I was looking at North Finance at one time also, what they offer was very impressive. I was always told to look where the firm is based out of since you want to be sure of stability and safeness of your money. I know one can never be sure, but its somethign to consider. From what I see, many who trade uses them or have their fnds spread out among different brokers. Actually, my first choice was NF, but the boss [my wife

] did not want me to open my account there. Wearing shades will not help me since she knows who's handle this is

.
I care about tight spreads since for you to recoup the PIPs, it makes a difference. If you consistently make PIPs then it may not matter that much. So i will look at tight spreads, ability to trade during news time [not the case with MIG anymore], broker system does not crash or freezes up during news time, system is not down during market times [IBFX great for that during the Asian session - have those S/L], not have large gaps in price during news, and some will charge having money going in or out of your account [MIG great for that, they claim its not them, but the bank they use that charges those fees].