idea because, if you have a small account, you can get ripped off with just a loss. Of course, you can use this leverage in your favor if it is a small percentage of your money. But if you’re trading with just $100, there’s no space for leveraging without incurring in a very high risk of losing your entire account in a single trade.

Don’t get discouraged by the fact that there are so many forex broker scams. There are also good and solid forex brokers. You just have to do a deeper search in order to find one that fits your needs and your security.

By John Baker Published: 2/5/2008