FXCM pivot points moving before my eyes!

Trading Discussion
1

Hello Traders,

I’m slightly concerned about the pivot points indicator on the FXCM mobile trading app…

Basically, I can see them moving up and down!!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but pivot points are FIXED calculations based on the OHLC data of the last period?..

BEFORE MY EYES, I can see a midpoint pivot level staying JUST AHEAD of price moving down on GBP/NZD today, following multiple ‘better than expected’ data releases for GBP this morning…

What is happening here? Is it FXCM leading traders into an accumulation trap, just before a big rally in line with the positive data releases??

I’ve tried attaching two screenshots, ignore the dotted white lines, those i just used to mark levels of interest, look closely at the grey dotted lines and the difference in position at different times, (the screenshots are back to front, the bottom one is earlier than the top one) One is at around 1.9485, the other around 1.9495… 10 pips difference…

If anyone can enlighten me as to any reason why pivot points should move around, I’m all ears.

Any responses??

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2

Hi Rez,

Please confirm what time frame you have selected for your pivot points. For example, you could have selected daily pivots, but you also could have selected a time frame as short as 5 minutes for your pivot points, since you’re on a 5-minute chart. If you did set your pivot points to the 5-minute time frame, then they would update every 5 minutes each time a new candlestick is added to the charts.

If you ever have questions about FXCM’s platforms, feel free to ask me in the Broker Aid Station.

Jason

3

I use D1 and W1 pivots Jason.

4

Here you can see a weekly midpoint pivot level (grey dotted line just below price) at around 1.9382

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Then 4 minutes later, price has pushed the weekly mid level pivot down to 1.9374… that’s 8 pips in 4 minutes.

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And now 17 minutes later, it’s back up to just over 1.9380. FXCM got in at a good price??..

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7

Hi Rez,

Thanks for confirming your time frames and providing these additional screenshots. We tried replicating this error you described, but our weekly and daily pivot points did not change as yours did.

If you are using the PIVOT LINES indicator, it seems like you have hidden all lines except the midpoint. Also, you have some other lines and indicators in the screenshots you posted. Could you also post a screenshot of your PIVOT Properties window as shown below?

That can help us determine what’s going on.

Thanks,
Jason

8

Let me show you some cleaner examples:

This morning at 11:22am GMT, not a clean chart, but price is at the WEEKLY M2 pivot at 1.4600

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12:50am this morning, price has pushed WEEKLY M2 down to 1.4588

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13:04 price has pushed WEEKLY M2 down to 1.4580

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11

14:32pm price has pushed WEEKLY M2 down to 1.4570

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15:28pm price has pushed WEEKLY M2 down to 1.4530…

70 PIPS…!!!

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And so you can see what the settings are;

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Can you understand my suspicion Jason?

If traders use pivots to make trading decisions, then a lot of them would have seen bullish candles forming at the weekly M2 pivot and gone long. Then the M2 pivot continues its journey south, steamrollering the stops of traders who went long, while suckering more traders to go long on the way. Quite profitable for FXCM don’t you think?

You’ll notice all the pivots are moving down.

This is either a shocking error in the programming, or a purposeful money making algorithm.

I wonder what the FSA would say.

13

Can any of the indicators be trusted?

14

Hi Rez,

Thanks for these additional examples. Our developers are investigating this now. I’ll post an update for you as soon as I hear back from them.

Jason

15

I am also an fxcm customer and would appreciate it if you would answer Rez publicly Jason…

16

I also spotted another FXCM mobile Pivot levels issue months ago, in that Tuesday’s daily pivot levels are always the same as Monday’s. They said they would look into it. However, all this time later, nothing has changed and no-one has contacted me again about it.

Considering these types of “errors” would be fairly simple to fix for a trained technician, my guess is that FXCM rely on us to lazy, forget about it, and not harass them about their little money making techniques.

17

Hi Matt,

You bet. Our technical support team has the details provided by Rez. They haven’t been able to replicate the same issue unfortunately, but we’re continuing to work on identifying what may be the issue.

Jason

18

Thanks Jason

19

Hi Rez,

We have tested the settings on 2 different devices this week, but what you are describing has not been replicated. In order to investigate further, we will need detailed steps on what you are pressing to recreate what you are seeing, i.e. press this then than, etc. You can either post these details or send over to me by email. Again, the information needs to be very detailed.

Jason

20

pivotpoints change in mobile app , earlier today r1 for gold was around 1304 and once surpassed this changed to 1310 … they should always be the same?

i want to add something to my 1st email that i ve copy paste above

i m looking at the daily chart and pivot point is fibonacci i m using with 1 month time period selected

i heard about other people having this same problem

so… i think what happens is… the formula should use in my case as example last months candle for calculations (april)… but for some reason what i think is doing is using the present candle for calculation ( may) coz it was when gold did new high tonight for mays month that pivot points changed . hope this will help you replicate this so it can be fixed

best regards