spread widening at london close - is your broker honest?

[mattlive]

during the 15 mins around london close (17:00 UTC ish) spreads always widen. thats expected, lower liquidity zone.

but ive noticed across 4 brokers a HUGE range in how badly they widen. one of my brokers shows 1.5 pip EURUSD spread that normally trades at 0.3. another shows 3-4 pips on the same instrument at the same minute.

is this just normal broker variation or are some brokers using the liquidity dip as cover for extra markup? curious if anyone has measured this systematically.

[thomas_x]

measured exactly this across 5 brokers for 3 months. the dispersion at london close is real and HUGE. tier 1 brokers (ic markets, pepperstone razor) widen 2-3x. opaque ones widen 6-8x. its a stress test of who has real liquidity connections vs who just marks up.

[oceanbreeze]

this is one of the cleanest broker quality tests. take screenshots at 16:55, 17:00, 17:05, 17:15 UTC for a week. brokers that 'manage' their feed will reveal themselves clearly. honest brokers spread widens then snaps back fast.

[mellowday]

is london close just one timezone thing or does it also widen during asian close and new york close?

[christianm]

yes all session transitions cause some widening. london close is usually most dramatic because it overlaps with the new york close approach and pre-asia setup, making it a true liquidity vacuum. asia close (around 06:00 UTC) widens less because new york is fully active. ny close at 21:00 UTC widens noticeably too especially on cross pairs.

[Nathaniel]

the answer is no, no broker is honest at london close. they all skim because they can. pick the least bad one and move on.

[urbanlegend]

i literally stop trading from 16:45 to 17:30 UTC every day because of this. used to lose money trying to fade or breakout in that window because spreads were eating the move. now i just walk away and im happier and more profitable.

[parkerlee]

love this thread nobody talks about session transitions enough. the spreads at london close basically chose my broker for me - the one that least screwed me over