Instablogs are Seeking Alpha's free blogging platform customized for finance, with instant set up and exposure to millions of readers interested in the financial markets. Publish your own instablog in minutes.
-
Instablogged Stocks
Stocks that instabloggers have most recently written about -
Latest Instablog Posts
-
1
Dow Theory Special Issue: Dissecting The Cla...
-
2
EQUITY SERVICES, INC. - CIP LEVERAGED FUND A...
-
3
IMS SECURITIES CENSURED AND FINED DUE TO VAR...
-
4
CROWN CAPITAL INVESTOR ALERT - LAX SUPERVISI...
-
5
User-centric Tools Go Long Way To Reaping Mo...
-
1
-
Top Instablogs
See all Top Instablogs »
An In Depth Review of Plus 500 15 comments
By: DailyForex
When first encountering Plus 500, my first impression was how clean and user-friendly their website is. They have a very organized way of displaying their offering and all its features. Each category is displayed in its own tab, including Forex, commodities, indices, stocks, and CFDs.
Depositing funds could not be easier with almost any option open to you. These include money transfer, credit card, and money bookers. Registering for Plus 500 was also completely seamless and surprisingly, so was withdrawing my funds.
The actual trading was relatively straight forward, however, the lack of a Web-based platform might be a disadvantage to some Forex brokers. Their service is offered in 14 different languages, which is a relatively high number, something some might see as a sign of Plus 500's accountability.
In terms of funding, Plus 500 offers a mini account enabling you to trade with as little as $100 and a 200:1 leverage. When trading, you have access to the world's financial markets and real time quotes. The platform is very responsive and includes the standard Entry Limit, Stop Loss, Profit Limit, Trailing Stop, and Market Orders. They also offer an unlimited free demo account, which should be taken advantage of by every Forex trader interested in opening an account with Plus500.
However, not everything is so rosy when it comes to Plus 500. Their customer service is available 24/7, but only by phone and email. They do not offer the basic feature of live chat, something that has become completely trivial in the world of Forex Brokers. Not only is it trivial, live chat is also very necessary. For example, as I am writing this review, I am still awaiting a response from their customer service regarding some questions I had. Another disadvantage of Plus 500 is that they are now awaiting FSA approval, which once again, might be a sign to wait some time before trading with them.
Their site offers very helpful training videos explaining and displaying their trading platform and exactly how to trade with it. I found these to be very helpful and a resource that should definitely be used before trading with Plus 500.
When opening an account with Plus 500, you will be surprised by some very nice and helpful bonuses. For one, their demo account is not limited by time, something that is quite unusual in the Forex market. In addition, Plus 500 offers a 30% bonus on your first deposit, as well as a $50 gift toward your trading account.
Plus500 is an impressive broker and they give you the feeling they really want your business with all their offered bonuses. However, for some odd reason, they do not offer live chat, something that raises a red flag and gives you the impression that they might want your business, but they do NOT want to talk to you about it, a theory magnified by the fact that they do not take phone orders.
Instablogs are blogs which are instantly set up and networked within the Seeking Alpha community. Instablog posts are not selected, edited or screened by Seeking Alpha editors, in contrast to contributors' articles.
Share this Instablog
This post has 15 comments:
Please advise
DO NOT DEPOSIT REAL MONEY
While you lose your hard earned money everything is ok, up until you make any profit or decide to withdraw your earnings.
They lock your account with the excuse that you have violated the user agreement.
KEEP AWAY FROM plus500 at all cost.
Yes, KEEP AWAY FROM Plus500 at all cost!
Plus500 it is very nice, i didn’t had any problem with them, they got not so good suport but if you will need to get them you will…
they got 20$ bonus free without deposit and bigger bonus in first deposit.
i got there from this link: (my friend gave me)
www.plus500.com/?id=4&...
hope you will have fun
Idan
On Thursday I started ask some questions, like when is my account will be credited but there was no response. Since then, I sent another 5 emails asking when is my account will be credited so I can start to trade. Again, NO response. Today is Friday afternoon 1:00pm local time and not one email to my question. What to do now, and who can I turn to??? Please HELP.
Stops, Closes, Trailing Stops and Orders all function well, and the actioning of orders is satisfyingly rapid, but I remain somewhat suspicious of the total accuracy of their realtime information (i.e. compared to another platform I have been running). My personal experience of contact with their support staff has been almost entirely positive, including the refund of a significant loss incurred when one stock was temporarily untradeable, leaving me unable to protect my position. I have yet to attempt drawing down a profit.
I am aware of the structure of the business, and the various warnings issued regarding their legitimacy in certain countries, but I am satisfied that enough information exists to enable tracing and prosecution if they do in fact behave fraudulently.
HOWEVER...for those of you who are tempted into downloading and using their platform, be aware that many of their spreads on Buy and Sell quotes are very high when compared to other, equally easily available trading platforms (eg. Apple @ 0.30, Google @ 0.65, Wheat contracts @ 1.25!).
Some are about equal (eg. Gold @ 0.65, Oil futures @ 0.05), and there are some cheaper spreads (Silver @ 0.45, Cotton contracts @ 0.19), BUT their premiums on both Buy and Sell are also very high by comparison, notably charging you a premium on Sell positions rather than paying interest in almost every case.
My guess is that they are either working with a brokerage which charges very high commissions (perhaps in direct partnership), or they are adding their own premium on top. Either way, the Plus500 platform is not the cheapest way to access the markets.
Finally, whether by deliberate design or negligence, the only window which cannot be maximized is your deposit summary. This window is also the only one which doesn't show a running total, making it difficult to easily calculate how much you have committed to your account (and therefore how much you may have lost!). Charting tools are also minimal and there are almost no outside links or additional information available directly through the platform.
For alternative platforms, equally accessible, cheaper and much more comprehensive, try AvaFX or IGMarkets. Be prepared for a much steeper learning curve however, the main attraction of Plus500 is it's relative simplicity!
M.M.
France
Cysec (Cyprus Securities and exchange commission) has issued a warning agianst this company.
This is the link:
www.cysec.gov.cy/warni...
many others have complained online about not being able to withdraw their funds from their accounts.
This Forex Broker provide a profitable Bonus and extreme basely Spreads.
Furthermore a wide Choice of Currencies,Commodities and Stocks.
No Problem with Moneybookers Payout Option. After a quickly Verification,the Amount was booked immediately.
So there is no Reason for me to change so far. More First Class Broker at Forexcheck24.de !
Germanys greatest Forex Broker Comparison.
Latest Followers
StockTalks
-
Euro Remains Under Pressure from Eurozone Uncertainty http://bit.ly/bCoNDK
Nov 17, 2010
-
Hedge Fund Operators Drive Euro Slide http://bit.ly/9pfbjx
Nov 10, 2010
-
Psychological Ploys Behind Forex Automated Solutions http://bit.ly/bgtT11
Jun 23, 2010
More »Latest Comments
Most Commented
Posts by Themes