Do the Forex Spreads Hold Through News?

Forex spreads are usually quoted at their best behaviour: the "from 0.0 pips" you see advertised belongs to a sleepy Tuesday, not to 1:30pm on NFP Friday. So I checked Trade Nation's the other way round, deliberately through the ugliest scheduled moments in the currency calendar, on a real funded account, against the exact figures their market information sheet publishes.

Trade Nation published forex spreads and whether they held during news events
Pair and eventPublished spread (main session)During the event
EUR/USD through NFP0.5 pips0.5 pips
GBP/USD through the BoE decision0.8 pips0.8 pips
EUR/USD through the ECB decision0.5 pips0.5 pips

Spread figures are Trade Nation's own published rates from their market information sheet (each pair also has set overnight and rollover bands, printed on the same sheet). The middle column is theirs; the right-hand column is me holding a live funded account through each event to check it.

For calibration: among the variable-spread brokers I have tested, EUR/USD spreads routinely doubled or tripled in the minute around NFP. A published 0.5 that stays put through the same minute is not a small edge. One thing on their sheet worth acting on: the bands step wider overnight and peak in the 22:00 to 22:59 London hour, so avoid opening or closing positions during rollover. It changes what kinds of trades are even sensible to attempt, which is why the deeper dive into this pricing model got its own page.

Which Platform Should Forex Traders Pick?

Trade Nation gives you three routes and they are not equal for currency work. The one I actually used, and the one in my screenshots, is the TradingView connection: Trade Nation is a featured Platinum broker there with a 4.8 rating, connection took a single click on my account, and it works on TradingView's free tier. You get the full charting arsenal (400+ indicators, Pine Script, multi-timeframe layouts) with your fixed-spread account docked underneath and tickets firing straight from the chart.

TradingView broker panel showing Trade Nation as a featured Platinum broker with a 4.8 rating
Trade Nation inside TradingView's broker panel: Platinum tier, 4.8 rating, one-click connection on my account.

TN Trader, the in-house platform on desktop, web and mobile, handles forex perfectly well for simpler workflows and carries the same fixed spreads. MT4 is there for the EA crowd with one big caveat: MT4 accounts run variable spreads, which for a forex trader removes the main reason to be here. There is no MT5. My blunt routing advice for currency traders: TradingView if you chart seriously, TN Trader if you want simple, MT4 only if your robots demand it and you accept variable pricing.

Trade Nation account panel docked below a chart inside TradingView during live testing
My live Trade Nation account docked inside TradingView: balance, orders and positions below the chart, account details blurred.

Forex Costs Beyond the Spread

Commission is zero; the spread is the whole ticket price. Positions from 0.10 lots (10p a point on my spread betting account) keep sizing granular. The cost that matters for anyone holding pairs overnight is swap: on our account EUR/USD charged 9.00 per lot on longs and 2.70 on shorts per night, which is unremarkable for the industry but worth knowing before you run a carry-style position. Day traders in and out before the New York close never touch it.

One structural choice UK forex traders should notice: trade currencies inside the spread betting account rather than the CFD one and profits are currently free of Capital Gains Tax for UK retail speculators (tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change). Fixed spreads inside a CGT-free wrapper is a pairing you will struggle to find elsewhere.

Who Is It Right For?

The pair list covers the majors and minors, which is where nearly all retail forex volume lives anyway. If your strategy needs a deep bench of exotics, a specialist with a longer currency list serves you better, and our forex broker rankings name them. Scalpers of calm mid-session markets can also shave fractions with a raw-spread account at a broker like Pepperstone, paying for it whenever volatility arrives.

Everything else lands in Trade Nation's favour for the currency trader it suits: spreads that held as advertised when we tested them, support running 24 hours Monday to Friday (matching forex market hours, and their UK phone line answered ours in six minutes), FCA regulation with negative balance protection, and a £10,000 demo for testing a strategy against fixed costs before funding. The fit, as with everything at this broker, is a trader who knows what they want from a chart; if you are still learning what a pip is, Capital.com is a friendlier classroom.

Visit Trade Nation

‌Financial Spread Bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

FAQs

What are Trade Nation's forex spreads?

Fixed to a published timetable, which is the headline. Their market information sheet lists EUR/USD at 0.5 pips and GBP/USD at 0.8 through the main session (07:00 to 21:59), with set overnight and rollover bands, and those main-session figures did not move when I traded through NFP and a Bank of England decision. Fixed pricing applies on TN Trader and TradingView; MT4 runs variable spreads.

How many currency pairs does Trade Nation offer?

The majors and minors, a little over thirty pairs, covering where the overwhelming bulk of retail forex volume actually trades. It is not an exotics shop; if you need Nordic crosses or emerging-market pairs, a wider-list specialist from our forex rankings fits better.

Can I trade forex on MT4 or MT5 with Trade Nation?

MT4 yes, MT5 no (their support pages say MT5 is not currently offered). The catch for forex traders: MT4 accounts use variable spreads, so choosing MT4 gives up the fixed pricing that is Trade Nation's main draw. Expert Advisor users have to weigh that trade directly.

Is Trade Nation good for forex beginners?

The economics are beginner-friendly (10p-a-point stakes on my account, an effectively zero minimum deposit, a £10,000 demo), and fixed spreads make your first cost calculations honest. The platforms reward existing chart fluency though, so a complete newcomer may learn faster somewhere simpler and graduate here once costs start driving their decisions. The standard warning applies: 73.7% of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs with this provider.

Is forex trading at Trade Nation tax-free in the UK?

Via the spread betting account, profits are currently free of Capital Gains Tax for UK retail speculators; via the CFD account they are within scope of CGT. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change, and losses on spread bets are not deductible either.

References