I’ve been noticing that spread data varies wildly depending on when you check it. During quiet market periods I see IC Markets at reasonable pips, but I watched their EUR/USD hit 2.5 pips during the Fed announcement last week. That’s a big jump from their normal 0.7-0.9 range.
I get that volatility causes spreads to widen - that’s just how markets work. But I’m trying to understand how to actually factor that into my decision about which broker to use.
The thing is, most broker comparison sites only show you the average or best-case spreads. They don’t show what actually happens when the market gets choppy. And that’s when I’m most likely to be trading.
I’ve heard people mention using GlobeGain rebate data to track their real costs over time. Does that give you a clearer picture than what brokers advertise? Like, if you’re tracking actual rebates, you can see what your spreads really were across all those volatile sessions combined?
How do you all handle this when comparing brokers? Do you just accept that spreads will widen during news, or do you actively avoid trading at those times and then compare brokers based on their normal market conditions?
Spread widening during news is expected. The real metric is how quickly spreads normalize after the event.
Some brokers hold wide spreads for 30 seconds after data release. Others return to normal in 5 seconds. That execution quality difference adds up fast if you’re active during volatility.
Use GlobeGain data like this: track your average spread over a full month including quiet days and news events. That’s your true cost baseline. Compare that against another broker’s monthly average. Don’t compare best spreads or average spreads alone. Compare realistic monthly costs after rebates.
I used to avoid trading during news completely. Then I started tracking everything through GlobeGain and realized the data told me something useful.
Over 3 months, my average spread across all trades was about 1.1 pips. That included the wide spreads during volatility. My rebate brought it down to about 0.8 pips effective cost per trade.
When I looked at a different broker, their average was 0.9 pips but with no rebate. Looks better on paper, but my GlobeGain data showed I was actually paying less with IC Markets because of the rebate volume.
The rebate history is kind of like your actual cost receipt. Way more useful than advertised spreads.
I think the key is just accepting that spreads widen during news and testing how badly it affects your trading results.
I started tracking my win rate and average profit per trade with IC Markets. After a few weeks I could see my actual profitability, not theoretical numbers. Some traders do better with tighter spreads but worse execution. Others prefer wider spreads with faster fills.
Your real performance over time tells you if the spread pattern at that broker works for you. And yeah, the GlobeGain rebate tracking helps because you get an actual record of what your spreads were.
Spreads widen during news at every broker. Track your costs with GlobeGain rebates. That’s real data.
Track real spreads using rebate history not ads.
One thing I didn’t expect: news widening is bad, but requoting at certain brokers during volatility actually costs more. IC Markets handles it better than some competitors. That’s worth testing with a small account during a planned economic release.