Hi Boogeydad and Hedron, There are two advantages to how FXCM's commissions are now displayed separately from the raw FX spreads that are streamed from the 10+ liquidity providers on our NDD price feed. There are no hidden fees. You know the exact commissions FXCM charges on your trades. You can also see the exact prices we receive from our liquidity providers without any markups. Raw FX spreads have the added benefit that the market does not have to move as much in your favor to fill your limit (take profit) orders, because there is no pip markup to the bid and ask prices displayed on your platform. For the same reason, the market would have to move about a pip further before your stops gets triggered. You can view your commissions in your Open Positions tab. (If you do not see this tab on your Trading Station, go to View > Open Positions from the menu at the top left of the platform.) In the Open Positions tab, right click on any of the column headings (Ticket, Account, Symbol, etc.) and select Columns List. Then make sure there is a check next to Com, so you can view the commissions column in your Open Positions tab. Listed spreads and commissions will not apply to some customer accounts due to their relationship with certain intermediaries. In our next Trading Station update, we will make the Commission column on the Open Positions tab visible by default and will also be adding a Commission column to the Summary tab as well.
No catch. We used to include our compensation in the spread as a markup. Typically this was a pip on either side of the spread our liquidity providers streamed directly to us. This means if the best raw spread from our liquidity providers was 0.5 pips, you would see a 2.5 pip spread on the platform. We have decided to make our pricing more transparent by removing that markup and charging a separate commission instead. At the same time we have negotiated better spreads from our liquidity providers. You trade on the exact bid/ask quotes that stream from our liquidity providers, and FXCM's compensation is the commission. We believe the new transparent pricing model is a win/win for our clients and us. Traders save on their transaction costs and trading volume will likely increase, which is how we make our money.
Another thing to keep in mind is that unlike most brokers that use a spread+commission pricing model, FXCM has the same commission per lot regardless of the base currency of the pair you trade. That means while other brokers may charge you 60% more in commission to trade GBP-based pairs like GBP/USD and GBP/JPY compared to USD-based pairs like USD/JPY and USD/CHF, we charge the same commission per lot for all of these currency pairs. It's something worth considering especially if you like to trade GBP-based pairs or EUR-based pairs like EUR/USD and EUR/JPY.
Just are reminder that this weekend, accounts in the UK (excluding spread betting accounts) and Australia will be upgraded to FXCM's new pricing.
Live Webinar on Price Action + Super-Tight Spreads This Wednesday, FXCM will be hosting a live webinar on Price Action, a trading technique that can help you read the market and make trading decisions from chart-based price movement, rather than relying on indicators. You will also learn how you can use our super-tight raw FX spreads in combination with a Price Action strategy. In some instances, accounts for clients of certain intermediaries are subject to a markup. This live webinar will be offered at 3 different times this Wednesday. Price Action Webinar at 07:00 GMT - click here reserve your place Price Action Webinar at 13:00 GMT - click here reserve your place Price Action Webinar at 17:00 GMT - click here reserve your place
Another update: Spread betting accounts for traders in the UK and Ireland have now been upgraded to FXCM's new pricing: http://bit.ly/1FVtT9C
Hi Boogeydad and Hedron, As a follow up to my earlier post, here's a new video that explains our how the commission works in more detail.
Thanks. Though, I understand how the commission structure works, my issue was that the line generated on the chart when a position is open in Trading Station does not include the commission. But whatever, it's not too hard to compute in my head.
Thanks for clarifying. I've shared your feedback with our developers regarding the trading information that's shown on Trading Station charts. Currently, the P/L numbers you see for those lines correspond to your Gross P/L on your trade, but I'll let you know if they decide to change that to display the Net P/L instead.