Forex Broker Reviews and Comparisons

Hello there everyone, found a few sites that will help you find a Forex Broker that’s right for you. Even if you have a broker already, you can use these sites to review your current one or find a better one. Personally, I think I might try out a couple of MT4 (MetaTrader4) compatable brokers from these lists by opening up mini accounts for $250 or less and test out some indicators that I want to try live, but don’t have the nerve (or stomach) to try with big lots. I don’t see anything too risky about this new approach, the initial investments I can easily part with if the markets don’t go my way. Let me know if this is too foolhearty, even if I trade mini lots. just know testing out these expert advisers out, they will be 3:1 win to loss, and losses always smaller than gains, historically. I’m interested in seeing what the spreads will be like, alot of these brokers keep that under wraps unless you ask. Read the story »

Using Fibonacci Levels is the cornerstone of many successful forex traders’ systems and it is based on centuries old mathematical techniques that can be applied to almost everything in nature. The numerous Forex trading systems based on this “Fibonacci numbers sequence” result in billions of dollars in profit annually by traders worldwide, and indeed, after trading Forex for a few years, I have come to use them myself every chance I get.

I’ve learned that the ratio between numbers in the Fibonacci sequence that is significant, rather than the actual numbers in the sequence.

The definition of this Fibonacci sequence is basically formed by a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers; for example: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13.

Quite simply, the a pair will move up, stop at a point, move back down to another point, “pivot” off of that price and the process continues forever. These “oscillations” in the price of currency pairs are clear indicators of support and resistance. Support occurs when a pair begins to be bought after a move down, and resistance occurs when a pair begins to be sold after a move up. Now, admittedly, these moves occur many times per second, but we should be concerned with support and resistance on longer time frames. Fibonacci levels, when drawn correctly, can be excellent indicators (on almost any time frame) of where a price might go next, Read the story »

Bond Spreads In Forex

Came across a really interesting article by Kathy Lien, Chief Strategist at FXCM about Bond Spreads and Interest and how they affect the Forex Market. Some of this is common sense, but is always good to be reiterated and gone over from time to time. Including the idea that investors will tend to seek higher yields on interest rates and thusly buy currencies with higher rates than the currency they are holding. Read the story »

Trading Platform Release Notes

Here is a list of software releases for our trading platforms. The FXTrade, FXTrade Beta, FXGame and FXGame Beta platforms may contain different versions of our software. Please check this page for the latest release information.

See the latest features on FXTrade, FXTrade Beta, FXGame and FXGame Beta.

Version 2008.05.02 - Currently on FXGame and FXGame Beta

• One-click trading feature added to Quote Panel. This feature must be turned on by clicking on the first button to the right of the Quote Panel tab.
• More compact buy/sell window can be expanded to show additional trade information. Bounds and limits are now specified in pips so they do not need to be adjusted when the quote price changes.
• New look and feel for the Quote Panel.
• Trendlines have be been regrouped into a single button; Advanced Trendlines options have been moved in the chart menu.
• Colour schemes can be customized in Tools->Colour Scheme->Edit Custom Theme
• Added mousewheel support for Quote Panel and Tables.
• Chart Printing available from graph menu.

Version 2008.03.10 - Currently on FXTrade Beta

• All preferences under the Trading tab can be customized per currency
• Close All Trades/Orders is available from the Account menu
• Modify All Stop Loss/Take Profit to the same value is available from a right-click on any Stop Loss or Take Profit
• Stoller Average True Range Channel (STARC) overlay
• Overlays' current values appear in the top left-corner when you move your mouse over the charts
• Individual histograms displayed on the MACD indicator

Version 2007.11.16 - Currently on FXTrade

• You can now customize the columns shown and filter the rows of each table by clicking on the button in the top-right corner.
• As a consequence, the Profit Column Format has been removed from the User Preferences and replaced by new Profit columns for the Trades and Position tables.
• Also, an Exposure column is available for the Position table.
• Each table can be opened multiple times in a new window.
• You can show/hide the major components of the main window in Tools > View.
• Number format is customizable under Tools > User Preferences > Locale (default is U.S. English)
• Please note that the Timezone option has also been moved under the Locale tab.

Version 2007.09.21

• Multiple profile support from menu Tools > Profile Manager.
• The time zone used by the Platform can be customized under Tools > User Preferences > Misc.
• Pressing the shortcut keys F2, F3, F4 or F5 in the Buy/Sell window will open a new window with duplicated values. This feature also works when closing or modifying an existing order.

Version 2007.08.29

• The Platform can now be locked by clicking on Connection > Lock. There is also an option to automatically lock the Platform after a period of inactivity which can be set under Tools > User Preferences > Misc.
• You can now modify the endpoints of a trendline: click on the trendline and select "Modify Endpoint".
• The rising and falling colors of HLC and OHLC curves can now be modified separately.
• The current number of trades, orders, boxes, etc is now available in the selected table tab.
• The buttons on the 1-click sub-accounts switcher show the name of the account on the status bar when you move your mouse over them. Also, they are displayed in the same order as on the sub-account menu.
• Please note that in the User Preferences window, the Apply button no longer send your settings to the trading server.

Version 2007.06.01

• 1-Click sub-account switcher: check "Show Sub-Account Switcher" in the menu Tools > User Preferences > Misc to make it appear between the Ac count Summary and the Quote List/Panel. Sub-accounts will then be indexed after the order in which they appear under Account > Change Sub-Account.
• The Default Order Size option can now be expressed in home currency under Tools > User Preferences > Trading.

Version 2007.04.27

• You can now display charts as Heikin-Ashi candlesticks.
• Pivot Points are available either as overlays on the main graph (in the Add Study list) or as trendlines (in the same menu as Fibbonacci trendlines).
• The Kumo (or cloud) of the Ichimoku Kinko Hyo overlay is now filled with the color of the highest Senkou Span to best stick to the usual representation of this curve.
• You can change the rising and falling colors separately for the regular and Heikin-Ashi candlesticks and the Parabolic SAR.

Version 2007.04.05

• You can now add Overlays on top of Indicator curves: click on the Indicator's name in the top-left corner of the chart and select the "Add Study" option in the popup menu.
• You can also modify the periods for Overlays and Indicators: click on the curve and select "Modify" in the popup menu.
• A default Trendline Style option is available under Tools > User Preferences > Chart. Note that trendline styles also apply to Fibonacci Trendlines.

Version 2007.03.22

• A Magnetic Trendlines option is available under Tools > User Preferences > Chart.
• Trendlines can also be plotted as dots, dashes or thick lines: right-click on a trendline and go to the "Style" menu.
• You can now display trade profits in terms of both home currency and PIPS at the same time: go to Tools > User Preferences > Misc > Profit Column Format and select "Home Currency/PIPS"

Version 2007.03.16

• The Awesome Oscillator indicator is available in the Add Study list.
• Sorting sub-accounts alphabetically is now optional and disabled by default. You can turn it on by going to Tools > User Preferences > Misc and checking "Sort Sub-accounts".
• The Buy/Sell window shows expected Stop Loss for new Market Orders.

Version 2007.02.27

• The current window layout is now preserved when the trading platform reconnects automatically after connection difficulties
• A new column has been added to the Orders table to show the distance to execution of Limit Orders (in PIPS)
• Expected take profit P&L for new Market Orders, and current P&L for existing Market Orders is now shown in the Buy/Sell window
• Sub-accounts are now sorted alphabetically

Version 2007.02.08

• Added 12 new price overlays (under the "Add Studies" drop-down list). This will allow you to display the Opening, Closing, High and Low values for the Bid, Ask and Average prices
• Added a Connection Quality indicator (bottom left corner of the window). This will evaluate your connection to the trading server: the color tells the overall quality (green for good, yellow for average, red for poor) while the progress bar tells the current response time to the server (first quarter: 10s and more, second and third quarters: 1s to 10s, fourth quarter: 10ms to 1s)
• Commas are now automatically added for you in the units field of the buy/sell window
• The Activity Log filters now get saved with your Graph Layout
• The missing 23.6% is added to the Fibonacci Retracements
• The Tab key will now allow you to navigate between the different fields of the Buy/Sell window and the Graph window

Version 2006.12.15

• The small window with the logout button no longer appears on FXDesktop
• You can create sub-accounts by selecting Account -> Create Sub-Account from the FXTrade menu or by clicking on the Add a Sub-Account link on the page that loads after you log in. Please note that sub-accounts cannot be renamed nor deleted once created

Version 2006.11.17

• You can now view Average Position lines. Click on each graph where you hold a position and select "Show Average Position". A dotted line will appear at the average price of your position. You will need to save your layout to make this change permanent

Version 2006.11.06

• The Ichimoku Kinko Hyo overlay is now available in the Add Study list. You can set the colour of its cloud and lines individually by right-clicking on the cloud itself (the green filled or transparent ribbon)
• Some user preferences unrelated to Trade, Quote or Graph were moved to the new Misc tab

Version 2006.09.26

• The Ultimate Oscillator chart is now available in the Add Study list

Version 2006.09.10

• You can reorganize the order of Quote List and Quote Panel by drag-and-dropping the currencies. Note that you will need to save your layout or user preferences to make this change permanent
• You can display bid and ask prices in their own separate columns in the Quote List. Go to the Trading tab of the User Preferences and check Show Dual Bid/Ask Columns
• You can display your Unrealized P&L in % of your balance in your Account Summary. Go to the Trading tab of the User Preferences and check Show Unrealized P&L Precent
• You can now resize the Account Summary window and the font will adapt accordingly

Version 2006.08.29

• The Average Directional Movement Index (ADX) chart now displays 2 other lines; the green one is the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and the red one the Minus Directional Indicator (-DI)

Version 2006.08.02

• The Market Order window now also displays the Trade Value and the Margin Used
• You can create sub-accounts by selecting Account -> Create Sub-Account from the FXGame menu or by clicking on the Add a Sub-Account link on the page that loads after you log in

Version 2006.06.20

• You should be able to save about 3-5 times more trendlines & studies than before
• The buy and sell buttons on the chart will remain visible when using the basic chart view
• The bid/ask price in the current rates window will expand to show the exact number of decimals required to give complete information about a price

Foreign Currency Trading

The CFTC has witnessed increasing numbers, and a growing complexity, of financial investment opportunities in recent years, including a sharp rise in foreign currency (forex) trading scams.

The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) made clear that the CFTC has jurisdiction and authority to investigate and take legal action to close down a wide assortment of unregulated firms offering or selling foreign currency futures and options contracts to the general public. The CFTC also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute foreign currency fraud occuring in its registered firms and their affiliates. The CFTC issued an advisory in 2001 that discussed these CFMA amendments to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), 7 USC 1, et seq.

The Division of Trading and Markets (now Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight, or DCIO) issued an advisory in 2002 concerning foreign currency trading by retail customers (PDF). The advisory affirms that off-exchange trading of foreign currency futures and options contracts with retail customers by a counterparty that is not a regulated financial entity as set forth in the CFMA is unlawful. The advisory further states that, if there is a lawful counterparty to the transaction, such as a person registered as a futures commission merchant, the persons acting as intermediaries to such a transaction, that is, in the manner of an introducing broker, commodity trading advisor or commodity pool operator, would not need to register under the CEA if that is their only involvement in futures or option transactions.

DCIO issued an additional advisory in 2007 concerning foreign currency trading by retail customers (PDF). The DCIO Advisory addresses the following issues: (1) registration requirements for associated persons of firms registered as introducing brokers (IBs), commodity trading advisors, and commodity pool operators that are involved in forex transactions; (2) the permissibility of certain unregistered affiliates of a futures commission merchant (FCM) to act as proper counterparties in forex transactions; (3) claims that forex customer funds are segregated; (4) introducing entities acting as FCMs; (5) the applicability of the IB guarantee agreement to forex transactions and prohibiting guaranteed IBs from introducing forex transactions to an FCM that is not its guarantor FCM; (6) prohibiting forex account statements of an FCM’s unregistered affiliate from being included in the FCM’s account statements to its customers; and (7) prohibiting retail customers from acting as counterparties to each other in forex transactions.