FXCM
Forex Capital Markets
Financial Square 32 Old Slip, 10th Floor
New York, NY10005
Phone: (212) 897-7660
Fax: (212) 897-7669
Few market areas have grown as rapidly as trading in the foreign exchange market in the last 10 years. Limited to banks and large financial institutions in the past, the forex market has blossomed into a favorite of retail traders with advances in technology and electronic trading and the increasing awareness of the significance of currency relationships in global markets.
Founded in 1999, FXCM has become one of the largest cash forex firms participating in that interest and growth, putting up some amazing numbers in its first 10 years:
* More than $100 million in firm capital.
* More than 150,000 live accounts.
* $365 billion in monthly notional volume.
* Handling about 200,000 trades per day.
So we are talking about one of the major firms in the cash forex business and not one of the firms that has sometimes given this segment of the trading industry a bad name.
One of the concerns some traders have with cash forex firms is that the firm, acting as the market maker, is your only source of bid/ask quotes and knows just what your position is. In other words, you are trading against the house and more at the mercy of the firm than at the mercy of the market. In volatile conditions, the bid/ask spread may widen or you may not even be able to get a quote.
FXCM avoids that conflict of interest by not taking any market positions. Because it is one of the largest sources of retail currency traders in the world, FXCM has access to the largest currency price providers in the world and provides straight-through processing to bring the banks’ pricing direct to its customers. These providers do not see orders, reducing the potential for price manipulation. By offering no dealing desk execution, FXCM can fill orders with the best price spreads available, providing competitive, fair and transparent executions.
For many forex traders, that business side of trading may not be too noticeable – until you hit one of those trading periods when it becomes very important. What traders are more likely to notice is FXCM’s trading platform, which allows traders to analyze, trade and track their positions on one screen. That’s not unique in today’s trading world, but the FXCM platform is as complete and comprehensive as any and is easy to operate, whether you are using Marketscope to trade from a chart or clicking on choices in the order-entry box.
FXCM’s platform features more than 30 technical indicators and offers a number of back-tested systems and strategies that customers can use to automate trading 24 hours a day. The screen can show two dozen live forex pairs, and your account can be denominated in one of six currencies. You can trade standard 100,000 units or a micro account with units as small as 1,000 units, giving you as much as 400:1 leverage with a $25 minimum account.
If you have some question about the features of the trading platform, a tutorial provides the guidance you need to understand what each tab does and how to find what you want. Of course, there are also plenty of cautions in the firm’s materials about the high level of risk in trading forex on margin.
FXCM shares with www.TraderPlanet.com an emphasis on education. FXCM offers a demo account or you can learn how to trade a strategy with a live micro account. In addition, FXCM provides a number of free webinars (live or recorded) and other resources from market professionals on a daily basis as well as a more detailed two-week online trading course for a small fee.
With its stature in the cash forex business, a trading platform that sets a standard for the industry and an emphasis on education to help its customers trade better, it is easy to see why FXCM is a finalist for a TraderPlanet.com STAR award.
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