Best Thread FXCM Discussion

[kimo'sabby]

Re: stops not working

Jason, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you to receive such a flannel response, the stops were at 20 pips, they weren't even hit at 45!! I had to manually intervene on them...that's got nothing to do with liquidity ffs, or fast moving markets...it's random? Then what's the point, at any time all your *hard work* for the day/the week can be wiped out...

We've never had that problem with, for example, simple little outfits such as IG, a stop is a stop, end of, and your changes brought about last year should not affect UK based clients.

Black Swan,

That last reply from FXCM blew my f*ckin socks off mate.....ditch the f*ckers. I'll pm ya.

 

[Trading Gurus]

Re: stops not working

Hi Jason,

All retail micro execution is now NDD, and FXCM is not making a market for those transactions.

I must have blinked and missed that. When did that change take place? How many "banks and financial institutions" are there out there willing to take the other side of micro-lots?

Are you in a position to name names?

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Jason Rogers]

Re: stops not working

Jason, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you to receive such a flannel response, the stops were at 20 pips, they weren't even hit at 45!! I had to manually intervene on them...that's got nothing to do with liquidity ffs, or fast moving markets...it's random? Then what's the point, at any time all your *hard work* for the day/the week can be wiped out...

We've never had that problem with, for example, simple little outfits such as IG, a stop is a stop, end of, and your changes brought about last year should not affect UK based clients.

Hi Black Swan,

I don't have the details of your account, but if you would like to me to take a look into the details, can you please send me an email at [email protected].

Speaking in general terms regarding execution, slippage can occur on a trade. And a stop is a market order to execute at the best price possible. FXCM is not trading against clients on NDD forex trasactions as you would have against a market maker, and we don't determine at what price the order is filled.

Trading during NFP is by no means a normal market condition when the market can drop nearly 50 pips in one tick as happened on USD/JPY for example. For every order that our clients send through, there has to be another bank or financial institution on the other side of the trade with which to offset it.

My previous post was made discussing how stop loss execution works because I understand you submitted a trade audit. If you would like for me to take a look into the details of the trade if something different occurred, I can do that as well. Please send me an email with the account number, and I can review it.

-Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

Re: stops not working

Hi Jason,



I must have blinked and missed that. When did that change take place? How many "banks and financial institutions" are there out there willing to take the other side of micro-lots?

Are you in a position to name names?

Cheers,

Jim

Hi Jim,

The transition was completed a couple of weeks ago. I believe we're in the process of updating information but it hasn't been added to the website just yet. As far as the number or names, I'm not in a position yet to give details yet.

-Jason

 

[Black Swan]

Re: stops not working

Jason I've always had a lot of time for you and how you deal with issues on the various forums, you also know I'm not green at trading so nfp day doesn't really get the heart racing that much anymore. D'ya know that would be the biggest % slippage (and oddest given it was grouped) I'd have seen in my 3 years of trading..

But it wasn't slippage on order execution it was stops not being hit...bizarre. IMHO that fxcm micro is a total winner in the UK if you get it right, btw just remembered must post the results of the comp. on the main forum to prove to folk how you can grow an account by 1000% in a month..

Anyhow I've (we've) sent a couple of mails over to Helene, I likes fxcm, I like dbfx (dbfxcm? ) more and I hate that phrase it's the principal of the issue, it's not, it's the principal (money) even though it's a tiny amount...I hate to look like a proper charlie in front of my kids too...but as they're getting older they're getting used to that...

He (we) had been in the 4 trades for a while, it was not scalping. The combined loss should have been 60 pips on 3 trades, not 130...I want it to be my lad's UNI fund...then you can give him a job eh?

 

[Jason Rogers]

Re: stops not working

...I want it to be my lad's UNI fund...then you can give him a job eh?

Well FXCM/ODL is expanding throughout Europe

Jason I've always had a lot of time for you and how you deal with issues on the various forums, you also know I'm not green at trading so nfp day doesn't really get the heart racing that much anymore. D'ya know that would be the biggest % slippage (and oddest given it was grouped) I'd have seen in my 3 years of trading..

Completely understand and maybe it's something I haven't seen not looking at the details. If you need help with anything after hearing back from Helene or the micro please let me know. Have a good weekend and will be back on Monday.

-Jason

 

[jsales]

FXCM Traders Can Now Benefit from Price Improvements on Limit Orders

FXCM recently enhanced its No Dealing Desk forex execution model by adding Price Improvements†. As of July 12, 2010, if a better price becomes available before your limit order executes, FXCM’s No Dealing Desk execution engine will automatically give you the best available price.

The Old
A common inconvenience to most No Dealing Desk execution models is that limit and limit entry orders always fill at the limit price—even if the market price gapped or spiked favorably through it. At the same time, stop orders can fill at a worse price.

The New
Now with FXCM Price Improvements, your limit and limit entry orders can receive positive slippage. That means you can potentially make more money if the market gaps or spikes favorably through your limit price. This is especially true in situations where the market is moving fast like during weekend gaps or around news events.

How Does It Work?
To illustrate how a Price Improvement can mean more money for you, consider the following example.

- Friday: You decide to hold a 10K EUR/USD buy position through the weekend, in light of a G20 meeting on Saturday. You create a limit order on the trade at 1.3260 anticipating a possible gap when trading opens.
- Saturday: The G20 meeting is very positive for the Euro-zone, which could help your trade.
- Sunday: As trading opens, the EUR/USD price gaps through your limit price of 1.3260, from Friday’s close of 1.3242 to 1.3275.

The Old: Previously, your limit would have filled at your requested limit price of 1.3260.

The New: Now, with FXCM Price Improvements, since the market gapped through your limit price, your trade could close at 1.3275, providing you with a Price Improvement of up to 15 pips.

“Exchange traded instruments already benefit from positive slippage.” said Drew Niv, CEO of FXCM. “With FXCM Price Improvements, FXCM is bringing the forex industry more in line with these common practices, making trading even more fair for our clients.”

To see Price Improvements in action, FXCM recommends using limit orders to close trades. Easily see when you get a Price Improvement by comparing the limit price that you requested with the limit price where you were filled.


FXCM Holdings, LLC Facts

FXCM Holdings, LLC is a leading global forex and CFD broker* that caters to both retail and institutional markets. Founded in 1999, FXCM is one of the largest brokers, regulated by several of the world’s most respected financial authorities.

At the heart of FXCM’s client offering is No Dealing Desk forex trading. Clients have market access to some of the world's largest liquidity providers which enables FXCM to offer clients spreads as low as 1 pip on major crosses. Clients also have the benefits of mobile trading, one-click order execution and trading from real-time charts. FXCM LTD’s CFD product offers no re-quote trading and allows traders to trade oil, gold, silver, and stock indices, along with forex on one platform. In addition to currency and CFD trading*, FXCM offers educational courses on forex trading, and provides free news and research through DailyFX.com.

†All price improvements are dependent upon available liquidity.

*Please be advised that CFD accounts are not available to residents of the U.S. or its territories. Additionally, FXCM LTD offers spread betting exclusively to UK residents. Residents of other countries are NOT eligible.

Trading foreign exchange and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all.

 

[Jason Rogers]

Another trader added a new EA to the Strategy Trader directory yesterday which imports the economic news events onto the Strategy Trader chart. Take a look

You can find the EA by going to the top of the platform and clicking on Help > Discussion Forums then look for the Strategy Trader Add-Ons section.

There are two other Add-On's you will find in the add-on section. One lets you upload your account trading statement to mt4i.com where you can get stats on your trading and the other can combine backtested equity curves from multiple currency pairs so you can analyze multi-currency portfolios.

 

[Ross Spur]

Does positive slippage apply to SB accounts? I'd be amazed if it did, but there's always hope.

 

[Jason Rogers]

Does positive slippage apply to SB accounts? I'd be amazed if it did, but there's always hope.

Hi Ross,

It applies to the forex transactions in the SB accounts since they are executed via No Dealing Desk (or DMA) execution. To see the price improvement in action, we recommend using limit orders to open/close trades.

Whenever you place a forex trade in the SB account, if there's a bank that can fill your limit order at a better price than what you requested, it will be filled at that better price. FXCM makes the same pip mark-up (effectively a commission) regardless of the rate your order is filled at. Please note that this doesn't apply to the CFD contracts such as oil, gold, and stock indices since they are not yet NDD.

-Jason

 

[Black Swan]

Heh Jason..that problem with the micro account was sorted, full re-imbursement of the losses beyond the stops. Gotta say the customer service was excellent.

Playing around with the strat tester atm, very impressed. Looked ominous at first but it's v.simple tbh.

A question for you, saves me asking through the live help button; will I be able to use the strat tester with dbfx given it's your platform? TIA.

 

[Jason Rogers]

Heh Jason..that problem with the micro account was sorted, full re-imbursement of the losses beyond the stops. Gotta say the customer service was excellent.

Playing around with the strat tester atm, very impressed. Looked ominous at first but it's v.simple tbh.

A question for you, saves me asking through the live help button; will I be able to use the strat tester with dbfx given it's your platform? TIA.

Hey Black Swan,

Good to hear it was sorted out, and thanks for the feedback on Strategy Trader. There are so many options on Strategy Trader that it can be a little overwhelming at first, or at least that's what I thought when initially looking it over. But fairly simple to use once you have the basics down, and especially if you're previously familiar with MT4.

Not sure if dbfx plans to license Strategy Trader platform as well. I usually find out about that stuff when I see it on their website

-Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

Here are a couple of topics that have come up recently with Strategy Trader:

1. Adding Currency Pairs to the Dealing Rates Window:
Whenever you first register for a demo account and login to Strategy Trader, the dealing rates window will default to 33 symbols (currency pairs, oil, gold, etc.). If you want to add/remove symbols, you will have to do so through the FX Trading Station II. Your demo login will give you the ability to login to both Strategy Trader and the FX Trading Station II. Strategy Trader does not have an option built in to add and remove symbols, therefore you need to use the FX Trading Station to control the symbol list.

2. Stops/Limits:
Strategy Trader was designed primarily for automated trading, but there is the ability to manually place trades in the platform. If you want to place a stop or limit on that position, you will not find an option for doing so in the positions window. You have 2 options: 1) place the stop/limit through the FX Trading Station II, or 2) use the stop/limit strategy advisor found on www.forexcodesource.com (note: the link for the stop/limit strategy advisor appears to be broken as of now 11:20am ET on 8/19, notified programming team and they are fixing the link at the moment).

 

[Jason Rogers]

There's a new update coming out this weekend for FXCM's FX Trading Station II. Here's an overview of the new features:


1. RSS News Window
A window is being added to the trading platform down at the bottom for News. The DailyFX Real Time News feed is already included for forex alerts and you can add any additional RSS feeds. For example, I added the Marketwatch Break News Bulletings and Real Time News updates to mine. See below:

2. Trailing Stops

Dynamic vs. Step: Traders will be able to choose between having a dynamic trailing stop or a step trailing stop. The dynamic trailing stop moves pip by pip whereas the step trailing stop lets you choose the minimum moves the market must make for the stop to trail.

FXCM US Trailing Stop: Traders with FXCM US (LLC) will be able to add trailing stops to their net positions.

​

3. Entry Order Time in Force
Entry orders will have the option to be either Good Till Cancelled (by default) or Good for Day. If time in force is set to "Day", the order will expire at 17:00 Eastern Time (New York).



I'll post tomorrow with a list of the new charting features!

 

[Jason Rogers]

Yesterday I posted about the trading features being added to the FX Trading Station II with this weekends update. Next for I'll show some of the features being added to the Marketscope charts:


Signal Notification via E-Mail:
Signals that you set in the Marketscope Charts will be able to alert you via e-mail, in addition to the usual sounds and message windows. You will be able to be notified via e-mail about signals, including technical indicators such as RSI levels or Moving Average crosses, Price levels, Pivot Points, as well as custom technical indicators and signals that you can program yourself or download from the Internet. I also noticed the inclusion of a order and trader alert so you can have an email sent to you when a specified order is executed.


Chart Templates:
You may have experienced the frustration of spending a lot of time setting up a chart exactly how you want it with all the technical indicators and then realize you can't copy the indicator setup onto another chart. We have added a chart template option which you can use to save the indicator layout and then copy it onto other charts. Makes setting up charts much easier and efficient.


Tick Volume
Tick volume indicator has been added to the indicator list.

Technical Indicators Customization:

More customization options have been added for the indicators such as the ability to increase line thickness. This has been a very popular request.


Save Zoom Level:
If you're zoomed into a chart and change the period or currency pair, the zoom level will continue to the next chart. The zoom will also be saved when you save the layout of the chart. Previously, the zoom level would default to 300 candles when you change currency pairs or time frames.


Empty (hollow) Bearish Candles:
You have the option to make the bearish candles empty or hollow as opposed to the current setup where the candle is always filled.

Those are the major feature updates coming out this weekend. As always, if you have any suggestions for improvements to the trading platform, please feel free to let us know. We typically have 2-3 updates for the FXTSII per year and try to implement the top requests.

 

[Jason Rogers]

One more thing to mention about this weekend's update, automated trading functionality is being added to the FX Trading Station II along with a sample strategy, basic moving average cross. Below is a screenshot of how you will access the strategies:

Once you apply the strategy, it will plot the trade to the chart along with details on whether the trade was created by the strategy or manual trading.

The programming language the strategy automation and custom indicators is LUA. The included strategy is basic and meant to give you an idea of how it works if you want to create a strategy for the FXTSII.

 

[jsales]

FXCM King of the Micro Contest

New York—August 30th , 2010—FXCM Micro’s monthly currency trading contest starts on Wednesday September 1st, 2010. $25,000 in cash is awarded to the trader with the highest monthly trading return; $10,000 is awarded for second, and $5,000 for third place. FXCM Micro wants you to be the King!

Click here (http://bit.ly/aIGpaw) to read the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner’s questionnaire on how they won the contest! Here are some quick statistics for our July winners:

1st place: Lin Weihong with a staggering profit of 998.39%*
2nd place: Adegeye Oluwaseun with a profit of 973.45%*
3rd place: Jin Baoqiu with a profit of 644.50%*

It’s not too late to take part in the King of the Micro Contest for September. No registration is required. All micro accounts with equity of at least $500 at the end of this month automatically qualify.

The popular currency-trading contest has been running for over four years, and it’s free to enter. King of the Micro is available to clients all around the world. Recent winners have come from the United States, China, Malaysia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

There is no registration needed, and the requirements are simple: all FXCM Micro clients with $500 in their Micro account at the beginning of the month are automatically entered. And traders must make at least ten trades during the month.
Traders may open an FXCM Micro currency trading account with as little as $25. All FXCM Micro clients receive free buy and sell trading signals through DailyFX+, complete with blue buy arrows to buy and red arrows to sell.

FXCM Micro is a division of FXCM that provides new traders with access to the currency markets for as little as $25. With a small (1K) lot size, FXCM Micro provides a great way to get started in the forex market. FXCM Micro is offered for individual, self-traded accounts. All participants of the King of the Micro contest can receive the FXCM Power Course free to improve their chances to be the King.

FXCM Holdings, LLC Facts

FXCM Holdings, LLC is a leading global forex and CFD broker* that caters to both retail and institutional markets. Founded in 1999, FXCM is one of the largest brokers, regulated by several of the world’s most respected financial authorities.
At the heart of FXCM’s client offering is No Dealing Desk forex trading. Clients have market access to some of the world's largest liquidity providers which enables FXCM to offer clients spreads as low as 1 pip on major crosses. Clients also have the benefits of mobile trading, one-click order execution and trading from real-time charts. FXCM LTD’s CFD product offers no re-quote trading and allows traders to trade oil, gold, silver, and stock indices, along with forex on one platform. In addition to currency and CFD trading*, FXCM offers educational courses on forex trading, and provides free news and research through DailyFX.com.

* Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. Read full risk disclaimer (http://bit.ly/9N7MUu).

Media Contact:
Kiana Danial
E-mail: [email protected]

 

[Jason Rogers]

US Labor Day Holiday & Trading Hours

Monday September 6th is the US Labor Day holiday. Forex trading hours will remain the same despite the holiday, opening at the regular time of 5:15pm ET on Sunday.

For traders with FXCM UK and FXCM Australia, trading hours for some CFD* products will be modified due to the holiday. Here's the list of CFD products affected along with the corresponding change in trading hours:

• US 30, SPX 500 and NAS 100 (US indices) will close at 11:30 AM EST and re-open at 6 PM EST.
• US Oil will close at 1:15 PM EST and re-open at 6 PM EST.
• UK Oil will close at 1:30 PM EST and re-open at 8 PM EST.


*CFD trading not available for US residents

 

[jsales]

FXCM Files Registration Statement for Initial Public Offering

New York – September 7, 2010

FXCM Inc. announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Citi will act as joint book-running managers of the offering. Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. and UBS Securities LLC will act as co-managers. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus, when available, may be obtained by contacting Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Credit Suisse Prospectus Department, One Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010, or by calling: 800-221-1037, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, Attention: Prospectus Department, or by calling: 866-803-9204 and Citi, Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th Street, 8th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220, or by calling: 800-831-9146, or by e-mailing Citi at: [email protected].

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy these securities be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.

Trading foreign exchange and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all. Read full disclaimer.

Media Contact:
Jaclyn Sales
[email protected]
646-432-2463

 

[Jason Rogers]

FXCM is holding an automated forex trading contest which begins October 17. Below are some important dates to note in order to participate.

Contestants will use FXCM's Strategy Trader platform to automate their forex trades during a seven week trading period. Registration is now open so you can register a demo and start coding your strategy.

Demo accounts are used for the contest and the top 3 winners receive the following cash prizes: 1st - $10,000; 2nd - $7,000; and 3rd place - $3,000.

Important Dates:

September 7: Contest registration opens. Begin coding and testing your automated strategy to prepare for the first day of the contest.

October 15: A starting balance of $1,000 will be used for the official contest. Therefore, at the close of trading on October 15th contest demo accounts will be automatically reset to $1,000 and any open positions will be settled.

October 17: Contest officially begins when trading opens Sunday October 17th. Participants should activate their automated strategies for trading. There is a leaderboard on the contest page which will update hourly with the current leaders.

December 3: Contest trading period ends. Final equity levels will be recorded and prizes will be awarded to the top three contestants


FAQ: All information including FAQ's can be found on the contest website: http://www.fxcm.co.uk/automated-forex-trading-contest.jsp

Let me know if you have any questions.