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Trading with Saxobank A/S


Saxo Bank enables clients to trade currencies, shares, CFD contracts, futures, options and other derivatives as well as portfolio management via their online trading platform - SaxoTrader 2. SaxoTrader 2 has been internally developed by Saxo Bank and is available to investors directly through Saxo Bank or through one of their white-labelled partners (usually other banks and brokerages). These partners include E-Trade, Synthesis Bank, and an American partner, Rosenthal Collins, and Sonray Capital Markets in Australia, to name but a few. They have, in fact over sixty partners globally of whom, currently, twelve are in Asia.

Private clients can choose to trade with the following software:

SaxoTrader Platform
  1. SAXO WEBTRADER - A browser based, no download needed application that allows you to trade the standard Forex currencies, with mobile access.
  2. SAXO MINITRADER - A downloadable version for accounts of 2,000 US Dollars and more, enabling Forex and Indices trading.
  3. SAXOTRADER 2 - The full software version engulfing all personal services for private accounts of over 10,000 US Dollars.

Essentially, Saxo Trader is a good all round platform offering many products to trade, but as with all brokers, they are after your money if they can get it. They offer trade ideas and say they have no slippage on stop buy/sells, but that is simply not true. They are more often wrong than right and slippage can be as much as 30 pips on EUR/USD!! Having asked a Saxo Bank trader (through their 24 hours chat line) for his view on spot gold over the next two days they said bullish but with no reasons to reassure you. I asked the same question 20 minutes later and the response was bearish. When I asked why the sudden change, the told me that that is what the 15 minute graph is showing . Their platform is quite complex (this in the positive sense of term) but canceling orders in a fast market can be a nightmare. I rang to close an order when I was away from the system and it took exactly 7 minutes from when they answered the phone to close the position. This turned a winning trade into a loosing one. If you are already loosing the order takes 10 seconds to close!

They say: "In quiet market conditions, the spread may be even narrower but in periods of volatile markets, the spread may be increased and auto execution disabled". So, it's not the best broker on the planet, but I think they are - at least - honest. The customer service was also good for me. Saxo Bank offers a wide range of tools in the home page of the site, some of which include: technical analysis, free streaming news (including Dow Jones Newswire, AFX and MNI), prices and charts, demos, spreads and conditions etc. The good thing about all these tools is that most of them can be integrated with your pda device or mobile phone by SMS (WAP) or directly by phone alert.

I asked my Saxo Bank account manager about their policy towards scalping and he told me that scalping is allowed at Saxo bank however sniping is not. He defined sniping as using a software to perform very fast trades targeting few pips per trade. He said that using a software for sniping eliminates risk since the software know exactly the market direction. He added that Saxo bank have a powerful set of systems that can easily catch a sniper and prevent him from trading.

And your first 300.000 Danish Crowns (about 40.000 Euro) is safe, in the unlikely event that Saxo Bank faces financial difficulties. An insurance guarantee fund for all Danish banks covers all clients regardless of Nationality and Residence. Note that currently, SaxoBank can only offer Forex and Forex-related products (Options, Forwards, and Spot Gold and Silver) to US residents. Saxo has also recently acquired FSA approval and opened a UK Branch (http://www.saxobank.co.uk) which is however mainly targeted to institutional investors.

So Good luck w/ Saxo. If they seem like FXCM after a while, like O...A did for me, try manual entries and exits. It has helped me tremendously. But, I have to watch the screen more often doing it all manually. It's a give and take.

Saxobank Trader Highlights:


Year of Company's Foundation:  Founded in 1992
Website Address:  http://www.saxobank.com and http://www.saxobank.co.uk
Headquartered:  Copenhagen (Denmark)
Products Offered:  Futures. Options. CFD's. Equities. Forex
24 Hour Customer Service:  Yes
CFDs:  10%
Commissions:  Yes
Currencies Available For Trade:  Saxo offers over 100 FX currency crosses.
Demo Available:  Yes
Encryption:  Yes
Interest:  Positive Net Free Equity between USD 15,001- USD 100,000 will be paid interest at LIBID minus 3% on the full amount. Positive Net Free Equity exceeding USD 100,000 will be paid interest at LIBID minus 2% on the full amount. Negative Net Free Equity will be charged interest at LIBOR plus 3%. Interest is calculated daily and settled monthly.
Language Support:  English. French. German. Danish. Italian. Russian. Spanish. Portuguese. Chinese. Japanese. Korean. Arabic. Hebrew. Polish. Greek. Dutch/Flemish.
Margin Requirement/Leverage:  FX products 2-4%
Mini Forex Account:  No
Minimum Initial Deposit:  $10,000 USD
Products:  Forex, Forex Options, CFDs, Futures, Equities, Managed Funds & Stocks Regulated by Danish Guarantee Fund For Investors.
Regulatory Restrictions:  US investors can only utilize Forex spot, Forex OTC options, Saxo Bank Managed FX funds, spot gold and silver.
Spreads:  Low as 2 pips
Software:  Institutional Saxo Trader V.2, Saxo Trader and Saxo Webtrader (browser based)
Note:  US clients are requested to download the Forex version of SaxoTrader only.
Trading Hours:  Saxo Bank is open for Forex trading from 06:00 Monday Sydney local time (Sunday 19:00 GMT) to Friday 17:00 New York local time (Friday 22:00 GMT) financial personnel."
Pros:  A Good Sophisticated Platform offering many products to trade.
Cons:  Reputation for being a bucket shop around forex.




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