# Forex Broker Spy (`kuromaro/forex-broker-spy`) Actor

Compare FX broker spreads, commissions, and swap rates. Scrape economic calendar events from ForexFactory. Essential data for forex traders.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/kuromaro/forex-broker-spy.md
- **Developed by:** [Takuma](https://apify.com/kuromaro) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $200.00 / 1,000 spreads collecteds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Forex Broker Spy

Compare FX broker trading conditions and track economic calendar events — automatically, at scale.

### What It Does

**Forex Broker Spy** is an Apify Actor that collects two types of data essential for FX traders:

1. **Broker Spread Comparison** — scrapes Myfxbook's broker comparison page and ranks brokers by total trading cost (spread + commission) per standard lot.
2. **Economic Calendar** — scrapes ForexFactory's calendar to surface upcoming high-impact news events that can move the market.

### Use Cases

- Compare real trading costs across dozens of brokers for symbols like EURUSD, XAUUSD, USDJPY.
- Monitor today's high-impact news before entering trades.
- Feed broker cost data into a spreadsheet or dashboard to identify the cheapest broker for your strategy.
- Automate weekly calendar digests for trading teams or newsletters.

### Input Parameters

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `mode` | select | `both` | `spreads` — broker costs only; `calendar` — news only; `both` — everything |
| `symbols` | array | `["EURUSD","GBPUSD","USDJPY","XAUUSD"]` | FX symbols to filter broker data for |
| `calendarDateRange` | select | `today` | `today`, `week`, or `month` |
| `impactFilter` | select | `all` | Filter news by impact: `high`, `medium`, or `all` |
| `proxyConfiguration` | proxy | — | Apify proxy settings (recommended to avoid blocks) |

### Output

Results are pushed to the default Apify dataset. Each record is one of two types:

#### Broker Spread Record

```json
{
  "broker": "IC Markets",
  "symbol": "EURUSD",
  "spreadTypical": 0.6,
  "spreadMin": 0.1,
  "spreadMax": 1.2,
  "commission": 7.0,
  "swapLong": -3.5,
  "swapShort": 1.2,
  "totalCostPerLot": 13.0,
  "timestamp": "2025-06-27T10:00:00+00:00"
}
```

`totalCostPerLot` = `spreadTypical × 10 + commission` (USD per standard lot, round-trip).

#### Calendar Event Record

```json
{
  "date": "Jun 27",
  "time": "8:30am",
  "currency": "USD",
  "event": "Core PCE Price Index m/m",
  "impact": "high",
  "forecast": "0.3%",
  "previous": "0.2%",
  "actual": ""
}
```

### Cost Calculation

Total cost per lot is calculated as:

```
totalCostPerLot = spreadTypical * 10 + commission
```

Where:

- `spreadTypical` is in pips
- 1 pip = $10 for a standard lot (100,000 units)
- `commission` is the round-trip charge in USD

Brokers are ranked from cheapest to most expensive by this metric.

### Proxy

ForexFactory and Myfxbook may block datacenter IPs. Enable the **proxyConfiguration** field and select Apify Residential proxies for reliable results.

### Technical Notes

- HTTP requests use random User-Agent rotation and 3-attempt exponential back-off.
- All times in calendar output are as shown on ForexFactory (US Eastern by default).
- Spread data reflects live conditions at scrape time; values change continuously.

### Example Schedule

Run daily at 7:00 AM New York time to get today's high-impact calendar events:

```json
{
  "mode": "calendar",
  "calendarDateRange": "today",
  "impactFilter": "high"
}
```

### License

Apache 2.0

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What data to collect: broker spreads, economic calendar, or both.

## `symbols` (type: `array`):

FX symbols to filter broker spreads for (e.g. EURUSD, XAUUSD).

## `calendarDateRange` (type: `string`):

Time range for the ForexFactory economic calendar.

## `impactFilter` (type: `string`):

Minimum news impact level to include in the calendar output.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify proxy settings. Recommended to avoid rate limiting.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "both",
  "symbols": [
    "EURUSD",
    "GBPUSD",
    "USDJPY",
    "XAUUSD"
  ],
  "calendarDateRange": "today",
  "impactFilter": "all"
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("kuromaro/forex-broker-spy").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("kuromaro/forex-broker-spy").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call kuromaro/forex-broker-spy --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=kuromaro/forex-broker-spy",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/gHGt3NzeToLwqjQnD/builds/WM5lVtCSrYfrBN5EQ/openapi.json