Best Thread CMC Markets owner answers your questions

[Black Swan]

Hello again Peter, I know this was not directed at me, but I too find dark charts (or indeed any dark background against light text, even on the printed page) difficult).

With fxcm/dbfx Marketscope you can select from a menu of 4-5 chart backgrounds if the standard midnight is not your thing, perhaps that'd be a good route forward? Funnily enough I have 3 different backgrounds for my PCs, netbook and laptop...helps me remember which one I'm on giving the most money back to the market..

 

[Ross Spur]

Just changing the background colour wouldn't really work because some colours won't show. Also, things like candles need a thin contrasting outline as well as a body colour. And get rid of the confusing fractional points on the y axis, please!

re. lack of comment from other SB providers, FX*M is always banging on about No Dealing Desk pricing, so you'd think they'd be the ones to react?

 

[Black Swan]

Just changing the background colour wouldn't really work because some colours just won't show. Also, things like candles need a thin contrasting outline as well as a body colour. And get rid of the confusing fractional points on the y axis, please!

So do you actually trade with CMC/use the new platform?

 

[montmorencyt2w]

Just changing the background colour wouldn't really work because some colours just won't show. Also, things like candles need a thin contrasting outline as well as a body colour.

You are right in both respects. It would have to be something like a switch to a different "colour set". Or, ideally, you would be able to set colours of individual elements, similar to MT4, but that might be much more difficult to achieve in a web interface.

Candles: thin contrasting outline - thanks for articulating part of what I was getting at as well.

 

[Ross Spur]

So do you actually trade with CMC/use the new platform?

Had an account since the **eal4free days, gave up with it many years ago. So far haven't been inclined to try the new one, although I might have if existing clients had been able to accept the new T&Cs by clicking intead of being treated as new clients.

 

[neil]

Hi neil

Like the picture, I have two singapura cats.
Yes you can expand the whole chart by dragging the bottom right hand corner. at the moment you have to over lay it over the whole screen in front of other products but in next few weeks we will be launching tabs so you can have multiple charts and just tab between them.

what do you think of the dark back ground of charts.

peter

Thasnks,
Yes, I like the dark background. I will run a demo alongside my live IG - but yes, CMC looks ok so far, just need to make the charts more readable...bigger.

 

[swandro]

Peter

Not wishing to extend this rather extensive discussion about dark backgrounds too far beyond everyone's patience, I would like to make a point which, as far as I can see, no-one else has raised.

I love black backgrounds and always use them. However, many traders, including myself, often have a need to print a chart, and printing a chart with a dark background is quite annoying. Firstly it uses a lot of expensive ink, and secondly, printing a big block of black will sometimes make the paper wet and wrinkly. Maybe it's just me, because I use cheap paper and a cheap printer, but I suspect I am not the only one.

I use SierraChart and they have solved this by providing a print option that always sets the background to white. It might be useful if you could consider doing the same.

 

[uchiki]

I posted an update on overnight charges last night. Guessing it's in the queue with the moderator. Shorter than my previous post. Don't think I said anything controversial or anything that contravenes the Site Guidelines. Is it just that I'm a Newbie trying to reply to a previous post (each time I've tried, it's gone to the moderator, whereas Quick Reply has posted instantly) ?
Don't have a lot to say, but I think it's worthwhile.... bit frustrating. Any suggestions appreciated.


... Found my post - was looking after most recent posts. Seems like it inserted in chronological order at time I posted. Also found quick reply button. Maybe this will make for quicker postings.

 

[montmorencyt2w]

1. Bund 2. Platform 3. Reports

Peter,

1. It is not an issue for me at the moment, but on the demo I could not see the Bund (or other bonds). I would be surprised if you did not offer this, so is that just a demo limitation?

2. To say something positive, apart from the charts, the platform itself is growing on me.

3. I don't know if you actually have this on the live platform, or are planning it, but it would be good to provide the trader with some reasonably good performance reports. Personally, I haven't bothered too much about performance numbers in the past (maybe that's been my downfall ), but I see some quite sophisticated reports being posted sometimes on T2W. Sometimes it will be people's own work, but I get the impression that some trading platforms do quite a lot in this area. As you have said you want the world of SB to be more like the world of ("proper") trading, it would be good to assist the spread-better to become as professional as possible. I'm thinking of things like win/loss ratios, drawdowns, and any other ratios or number which are considered important, when the trader is trying to judge his own performance, and rate of improvement (or the opposite).

One SB platform I use allows you to dump your account history into a spreadsheet, which is a good place for the person who wants to process their own numbers to start off with.


Many thanks,

 

[kalott]

About charts

A DDE link that makes it possible to use other programs like MetaStock, Amibroker, Trade Station would be nice


http://www.metatrader.info/node/47


http://www.amibroker.com/dde.html

 

[6am]

A DDE link that makes it possible to use other programs like MetaStock, Amibroker, Trade Station would be nice

I doubt that flash supports DDE, it is a very old windows only technology. A better way I think is to provide web services API, similar to betfair.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi neil
Can you let me know your comments after you parallel our demo system,
would be interested in your feed back. dark back ground charts look awesome on ipad by the way.
Many thanks Peter

Thasnks,
Yes, I like the dark background. I will run a demo alongside my live IG - but yes, CMC looks ok so far, just need to make the charts more readable...bigger.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Swandro

Good point and I will pass it onto the team. Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.
regards Peter

Peter

Not wishing to extend this rather extensive discussion about dark backgrounds too far beyond everyone's patience, I would like to make a point which, as far as I can see, no-one else has raised.

I love black backgrounds and always use them. However, many traders, including myself, often have a need to print a chart, and printing a chart with a dark background is quite annoying. Firstly it uses a lot of expensive ink, and secondly, printing a big block of black will sometimes make the paper wet and wrinkly. Maybe it's just me, because I use cheap paper and a cheap printer, but I suspect I am not the only one.

I use SierraChart and they have solved this by providing a print option that always sets the background to white. It might be useful if you could consider doing the same.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Re: 1. Bund 2. Platform 3. Reports

Hi Mike

You are exactly the type of poster that encourages me to keep on monitoring and posting on this site. You have no axe to grind, you are not trying to take a pop at anybody and you are not sarcastic. You are just trying to see what can be achieved with us as a company. We need this type of feed back from a potential/existing client because if we know what you are looking for we can start to respond and put it into place. Also we can get right to the point quickly and try to get things done. thank you for your time and energy to post on here.

so to answer your questions.

I was sure we had german bunds on the demo platform and live platform. I cannot see today because the system is not up over the weekend but will look on monday and get back to you. But it is a big product for us on market maker so should be there.

Thanks for your comments regarding our new platform. I have to say that we are really very very pleased with the response we have had so far. way ahead of where we thought we would be. Next gen cfd platform is also awesome. coming soon.

Not sure about performance reports. I know something will be there and I need to check about down loads as well. We will be able to do a lot more in the future so can easy get this type of thing built for you and quite quickly. will revert back to you.

once again thanks for your feed back very much appreciated.

peter

Peter,

1. It is not an issue for me at the moment, but on the demo I could not see the Bund (or other bonds). I would be surprised if you did not offer this, so is that just a demo limitation?

2. To say something positive, apart from the charts, the platform itself is growing on me.

3. I don't know if you actually have this on the live platform, or are planning it, but it would be good to provide the trader with some reasonably good performance reports. Personally, I haven't bothered too much about performance numbers in the past (maybe that's been my downfall ), but I see some quite sophisticated reports being posted sometimes on T2W. Sometimes it will be people's own work, but I get the impression that some trading platforms do quite a lot in this area. As you have said you want the world of SB to be more like the world of ("proper") trading, it would be good to assist the spread-better to become as professional as possible. I'm thinking of things like win/loss ratios, drawdowns, and any other ratios or number which are considered important, when the trader is trying to judge his own performance, and rate of improvement (or the opposite).

One SB platform I use allows you to dump your account history into a spreadsheet, which is a good place for the person who wants to process their own numbers to start off with.


Many thanks,

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

thanks for doing this.
regards petr

I posted an update on overnight charges last night. Guessing it's in the queue with the moderator. Shorter than my previous post. Don't think I said anything controversial or anything that contravenes the Site Guidelines. Is it just that I'm a Newbie trying to reply to a previous post (each time I've tried, it's gone to the moderator, whereas Quick Reply has posted instantly) ?
Don't have a lot to say, but I think it's worthwhile.... bit frustrating. Any suggestions appreciated.


... Found my post - was looking after most recent posts. Seems like it inserted in chronological order at time I posted. Also found quick reply button. Maybe this will make for quicker postings.

 

[mrscurry]

Hello Peter
The rolling commodity bets on the new platform are a welcome innovation in principle but I need some clarification:
Do you propose to track the 'spot' price in all of these commodities in the medium to long term, especially in commodities such as Natural Gas and the 'softs', which experience significant contango in their underlying futures contracts?

If so, HOW? Its fairly well documented that most futures based commodity ETFs are dreadfully inadequate at keeping up with spot prices in anything but the very short term due to the corrosive effects of contango. There have been periods for example where oil and gas etfs have fallen in value even as the spot prices were rising. So if they can't manage it, what's your plan?

Thanks

 

[piphead]

Hi Peter,
The fact that you take the time to respond to this thread convinces me that you have an honest company and with black backrounds on the charts I would like to open an account. I am in Italy is this a problem?? What is the minimum account size?
Cheers
Tommy

 

[Black Swan]

Re: 1. Bund 2. Platform 3. Reports

Hi Mike

You are exactly the type of poster that encourages me to keep on monitoring and posting on this site. You have no axe to grind, you are not trying to take a pop at anybody and you are not sarcastic. You are just trying to see what can be achieved with us as a company. We need this type of feed back from a potential/existing client because if we know what you are looking for we can start to respond and put it into place. Also we can get right to the point quickly and try to get things done. thank you for your time and energy to post on here.

so to answer your questions.

I was sure we had german bunds on the demo platform and live platform. I cannot see today because the system is not up over the weekend but will look on monday and get back to you. But it is a big product for us on market maker so should be there.

Thanks for your comments regarding our new platform. I have to say that we are really very very pleased with the response we have had so far. way ahead of where we thought we would be. Next gen cfd platform is also awesome. coming soon.

Not sure about performance reports. I know something will be there and I need to check about down loads as well. We will be able to do a lot more in the future so can easy get this type of thing built for you and quite quickly. will revert back to you.

once again thanks for your feed back very much appreciated.

peter

Agreed to 1000%. The gripes about the length and width of candle shadows, or the width and dark corners on the graphs (from folk who don't even trade on the platform) should not detract from what is a terrific thread. IMO the questions on the ergonomics of the new platform have nowhere left to go, as a subject it's surely exhausted. Whilst the feedback is interesting I'm sure the firm you paid a few hundred grand to get it right have got it right. Folk moan when Amazon make a small change to their 'front page', or the when E-bay layout is refreshed..

The value you imput from your side of the industry, and that you've already shared, has not been lost on some of us. It is unparalleled and difficult to value. it's akin to having Arsene joining in on an independent Gooners website, on a wet winter weekend, after Fabregas has gone hiding in midfield that afternoon.

 

[Ross Spur]

Re: 1. Bund 2. Platform 3. Reports

Agreed to 1000%. The gripes about the length and width of candle shadows, or the width and dark corners on the graphs (from folk who don't even trade on the platform) should not detract from what is a terrific thread. IMO the questions on the ergonomics of the new platform have nowhere left to go, as a subject it's surely exhausted. Whilst the feedback is interesting I'm sure the firm you paid a few hundred grand to get it right have got it right.

They can't have got it quite right if a lot of people come on here with similar misgivings. If you're trading with next gen, perhaps you could let us know how well the live platform works?

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

good morning piphead

many thanks for your response and taking the time to post your views.
Firstly I do not know if you can open account with us in London until I speak to my compliance department tomorrow. They do not work Sundays. I know some European countries have restrictions on spread betting so I need to check with compliace about Italy. I will get back to you tomorrow.

On another point, we have office in Italy in Milan. I was there last year to officially open it. They offer cfds and you can speak to them. You will find their details on our web site. You are welcome to go and see them or call them. Mention my name and they might stand to attention ha ha

will respond tomorrow.
have a nice weekend.

peter

Hi Peter,
The fact that you take the time to respond to this thread convinces me that you have an honest company and with black backrounds on the charts I would like to open an account. I am in Italy is this a problem?? What is the minimum account size?
Cheers
Tommy