Just got this message from Oanda, I guess it is better to close any trades before greek elections
Due to the extreme volatility some market analysts foresee could result in the coming days, OANDA fxTrade will not accept any trading activity from 6:00 AM EST until approximately 3:00 PM EST, on Sunday, June 17, 2012. OANDA believes the convergence of a major market event during off-market hours represents a potential trading risk and has taken this rare step to protect traders from excessive rate fluctuations.
Please note that during this halt in trading, you can still access your account details but no trading activity will be accepted. For this reason, OANDA strongly recommends that all traders consider minimizing currency exposures prior to the trading halt.
If you do intend to maintain open positions during this period, be aware that OANDA will hold exchange rates steady during the trading halt. However, when trading resumes, rates will immediately adjust to the current market rate and it is possible that the updated rate could result in a margin closeout if the price has moved significantly against your positions. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure you have adequate funds in your account to prevent a margin closeout.
OANDA apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.
For more information, please contact a Customer Service representative.
The market isn’t even open until 5pm est so… I don’t get how that changes anything. I never hold trades over the weekend, but if I did I’d close them before that. We’ll see what happens, but trading the open could be fun on Sunday!
That’s my account closed at Oanda. Just read this at another forum Technical Analysis Fallacy - Page 1709 @ Forex Factory Well I think they know everybody is going to be on the sell button and they can’t cover there arses.
On June 17th, Greece will be holding their elections. Although we cannot predict the effect the outcome of the election will have on currency prices, we anticipate there may be sudden changes in the Euro and other major currency pairs.
Therefore, HotForex recommends that you may want to reduce any significant positions in Euro by close of business on Friday, June 15th to protect your positions.
Why did you close your account? Because of this halting?
While I would prefer Oanda to be open on Sunday, I also understand why they are halting trading. Yes maybe is to cover their “arses” but at the end that will be good for all clients of Oanda.
If selling Euros is a “no brainer” then why the last 2 weeks E/U has been going up?
Yes I’m closing my account because of this. If Oanda are willing to take my positions any other time and now when it gets hot in the market they’re closing the door on us.
Well it is your decision to close your account, that is fine, but Oanda is not taking anybody’s positions. You can keep your positions open.
Now who are you going to trade with? Seems like you want to trade on weekends. I am not aware of any other retail broker that let their costumers to trade on weekends…
My point is that they will take your money every other Sunday but this Sunday shops closed . When you could make money if you are willing to take the ride. Anyway have good weekend folks - that’s it from me on this pont
I don’t see this as Oanda shutting anyone out of an opportunity to make money. I see it more as a way to cover their own arses for the slew of margin calls that might occur come open Monday AM.
Can you imagine the thousands of emails to the support department saying “why didn’t my stops kick in!!!”.
Now, all they have to do is just forward a copy of their warning.
I personally am not expecting much. I think last weekend was a bigger surprise.
Sucks to be me! Haha