2. No Commission and No Exchange Fees
When you trade in futures, you have to pay exchange and brokerage fees.
Trading forex has the advantage of being commission free. This is far better for
you. Currency trading is a worldwide inter-bank market that lets buyers to be
matched with sellers in an instant.
Even though you do not have to pay a commission charge to a broker to match
the buyer up with the seller, the spread is usually larger than it is when you
are trading futures. For example, if you were trading a Japanese Yen/US Dollar
pair, forex trade would have about a 3 point spread (worth $30). Trading a JY
futures trade would most likely have a spread of 1 point (worth $10) but you
would also be charged the broker's commission on top of that. This price could
be as low as $10 in-and-out for self-directed online trading, or as high as $50
for full-service trading. It is however, all inclusive pricing though. You are
going to have to compare both online forex and your specific futures commission
charge to see which commission is the greater one.
