FXCM Discussion

here's fxcm did it again every time during news they HUNT STOP big time

What is that? 2.0490? My lowest is the current 2.0585. How come all the pro-FXCM'ers can't respond to this. My "unregulated" do not cheat like your "regulated" brokers. Why is anyone trading here? Seriously.

I watched the NZD rate announcement bit over an hour ago

On Axitrader Live account the 5M bar was 60 pips

On FXCM demo it was 85 while in Global Prime demo only 60 pips ???

So what's up with that? Bigger, wider spreads is all I can think of

Hi Justlearning,

There seems to be a misunderstanding. In my previous post, I wasn't giving you my personal thoughts on MACD. (I'm familiar with the indicator but prefer not to use it in my own trading.) That information was directly from the programmers of the 24-hour trend locator on how they determine the buy and sell signals (up and down arrows) for their own indicator.

When they refer to the signal line being inside the histogram, they mean that either:

1. the signal line is below zero but not below the histogram, or
2. the signal line is above zero but not above the histogram.

Whether the signal line is below or above the histogram is completely irrelevant, what matters is whether it is above or below zero line. The histogram is merely a graphical representation of the difference between MACD and the signal line. If you are familiar then you should realize that your programmers have it wrong at least based on what you are stating above.

I will share your feedback with the programmers and let you know if they decide to make any changes to their indicator.

They can refer to many resources to understand MACD. What surprises me is that this hasn't been vetted by TA specialist before it is released to the FXCM clients, people are placing real money based on these indicators. What are the QA procedures.

Hi Jason,

Thank you. This is the tick chart from FXCM at the time my order was filled. The tick chart shows the Bid-Ask spread with the Ask price in Red (Above the Bid price in Black).

No matter how I look at these charts, I still don't see how is possible that my order got filled at 0.73942 when the MAXIMUM ASK Price at that time was 0.72620. My order got Filled about 130 PIPS ABOVE the Max Ask Price at that time. Any suggestions ?

Thanks again!

FXCM Releases Detailed Data on the SNB Flash Crash

On January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) caused a flash crash that lead to historic dysfunction never seen before in the FX markets when it announced that it was completely (not gradually) removing the 1.2000 self-imposed floor on the EUR/CHF exchange rate.

FXCM has compiled data points which demonstrate the unprecedented and extreme dysfunction of the FX market on January 15th. For the full recording and presentation please click here.

* January 15 Was A Market Flash Crash - The Institutional FX Market Failed And Did Not Function:

1. No Liquidity - There was almost no available liquidity for approximately 40 minutes
2. Dramatically Low Pricing - External ECN prices went as low as 0.2000 and 0.5000
3. Extreme Spreads - The average spreads of EUR/CHF were more than 2000-3000 pips
4. Extreme Range - The average range of EUR/CHF was 6000 pips.

* The majority of FXCM liquidity providers had stopped quoting prices during this time. Had FXCM's circuit breaks not engaged, the weighted average price of the same orders would have been much lower than the execution price of 1.05, at 0.9760.

* The January 15 flash crash saw the EUR/CHF drop 40% in seconds whereas the 2010 flash crash in the equities market saw about 9% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the course of a few minutes.

http://i.imgur.com/7yV24Xzl.png

click to enlarge

* The market data show that the losses on January 15 were not the result of FXCM technology or FXCM margin requirements, but rather due to the extreme market dysfunction resulting from the SNB's irresponsible and unforeseen announcement to completely remove the 1.2000 EUR/CHF floor.

* In light of the reckless actions of the SNB, FXCM has since ceased offering any currencies which carry significant risk due to potential manipulation by their respective governments either by a floor, ceiling, peg, or band.

I think I understand how my order got filled ....finally. In the case of my orderd there was a liquidity provider ready and happy to fill my order at +130 pips above the market. Since there was a liquidity provider the FXCM circuit breakers did not get triggered, and it does not matter what at price level my order was filled.

Simple, and I doubt there is any other good explanation. Now, I am just happy my order was a small one and I did not have a fat finger, otherwise FXCM would have been forced to absorb all the losses triggered by my order and ask Leucadia for help again.

Jason, thank you for helping me to understand how forex market works, and please correct me if I am wrong.

I note that FXCM normally want to charge 99USD for the trend locator. On the face of it looks incorrect compared to MACD and the explanation offered is contrary to how to read MACD. The replies from Jason are both half baked and a lame attempt to pass the buck back to the programmers stating that he is only the messenger. Jason you are meant to represent FXCM a major international company not yourself or what know or don't know, we do not care that whether you (Jason) understand MACD or not but only want a correct answer from FXCM.

Also in 7346 you state it is the "programmers own indicator" that is wrong. The indicator is sold and distributed by FXCM and who you are meant to represent.

99USD ? mmmmm

​This indicator, like almost any other indicator, is available for MT4 FREE on the net.

FREE: search terms - " MT4 multi trend signal indicator " / " MQL4 multi trend signal indicator ". *

* MQL4 = MT4 programing language.

Edit: note - 99USD for the TS edition.

i don't wanna break up the tension party but here's the data fxcm just released to the public:

February 2015 Operating Metrics
Retail Trading Metrics

1. Retail customer trading volume(1) of $267 billion in February 2015, 41% lower than January 2015 and 12% lower than February 2014.
2. Average retail customer trading volume(1) per day of $13.3 billion in February 2015, 38% lower than January 2015 and 13% lower than February 2014.
3. An average of 513,931 retail client trades per day in February 2015, 22% lower than January 2015 and 28% higher than February 2014.
4. Tradeable accounts(2) of 222,719 as of February 28, 2015, a decrease of 360, or 0.2%, from January 2015, and an increase of 31,997,or 17%, from February 2014.

Institutional Trading Metrics

1. Institutional customer trading volume(1) of $162 billion in February 2015, 36% lower than January 2015 and unchanged from February 2014.
2. Average institutional trading volume(1) per day of $8.1 billion in February 2015, 33% lower than January 2015 and unchanged from February 2014.
3. An average of 31,242 institutional client trades per day in February 2015, 13% lower than January 2015 and 11% lower than February 201

http://www.twst.com/update/101221-fx...r-2014-results

imo (but i didn't have time or have the incentive to go over everything), things aren't that great (some metrics, like tradeable accounts mean absolutely nothing);

good luck!

@ Jason,

you keep saying that you trade with fxcm.
that's strange!
my brother works as an IT for morgan stanley and he has certain restrictions (i don't want to give any details).

you get the opposite effect, it seems so, than fxcm being so trustworthy that even you rely on the ecn model and pip in for the rest of your life.

i try to cheer up some folks here and you're blowing it up :-))))


p.s. all things considered, you are a broker, not a trader.

p.p.s since fxcm was a market maker in the past (and you've been with the firm from the very beginnings), i agree that it's unethical for you to mention that you trade with fxcm. i'm sure that you can say there's no conflict of interests between fxcm and its clients, therefore... but it's unethical, let me repeat it, because you were indeed a market maker (trading against clients).

i certainly don't have the tantrum of hatzius, but I can see his point and agree with the non-belligerent parts of his posts!
there are rumors on every page in this thread, from insane spikes to execution anomalies. nobody posted back, in the last month or so, that they were solved (look at the guy posting >100 spread that didn't exist on the tick chart - that's horrible, horrific, seriously!). now you have the bad inspiration to say that you trade with fxcm. against whom? the question is legit for these people. i'm not happy also. i had my issues with fxcm (losses that came from your execution process) and don't wanna see ya bragging here about your trading know-how and everything.

http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-q4-ear...ts-down-5-yoy/

http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-february-volumes-dive-41-as-post-snb-clouds-persist/​

and it will get much worse! wait for the real thing, Q1 (2015)
thanks for posting them!

FXCM, a leading online provider of foreign exchange (forex) trading and related services, today disclosed detailed information regarding its systems and the broader forex market during the January 15th EUR/CHF flash crash. FXCM has compiled data points which demonstrate the unprecedented and extreme dysfunction of the FX market on January 15th.
The Swiss National Bank's Mishandling of the Swiss Franc:
On January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) caused a flash crash that lead to historic dysfunction never seen before in the forex markets when it announced that it was completely (not gradually) removing the 1.2000 self-imposed floor on the EUR/CHF exchange rate. The SNB's shocking announcement was made without any prior warning or notice to the marketplace. As the market perceived the EUR/CHF rate to be real, the abrupt change triggered chaos and a complete forex market breakdown. In light of the reckless actions of the SNB, FXCM has since ceased offering any currencies which carry significant risk due to potential manipulation by their respective governments either by a floor, ceiling, peg, or band.
Timeline of Relevant Events on January 15 (Morning, Eastern Standard Time):

1. 04:30 - Swiss National Bank announces the removal of the 1.2000 EUR/CHF floor.
2. 04:30:47 - EUR/CHF drops below 1.2000 for the first time.
3. 04:30:56 - 9 seconds later, the major international banks who provide liquidity to FXCM begin rapidly removing liquidity as quotes go as low as 1.1659.
4. 04:30:57 - FXCM's system circuit breakers deploy to halt new quotes and trading. These circuit breakers are designed to protect clients against erroneous quotes and off-market trades.
5. 04:31:08 - 21 seconds following the drop below the 1.2000 floor, only 1 liquidity provider is quoting FXCM at 1.1094 (1000 pips from the floor price).
6. 04:31:43 - One major international bank is quoting a bid of 1.0037. Another major international bank is quoting a bid of 1.1556 (1500 pip range in bids between 2 liquidity providers at the same second). EBS quotes 1.0000 at this time.
7. 04:32:41 - The first quote from FXCM liquidity providers below parity - 0.9831. The EBS quote at this time is 1.08115 - 1000 pips away.
8. 04:33:32 - One major international bank quotes a bid of 0.6374. Another major international bank is still quoting 1.1220 at the same time (5000 pip range between 2 liquidity providers at the same second). There is no valid quote on EBS at this time.
9. 04:35:16 - While there are still no valid quotes on EBS, 3 bid quotes from FXCM liquidity provider bounce within a 6000 pip range in 2 seconds: 1.1078, 0.5696, 0.9769
   1. *0.5696 is the lowest quote received by FXCM from all its liquidity providers

10. 04:42:28 - EBS shows a bid quote of 0.9550 one second, then a bid quote of 0.5000 the next second (a difference of 4500 pips). The next new price shown is 0.9600, five seconds later.
11. 04:55:40 - The market finally trades somewhat consistently above parity, but volatility is still extreme. The range of bid quotes between major FX industry ECNs is 0.87 to 1.0001 (1300 pips).
12. 05:10:00 - The market begins to stabilize around 1.0400 level. Spreads and consecutive price ticks are still above 100 pips. The range of bid quotes on major FX industry ECNs is 1.0120 to 1.0600 (480 pips).
13. 05:17:00 - FXCM's quoting circuit breakers are removed and prices begin updating again. Execution is still halted.
14. 05:23:00 - FXCM's trading circuit breakers are removed and execution of trades begins again. Liquidity levels are as little as 5% of normal levels, and only 3 or 4 liquidity providers are quoting consistently.

January 15 Was A Market Flash Crash - The Institutional FX Market Failed And Did Not Function:
As the above timeline demonstrates, the SNB's surprise announcement caused a complete institutional FX market breakdown impacting liquidity, volatility, spreads, and execution. Unlike other recent major market events where FXCM's liquidity providers continued quoting and providing consistent levels of liquidity, January 15 saw an extreme lack of liquidity and pricing.

1. No Liquidity - There was almost no available liquidity for approximately 40 minutes
2. Dramatically Low Pricing - External ECN prices went as low as 0.2000 and 0.5000
3. Extreme Spreads - The average spreads of EUR/CHF were more than 2000-3000 pips
4. Extreme Range - The average range of EUR/CHF was 6000 pips.

The January 15 flash crash saw the EUR/CHF drop 40% in seconds whereas the 2010 flash crash in the equities market saw about 9% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the course of a few minutes.
Prices were extremely volatile and liquidity deteriorated rapidly. Accordingly, quality of execution deteriorated rapidly across all FXCM's liquidity providers.
In the first 5 seconds after the EUR/CHF price moved below 1.2000, FXCM's providers accepted orders and executed more than their average quoted volume.

1. 04:30:47 to 04:30:51
   1. Average Sell Amount Executed Per Second: 25.3 Million
   2. Average Bid Size Available Per Second: 22.3 Million
   3. % of Average Bid Size Executed: 113.5%

In the next 5 seconds, FXCM's providers rejected heavily, filling less than 1/5th of the average quoted volume.

1. 04:30:52 to 04:30:56
   1. Average Sell Amount Executed Per Second: 2.66 Million
   2. Average Bid Size Available: 14.72 Million
   3. % of Average Bid Size Executed: 18.0%

FXCM systems allowed most clients to exit trades between 1.02 & 1.04 and avoid the extreme lows of the extraordinary market event. In normal market conditions, there are more than a dozen active liquidity providers and quotes good for sixty million on each side (both Bid and Ask) that refresh every few seconds. FXCM saw executable liquidity drop to nearly zero two minutes into the event. EUR/CHF was dropping from 1.20 and FXCM had little ability to execute client stop orders or margin calls because there were almost zero effectively executable quotes. FXCM executed approximately 200 million in total volume before 4:30:56 in the 1.17 to 1.20 range. At 4:30:57, FXCM's circuit breakers engaged and would not execute the remaining approximately 1 Billion until the market began to function with stable pricing. FXCM's system circuit breakers deploy to halt new quotes and trading, and are designed to protect clients against erroneous quotes and off-market trades.
The majority of FXCM liquidity providers had stopped quoting prices during this time. Had FXCM's circuit breaks not engaged, the weighted average price of the same orders would have been much lower than the execution price of 1.05, at 0.9760. With no liquidity for approximately 45 minutes, the market began to stabilize around 5:10 am at a price of 1.0400.
Observations:
The market data from January 15 shows that while it appears many of the FX ECN's have few or even no circuit breakers to halt trade execution in the case of extreme pricing, FXCM's circuit breakers aided its clients in this extreme market movement. The market could have been functional if circuit breakers had existed at every level.
The market data also shows that the losses on January 15 were not the result of FXCM technology or FXCM margin requirements, but rather due to the extreme market dysfunction resulting from the SNB's irresponsible and unforeseen announcement to completely remove the 1.2000 CHF floor. FXCM has long run a No Dealing Desk or Agency Execution model on its FX business. For FXCM's execution system to function efficiently and effectively, the Institutional Market must provide prices and executable liquidity. As FXCM is given prices and liquidity from liquidity providers, the firm executes every client's FX trade back to back with the liquidity providers. However, the SNB's actions on January 15 caused the firm's liquidity providers to cease providing pricing during the event, which ultimately resulted in some clients having negative balances with FXCM.

FXCM, EUR/CHF flash crash,


let me say con job at its best paying firms to put them in a good light but some of us know the truth

http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-inc-co...hakeup-coming/

jason, can you comment this paragraph:"In order to optimize its RPM, FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) has announced that it will be returning the dealing desk model for clients with equity below $20,000"?

but you know something?
i'm closing my account before the market closes today.

i guess the rumors were true about the spikes.
not only that fxcm was an onerous entity along its history, paying fines for cornering its clients,
they also misinformed the public over how much they lost during the chf, more than $225 mil (you should have made a video about how you lied the public instead of being the hero/victim).

now you're more than likely to have already returned to your dealing desk (or doing it sporadically).
you won't accept it until you get caught, pay another chunk of fines and play the honest broker again.
yay, these people really think we are all some sort of muppets!

good luck downspiraling within you debt spiral!
i'm done with you as today.

i wanna trade not pay your debt!