How To Select a Forex Broker

As you may already know, foreign swap over (Forex/FX) is an free market that is not traded on an swap over, which means that prices you see and get from one broker could vary from those of another broker. There are mostly two types of brokers. One type is an ECN (Electronic Communications Network) and another a Market-Maker.
Market-makers "make" or set the prices on their systems based on what they think is best for themselves as the counter-party. This is because every time you sell, they must buy, and when you buy, they must sell to you. This is why they can give you a set spread since they are setting both the bid and the ask price. Many of them will then try to "hedge" or "cover" your order by passing it on to someone else; though, some may decide to hold your order, and thus trade against you. This can result in a clash of interest between the retail dealer (you) and the market-maker.
ECNs, on the other hand, pass on prices from a number of banks and market-makers, as well as from the other traders in the ECN, and display the best bid/ask prices based on these input. This is why sometimes you can get no increase on ECNs, especially in very liquid currency pairs. How do ECNs make money then? They do so by charging you a fixed payment for each transaction.
Here are some of the pros and cons of ECNs and market-makers:
Market-Makers
Pros:
Usually give free charting software and news feed
Prices can be "smoother" and less unstable than ECN prices (this can be a con if you are scalping or trading very short term)
Often have a more user-friendly trading and analysis border
Cons:
They may trade against you. In that case, there will be a conflict of interest between you and them
The price they offer you may be not as good as than what you could get on an ECN
It is possible that they may trigger stops or not let your trade reach your profit target levels by manipulating prices
During news, there will usually be a large amount of slippage; their systems may also lock up or not allow order placing during times of high volatility
Many of them dishearten scalping and put scalpers on "manual implementation" which means their orders may not get filled at the price they want