FXCM Discussion

Quote from atticus:

Noted. Oanda is at 1.2 on EURUSD (from 0.9) and IB IdealPro is at 0.5 most of the US session and often less during EU hours. Anything over 1.0 is larceny.
More...

IB charges a commission though (min $2.50) which brings their total cost up a bit.

The spread list appears to be near what they had with the old FXCM Micro division before they went NDD.

I wonder if they'll tighten their Active Trader spreads now that the dealing desk pricing is nearly as cheap in the total cost sense.
 
Quote from Jack_Larkin:

IB charges a commission though (min $2.50) which brings their total cost up a bit.

The spread list appears to be near what they had with the old FXCM Micro division before they went NDD.

I wonder if they'll tighten their Active Trader spreads now that the dealing desk pricing is nearly as cheap in the total cost sense.
More...

Hi Jack,

Good point about having to take into account the commissions charged by some brokers, since FXCM does not add any commission on top of spreads for either our No Dealing Desk or Dealing Desk options.

And you're also right about our new lower spreads being comparable to the old FXCM Micro spreads before we switched all those accounts to NDD. I'll let you know if there are any updates to our Active Traders pricing. Those interested, can click here for current Active Trader pricing.

Jason
 
Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder that this coming Monday, September 3rd is the Labor Day holiday in the US. Forex will continue trading as normal 24-hours-a-day next week. The holiday trading hours for CFD products are listed below in GMT time. Please manage your trades accordingly.

augsepcfdhours.png


Jason
 
I've been asked why retail forex does not have seg funds protection and so I wanted to pass along this brief regulatory history of the retail foreign exchange market:

In 2001 retail online currency trading was regulated for the first time with the passage of the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (“CFMA”). This law provided that any non-bank firm making a market in retail FX transactions could be registered and licensed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”). This law was a step in the right direction but it did not in any way grant customers trading FX with these firms any funds protection in the event of bankruptcy as is common in exchange traded markets such as equities and futures.

In particular, the CFMA did not make any adjustments to the CFTC’s “segregation rule.” The segregation rule stipulates that all client funds deposited for trading domestic, on exchange futures or options on futuresbe kept segregated from all company funds and that in the event of bankruptcy the customer’s funds are legally segregated from creditors and must be returned to the clients.

In May 2008, Congress amended the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and created an entirely new registration category, the Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (“RFED”), for forex dealers operating in the U.S. Neither at that time nor two years later when Congress enacted sweeping financial sector reform legislation with the Dodd-Frank Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 were provisions included that could have provided for RFEDs to segregate funds for the protection of retail FX customers

The CFTC explained the reason for not including segregation of funds for retail FX as follows:

http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@lrfederalregister/documents/file/2010-21729a.pdf


“… Several commenters maintained that the Commission should require segregation of customer funds by counterparties in order to provide some protection in the event of a counterparty insolvency. The Commission’s segregation requirements with regard to futures flow from Section 4d of the Act which, generally speaking, requires that customer property for trading commodity contracts be kept apart, or segregated, from the FCM’s own funds. However, as noted in the Commission’s proposing release, a segregated funds regime cannot be replicated in the context of off-exchange retail forex trading. Unlike segregation of customer funds deposited for futures trading, under the relevant provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, such amounts held in connection with retail forex trading would not receive any preferential treatment to unsecured creditors in bankruptcy.”

This hiccup with the bankruptcy code is what is currently holding up everything from seg funds protection to insurance. More in my next post.
 
Last week the Trustee of PFG's estate announced a series of limited distributions to customers of the bankrupt firm. Of interest to retail forex traders is that the estate is not making any current distributions to PFG customers who were trading off-exchange forex:

http://www.omnimgt.com/CMSVol/CMSDoc...333616_147.pdf


Quote:
“The Forex Customers and the Metals Customers, however, do not hold claims against the Debtor on account of "commodity contracts" and therefore, are not "customers" under § 761(9) of the Bankruptcy Code and the Part 190 Rules. Accordingly, in accordance with subchapter IV and the Part 190 Rules, the distributions requested under the Motion, discussed below, will apply solely to the Futures Customers. Forex Customers and Metals Customers will not be included in such distributions and their claims will be addressed separately as part of the case."

The way the law is written the trustee is justified in putting futures customers first. This is why it has become urgent that regulators take additional steps to bring transparecy to the futures/forex industry so that customers can have a look at their broker's finances in order to weigh the risks invovled before putting funds on deposit with them. Since the law is not designed to currently protect forex investors, then traders need to protect themselves. This starts with granting traders the ability to conduct greater due diligence. If regulators can mandate that brokers disclose profitability ratios surely they can also mandate greater financial disclosure.

CFTC to announce initial recommendations this week. Contact secretary@cftc.gov with your thoughts.
 
As regulators continue to investigate PFG news is coming out showing that the futures firm had been losing money for years:

http://www.valuewalk.com/2012/09/pfgbest-in-more-trouble-as-liabilities-outweigh-assets/


QUOTE:

"Its financial statement submitted to the court, indicated that the business has been going down since 2010. The company suffered $2.7 million in gross income losses in 2010, $1.2 million in losses in 2011, and $259,000 losses during the six month period of the current fiscal year."

PFG had recorded three straight years of losses. And yet they had just moved into an $18 million glass and steel office complex in Iowa boasting some of the most luxurious office amenities imaginable. But because PFG never had to disclose their losses they were able to give customers the impression that the firm was healthy and growing, when in fact it was sick and contracting. Customers should be aware of this before they open an account. Particularly since there is no insurance for futures or forex.

The CFTC postponed their vote on additional customer protections this week giving traders a little more time to comment.
 
The National Futures Association has added some additional public financial information on their BASIC search function effective September 1:

http://www.nfa.futures.org/news/newsNotice.asp?ArticleID=4109


At its August meeting, NFA's Board of Directors determined that certain FCM financial data should be made publicly available on NFA's website to assist customers in their due diligence review of an FCM.

The Board determined that the best way to display this information is on an FCM-by-FCM basis through NFA's BASIC system. Therefore, NFA is adding new sections to each FCM's BASIC page to disclose certain financial related information. Specifically, from each FCM's BASIC page, the public will be able to access three separate FCM Reports - FCM Capital Report; FCM Customer Segregated Funds Report; and FCM Customer Secured Funds Report.
More...


These actions are a step in the right direction. Clearly, regulators believe that public disclosure of FCM financial accounts are beneficial to customers as they conduct their due diligence. It therefore follows that additional financial disclosures (complete disclosure of a FCM's balance sheet for example) would empower traders to an even greater degree.
 
Dear Sir


Would CFD on Stock index included in new FXCM contest ?

If yes ,would margin equal as by U.K. demo ?

900 $ for 10 DAX, or 10 FTSE ...


Your respectfully
 
Quote from ssss:

Dear Sir


Would CFD on Stock index included in new FXCM contest ?

If yes ,would margin equal as by U.K. demo ?

900 $ for 10 DAX, or 10 FTSE ...


Your respectfully
More...

Hi Ssss,

The details of such a contest have not yet been finalized. If you have any suggestions regarding the format, please email them to me at jrogers@fxcm.com.

Jason
 
The details of such a contest have not yet been finalized. If you have any suggestions regarding the format, please email them to me at jrogers@fxcm.com.

Jason

-------------

Dear Sir

From point of view of the author

1 ... Is it possible to include Multiple CFD in U.K. division on
Stock index ( Dow,SP500,Nasdaq Dow) ,ngas,oil ,platin


2 ... Is it possible contest entry with web based platform ?

With web based platform can be opened only standart account with 2000 $ Account minimum ? CFD on index are present only by standard ,not micro with 500$ account minimum and no CFD on stock index


Excuse the author ,if opinion is not relevant

Your respectfully
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top