Best Thread CMC Markets owner answers your questions

[twinj]

I agree. My post has been unanswered whilst newer posts have.

I would be grateful if a user of the new platform could tell me if the spread widens significantly during news releases? If I am correct, the new platform does not issue requotes. Then it is understandable to widen. The important point is whether they widen as much as they did on the old platform?

Just as an aside, I do like the black charts. They are easier on the eyes (i.e. less light is emitted). This is in response to a post within the first 60 or so posts.

 

[gle101]

I agree. My post has been unanswered whilst newer posts have.

I would be grateful if a user of the new platform could tell me if the spread widens significantly during news releases? If I am correct, the new platform does not issue requotes. Then it is understandable to widen. The important point is whether they widen as much as they did on the old platform?

Just as an aside, I do like the black charts. They are easier on the eyes (i.e. less light is emitted). This is in response to a post within the first 60 or so posts.

Yes I agree, it would be more interesting reading reviews from live traders. For one reason or the other they are not very keen posting their findings on this thread. It could also be the case there are not many live next-gen traders around. I do not believe CMC traders being so satisfied they feel no need posting their experience trading with CMC on this thread.

 

[Ross Spur]

I agree. My post has been unanswered whilst newer posts have.

I would be grateful if a user of the new platform could tell me if the spread widens significantly during news releases? If I am correct, the new platform does not issue requotes. Then it is understandable to widen. The important point is whether they widen as much as they did on the old platform?

Just as an aside, I do like the black charts. They are easier on the eyes (i.e. less light is emitted). This is in response to a post within the first 60 or so posts.

PC will be pleased that someone likes the dark charts! re spreads widening, it's not that easy to tell if it happens very briefly, although being stopped out is one way of knowing.

 

[geewcee]

Does anyone know if there is a link on the CMC website that shows currency spreads or do you have to play detective and open a demo just to find out?

 

[enragedcow]

Does anyone know if there is a link on the CMC website that shows currency spreads or do you have to play detective and open a demo just to find out?

never found one lol

i trade using cmc cfds

spreads are 2 pips for eur/usd and the othe rmajor currencies for the not so major it's huge

and gold is 40 pips

but i do recommend opening an account, they're platform is so easy to use and from what i've experienced they've never doctored the market to move against me

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Twinj
I didnt answer your message because I was hoping that existing clients would tell you of their experiences.
The pricing policy is to reflect the markets based on volatility. We have built in algorithms to filter pricing volatility and give you consistent pricing based on the markets. I think we do this better than our competitors because we have invested so heavily in our infrastructure. You need to monitor our execution and spreads against others to get a true picture. It is not our policy to widen spreads for the sake of it.
we are seeing a 300 percent increase on next gen platform from old gen.

thanks for your comment son charts.
pc

I agree. My post has been unanswered whilst newer posts have.

I would be grateful if a user of the new platform could tell me if the spread widens significantly during news releases? If I am correct, the new platform does not issue requotes. Then it is understandable to widen. The important point is whether they widen as much as they did on the old platform?

Just as an aside, I do like the black charts. They are easier on the eyes (i.e. less light is emitted). This is in response to a post within the first 60 or so posts.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

thansk enragedcow ha ha nice name.
thanks for your comments peter

never found one lol

i trade using cmc cfds

spreads are 2 pips for eur/usd and the othe rmajor currencies for the not so major it's huge

and gold is 40 pips

but i do recommend opening an account, they're platform is so easy to use and from what i've experienced they've never doctored the market to move against me

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi lance,
I was going to send you application to my fan club but managed to stop it in time. ha ha.
Nothing wrong in being proud of your company and the platform. Love it and cannot stop shouting from the roof tops and you know what lance, 300 percent increase in business in less than one year is what counts as it means clients like it too.
tks pc

People here are not to wind anybody up but discusss the issues and questions they might have about CMC, taking into account that CMC owner answers the questions (supposedly).
I totally agree that the thread should be renamed to something like CMC Market Owner Promotes CMC.
Virtually every post from the owner states how fantastic their system is and how much he loves it (it's OK to mention it now and then but not everytime). There's enough spam on the internet so everybody expected CMC owner to be more discrete and professional.

 

[hoodoo man]

Hi lance,
I was going to send you application to my fan club but managed to stop it in time. ha ha.
Nothing wrong in being proud of your company and the platform. Love it and cannot stop shouting from the roof tops and you know what lance, 300 percent increase in business in less than one year is what counts as it means clients like it too.
tks pc

Unfortunately this seems typical of modern attitudes in the general public. Insufficient respect shown to those who have achieved something of value, and a subtle undertone of resentment.

By all objective accounts you've built a great company from scratch yourself, and are still working to improve and serve your clients better. Rather than give you credit for taking the time to participate here, it is grudgingly acknowledged at best or condemned as marketing at worst. There is nothing wrong with honestly promoting your company. People who have nothing to be proud of themselves can't relate to others being proud of their achievements. Perhaps pride is the wrong phrase, but I'm sure you understand my drift.

There was a time in this country where the majority would look up to successful men such as yourself and listen with a respectful ear. Now it seems that most who do not have what it takes to achieve resent and disrespect those who do.

I'm not a client as I trade futures markets - for a fund and following on for my own account. Having had a lot of exposure to successful people / traders during my career, I must say it is quite rare and equally refreshing to have someone of your stature make himself available to answer questions from the public.

I should add that perhaps your critics here should consider the merits of your approach - building a business where you provide value to clients on each transaction, and have an edge on each transaction. I suspect that these individuals know next to nothing about speculation on a professional level and are likely net losers, hence the bitterness at service providers such as yourself.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Hoodoo man.
Could not have put it better myself. Thanks for this response very much appreciated. Stand by for the sarcastic response from some of our members.
Many thanks Peter

Unfortunately this seems typical of modern attitudes in the general public. Insufficient respect shown to those who have achieved something of value, and a subtle undertone of resentment.

By all objective accounts you've built a great company from scratch yourself, and are still working to improve and serve your clients better. Rather than give you credit for taking the time to participate here, it is grudgingly acknowledged at best or condemned as marketing at worst. There is nothing wrong with honestly promoting your company. People who have nothing to be proud of themselves can't relate to others being proud of their achievements. Perhaps pride is the wrong phrase, but I'm sure you understand my drift.

There was a time in this country where the majority would look up to successful men such as yourself and listen with a respectful ear. Now it seems that most who do not have what it takes to achieve resent and disrespect those who do.

I'm not a client as I trade futures markets - for a fund and following on for my own account. Having had a lot of exposure to successful people / traders during my career, I must say it is quite rare and equally refreshing to have someone of your stature make himself available to answer questions from the public.

I should add that perhaps your critics here should consider the merits of your approach - building a business where you provide value to clients on each transaction, and have an edge on each transaction. I suspect that these individuals know next to nothing about speculation on a professional level and are likely net losers, hence the bitterness at service providers such as yourself.

 

[olivier-fx]

Re: CMC Markets New Platform

Hi,

So far I have found 5 serious issues/problems with the new platform: these were all facilities that were present in the previous incarnation (Market Maker) but have now disappeared. None of the omissions are 'trader-friendly and i would go as far a querying whether they have been removed to tilt the balance that little bit more in CMC's favour? I have an open mind though and I am waiting for your comments, hoping that they will add up to more than "we hope to add this in our next update" and answer why these 'options' were removed in the first place! I will also be quite happy to eat humble pie should I have made any wrongful assumptions or mistakes in my queries.


1) it is not possible to minimise the charts any more! Once you have 1-2 charts on your screen + a few price tabs, the desktop if pretty much full because even at its smallest size, a chart will nearly take up half of your screen area. Any seasoned trader would not consider stacking them one on top of the other a good enough solution. Also, setting one chart as a 'default chart' to be able to delete it and then re-open as it was (to liberate space on your desktop) seems the wrong approach, in my view.

2) on the same level, what happened to being able to save various layouts? This has also disappeared and would have been a decent attempt to at least trying to alleviate the issue 1) highlighted beforehand.

3) why has the ability to setup 'price alerts' been removed? To any trader, this is an absolutely basic function to have, unless of course CMC believes that it is in the traders' interest to have to watch the prices absolutely non-stop!

4) i have no complaint about the availability of the trading instruments being offered, but I am at a loss to come an answer as to why something as important as US Treasuries prices have been removed!


5) this one is the worst, by a mile ... : why does the platform now time-out after 1 hour of inactivity and you have to login again every time? This was never the case with MarketMaker so I can't imagine that it would have anything to do with security of this would also have been present over the years in MM. I can only think that this will invariably lead to many instances of traders being logged just at the 'wrong time' lol Have you ever considered how annoying, time-consuming and damn-right crazy it is to make someone having to login 10-15 times everyday (for example if you follow a market between 7am and 9pm)?

Kind regards.

Oli

 

[Ross Spur]

Unfortunately this seems typical of modern attitudes in the general public. Insufficient respect shown to those who have achieved something of value, and a subtle undertone of resentment.

By all objective accounts you've built a great company from scratch yourself, and are still working to improve and serve your clients better. Rather than give you credit for taking the time to participate here, it is grudgingly acknowledged at best or condemned as marketing at worst. There is nothing wrong with honestly promoting your company. People who have nothing to be proud of themselves can't relate to others being proud of their achievements. Perhaps pride is the wrong phrase, but I'm sure you understand my drift.

There was a time in this country where the majority would look up to successful men such as yourself and listen with a respectful ear. Now it seems that most who do not have what it takes to achieve resent and disrespect those who do.

I'm not a client as I trade futures markets - for a fund and following on for my own account. Having had a lot of exposure to successful people / traders during my career, I must say it is quite rare and equally refreshing to have someone of your stature make himself available to answer questions from the public.

I should add that perhaps your critics here should consider the merits of your approach - building a business where you provide value to clients on each transaction, and have an edge on each transaction. I suspect that these individuals know next to nothing about speculation on a professional level and are likely net losers, hence the bitterness at service providers such as yourself.

I think you're entirely missing the point. Everyone knows how successful PC is, and lots of people have said that they appreciate the time he's spent on here, when he could easily sit tanning himself in the Cayman Isles and get one of his employees to do it.
However, the purpose of this thread is to pose questions and give feedback about the new platform. Criticising next gen has nothing to do with bitterness or 'an undertone of resentment' towards PC personally, it's just that if he keeps saying the platform is great the whole thing turns into a sort of Emperor's New Clothes exercise.

 

[geewcee]

Peter, any info on spreads for forex on your platform or you keeping it a secret? Even if you dont have set figures a nice average range like other websites show would be something worth adding to your site.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

well we publish our spreads and you can see them on demo platform and product details. all you have to do is give email address and password and you are into the demo platform. this way you can not only see what our spreads are but monitor them during volatile periods.
tks pc

Peter, any info on spreads for forex on your platform or you keeping it a secret? Even if you dont have set figures a nice average range like other websites show would be something worth adding to your site.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Re: CMC Markets New Platform

Hi Olivier,
Please see my response below.

1)
We are discussing how best to solved this issue, we are thinking about a type of watch list that would be charts rather than products, so very similar to minimising charts really

2)
Again, there are limits to a web based application and its potential customisation (which gives access to 100% of our potential customers at all times) A desktop platform which is saved onto a computer has greater ability to save large amounts of specific data. We are looking at potential solutions.

3)

Price alerts are definitely making a comeback but with some new additional functions.

4)
Cash treasuries are due for release very shortly, with one, continuous price with 5 years price history (soon to be 20 years for every product) No one else in the industry will be offering this exact type of product. Details to follow soon.

5)

We are looking at adding the function to disable this feature in the preference settings

Kind regards. peter

Hi,

So far I have found 5 serious issues/problems with the new platform: these were all facilities that were present in the previous incarnation (Market Maker) but have now disappeared. None of the omissions are 'trader-friendly and i would go as far a querying whether they have been removed to tilt the balance that little bit more in CMC's favour? I have an open mind though and I am waiting for your comments, hoping that they will add up to more than "we hope to add this in our next update" and answer why these 'options' were removed in the first place! I will also be quite happy to eat humble pie should I have made any wrongful assumptions or mistakes in my queries.


1) it is not possible to minimise the charts any more! Once you have 1-2 charts on your screen + a few price tabs, the desktop if pretty much full because even at its smallest size, a chart will nearly take up half of your screen area. Any seasoned trader would not consider stacking them one on top of the other a good enough solution. Also, setting one chart as a 'default chart' to be able to delete it and then re-open as it was (to liberate space on your desktop) seems the wrong approach, in my view.

2) on the same level, what happened to being able to save various layouts? This has also disappeared and would have been a decent attempt to at least trying to alleviate the issue 1) highlighted beforehand.

3) why has the ability to setup 'price alerts' been removed? To any trader, this is an absolutely basic function to have, unless of course CMC believes that it is in the traders' interest to have to watch the prices absolutely non-stop!

4) i have no complaint about the availability of the trading instruments being offered, but I am at a loss to come an answer as to why something as important as US Treasuries prices have been removed!


5) this one is the worst, by a mile ... : why does the platform now time-out after 1 hour of inactivity and you have to login again every time? This was never the case with MarketMaker so I can't imagine that it would have anything to do with security of this would also have been present over the years in MM. I can only think that this will invariably lead to many instances of traders being logged just at the 'wrong time' lol Have you ever considered how annoying, time-consuming and damn-right crazy it is to make someone having to login 10-15 times everyday (for example if you follow a market between 7am and 9pm)?

Kind regards.

Oli

 

[olivier-fx]

Re: CMC Markets New Platform

Hi Peter,
Thank you for your prompt reply.
I wouldn't have thought that any of these changes would be too difficult to implement and hopefully it won't take too long.
A quick suggestion: maybe an email could be sent to all the live users of the new platform where we could list any change(s)/modification(s) that we would like: the ones with the most replies could be implemented first maybe (it brings back memories of mortgage brokering and TCF - Treating Customers Fairly under FSA guidelines).

To answer a common query in here, the spreads have been very robust in the new platform: an increase during quiet times or just before a major data release is to be expected, as after all, this is what happens in the real world when most participants actually trading an instrument will likely pull their bid/offer, diminishing liquidity.

Last but not least, all my trades have so far been filled first time with no requote whatsoever.

See, I can moan about certain things but I always try to be balanced in my arguments as there always is a flipside to them.

Kind regards.

Oli

 

[hoodoo man]

Question for PC - currency bets

Hello Peter - I wonder if you would be kind enough to shed some light on my following enquiry.

Firstly, are you able to accept individual accounts from another EU member state? If I were resident in Malta, could I have a spreadbetting account with you.

Secondly, what is your view on people using your firm not for tax advantages of SB, but rather as an additional source of liquidity? I trust that you will have a hedging policy on a per instrument and per asset class basis, and only hedge the aggregate exposure over this limit.

It is difficult to get good pricing in retail FX. I have a trading associate who trades through some retail FX brokers, but not spreadbetting.

Oanda will take a 10 million Euro order in the EUR/USD in one click, at a price, on spreads of 0.9-1.2 "pips". My associate is able to fill 10 million at oanda, 5 million inside of 1.5p at another broker, and another few million in the CME Euro FX futures.

Currently a 10 million order in the EUR/USD is worth in the region of £600 per point.

For a client wishing to open an account with you, would you take that size electronically on a single price, with a spread no wider than 2 pips? How much of this exposure would you ordinarily need to hedge immediately?

The client would be consistently profitable, so would your spread and book make this profitable for you also? I'll emphasise that it is not predatory pricing/sniping/toxic flow, and trades are held for a minimum of 5 minutes.

The concern would be that if you hedged the full size immediately each time, this would upset the liquidity providers as they will be getting hit / lifted from other venues and this is not tolerated. If however you have enough two way flow that most of £600 per point in the EUR/USD would remain on your book, like Oanda are able to do, then it would be attractive to open an account for this extra liquidity.
Would it be the case that you would be happy to accept positions larger than £600pp at a later date? (ultimately we are wanting prices in 30-35mio total across all venues by the end of next year, but cannot get institutional type pricing as we aren't set up back office wise etc.)

Finally, regarding deposits. Obviously £600pp needs to be comfortably margined. Would you accept a standby letter of credit, bank guarantee, or treasuries deposited to you instead of cash? If cash is required, may I ask if it is segregated? I expect that the account would be an eligible counterparty, rather than retail, or whatever the new legal term is under MiFID.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Re: CMC Markets New Platform

Hi Olivier,

Thanks for sharing your next gen experiences on this platform. As you know all prices and all execution on next gen is done electronically. sure prices widen during volatile periods but our aim is to quote consistent market prices all of the time.

I like your idea of getting what clients want and to be honest we gather all this information and look at it. At the end of the day we know what you need and we will keep trying to bring it to you. just some times certain projects get left behind but we will always try to get every projected delivered. After all if clients are happy then we get more business. More business means more profits so our interests are aligned

tks peter

Hi Peter,
Thank you for your prompt reply.
I wouldn't have thought that any of these changes would be too difficult to implement and hopefully it won't take too long.
A quick suggestion: maybe an email could be sent to all the live users of the new platform where we could list any change(s)/modification(s) that we would like: the ones with the most replies could be implemented first maybe (it brings back memories of mortgage brokering and TCF - Treating Customers Fairly under FSA guidelines).

To answer a common query in here, the spreads have been very robust in the new platform: an increase during quiet times or just before a major data release is to be expected, as after all, this is what happens in the real world when most participants actually trading an instrument will likely pull their bid/offer, diminishing liquidity.

Last but not least, all my trades have so far been filled first time with no requote whatsoever.

See, I can moan about certain things but I always try to be balanced in my arguments as there always is a flipside to them.

Kind regards.

Oli

 

[Black Swan]

spreads are 2 pips for eur/usd and the other major currencies

Good spread that on the Euro for SB.

 

[Black Swan]

Re: Question for PC - currency bets

Hello Peter - I wonder if you would be kind enough to shed some light on my following enquiry.

Firstly, are you able to accept individual accounts from another EU member state? If I were resident in Malta, could I have a spreadbetting account with you.

Secondly, what is your view on people using your firm not for tax advantages of SB, but rather as an additional source of liquidity? I trust that you will have a hedging policy on a per instrument and per asset class basis, and only hedge the aggregate exposure over this limit.

It is difficult to get good pricing in retail FX. I have a trading associate who trades through some retail FX brokers, but not spreadbetting.

Oanda will take a 10 million Euro order in the EUR/USD in one click, at a price, on spreads of 0.9-1.2 "pips". My associate is able to fill 10 million at oanda, 5 million inside of 1.5p at another broker, and another few million in the CME Euro FX futures.

Currently a 10 million order in the EUR/USD is worth in the region of £600 per point.

For a client wishing to open an account with you, would you take that size electronically on a single price, with a spread no wider than 2 pips? How much of this exposure would you ordinarily need to hedge immediately?

The client would be consistently profitable, so would your spread and book make this profitable for you also? I'll emphasise that it is not predatory pricing/sniping/toxic flow, and trades are held for a minimum of 5 minutes.

The concern would be that if you hedged the full size immediately each time, this would upset the liquidity providers as they will be getting hit / lifted from other venues and this is not tolerated. If however you have enough two way flow that most of £600 per point in the EUR/USD would remain on your book, like Oanda are able to do, then it would be attractive to open an account for this extra liquidity.
Would it be the case that you would be happy to accept positions larger than £600pp at a later date? (ultimately we are wanting prices in 30-35mio total across all venues by the end of next year, but cannot get institutional type pricing as we aren't set up back office wise etc.)

Finally, regarding deposits. Obviously £600pp needs to be comfortably margined. Would you accept a standby letter of credit, bank guarantee, or treasuries deposited to you instead of cash? If cash is required, may I ask if it is segregated? I expect that the account would be an eligible counterparty, rather than retail, or whatever the new legal term is under MiFID.

Good questions..nice one...