GMO Trading Review
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Background
GMO Trading seems to focus on keeping its offer as simple as possible, while at the same time giving its traders all the tools they could possibly need to be successful. By such tools, above and beyond everything else, we mean the MT4 trading platform, as well as the impressive suite of educational material available at the site. GMO Trading is regulated and fully MiFID-compliant. Why would you consider it as your primary online trading destination though?
Launched in 2017, the brokerage is by no means an industry veteran. One could say that it is one of those operations which obviously have a lot to prove, and in this regard, GMO Trading are certainly willing to put their offer where their promotional copy is.
The About Us section of the broker’s website does not make a particularly good impression though. There is nothing there that would grab the attention of the visitor and it doesn’t really say much about the operator either. Fortunately, the website-wide footer is much more generous in this regard. Through it, we learn that the corporate entity currently running the operation is a certain Royal Forex Ltd, based at Arch. Makariou III, 224, Achileos Building, Limassol, 3030, Cyprus. The company is indeed a registered Cyprus investment firm (its registration number is HE336694), and as such, it is a member of the investor compensation fund. What this means is that traders who lose their deposits in case of a sudden broker bankruptcy, will have their monies refunded by the authorities.
As already mentioned in the intro of this review, GMO Trading is regulated by CySEC. The license number of the operator is 269/15, which is interesting, as the brokerage was only launched in 2017. They probably had their license issued 2 years earlier, or – what’s more likely – they worked under a different brand-name.
The above said CySEC license means that the broker is fully MiFID compliant, which enables it to lawfully peddle its services all through the EEA.
In addition to the above said CySEC license, GMO Trading are also registered with a number of national regulatory agencies, such as the UK’s FCA, Norway and Denmark’s Finanstilsynet, the Netherlands’ AFM, and FI of Sweden.
Being an EEA-licensed operation, GMO Trading only accepts traders from the EU. US traffic, or traffic originating from other parts of the world (such as Australia) is not accepted.
Bucking the currently dominant trend of cryptocurrency-based CFDs, GMO Trading do not offer such trading instruments.
Transparency is indeed one of the main selling points of the brokerage. Documents pertaining to various operational aspects (such as the Safety of Trader Funds, the AML and KYC policies observed by the brokerage, etc), are all available in full at the website.
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Support
GMO Trading support can be contacted through email. They offer two options in this regard: support@gmotrading.com and docs@gmotrading.com. Support emails are usually answered within 24 hours.
Two phone numbers are available as well: +357 25281660 for Cyprus, and +44 2039364444 for the UK.
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GMO Trading Products
The selection of tradable assets and markets is surprisingly massive at GMO Trading. They cover Forex, Indices, Commodities and Stocks, and their trading conditions are mostly good.
Their Forex selection covers scores of currency pairs, from the majors all the way down to exotics. The maximum available leverage is 1:500 on currencies, which is indeed very impressive. None of the other markets feature such outstanding leverage though.
As far as spreads are concerned, they can be as low as 0.7 pips on a pair like the EUR/USD. On more exotic pairs, such as the EUR/ILS though, the minimum spread is as high as 47.6 – which is quite understandable, considering the trading volume disparity involved. It has to be noted that the spreads are variable.
On indices, the trading conditions are quite a bit different. The maximum available leverage on these instruments is 1:125. The spreads vary wildly here too, but they can indeed be as low as 0.32 on the US Dollar Index for instance. If you’re planning to trade indices, make sure you check the trading hours, because these products are not available around the clock like currencies.
Moving on to commodities, the maximum available leverage remains at the 1:125 mark. The minimum spread in this category can hit ridiculously low levels though: on RBOB Gasoline for instance, the minimum spread is just 0.0007 pips. The number and diversity of the tradable commodities is impressive. Besides Gold, Silver, Oil and Gas, soybeans, wheat and corn can be traded too, together with palladium, cotton and even orange juice.
The stocks category is broken into two sub-categories: US- and European stocks. The maximum available leverage on all of them is 1:50. The minimum spreads are 0.21, though on some European stocks they can go as low as 0.021.
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GMO Trading Platforms
In this regard, GMO Trading seem committed to keeping things as simple as possible.
The Web Trader is the go-to option for most beginners, since it can be accessed at a few clicks directly from the website and it offers a handy Demo option, which allows all comers to put its features to the test without putting any real money into harm’s way. This platform is compatible with most major browsers and it can indeed be accessed download-free from just about anywhere in Europe. Besides the obvious advantages stemming from its web-based nature, this platform also offers one-click trade execution. Advanced charting options are available, together with an impressive selection of technical indicators. Visual trends and trading cubes are featured too.
As already said above, MT4 is the flagship platform of the brokerage. It is available for download at the site, free of charge, and it can be installed within a couple of minutes. Traders are given the choice of a demo account on this platform too.
MT4 is renowned for the features and the trading environment it offers. It comes with scores of trading tools and preinstalled technical indicators. Through this platform, traders can create their own indicators though, and they can install as many as they want from a massive pool of over 2k free indicators. Indicators can be purchased from 3rd parties too and installed.
The charting options are unparalleled. Traders can create templates which they can save for later use.
EAs (Expert Advisors) represent one of the most popular features of the platform. EAs are in essence auto-traders, which can trade away according to the traders’ settings, around the clock, provided they’re coupled up with a good VPS service.
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GMO Trading Deposit Options
GMO Trading accept a variety of credit cards, as well as the good, old-fashioned wire transfer. A number of eWallet solutions are supported too: Neteller, Webmoney and Skrill.
Education
The educational material delivered through the GMO Trading website is plentiful as well as useful. There are eBooks, articles, courses, tutorials, as well as a VOD (video of the day) archive, which can be accessed by all comers.
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Conclusion
GMO Trading may not be the oldest and biggest global Forex/CFD brokerage out there, but its offer is solid in every regard. It features excellent platforms, decent trading conditions, as well as a more than decent selection of tradable assets. Education and great support are just a sort of cherry on top of the cake. Also, the minimum required deposit is just $250.
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