Discuss Fxcm.com

[Jason Rogers]

CFD Trading Hours for Memorial Day Holiday

Hi Everyone,

Monday, May 28th is Memorial Day in the US. As usual, the forex trading hours will be unaffected. Below are the holiday trading hours for CFDs.

Times are in GMT

Have a great weekend!

Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

Margins changing this weekend

Hi Everyone,

This weekend margin requirements on several currency pairs will be reduced. This is to account for the weakening of the Euro and other currencies relative to the US dollar. Basically, if you have a US-dollar denominated account, you will now have to put less money in dollars as margin for your open trades.

Below are updated minimum margin requirements for FXCM LTD (UK) and FXCM LLC (US) accounts.

Minimum Margin Requirements for FXCM LLC (US)

Click here for the expanded table


Minimum Margin Requirements for FXCM LTD (UK)

Click here for the expanded table​

Note that the margin requirements for FXCM Australia and FXCM Canada are unchanged.

Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Everyone,

As a reminder, the Greek elections are being held Sunday, and there's a possibility it could cause immense volatility. Please factor this possibility into your trading going into the weekend with any positions you have open.

For more info about the elections, you can read this DailyFX article: CAUTION: Greek Elections Could Spur Immense Volatility, Euro Outlook Unclear | DailyFX

Have a great weekend!

Jason

 

[mrVynes]

Haven't been able to access fxcm.com for past hour.. what's up?

works now again...

 

[Jason Rogers]

Haven't been able to access fxcm.com for past hour.. what's up?

works now again...

Hi Mr. Vynes,

Sorry to hear you had problems accessing our site earlier. I checked with our tech specialists, and there were no reported connection issues on our end with any other clients. It's possible there was a temporary problem with the internet connection between your ISP and our servers in New York. Now that you can access our website again, it would be good for you to save a copy of our toll-free phone number in your country. That way, you can call us anytime 24 hours a day, if the problem returns.

Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

FXCM Currency Trading Expo in Las Vegas: November 2-4, 2012



FXCM will be hosting another currency trading expo in Las Vegas at the Rio on November 2-4, 2012. You can click here for a schedule of all the workshops. Over 30 workshops are currently schedule, and we anticipate adding more in the weeks ahead.

I was there at last year’s expo, and it was great getting to meet many of you. For those who didn’t attend last year, you can click here for videos from last year’s expo. Let me know if you have any questions.

Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

FXCM Expo - E*TRADE Premier Sponsor

FXCM will be hosting another currency trading expo in Las Vegas at the Rio on November 2-4, 2012. You can click here for a schedule of all the workshops. Over 30 workshops are currently schedule, and we anticipate adding more in the weeks ahead.

I was there at last year’s expo, and it was great getting to meet many of you. For those who didn’t attend last year, you can click here for videos from last year’s expo. Let me know if you have any questions.

Jason

Hi Everyone,

I have an update on the FXCM Expo to be held in Las Vegas from Friday, November 2nd to Sunday, November 4th. E*TRADE has signed on as the premier sponsor and will be conducting workshops on Stocks, Options and Futures trading.

You can click here for the latest schedule of events. I will keep you posted as new workshops are added to the lineup.

Hope to see you in November!

Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

FXCM has Ninja Trader

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who've asked me about it in the past, I wanted to let you know that we've officially opened beta testing for Ninja Trader. You can sign up by visiting this webpage and clicking on the Ninja Trader section. A form will appear for you to request entry into the beta.

Jason

 

[FCMReform]

This week the CFTC will be holding a public roundtable to address the concerns of traders in response to the bankruptcies of PFG and MF Global. FXCM would like to announce its own proposals ahead of Thursday's meeting and encourages the public to so as well.


Proposals to Bring Full Market Transparency and Accountability to the Futures/Forex Industry


1) Require All FCM’s to Publicly Publish Their Financials Once a Quarter:
Currently, the CFTC publishes monthly “Net Capital” reports that disclose to the public how much money a Futures Commission Merchant has set aside in capital. However, that report provides very little insight into how well the company is doing financially. By requiring FCM’s to publish their audited financials the trading public will know how much risk they are taking with each firm since investors will be able to weigh the liabilities along with the excess capital that a Futures Commission Merchant has.

Furthermore, the published financial statement should include everything (i.e. holding company’s financials) since what happens to other subsidiaries of the company can easily effect the regulated FCM. Each company should be required to provide a link to its financials on its own homepage so that the public can do its proper due diligence.

Too often, those FCM’s that are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy lure customers in by offering unsustainable gimmicks (dirt cheap commissions, account opening bonuses) that temporarily puts off the inevitable. Customers should be aware of the perilous finances of those FCM’s that would offer these kinds of gimmicks before opening an account with such a firm. PFG Best was a classic example of a firm that used such gimmicks as they routinely low balled their competitors with uneconomical discounts that no reputable, legally compliant firm could match.

2) Require all FCM’s to Employ a Top Ten Accounting Firm:
There need to be much higher accounting standards than currently exist in the FCM world. The Platt Group publishes an annual ranking of public accounting firms that could be used by FCM’s. Whether it is top 10 or top 25, the main point is that FCM’s must use a nationally recognized and respected accounting firm that could apply the same tough standards to FCM’s that publicly traded companies must meet.

While no one proposal will guarantee that a future FCM will not fail, these proposals will enhance the public’s due diligence capabilities by bringing greater market transparency and accountability into the world of futures/forex trading.

Traders can show their support for these proposals by leaving comments with the CFTC using the following web page:
http://comments.www.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentForm.aspx?id=1250



Charles Delano
Director of Government Affairs
FXCM, LLC
FXCM

 

[FCMReform]

Last Thursday the CFTC held a public hearing to determine what steps should be taken to repair the damage done by the bankruptcies of PFG and MF Global. I’d like to share with everyone some of the highlights of the hearing:

Better Accounting Standards: There was much discussion of auditing standards for both Regulators of FCM’s and the CPA’s who audit FCM’s. There was general agreement these standards need to be raised. FXCM believes FCM’s should be required to use a top accounting firm to avoid the kind of accounting issues that plagued PFG.

Additional Disclosure Requirements: An extensive discussion on FCM transparency was held and it is clear that FCM’s are going to have to make more disclosures of their books to regulators and to the public. The question is how much is to be disclosed? On the one hand there was testimony from FCM’s like Vision who publish their balance sheet on their website and on the other hand were those who were concerned that too much disclosure could lead to possible “bank runs” by investors. FXCM believes investors should be able to see a company’s audited financial statement once a quarter. Too many investors are forced to fly blind when they choose a Futures Commission Merchant or Forex Dealer. No trader should be subjected to this kind of risk post-PFG.

Insurance: Commissioner Bart Chilton released his proposal for a futures insurance fund on the same day of the hearing. Towards the end of the Roundtable the topic turned to insurance and John Roe of the Commodity Customer Coalition once again made a forceful case for a fully insured fund for the futures industry. As of now, Commissioner Chilton’s proposal does not include retail forex, but there is no reason that it shouldn’t. FXCM supports insurance for the futures/forex industry.

The CFTC will now deliberate into October before announcing their proposals. We encourage everyone to comment using the link below:

http://comments.www.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentForm.aspx?id=1250