BlackBull Markets Review

Spreads

BlackBull Markets were kind enough to provide us with some of their average spreads when requested for their ECN Prime account. The spreads are generally competitive.

Generally, if you want the tightest possible spreads then you would choose an ECN commission account rather than a Standard account. BlackBull is one of the few FMA regulated brokers that provide ECN pricing accounts and also list their average spreads. We compared BlackBull Markets spreads with some other international brokers.

Spreads for the EUR/USD pair are a very low 0.16 pips. This means you are only paying $1.6 plus commission when you open or close your position for each standard lot. Spreads lows that 0.20 pips for EUR/USD can be considered low. Traders in New Zealand will be interested to know spreads for NZD/USD avg 0.66 pips.

BlackBull ECN Prime Account Spreads Compared	EUR/USDAUD/USDEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDAUD/USDEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDAUD/USDEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDAUD/USDEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDAUD/USDEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD
	0.16	0.57	0.67	0.66	0.44
	0.30	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.30
	0.30	0.96	0.55	0.88	0.27
	0.50	0.70	0.80	0.50	0.50
	0.37	0.87	1.18	1.02	0.41
	0.17	0.30	0.68	0.59	0.24

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 02/11/2020

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In our chart below, we included IG who is another FMA regulated broker. While you will note certain spreads are slightly tighter than BlackBull Markets, you will end up paying more. This is because IG charges $60 for trades less than <100 million which makes too expensive for the retail traders.

BlackBull Markets Leverage

BlackBull Markets has a tiered margin policy, this means the more you trade, the lower your leverage is allowed to be.

If you trade between 0 and 50000 then leverage can be as high as:

•  500:1 (or required margin of 0.20%)

If you trade between 50000 and 10000 then leverage can be as high as:

• 200:1 (or required margin of 0.50%)

If you trade between 10000 and 99999 then leverage can be as high as:

• 100:1 (or required margin of 1%)

While some traders may consider a margin of 500:1 high, it is worth noting that the New Zealand regulator does not impose any maximum leverage limits when forex trading. 500:1 is in line with the maximum leverage permitted by the Australia Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) which is considered a tier-1 regulator.

Leveraged trading may involve high risk so it is important to understand the risks when trading with leveraged products. BlackBull by imposing limits for high volumes traders are encouraging responsible trading when using high trading amounts.

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BlackBull Markets Servers and Execution Speed

While most brokers base their trading servers at NY4 Equinix data centre and/or CY4  London Equinix Data Centre (or alternately on Europe mainland), BlackBull have servers 5 located around the globe. Like all the best broker, their main server is at NY4 Equinix data centre. This makes sense as the most liquidity providers such as tier-1 banks have their servers located here.

Blackbull however also offer fully functional servers at data centres in London, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai which may be used where execution speeds or quality may be better. These servers can also serve as a backup in the unlikely even any data center or server was to fail. BlackBull avg order execution speed is 104ms.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS)

If you wish to achieve the absolute fastest possible market execution speed then may wish to consider one of BlackBull Markets VPS partners. Using a VPC can reduce your trading latency by up to 30%. This extra speed can virtually eliminate slippage risks, which means you can always obtain your expected price with complete fills. The other benefit of VPS is they guarantee 99.99% uptime. This means you don’t need to worry about missing any trading event because servers are down.

VPS servers are offered free to all clients with an ECN Prime account and $2,000 deposit. To maintain the VPS, you need to make 20 lots each month.

BlackBull Markets offer VPS with the following providers:

NYC Servers

This company locates its servers in New York City, right in the heart of the forex trading work. Benefits of this provider include:

• Ultra-Low Latency
• SSD Storage Space
• Automated Data Backups and Storage
• 24 * 7 * 365 Technical Support

BeekFX

This VPS provider specialises in hosting finance servers. Other services like web pages are kept to a minimum to ensure the best capacity if available for your trading needs. BeekFX strategically hosts servers in London, New York and Japan so you can be as close to exchanges as possible.

• Annual Subscription
• Dedicated RAM
• Dedicated Disk Space
• Choice of operating systems
• 24/6 support

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BlackBull Markets Trading Platforms

BlackBull Markets does not offer a proprietary trading platform. Clients at the moment can choose MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 from November. As a trader, unless you are after extra advanced features or niche services, the MetaTrader trading platform will suit nearly all trading needs.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

MT4 is the worlds most widely used trading platforms. More brokers offer this platform and more traders use this platform than any other forex trading platform. This means you can easily switch to a new broker that also offers the platform without losing valuable data and needing to learn a new platform and share and learn from other MT4 large trading community and gain products from its large marketplace.

While MT5 is the successor to MT4 and has been around since 2010, MT4 has remained more popular. However, there is a strong reason to consider MT5. Reasons include:

• MT5 offers more analysis tools than MT4
• MT5 has a faster processing capability
• MT5 allows you to trade exchange-traded CFDs such as shares

But the most important reason is to consider MT5 over MT4 is because MT4 no longer receives new development and limited support from its developer, Metaquotes. This means in time, more people will use MT5 as MT4 becomes outdated and eventually obsolete.

Regardless of which trading platform you choose, you will get access to automation with Expert Advisors and MAM and PaMM accounts.

MetaTrader is available on desktop as download, web browser through Web Trader, Android and iOS for mobile and tablets. MetaTrader 4 desktop will work on 32 bit Mac but version later than Catalina may need some extra conversation software.

Other Software tools

BlackBull Markets has a partnership with 2 of the best social trading software providers on the market.

ZuluTrade

Zulutrade can simply be described as a social online platform that gives traders to power to auto-trade forex and CFDs.

Zulu Trade can be accessed via your MetaTrader account but is a platform in its own right. Key features of Zulutrade include:

• AutoTrading – Zulu allows you to set robots so you can copy other traders
• Social Trading Community – The platform as a large social community of users you can learn from, follow and share ideas with
• Marketplace – With a large market of users bring a large number of users who can create and sell signals for automation
• Copy Trading / Mirror Trading – If you don’t wish to actively trade, Zulu allows you to simply copy other traders. Filters allow find who you copy and defined trading pre-conditions to ensure your trading has risk management.

MyFxBook

Myfxbook like Zulutrade is a social trading platform that integrates with you MetaTrader account. Myfxbook has a heavier emphasis on social interaction. The Myfxbook software offers you analysis tools that such as charts and graphs that allow you to evaluate, review, share and compare trading strategies and trading performance between traders. If you like graphical views for your analysis then you will enjoy Myfxbook.

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BlackBull Markets CFDs Available for Trade

A choice of 45 financial products is available with Blackbull markets for trade. When MetaTrader 5 becomes available in November 2020 then individual stock CFDs will also be available as an option.

Being able to trade across a variety of CFD asset class can help spread your risk which will help stabilise your investment portfolios as leveraged instruments can be volatile. Financial products available with Blakbull include:

• 31 currency pairs (major and minor pairs and crosses)
• 2 Metals (gold, silver) pairs with USD.
• 3 Energies (gas, brent and crude oil)
• 9 Indices across 5 national exchanges
• 350+ stocks from November 2020 once MetaTrader 5 is available)

Blackbull only offers spot assets for trade, futures and options are not available. We also note that BlackBull Markets does not offer cryptocurrencies. This could be considered surprising as most brokers offer cryptocurrency for trading nowadays.

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Regulation And Security

BlackBull Markets company name is Black Bull Group Limited which is registered in New Zealand (Company number 5463921, NZBN 9429041417799).  BlackBull Markets holds a Financial Services Providers Register (FSPR) FSP403326 and obtained a derivative Issuer Licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority on August 12, 2020.

Anti-Money Laundering / Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT):

BlackBull Markets have a legal obligation to report AML/CFT practices to the Financial Markets Authority. To ensure BlackBull is above board with their compliances and meet FMA requirements, periodic audits are performed by independent companies.

Dispute Resolution Scheme:

As a company registered with FSPR BlackBull is required to be a member of an independent dispute resolution scheme. Blackbull Marketsparticipates in the Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) dispute resolution scheme. In the event a dispute between client and BlackBull arises, FSCL will be able to help resolve disputes in an impartial manner.

Security Of Funds:

BlackBull markets keep your funds in a segregated account. BlackBull uses ANZ bank as their banking partner.

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Minimum Deposit and Account Funding

Retail traders will need to deposit at least $200 USD to open a trading account with BlackBull Markets.

Deposits

When making a deposit, there are no fees charged by the broker. Payment methods include:

• Visa / MasterCard
• Skrill / Neteller
• China Union Pay
• FasaPay
• PayPal

Note: When using PayPayl there is a 2% fee.

You have a choice of making deposits with the following currency

• United States Dollar (USD)
• Euro (EUR)
• Great British Pound (GBP)
• Australian Dollar (AUD)
• New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
• Singapore Dollar (SGD)
• Canadian Dollar (CAD)
• Japanese Yen (JPY)
• South African Rand (ZAR)
• Should you use Skrill, you will be subject to exchange fees if you are not using USD.

Withdrawals

BlakcBull Markets has a withdrawal fee of 5.00 for the account base currency when using Credit Cards, Neteller or Skrill. If using bank transfer then the fee will be 20.00.  Withdrawals much go back to the same account money was deposited from.

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BlackBull Markets Customer Services and Customer Support

Customer Support

BlackBull considers the customer services they offer as the number 1 reason to consider them as a broker.

Customer service is extremely important to us because you are central to our business

Support is available 24/6 through their Auckland,  New Zealand office by live chat, email and phone. Most of the support term has expert knowledge in trading and are keen to use their knowledge to ensure your questions receive quality answers. There is also a FAQ and glossary section which can help to clarify any questions regarding the broker and forex and CFD trading.

Sign up to start trading is relatively simple. The broker offers an online application process that can be done in minutes. The following is needed to meet KYC requirements:

• Proof of identity (scanned passport or notarised ID card)
• Proof of address (ie Bank statement within last 3 months or utility bill)
• Linking photo (ie: photo of you holding your ID card or Passport)

Documents can be submitted with jpg or .pdf file.

Customer Services – Research and Education

BlackBull Markets offers a solid range of education tools In the education section, you will find:

• 11 videos about learning to trade using MetaTrader 4 as its foundation.
• 23 trading guides that is updated periodically. Topics include what are spreads, swaps, technical analysis and resistance levels
• Glossary

In addition to education, there is also a research section with handy features such as:

• Economic calendar
• Market news that is updated once or twice a day
• Trading conditions and session times for all CFDs available for trade

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