US Traders Banned From Using Trading Station Automated Strategies?

I tried ordering the $250 News Trader automated strategy for Trading Station from the FXCM Apps Store and I was not permitted to do so. The item was tagged “unavailable” in the shopping cart. A call to the support line elicited the comment that US-based clients cannot run automated strategies because they are reserved only for international clients. The rep then indicated that there is hope because a policy change is underway that will soon lift this prohibition and allow US traders access to automated strategies just like everyone else outside the US.

At the same time, the instructor on the FX 360 was encouraging new clients to go to FXCodebase.com and download as many Trading Station indicators, add-ons and strategies as they want for free. Those were written in LUA and therefore perfectly usable on Trading Station.

I would like to understand the rationale for this apparently contradictory policy. I am frustrated because I was told to switch from MT4 to Trading Station, only to be told that I can’t use automated strategies after the switch (sounds like bait and switch - pun intended lol!). I would very much like to automated my trailing stops on the SSI/ATR/Donchian Channel strategy that the FX 360 instructor was hawking.

Thanks for any clarification/words of encouragement.

Fil

Hi Fil,

To clarify, there is no prohibition against US-based clients running automated strategies.

(Since each jurisdiction has its own rules regarding financial products, FXCM is seeking further clarification on US regulations pertaining to internally developed automated strategies. In the interim, we disabled downloads in the US for our automated strategies in the FXCM Apps Store. I can follow up with you if the offering is reinstated.)

There is nothing to stop you from downloading and running automated strategies developed by third parties such as those available on FxCodeBase.

There seems to be some confusion. FXCM makes the same commission regardless of the platform you choose. That’s why, in addition to Trading Station and MT4, we offer NinjaTrader and various APIs, so please use whichever platform you prefer.

If you have an MT4, NinjaTrader or API account with us, your login details will still work on Trading Station, so the best option for you is an MT4 account, if you want to be able to use both MT4 and Trading Station indicators and automated strategies.

If we are thinking of the same video lesson from the FX 360 course, then the Donchian Channels my colleague referred to are the free indicators from FxCodeBase (a third party site from which we make no money), not the automated trailing stops from FXCM Apps Store which didn’t exist 3 years ago when the video was recorded.

You can still download the indicators for Donchian Channels, SSI and ATR. You also download and run third party automated strategies. The only thing you cannot download at this time are automated strategies that FXCM developed internally.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

  • Jason

Thanks for the clarification, Jason.

I switched back from Trading Station II to MT4 by creating yet another MT4 account, since my original MT4 account was disabled permanently after my initial switch to Trading Station II. But when I tried to enter a simple market order in Trading Station II using my new MT4 account settings, I still get the same error message that I used to have when using my first MT4 account:

“Due to a limitation in MT4, Peg orders are not available (on Trading Station II). To change to another account type and enable Peg orders, please contact FXCM Client Services.”

I went through this earlier and the service rep told me to dump MT4 and use a Trading Station account instead, so it seems I’m just going around in circles. Again, I prefer Trading Station II for my discretionary trading but also need MT4 to run robots and other non-LUA automated strategies.

My ultimate game plan is to use both MT4 and Trading Station II concurrently. The reason for this dual approach is that I really like the Trading Station better for discretionary trading but I would like to run robots and automated strategies on the MT4. If dual login is not feasible, I even signed up for the FX Colo VPS service.

What would you recommend I do given these complex platform selection choices?

Thanks again,

Fil