FXCM Discussion

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

 

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

 

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 to help restore confidence for futures and forex traders in the United States.


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

The collapse of PFG Best (following so closely after the collapse of MF Global) has sent shockwaves all across the United States. The trading public has serious concerns about the integrity of the futures market and many are questioning whether Futures Commission Merchants (FCM’s) can be trusted to hold client funds. There exists today a crisis of confidence amongst retail futures and forex traders that has never existed before. If not addressed immediately, these markets will be irreparably damaged for years to come.

The following proposals are intended to bring market transparency to the industry by restoring investor confidence in FCM’s.


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 help restore the confidence of traders 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.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentForm.aspx?id=1250


Charles Delano
Director of Government Affairs
FXCM, LLC
http://www.fxcm.com/financials.jsp

 

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.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentForm.aspx?id=1250

 

Just read a very interesting comment letter to the CFTC by James Gellert of Rapid Ratings:

http://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/ViewComment.aspx?id=58346&SearchText=

Mr. Gellert makes the following comment about the benefits of FCM’s being required to disclose their audited financials:

Mr. Gellert’s point about the difficulty of forging financial documents using the kind of standards that publicly traded companies use is well taken. Had PFG been forced to use such standards Wasendorf’s scam would have likely been caught long before July of 2012. Furthermore, ratings agencies like Rapid could break down the data in a manner that average investors could more easily understand. Although, we disagree that only ratings agencies be allowed to see such data. We believe any trader who opens an account with a FCM or Forex Dealer should be able to judge for themselves a firm’s financial health.

You can make your feelings known to CFTC by posting comments here:
http://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentForm.aspx?id=1250

 

Hi Everyone,

We just released an update on Apple App Store and Google Play (Android Market) for Trading Station Mobile phones and tablets to include new language options. The platform now supports English, Chinese(Simple), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Greek, Russian and Turkish. Your phone or tablet will not force you to update the program, so to make sure you have the latest version, go under Settings and make sure you have Version 1.4.080712.



Below are links to User Guides for FXCM Trading Station Mobile. We have versions of the platform for iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets.


* FXCM US Trading Station Mobile User Guide for iPhone and Android phones *
* FXCM UK Trading Station Mobile User Guide for iPhone and Android phones *
* FXCM US Trading Station Mobile User Guide for iPad and Android tablets *
* FXCM UK Trading Station Mobile User Guide for iPad and Android tablets *

Some of the features in the pipeline for a future update are more indicators and trading directly off the charts. I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend

Jason

 

Hi Everyone,

Here's a video preview of the upcoming FXCM Expo in Las Vegas to be held November 2-4:



Hope to see you there!

Jason

 

Hi Everyone,

FXCM is now offering lower spreads to clients with FXCM Australia and FXCM UK (coming soon to FXCM US). Below are the new spreads for twelve of the most popularly traded currency pairs. You can now pick the execution type that best fits your trading. Choose No Dealing Desk forex execution which we recommend for the best overall trading experience, or the new Dealing Desk execution which provides lower spreads.


Click here for the complete list.

For those whose primary concern is transaction cost, the lower spread option is ideal. These new spreads are available on all our platforms including Trading Station, MetaTrader 4 and NinjaTrader. For a free practice account, click here: (Trading Station Demo | MT4 Demo). If you would like to speak with an FXCM specialist about our new lower spread offering, click here to chat live or call us toll-free anytime 24 hours a day.

Jason

 

The CFTC has recently closed the comment period that was associated with the Public Roundtable on PFG:

http://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComme...t.aspx?id=1250

This could mean that CFTC is nearing a decision and is about to announce their planned reforms. Comments and suggestions can still be sent to the CFTC however by emailing secretary@cftc.gov.

FXCM is recommending that all FCM’s and forex dealers publicly publish their financials once a quarter and employ a top ten accounting firm. We encourage retail forex traders to share these and other suggestions with regulators by emailing them directly. Thousands of PFG customers traded retail forex with PFG and their voices should be included in any discussion designed to increase customer protections for NFA regulated firms. Furthermore, providing insurance to futures traders and not forex traders would be a further insult to injury for those currency traders at PFG and any future forex traders caught up in an insolvency. Make your voice heard today.

 

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.