Markets.com Review

• A $25 reward to register a real account without having to make a deposit

Markets.com is one of the world’s leading forex and CFD providers.  Established in 2006, it is a fully licensed EU-based broker.  What really stands out about Markets.com is its superior customer service.  It offers 24/5 phone support, personal account managers and even 1 on 1 training.  It is a great fit for both novice and experienced traders with four cutting edge software platforms, flexible trading terms and around the clock expert support and analysis.

Markets.com currently will even pay you a $25 reward to register for an account without even having to make a deposit.

Markets.com offers CFDs on a broad range of financial instruments including forex, stock indices, single shares, bonds, commodities, precious metals, and bitcoin. Markets.com allows you to trade over 50 currency pairs and they are one of the few brokers to offer a choice of fixed and floating spreads.

Markets.com also has impressive breadth and depth of coverage outside of forex. Access the global stock markets via Markets.com over 20 indices covering all major markets in the US, Asia, Europe, as well as, frontier markets like Russia, Indian, and South Africa. You can also trade CFDs on 230 individual shares from the US and Europe, over 20 commodities, and 5 bond benchmarks from the US, Europe, Japan, and the UK.

Markets.com offers up to 200:1 leverage on most forex pairs, up to 100:1 leverage on indices, commodities and bonds, and up to 20:1 leverage on equities.   Markets.com does not charge any commission on all these types of trades.

Markets.com also offers a social trading experience via its Sirix Webtrader platform where you can view and copy trades of other community members in real-time.  To get a better idea of the product offerings and trading experience, you can also open a demo account free of charge.

Markets.com offers exclusive real-time market analysis, around the clock news, commentary and market updates.  Traders are given trading signals from the technical analysis performed by independent research firm Trading Central.  Traders with VIP accounts are given free access to Autochartist, a leading independent technical analysis service that scours the market for intraday trading opportunities and assesses the risk and profitability of potential trades across various time horizons.  Autochartist is fully integrated into the Metatrader 4 platform.

Markets.com also invests heavily in a vast array of educational materials for traders of all levels.  There are many easy to read introductory articles and ebooks for beginners covering the basics of forex markets, CFDs, fundamental and technical analysis.  The video archive contains materials for advanced traders as well as covering topics like trading strategy, market psychology, and capital management.
Markets.com also offers more than 5 webinars a month with timely market analysis and game plans for the upcoming week.  They offer live seminars with their chief analysts in various European cities.  They also maintain a vast video archive of webinars and seminars for those who cannot attend live.

Markets.com does not charge commission and their sole form of compensation is the spread.  A typical EUR/USD floating spread is 2.2 pips and fixed spread is 3 pips.  While this is on the wider end of retail forex brokers, such discount forex brokers do not provide the same level of personalized service and educational resources as Markets.com.  Furthermore, Markets.com does not charge and deposit or withdrawal fees and will cover any bank charges for deposits greater than USD 2,500.

Markets.com is one of the few brokers to offer customers a choice of fixed or variable spreads for forex CFDs.   You can open an account with as little as $/€/£ 100.  Customers have a choice of six different base currencies for their account, more than most every broker.  You can easily fund the account with your credit card, bank transfer, or online payment processor Webmoney.

Markets.com offers a number of powerful trading platforms for all of its account types including the industry-standard Metatrader 4.  Note that Markets.com does not offer a native Mac application or mobile version of Metatrader.

Metatrader (PC) - offers low latency for immediate order execution to ensure the best pricing, a wide range of charting tools and indicators, automated trading, and integration with expert advisors.  This programmable and highly customizable platform is ideal for experienced traders.  There is also a multi-terminal version of Metatrader available for traders managing multiple accounts.

Markets Webtrader (Browser) - is an intuitive, easy to use browser-based trading platform.  Despite its user-friendly interface, you can still access professional-grade advanced charting tools and indicators on this platform.

Sirix Webtrader (Browser) - has social trading features which allow you to imitate the trades of other successful traders in the community.  Follow other’s traders profiles to see their account profitability over time, trading history as well as portfolio metrics like volatility and drawdown.  Sirix Webtrader also provides data on the trading trends of members of its community along with the profitability of such trades.  With its clean and intuitive user interface, this is a starting platform for novice traders looking to learn from peers and experts.

Markets.com also offers a powerful mobile version of its Webtrader platform for traders on the go.  The app is available on both Android and iOS devices.  This app allows you to see exact market prices, streaming quotes, immediately execute all types of orders and receive market alerts.  The app also allows you to manage your account, make deposits, withdrawals and upload documents.

Markets.com offers some of the best customer service in its industry winning the London Investor Show Forex “Best Customer Service 2012” award and the Global Banking & Finance Review “Best Broker in Customer Service Europe 2012” award.  With over offices in over 20 cities across the world, Markets.com provides 24/5 phone support from over 25 local phone numbers, live chat, and email support.  Receive personalized service from a dedicated account manager when you open an account with more than USD 2,500.

Account opening is a quick and straight-forward progress consisting of a quick online application and online submission of a government ID and proof of address.  You can also easily scan and submit your documents via Markets.com’s mobile app.

Markets.com was acquired in April 2015 by Playtech in a deal worth EUR 459 million.  Playtech is a London Stock Exchange-listed FTSE 250 gaming software and services provider. They also make a play to acquire Plus500 and Avatrade in 2016 intending to integrate them under the strong Markets.com brand.  However, Playtech was unable to obtain regulatory approval for the merger and both buyouts fell through.

Markets.com is operated by Safecap Investments Limited, a regulated investment services firm authorized by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission under license no. 092/08 and by the Financial Services Board (“FSB”) in South Africa as a Financial Services Provider under license no. 43906. Markets.com was fined in July 2015 by CySEC for undisclosed violations based on 2013 and 2014 site visits.

Markets.com segregates customer funds from company funds in compliance with regulatory requirements.  Its clients are entitled to compensation up to EUR 20,000 via CySEC’s investor compensation fund.

Markets.com offers a secure trading environment with SSL encryption for all data transmission, data storage on SAS 70 certified data centers, and all funds transfers on Level 1 PCI certified international payment service providers.