Guides

Broker Basics

What 'Segregated Client Funds' Actually Means (and When It Doesn't Protect You)

Segregated accounts are meant to keep your deposit separate from a broker's own money — but the protection has real limits that the marketing language usually skips over. — last verified 2026-09-01

Broker Basics

Swap Fees Explained: What Overnight Trading Actually Costs

Hold a leveraged position overnight and a swap fee applies automatically, every night, whether you notice it or not — here's what it is and how it adds up. — last verified 2026-09-01

Broker Basics

What Is a Spread? How Forex Brokers Actually Make Money

The spread is the cost you pay on every single trade, before you've made or lost a cent on the market move itself — here's how it works and how brokers profit from it. — last verified 2026-09-01

Broker Basics

Why Leverage Limits Differ by Regulator (and What That Means for You)

A broker offering 1:2000 leverage and one capped at 1:30 aren't competing on the same playing field — the gap usually tells you something about which regulator, if any, actually oversees the account. — last verified 2026-09-01

Prop Firms

Is a Prop Firm Challenge Worth It? An Honest Cost Breakdown

Most challenge attempts don't pass. Here's the actual math to run before you pay, fee, resets, opportunity cost, and the breakeven point most traders never calculate. — last verified 2026-08-02

Prop Firms

Prop Firm Profit Split Explained: What You Keep After Everything

An 80/20 or 90/10 split sounds simple on the pricing page. Here's everything else that comes off the top before that percentage actually applies to what lands in your account. — last verified 2026-08-02

Prop Firms

Prop Firm Red Flags: The Cash-Flow Warning Signs

This isn't about checking a firm before you buy, it's about monitoring one you already have money with. The five signs that consistently preceded prop firm collapses, and what to do the moment you see the first one. — last verified 2026-08-02

Prop Firms

What Happens If Your Prop Firm Shuts Down?

The Funded Trader stopped paying out in March 2024 with roughly $2 million frozen. Here's what that actually meant for the traders holding balances, and what to do if you see the same pattern starting. — last verified 2026-08-02

Regulation & Legality

Is Exness Legal in the Philippines? What the SEC Advisory Actually Says

The SEC issued a public advisory against Exness in January 2026. Here's what it actually says, why it doesn't mean Exness is a Ponzi scheme, and what it means if you already have an account. — last verified 2026-07-28

Prop Firms

Instant Funding vs Two-Phase Challenge: What You're Actually Buying

The two prop firm models price the same risk differently. Here's how to compare them honestly — including the cost the cheaper option hides. — last verified 2026-07-28

Prop Firms

How to Verify a Prop Firm Actually Pays Out

A prop firm's own payout screenshots prove nothing. Here's the verification process to run before you pay for any evaluation — and the warning signs that a firm is about to stop paying. — last verified 2026-07-28

Prop Firms

The Prop Firm Rules That Void Your Payout (And Why They're Buried)

Most failed prop firm payouts aren't refusals — they're rule violations the trader didn't know existed. Here are the clauses to read before you pay, and where they hide. — last verified 2026-07-28

Broker Basics

Copy Trading and Signal Groups: What the Rules Actually Say

Automatically copying someone else's trades may legally be portfolio management. Here's why that matters and what to check before you connect an account. — last verified 2026-07-27

Regulation & Legality

How to Report an Investment Scam in the Philippines: SEC, NBI, PNP-ACG

Where to file, what evidence to gather first, and what each agency can and cannot do about money that has already left your account. — last verified 2026-07-27

Scam Awareness

"We Can Get Your Money Back" Is Usually the Second Scam

Recovery fraud targets people who have already lost money once. Here's how the approach works and the one rule that defeats all of it. — last verified 2026-07-27

Broker Basics

What Happens to Your Money If Your Broker Goes Bust?

Compensation schemes like the ICF and FSCS only cover clients of the licensed entity. Here's how to check which entity actually holds your account. — last verified 2026-07-27

Regulation & Legality

BSP Rules on Sending Money to Offshore Brokers: What Filipino Traders Should Know

The BSP governs how money moves in and out of the Philippines — a separate question from whether the broker or the trading itself is legal. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

How CPA/Bonus Offers Work — and Why "Free Money" Offers Can Be a Red Flag

Deposit bonuses and referral payouts aren't inherently scams — but the terms attached to them are exactly where predatory brokers hide the catch. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

Demo Account vs Live Account: How to Test a Broker Safely

A demo account can tell you a lot about a broker's platform — but not everything. Here's what a demo actually proves, and what it can't. — last verified 2026-07-26

Regulation & Legality

FAQ: Answering the Most-Searched Questions About Forex Trading in the Philippines

Quick, direct answers to the questions Filipino traders ask most often, with links to the full guides for anything that needs more depth. — last verified 2026-07-26

Prop Firms

How to Choose a Prop Firm: Checklist Before You Pay for a Challenge

A working checklist to run through before you pay any evaluation fee — because the fee is non-refundable in most models regardless of outcome. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

How to Read a Broker's Terms: Spreads, Swaps, and Hidden Fees Explained

The cost of trading isn't just the commission line on the pricing page — here's where brokers actually make money, and where to look for it in the terms. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

Leverage Explained: Why High Leverage Offers Can Be Risky

Leverage lets you control a bigger position than your deposit alone would allow — which is exactly why it magnifies losses as fast as it magnifies gains. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

Mobile Trading Apps: Security Checklist Before You Link Your Bank Account

Your trading app touches your bank account and identity documents — a quick security checklist before you link either. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

What Is Negative Balance Protection and Why It Matters

Without this protection, extreme market moves can leave you owing your broker more than you deposited — here's how the safeguard works and how to check if you have it. — last verified 2026-07-26

Prop Firms

Prop Firm vs Direct Broker Trading: Which Is Right for Beginners?

Two different paths to trading, with different capital requirements, different rules, and different risks — here's how to think about which fits your situation. — last verified 2026-07-26

Regulation & Legality

Tax Basics for Filipino Forex Traders (General Education, Not Tax Advice)

A framework for understanding how forex trading profits generally fit into Philippine tax obligations — with the specific numbers left to the BIR and a professional, on purpose. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

Understanding Regulator Websites: How to Search FCA/ASIC/CySEC Registers Yourself

The official registers are free, public, and the only source you should actually trust — here's how to navigate each one without getting confused by naming and entity structure. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

Withdrawal Problems: How to Tell If a Broker Is Stalling Payouts

Withdrawal friction is the single most-reported complaint about problem brokers — here's how to tell a normal delay from a real warning sign. — last verified 2026-07-26

Broker Basics

Glossary: Forex Terms Every Filipino Beginner Should Know

Plain-language definitions for the terms you'll run into constantly while researching brokers, regulation, and prop firms. — last verified 2026-07-25

Broker Basics

Regulated vs Unregulated Brokers: Why the Difference Matters for Your Deposit

Regulation doesn't guarantee you'll never lose money trading — but it changes what protections exist if a broker mishandles your funds. — last verified 2026-07-25

Regulation & Legality

SEC Advisory List Explained: What It Means When a Broker Is Flagged

An SEC advisory isn't automatically proof of a scam broker — here's what the advisory list actually means, and why even internationally regulated brand names sometimes appear on it. — last verified 2026-07-25

Prop Firms

What Is a Prop Firm? Beginner's Guide to Funded Trading Challenges

Prop firms let you trade with the firm's capital after passing an evaluation — here's how the model actually works, and what to check before you pay for a challenge. — last verified 2026-07-25

Scam Awareness

Common Forex Scams Targeting Filipino Traders (and Red Flags to Watch For)

Five recurring patterns behind forex-labeled investment scams reported in the Philippines, and how to check if something you're looking at fits the pattern. — last verified 2026-07-24

Broker Basics

How to Check If a Forex Broker Is Legit: FCA / ASIC / CySEC License Verification Guide

A five-step process to verify a broker's license directly on the regulator's own register, in under five minutes. — last verified 2026-07-24

Regulation & Legality

Is Forex Trading Legal in the Philippines? SEC & BSP Rules Explained (2026)

A framework for understanding what Philippine regulators actually target when they warn about forex — and where legitimate trading fits. — last verified 2026-07-24