Back on Track with FXCM

Yesterday I made an overdue switch of trading platforms from FX Engines to FXCM's TradeStation II. If you've been following the last couple posts you already know the reasons: FX Engines has been down for several days (still is, in fact). As a result I missed three winning trades in a row, and would've missed another winner last night if I hadn't made the switch to TradeStation.

Fortunately this turned out to be very easy since FXCM was already my forex broker and handled all of FX Engines' trade execution. So it was just a matter of faxing some power-of-attorney paperwork and downloading the latest version of TradeStation, which I'd used before so there weren't any big surprises there. Last night I made my first TradeStation trade by successfully shorting the EUR/USD, a promising start on the new platform.

Overall I've found TradeStation II to be a fine piece of software. The only small differences I've noticed with other trading platforms is that it doesn't come with default charts pre-loaded, so you need to set them up yourself. Which is no big deal. You also can't trade directly off the charts by pointing and clicking at your desired entry point. Again, not a big deal for me.

One trading option offered by FXCM that I'm very interested in is "No Dealing Desk" trades, which apparently have narrower spreads and currency rates that come directly from the large interbank players rather than from FXCM's in-house dealing desk. My only concern is that no dealing desk spreads could vary wildly at moments of high volatility in the market, and since that's when most of my trades tend to close I don't want to wake up to any nasty surprises. So there's definitely a trade-off between the greater certainty of the higher dealing desk spreads, and the lower yet more uncertain no-dealing desk spreads. I'll have to do some more research before I decide it's worth that added spread uncertainty.

To be fair, the reason FX Engines has been down so long isn't really their fault. The problem is apparently on FXCM's end, since they made a change to their trade fulfillment system that broke the API (Application Programming Interface) that allowed FX Engines to trade through FXCM. Which obviously really sucks for FX Engines and their clients, like me. So I hope FXCM gets their API working again soon.

Global Forex Trading Launches DealBook Web

The first forex trading platform I ever used was Global Forex Trading's DealBook FX software, which I liked for its many charting options and indicators and fast trading performance. But I always felt a little limited by the fact that it wasn't a web-based application, which meant I always had to access it from the same computer unless I went through the install process on every PC I planned to trade with. Despite all those nifty trading tools, I eventually ended up switching to an entirely web-based trading platform, and while I missed some of GFT's features, I felt the ability to do all my trading through a website was worth the switch.

So I was very pleased to see that GFT has finally gotten around to releasing a web-based trading platform, called DealBook Web. Though it did take them long enough, and in their introduction they explain why they waited to offer an online trading application: "You might be surprised that we waited so long to develop a web-based trading platform. But, the forex market moves fast, and we knew that web-based trading platforms couldn't keep up - until now." And it is true I've heard some horror stories about trading lags on web-based platforms at key moments of high volatility - won't name any names, but you've probably heard of them. It sounds like GFT had these breakdowns in mind when they put together DealBook Web, which I hope means it'll perform more robustly when the market's running wild.

Here are some of the trading tools and features of DealBook Web:

• All the trading features of DealBook 360 (GFT's current desktop platform) in a web environment
• Access from your computer or any computer
• Requires only an internet connection and browser
• Multiple, full-screen charting capabilities
• Track and trade 60+ currencies

And they list lots more on the DealBook Web site. So if you're scouting around for a new web-based broker and trading platform it's probably worth a look - though as with any trading tool I'd take it for a thorough road-test in demo mode before committing any real funds. If you try it out and have any opinions on its performance and functionality you'd like to share, please feel free to post them in the comments below.

FXCM Technical Difficulties

I just got an email from Drew Nive, CEO of Forex Capital Markets (FXCM) apologizing for technical difficulties with their software that apparently shut down trading yesterday and part of today (Feb 25-26). I trade with FXCM via my FX Engines account, but was actually complete unaware anything had gone wrong - the reason being I've just switched all my trading to completely automated execution using FX Engines. (More about that soon.) But if you had problems trading via FXCM because of their software crash, they'd like you to know they're very very sorry and will refund any losses you might have incurred because of their snafu. Here are highlights from the email:

"We know our clients were unable to trade on February 25th and for part of February 26th. As a result, clients with open positions were unable to close positions during this period or take advantage of trading opportunities. We are very sorry and believe this is unacceptable.

All clients who suffered a loss on open positions due to the technical failures related to the market opening on Sunday February 25th will be fully refunded the amount of any loss."

"Over the past few months, FXCM has invested millions of dollars to upgrade our technology with two combined aims: to roll out No Dealing Desk execution and to increase overall reliability. Obviously, the efforts to increase reliability have fallen short. We are now going to re-double our efforts on platform reliability and stability, renewing our commitment of resources and financial investment to successfully accomplish these goals."

"Moreover, I want to assure you that these technical issues are not indicative of FXCM's financial stability or health. FXCM has over $100 million in capital and no debt. In addition, approximately $600 million in client funds are traded using our platform, the FX Trading Station." [Reassuring for anyone out there with a REFCO hangover]

Words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for the frustration and anxiety that our clients experienced during this recent difficulty. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to discuss a loss you incurred on an open position during the period mentioned above, please feel free to contact us 24 hours a day. You can reach us via e-mail at sales@fxcm.com, via live chat from our website, or via phone at (212) 897-7660. You may also access our international toll-free numbers from this link: http://www.fxcm.com/contact-fxcm.jsp"

Hope none of you lost anything because of this, but if you did, I hope they get it back to you quickly!

GFT's New DealBook 360 Trading Software

Global Forex Trading (GFT), which was my first forex broker and whose DealBook software I've discussed favorably in the past, recently released a new version called DealBook 360 which you can download for free and try out on a demo basis. (Before funding an account with any broker it's always good idea to demo their platform and see how it suits your trading style.)

Here are some of the options GFT has added to this latest version of DealBook:

• Create customized news feeds for specific currencies and events via RSS. Add any XML or RSS (really simple syndication) feed from a blog, data provider, or news service.
  
  
• Trade from behind a corporate firewall with http tunneling (though I'm sure none of you would ever trade while at work ;-)
  
  
• Copy and paste charts to easily recreate duplicate charts
  
  
• Voice-recognition functionality allows traders to access key features with voice commands, allowing hands-free operation of the software.
  
  
• Pending feature: set up an automatic trading system based on trading rules you specify (to be launched shortly according to GFT).

GFT has also added the following seven currency pairs to their list of tradable currencies, bringing the total number available to 64 pairs:

• EUR/NZD: Euro/New Zealand Dollar
  
• ZAR/JPY: South African Rand/Japanese Yen
  
• AUD/HKD: Australian Dollar/Hong Kong Dollar
  
• HKD/JPY: Hong Kong Dollar/Japanese Yen
  
• EUR/CZK: Euro/Czech Koruna
  
• USD/HKD: US Dollar/Hong Kong Dollar
  
• EUR/HKD: Euro/Hong Kong Dollar
  

Here's where to download the software from the GFT site:
DealBook 360 Download

If you try it out and have any feedback you'd like to share, please feel free to post your comments below.

Related topic:
Comparing Forex Platforms - Global Forex Trading & DealBook FX

Comparing Forex Platforms, Part 2 - Global Forex Trading & DealBook FX

Continuing our survey of forex brokers and trading platforms I've worked with, I'll review the pros and cons of the first broker I opened an account with, Global Forex Trading (GFT for short), and their trading system, DealBook FX (now in version 2, though I used v. 1).

I started my forex adventure with GFT because I'd read about them in a book, Forex Revolution, that I'd purchased as an introduction and orientation to the ins and outs of the currency markets. (An excellent read, which I'll discuss further in a future post.) The author, Peter Rosenstreich, had included an informative interview with Gary Tilkin of GFT discussing the DealBook system. And so when I went to set up my first trading account (just a demo at first) I went to GFT.

The first thing I discovered when I was getting set up was that I wasn't equipped for the latest version of their trading software, DealBook FX 2, which requires at least a Windows 2000 system. This was largely a problem of my own making, since I've been working with an archaic Windows 98 machine for far too long and haven't gotten around to replacing it. However, it was also disappointing to discover I couldn't install DealBook 2 on my other machine, a Mac G5, which would have plenty of power for this type of program. In the end, I just ended up installing DealBook FX 1, which ran fine on my machine until GFT pulled the plug on that version as of January 1, 2006. As a result, I'm now using a completely different broker and trading platform.

But not to dwell on the past, since there's a lot to like about DealBook. One of its best features is a large selection of chart signals and indicators. Two of my favorites are Parabolic SAR and Stark Bands. Stark Bands are not available on all trading platforms, and so it was great to find them on DealBook, especially since they play a key role in the Trend Follower trading system. (In fact, I believe the inventor of that system created it in DealBook.) I also like the way DealBook displays Parabolic SAR. Unlike Oanda, which uses a series of dots to indicate this signal, DealBook displays a single continuous line. This makes it easy to spot when the Parabolic SAR crosses other indicators, such as Moving Averages, thereby providing a very precise trade signal.

Apparently DealBook 2 also lets you trade directly off of the charts just by pointing and clicking, and enables you to set automatic trailing stops that will shift upwards or downwards for you. You can also edit any order simply by dragging and dropping its trigger price up or down on the chart.

When I first signed up for my GFT account, I received an excellent level of support and advice from their staff. In fact, they sent me free of charge Martin Pring's excellent book Introduction to Technical Analysis, as well as a couple of helpful trading tutorials explaining Fibonacci analysis and Woodie's CCI System.

I started off trading the DealBook demo using play money, and then moved on to real trades with a funded account. GFT offers a generous 100:1 leverage, and allows you to trade mini-lots of 10,000 units -- though this is still much larger than the minimum amounts permitted by Oanda. With GFT you'll pay a 3 pip spread on the EUR/USD pair, 4 pips on GBP/USD, 3 pips on USD/JPY, and unsurprisingly, much larger spreads on the more exotic pairs. Overall GFT's spreads are pretty standard for the industry, though still larger than Oanda's, and they offer a very large selection of currencies to trade. However, they require a minimum $2500 deposit to open an account, which is substantially higher than other brokers I've checked out.

On the whole my experience with GFT and DealBook was a positive one, and I learned a tremendous amount from working with their software, charts, and indicators. My major quibbles are that I couldn't use the latest version of DealBook either on my PC or Mac, the high minimum deposit, and the fact that they just discontinued the only version of DealBook I can use. Sure, that's partly my fault for not upgrading my PC, but it's also their loss since I'm switching to another broker with more flexible software. If I were you, I'd try out the demo version of DealBook FX 2 (if it works with your computer) and see how you like it -- but I'd definitely do a very thorough comparison with other brokers like Oanda before putting any real money on the line.

Comparing Forex Platforms, Part 1 - The Oanda Experience

Since beginning my admittedly brief forex career I've played around with a number of trading systems, and currently use a few different platforms for various analytical and trading tasks, since the features I want seem to be spread out between different brokers. My long-term goal, however, is to consolidate down to just a couple key tools in order to simplify my trading.

If you're looking for ratings and reviews of the major forex brokers and their trading platforms, you'll want to check out this poll at GoForex. Note that Oanda is far and away the winner, and based on my experience with their software I'd definitely have to agree. Key advantages I've found using Oanda include:

An entirely web-based interface - no software to download, just a javascript-powered trading window that will open from your web browser.

Lower spreads than just about every other broker I've seen. For instance, 1.5 to 2 pips on the EUR/USD pair.

It works on a Mac! I've been able to use Oanda on a Mac G5, something I haven't been able to do with software like DealBook and MetaTrader.

The ability to trade incredibly tiny amounts, if you're just getting started - as low as a single dollar, if that's all you can stomach.

A good demo system that allows you to practice on the trading platform using play money. Essentially, it's currency trading as a video game (no wonder they call it FXGame).

No price slippage (that I've seen) between your order and the final purchase or sales price.

Low minimum deposit requirements - only $500 to open a trading account.

Oanda is probably your best bet for a good, reliable, low-cost forex broker. But I've actually spent the bulk of my time on another platform, Global Forex Trading's DealBook system, which I'll discuss in my next post. Stay tuned!