Hi Everyone,
This thread is where I will post any new announcements from FXCM such as platform updates, changes to trading hours due to holidays, new products, etc. This way it will keep everything in one spot rather than having to create a new thread for each announcement.
Cheers,
Jason
[B][U]MT4 Announcement (April 19, 2011):[/U][/B] All new MT4 accounts with FXCM US (LLC) are being setup with the ability to trade micro lots. If you have an existing MT4 account with FXCM and would like to trade micro lots, please contact client support to have it enabled.
Let me know if you have any questions.
-Jason
Important information on changes to trading hours due to the Easter holiday:
There are [B]no changes to forex trading hours[/B]. Trading closes on Friday at 4:00pm ET (20:00 GMT) and starts again on Sunday at 5:15pm ET (21:15 GMT)/
CFD Trading hours will change from [B]Thursday, April 21 to Tuesday, April 26[/B] for some CFD trading instruments. Below is a list of the changes to trading hours for the CFD products. [B]All times are in GMT[/B].
Please Note: Oil, metals, and indices trading is not available to residents of the USA and its territories.
[B]Updated USD Margin Requirements 4/29/2011:[/B] This information was sent to all FXCM US and FXCM UK accounts denominated in USD. Please be aware in case you have not read the email (We know how distracting the Royal Wedding can be). Margin requirements for USD denominated accounts will be adjusted at market close on Friday, April 29th due to recent price fluctuations in the US Dollar. It is important to monitor your usable margin closely, making sure it does not fall below zero. Here is a table of the new margin requirements for accounts on 200:1 leverage with FXCM UK when trading a mini lot of 10k for the specified currency pair:
If your account is with FXCM US, multiply the amount by 4 to get the margin requirement for a 10k lot at 50:1 leverage. Last week I mentioned that micro lots are now automatically available for all new standard 10k accounts setup with FXCM US. If you have an existing standard 10k account with FXCM US and would like the ability to trade micro lots, please contact client services with the request.
At present, FXCM does not anticipate that margin requirements will have to be changed more than once a month. Up-to-date margin requirements are and will continue to be displayed in the “Simple Dealing Rates” window of the trading platform, by currency pair.
Hello, Jason
If I read your table correctly, for U.S. customers who have 50:1 leverage, margin requirements on the GBP/USD
(my weapon of choice) will increase to:
$36 per micro-lot (from $34)
$360 per mini-lot (from $340) and
$3,600 per standard lot (from $3,400)
Do I have that right?
Hi Clint,
Yes, that is correct.
-Jason
We’re happy to announce that FXCM has partnered with Dow Jones Indexes to release the [B]Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index (USDOLLAR)[/B]!
The Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index Basket allows you to take advantage of the US Dollar appreciation and depreciation. Do you believe the US dollar is likely to appreciate? You can buy the DJ FXCM Dollar Index Basket and benefit if it gains against four currencies.
Think it will head lower? Selling is just as easy.
The Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index is composed of 4 currencies in equal weightings.
The Dow Jones FXCM US Dollar Index avoids outdated currency pair selection and confusing methodology to produce a more straightforward design. The index basket is designed to be as easy to understand as it is to trade. At inception date, the index reflects an equivalent $10,000 long position against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, and Australian dollar. The value of the index is subsequently the average value of those US Dollar positions. If the US Dollar rallies 100 pips against the euro, Australian dollar, Japanese yen, and British pound, the index will appreciate by approximately 100 points.
[B][U]Trading the Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index Basket[/U][/B]
The [U]USDOLLAR[/U] symbol was added to demo accounts with FXCM LLC yesterday, and the symbol should make it onto all demo accounts this weekend. If you don’t see it in the dealing rates window, you can add it by clicking on the Symbols button at the top of the platform. If you don’t have a demo, then click on the button below to register:
I’ve been told that the charts may possibly be backfilled by this week. In terms of live trading on the index, it will be added to live accounts eventually… possibly within a couple of months but still not certain. The index can also be found on most financial websites by searching for the ticker symbol USDOLLAR, i.e. Yahoo Finance.
Here is what it will look like once added to the dealing rates window:
The screenshot of the USDOLLAR basket is from yesterday when the index value was at $9,440. This is the USD value of the 4 currency pairs in the basket. Since the initial starting value of the index was $10,000 you can see that the US Dollar has lost value since the index was initially launched. The current USDOLLAR value is around $9,504 (as of a few minutes of the post) so you can tell that the USDOLLAR has gained in value since yesterday. The new index allows you to easily speculate on the direction of the dollar versus a basket of pairs. Let me know if you have any questions.
-Jason
Hello, Jason
That’s a very interesting new product!
Three questions:
Since this index will be traded through the FXCM platform, and client positions will presumably be offset through your liquidity providers, it seems like FXCM could run this index without the involvement of Dow Jones. What role will Dow Jones play in all of this?
How closely is this new index correlated to the standard U.S. Dollar Index?
Initially, this product will be available in demo accounts only. Is that a way of beta-testing the product, or just practice time for interested traders?
Hi Clint,
The basket will be a tradeable instrument with FXCM possibly within the next couple of months. FXCM could have created the instrument without the help of Dow Jones, but Dow Jones is arguably the worldwide leader in index products. Forex traders know FXCM whereas nearly everyone knows Dow Jones. Whenever you watch the news you see the DJIA (Dow Stock Index) quoted as the index to watch. Partnering with Dow Jones also makes the index easy to find since it will be included on nearly every major financial website.
The current dollar index you are most familiar (DX-Y.NYB) is very euro-centric. It was created back in the 1970’s, and the index is tilted towards euro area countries by almost 64% if you count the percentage make-up of the EUR, CHF, and SEK. The Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index seeks to balance this out by including the Australian Dollar to represent commodites and Asia Pacific growth. The index is comprised of the 4 top traded currencies against the dollar: Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound, and Australian Dollar. Why would the current USD index include the SEK (no offense to traders in Sweden 
)? The goal is to include currencies most relevant to the value of the dollar without making it overly complicated. Each currency is evenly divided to make up 25% of the basket.
It is also easy to calculate the value of the index since the index represents the equivalent of $10,000 long position against the EUR, JPY, GBP, and AUD. As far as correlation…creating a correlated index was not the objective. The objective was to create something relevant to current market conditions while being easy to understand.
The index was launched in the demo for both beta testing and to allow interested traders the opportunity to practice trade it. Both of the reasons you listed are correct.
-Jason
Hi, Jason
Thanks for the detailed reply.
On the correlation question, I didn’t mean to imply that the new [B]Dow Jones FXCM US Dollar Index[/B] SHOULD be highly correlated to the standard US Dollar Index. Rather, I was wondering how the two compare. I’d be curious to see an overlay chart of the two.
I see what you mean now. This blog research puzzle pix by tom brakke has the only correlation comparison chart I have seen thus far which was created on a Bloomberg terminal.
Thanks, Jason, that’s exactly what I was looking for.
It’s interesting that (currently, at least) the DJ/FXCM Index flattens out the extreme highs and extreme lows of the DXY.
Hi Everyone,
I will be out of the office and away from the forums until May 30th. If you need any assistance from FXCM before then, please feel free to contact client services directly Contact FXCM. Otherwise I will reply when I return. And as always, FXStatus.com will be updated in the event of a technical issue .
Until then, happy trading and see everyone again on May 30th.
-Jason
[B]FXCM UK MT4 Microlots:[/B] In April, we enabled micro lot trading on MT4 accounts with FXCM US. We are happy to announce that micro lot trading is now available on MT4 accounts with FXCM UK as well. Micro lots will automatically be enabled when you open a new MT4 account with FXCM UK. If you have an existing MT4 account, please contact client services to request the addition of micro lots.
[B]Silver on MT4:[/B] Silver has been added to all MT4 demo and live accounts. Look for the symbol XAG/USD in the Market Watch window to trade silver. If you don’t see the symbol, right click anywhere over the Market Watch window and choose Show All in the menu.
Hello all!
There will be [U]no changes to forex trading hours[/U] this weekend due to the July 4 holiday in the US. Trading closes on Friday at 4:00pm ET and opens again on Sunday at 5:15pm ET.
However, there are changes to the rollover schedule due to bank holidays. There is 5X rollover today (June 29) for CAD and HKD pairs and 4X rollover for all other pairs due to bank holidays. This Friday (July 1) there is no rollover for any currency pairs. Please keep this in mind if holding any trades open at 5:00pm ET.
-Jason
If you’re trading the [U]CHF/JPY, CHF/SEK, or CHF/NOK[/U], please be advised that the margin requirement for these CHF pairs is changing after the close of trading today due to changes in the value of the Swiss Franc.
[B]2.0% margin requirements for 1K lot sizes will be:[/B]
(32 USD) for US Dollar denominated accounts.
(22 EUR) for Euro denominated accounts.
(20 GBP) for Pound denominated accounts.
(32 CAD) for Canadian Dollar denominated accounts.
(36 NZD) for New Zealand denominated accounts.
(2,400 JPY) for Japanese Yen denominated accounts.
[B]0.5% margin requirements for 10K lot sizes will be:[/B]
(80 USD) for US Dollar denominated accounts.
(55 EUR) for Euro denominated accounts.
(50 GBP) for Pound denominated accounts.
(80 CAD) for Canadian Dollar denominated accounts.
(90 NZD) for New Zealand denominated accounts.
(6,000 JPY) for Japanese Yen denominated accounts.
Again, this only impacts 3 currency pairs: CHF/JPY, CHF/NOK, and CHF/SEK. Let me know if you have any questions.
-Jason
If you’re trading the CHF pairs, you may notice that the rollover rates for going long the CHF are becoming more expensive. This is happening because the Swiss National Bank has dropped overnight rates to near zero in order to make it expensive to hold swiss francs. DailyFX has an article about this and here’s an excerpt from it:
The Swiss Franc’s meteoric rise against the Euro and US Dollar has left the Swiss National Bank on the defensive, and the currency’s latest moves make it exceedingly expensive to hold CHF long positions for the forex trader.
[I]On August 3 at approximately 07:00 GMT, the Swiss National Bank announced that it would cut its short-term interest rate to as close to zero as possible—effectively making it far more expensive to hold Swiss Franc positions.
Indeed, overnight interest rates have recently fallen near record lows. At 0.035%, the current overnight yield is effectively at zero and makes the currency a far less attractive long against much higher-yielding counterparts.[/I]
[B]Swiss Franc Spot/Next Interest Rate[/B]
Source: Bloomberg Professional Service
[B][/B]There is[B] 4X rollover today (August 31)[/B] for all currency pairs (except TRY pairs) due to a US bank holiday on Monday, September 5th. This Friday (September 2) there is no rollover for any currency pairs. Please keep this in mind if holding any trades open at 5:00pm ET.
There will be no changes for forex trading hours due to the September 5th holiday in the US, but there will be modifications for some of the CFD trading hours on Monday September 5th. Below is a list and all times are in GMT.
[B][U]CFD Trading Hours for Monday September 5th[/U][/B]
I’m excited to announce the launch of FXCM’s new online web platform called Trading Station Web. Login Now
[B]The Trading Station Web platform is available at https://tsweb.fxcorporate.com/[/B]
You now have access to the Trading Station in three formats – on your web browser, desktop software and mobile devices.
We’ve added a link to access the web platform from our FXCM US and FXCM UK homepages:
For our UK traders near London, [B]FXCM is hosting live, free seminars every second Wednesday at 6 PM in our London Office[/B]. In these seminars, our in-house Analysts and Traders will show you how to combine technical with fundamental analysis, how to place trades via the platform and how to formulate your own trading strategy. You can view the schedule and register at Spread Betting Daily Webinars, Financial Spread Betting Tips | FXCM. We look forward to seeing you there!
If you have feedback or questions, then let me know!
The NYSE trading floor now has streaming currency rates provided by FXCM. The currency boards were turned on yesterday. Check it out!
FXCM Debuts Currency Rates on the NYSE Trading Floor - YouTube