FXCM Discussion

Do I read this correctly? 10:1 leverage for dollar crosses? How are you gonna keep all your micro accounts with such low leverage levels? Or aiming for larger accounts now? I mean, why would any account actually consider signing up with you given there is hardly anything on offer anymore, nobody looks to trade currencies in majors at 10:1 leverage levels, coupled with the risk in trading in a company that is on the verge of being taken over some time this year I just fail to see the upside here.

There are two major upcoming news events which may cause significant volatility: the ECB Bank Rate Decision on Thursday (12:45 GMT) and the Greek Election on Sunday. Due to these events we will increase margin requirements on forex and gold.


For FXCM AU accounts:

The first scheduled Margin Requirement increase will take effect on Thursday, 22nd between 11:00 AM AEDT and 1:00 PM AEDT Time. An additional Margin Requirement increase will take effect after market close on Friday January 23rd. Refer to this document below for new margin requirements: http://bit.ly/1CQVllP


For FXCM UK accounts:

The first scheduled Margin Requirement increase will take effect on Thursday January 22nd between 00:00 GMT and 02:00 GMT. An additional Margin Requirement increase will take effect after market close on Friday January 23rd. Refer to this document for new margin requirements: http://bit.ly/1yI9mDg


For FXCM US accounts:

The Smart Margin Feature will be disabled on Wednesday January 21st between 7:00PM EST and 9:00PM EST. Accounts will no longer be allowed to enter into temporary warning status. Accounts that fall below initial margin required for open positions will be liquidated.

In addition we will increase Margin Requirements on the USD/HKD and USD/CNH Currency Pairs on Friday January 23rd, 2015 after market close:

8Cc45sA.png


Note that this increase in margin may be temporary depending upon market conditions. Please review your account to ensure that you have enough available margin to support your open positions. You may deposit additional funds at www.myfxcm.com or close positions as needed.
 
Last edited:
busy day for "fxcm traders"? Are you referring to your clients?

A busy day for FXCM traders as EUR/USD volume exceeds 5.7 yards on EUR/USD.



46fR0qX.jpg




This volume indicator along with additional features will be included in the next release of the Trading Station desktop platform. You may have previously received an email about the update a few weeks ago, but it was delayed in order to get more feedback about the new features. The new version of the platform is now available from the website, and the forced update is expected to launch on February 6. If you want to update to the newest version, simply re-install the platform from the installation link on our website http://help.fxcm.com/Software-Download/. Please remember to save any chart or platform layouts before re-installing the platform.



This update includes the real volume indicator displayed above already install, plus additional market behavior indicators including Directional Real Volume, Market Movers Index (real volume / transactions per period), and On Balance Volume to name a few of the new features. Here’s directional real volume for example:



dOg1v7c.jpg




As always, any feedback on the update is appreciated.
 
February 2015 Trading Station Desktop Update



The next update for Trading Station Desktop will go live after trading closes for the weekend this Friday at 5pm New York Time. After that, your platform will update automatically the next time you log into it.


Trading Station What’s New FAQ - February 2015 Update

The latest Trading Station Desktop update adds many new features to enhance your trading experience.


Summary:
  • New! Market Behavior Indicators
  • New! Set Entry Order expirations to any future time
  • New! Show or Hide Candle Gaps
  • New! Run Reports in Your Time Zone
  • New! 176 Other Performance Enhancements


Details:




Real Volume and Transactions
Experience five ground-breaking indicators based on FXCM’s trading book. Each indicator gives you a real look at market behavior and trading psychology by showing you what the crowd is doing.

  • Real Volume and Transaction Indicators
    With these two indicators, get the inside view of FXCM clients’ actual order flow on 14 of our most popular currency pairs.
    Directional Real Volume Indicator
    Display long, short, net and total values of FXCM’s real volume individually as opposed to total value only.
    On Balance Real Volume Indicator
    A supplement to the On Balance Volume indicator, On Balance Real Volume utilizes real volume as opposed to tick volume.
    Market Movers Index Indicator
    Find the smart money—Market Movers Index shows the ratio of real volume divided into transactions per period, so you can see conviction behind breakouts.

Good-Till-Date Entry Orders
Now you can add a specific expiration to your entry order. Set your entry order to expire tomorrow, next week, next month or after large news events.

Show or Hide Candle Gaps
When an instrument closes at a different price than where it opened, a candle gap can occur. Now you can show or hide candle gaps, giving greater accuracy to your indicators and strategies.

Run Reports in Your Time Zone
The Combined Account Statement now automatically reflects the same time zone as your platform.

Performance Enhancements
We've made 176 performance enhancements to improve order execution and further stabilize the platform, along with many other polishes to functionality to optimize your trading experience.


Just a reminder that the next update for Trading Station Desktop will go live after trading closes for the weekend at 5pm New York Time today. After that, your platform will update automatically the next time you log into it.
 
FXCM Open House 2015 – Try Our Best Trading Tools for Free

FXCM is hosting an Open House for a limited time so that you can test our best products and resources for yourself with no commitment at all. We want you to see the advantages of being with FXCM, and we’re going to do that by letting you test-drive our most popular trading resources for yourself.


For a limited time you will have access to:

FXCM Apps: This limited-time access period includes $500 in App Store credit for FXCM-created applications, strategies and programs at the FXCMApps store. You can use this store credit right now.​


Premium products from DailyFX including:

360° Course: The 360° program is a full educational curriculum that emphasizes ‘probability-based trading’ using data from the DailyFX Traits of Successful Traders research series. The course includes a curriculum that teaches traders to simplify fundamental and technical analysis while keeping an eye on the all-important factor of risk management.

DailyFX on Demand – The Ultimate Trading Room: This includes access to four market sessions per day covering the most active periods in the market which an analyst, instructor or strategist will cover economic announcements, data prints and price movements as they happen. DailyFX on Demand also includes access to Real-time SSI and bank research through the live sessions.

DailyFX PLUS: This is the client portal for DailyFX.com where we offer our On-Demand video course, The Live Classroom and the DailyFX PLUS Trading Signals. This portion of the website has grown massively in recent years, and can bring value to traders in a multitude of different ways.


 
Greece Bailout Outcome May Impact Your Trading

Attention Traders

As pressure builds up in the eurozone to reach a deal to solve the ongoing crisis over Greece's bailout, the currency markets may face a significant impact today and through the weekend, and as such we recommend you take protective measures.

HOW COULD THIS IMPACT YOUR TRADING?

We believe there is a chance of disruption and highly illiquid conditions in the European forex market and a risk of the markets opening on Sunday, February 22, at a significantly different level from the close today.

When trading resumes following a major news event, price movements commonly have gaps—that is, currencies trade at prices considerably distant from previous levels. To manage your risk against any potentially disrupted market conditions, we recommend you take the following precautions:
  • Reduce the size of any open EUR positions in order to free additional margin
  • Increase your account balance to add available margin: Visit MyFXCM.com to deposit funds
 
Trading Hours for Start of Daylight Savings Time in the US


Hi Everyone,

Daylight Savings Time will start in the US on Sunday, March 8th. That means the trading hours for CFDs that follow US market times will shift by one hour starting next week. I've highlighted the changes below in red.


mBg93Mx.png


Forex Trading Hours

In terms of New York Time, the trading desk will still open at 5pm on Sunday and close at 5pm on Friday as always. However, since New York Time will shift this weekend from GMT-5 to GMT-4, the trading desk hours will also shift by one hour in GMT terms. Starting next week, the trading desk will open at 21:00 GMT on Sunday and close at 21:00 GMT on Friday.


A special note for all MT4 clients on our New York Close servers

The time zone on our New York Close MT4 servers will change this weekend from GMT+2 to GMT+3. In this way, midnight on your MT4 charts will stay in line with the 5pm New York Close. If you have any EAs or indicators that use a GMT offset, please update them to GMT+3 this weekend.
 
FXCM Releases Detailed Data on the SNB Flash Crash

On January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) caused a flash crash that lead to historic dysfunction never seen before in the FX markets when it announced that it was completely (not gradually) removing the 1.2000 self-imposed floor on the EUR/CHF exchange rate.

FXCM has compiled data points which demonstrate the unprecedented and extreme dysfunction of the FX market on January 15th. For the full recording and presentation please click here.

* January 15 Was A Market Flash Crash - The Institutional FX Market Failed And Did Not Function:
  • No Liquidity - There was almost no available liquidity for approximately 40 minutes
  • Dramatically Low Pricing - External ECN prices went as low as 0.2000 and 0.5000
  • Extreme Spreads - The average spreads of EUR/CHF were more than 2000-3000 pips
  • Extreme Range - The average range of EUR/CHF was 6000 pips.

* The majority of FXCM liquidity providers had stopped quoting prices during this time. Had FXCM's circuit breaks not engaged, the weighted average price of the same orders would have been much lower than the execution price of 1.05, at 0.9760.

* The January 15 flash crash saw the EUR/CHF drop 40% in seconds whereas the 2010 flash crash in the equities market saw about 9% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the course of a few minutes.


* The market data show that the losses on January 15 were not the result of FXCM technology or FXCM margin requirements, but rather due to the extreme market dysfunction resulting from the SNB's irresponsible and unforeseen announcement to completely remove the 1.2000 EUR/CHF floor.

* In light of the reckless actions of the SNB, FXCM has since ceased offering any currencies which carry significant risk due to potential manipulation by their respective governments either by a floor, ceiling, peg, or band.

 
The financing we received from Leucadia has strengthened our balance sheet and gives us the opportunity to grow our core business while reducing our debt through the sale of non-core assets. We anticipate that the proceeds from these sales and continued earnings, we can meet both near and long term obligations of our financing, while preserving the strength of our franchise.

Today we announced an update related to this:

FXCM Pays Additional $54 Million Owed to Leucadia

Avoids Contingent Financing Fee of $30 Million

NEW YORK, April 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FXCM Inc. (NYSE:FXCM) a leading online provider of foreign exchange (FX) trading and related services, today announced that it has repaid an additional $54 million outstanding under its credit agreement with Leucadia. The payment was funded in part with proceeds from the sale of FXCM Japan. FXCM has now repaid $66 million under the credit agreement, and as of April 1, 2015, FXCM's outstanding Leucadia loan balance is $244 million.

By repaying more than $60 million before April 16, 2015, FXCM has avoided a contingent financing fee of $30 million, and FXCM shareholders stand to benefit from an improved sharing determination of proceeds from future asset sales, dividends and distributions pursuant to the terms of the credit agreement.

"FXCM is pleased with how our debt reduction plan is proceeding," said Drew Niv, CEO of FXCM. "We are ahead of plan and the results of the FXCM Japan sale exceeded our expectations. With all the increased attention to our other properties, we are expecting robust and competitive auctions for the other non-core assets we have targeted to sell."

Read full press release: FXCM Pays Additional $54 Million Owed to Leucadia (NYSE:FXCM)


SjOCUih.png
 
Last edited:
Back
Top