martin brown
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Last edited:
a_gnome
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Morning All,
I'd like to ask those of you who are trading with OandA how responsive their platform was during the FOMC number.
I was paper trading a couple of news breakout strategies on their Game (demo) platform and it took about 30 seconds to respond (presumably due to the huge demand on their servers). I am hoping that this is just the fact that they have a large number of users per server on the game account and that it is not the case for the Trade (live) version, but could anyone confirm how well the trade software performed during this time?
TIA
I'd like to ask those of you who are trading with OandA how responsive their platform was during the FOMC number.
I was paper trading a couple of news breakout strategies on their Game (demo) platform and it took about 30 seconds to respond (presumably due to the huge demand on their servers). I am hoping that this is just the fact that they have a large number of users per server on the game account and that it is not the case for the Trade (live) version, but could anyone confirm how well the trade software performed during this time?
TIA
martin brown
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dc2000 said:
impressive bounceback overnight.
9100ish is now 76.4% fibo retrace from yesterdays sharp sell-off.
trade figs in 15minutes...with BOE inflation report an hour later...
There was a bit of a delay on Oanda (about 3 or 4 seconds compared to their usual instant execution) - as the price rocketed up. but there was no slippage.
Oanda Rock. I recently closed my account with Capital spreads and transferred all my funds to Oanda because its just not worth dealing with dodgy executions..
Oanda Rock. I recently closed my account with Capital spreads and transferred all my funds to Oanda because its just not worth dealing with dodgy executions..
trendie
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Farce,
is Oanda a "genuine" 24 hour trading system?
ie, can I trade at 3am during th asian session ?
if so, do they widen spreads, as its non-UK sessions?
(SBs are ok, but you can only trade "their" hours - which is potentially limiting for 4-7am trades)
thanks
is Oanda a "genuine" 24 hour trading system?
ie, can I trade at 3am during th asian session ?
if so, do they widen spreads, as its non-UK sessions?
(SBs are ok, but you can only trade "their" hours - which is potentially limiting for 4-7am trades)
thanks
wasp
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Talking of ECN's has anyone or does anyone use them.
I started a thread on hotspot but little response. I had a look at hotspot (horrid platform IMO) and currenex (no demo as far as I could see) and Lava (still looking) but undecided at the moment.
any opinions here?
They do have the advantage of a type of LII and volume (if it helps you that is).
I started a thread on hotspot but little response. I had a look at hotspot (horrid platform IMO) and currenex (no demo as far as I could see) and Lava (still looking) but undecided at the moment.
any opinions here?
They do have the advantage of a type of LII and volume (if it helps you that is).
trendie said:
Trendie, Oanda are a genuine 24 trading broker.
For a chart of their spreads over the past week check this link out:
http://fxtrade.oanda.com/spreads/recent_spreads.shtml
Spreads last night went up to about 4 over the asian session.
Their spreads do go up significantly during news time.
For example, just now at 9:30 GMT when the UK Trade balance was due, their spreads went up to 5, then 10 then 15! just before the news came out.
So its best to trade only the biggest, most volatile news with them.
Hope that helps.
wasp
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Fed high wire act looks increasingly hazardous
By Gerard Baker
RARELY in the annals of human history has inaction been so widely anticipated or so potentially consequential as yesterday’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged.
The Fed’s pass, after 17 straight meetings with a rate increase, comes as fears are mounting that the central bank may already have raised interest rates too far and tipped the US economy into recession.
After five years of robust growth following a brief downturn in 2001, the economy’s pace has decelerated sharply in the past few months, caused in part by the central bank’s tightening that began two years ago.
In the three months to June, gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 2.5 per cent, down from a 5.6 per cent pace in the first quarter. And in July almost all the most important economic indicators pointed to a further slowing. The housing market, the driver of much of the growth in the past few years, seems to be in full retreat, with prices falling in some areas and housing starts declining sharply.
Consumers have been relying on the steep increases in their housing equity in the past five years to keep up their frenetic pace of spending. But with prices now flat or falling and mortgage rates moving higher, they will need to increase their savings and curtail consumption. Business investment is also weakening, and high oil prices continue to crimp confidence and spending of both consumers and corporations.
Yet the Fed’s decision to leave rates unchanged does not necessarily mean its long period of tightening policy has ended. Indeed, the Fed’s dilemma is that, even as its rate increases have dampened demand, inflation has been accelerating.
In June, headline consumer price inflation was 4.3 per cent annually, its highest in more than a decade. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy costs, was 2.6 per cent — above the top end of the Fed’s comfort range, and still rising.
The new chairman, Ben Bernanke, who succeeded Alan Greenspan just six months ago, is eager to demonstrate his inflation–fighting credentials, the most important weapon a central banker has.
Making the Fed’s task especially difficult is the nagging concern that, in recent historical terms, monetary policy may still be reasonably accommodative.
The real fed funds rate — the difference between the headline figure and the rate of core consumer price inflation — is still only about 2.5 per cent. In the past that would have been considered nothing like high enough to restrain inflation — nor to induce a recession.
A year before the 1990-91 recession, for example, the real fed funds rate was just over 5 per cent. Twelve months before the brief 2001 recession, the real rate was a little under 4 per cent.
It is possible that the economy these days is more sensitive to short-term interest rates and that they do not need to be as high as they were in the past to restrain prices. It is also worth noting that inflation, though rising, is starting from a much lower base than in the past in the current cycle.
The Fed’s hope — and its critics’ fear — rests in the knowledge that monetary policy works with a lag. Interest rate changes today will not fully affect output and demand in the economy for about a year. That means that the Fed’s rate increases over the past year should squeeze inflation back to a more tolerable level in the next one. But declines in inflation generally only follow economic slowdowns — and growth is now so weak that the further squeeze expected in the next year might tip over into an outright recession.
Mr Bernanke and his colleagues believe they have read the economy just right, pushing rates to a point that will slow the economy enough to bring down inflation without causing a full-blown economic crash.
But it’s a very thin wire to tread, one that seems to be getting thinner by the week. If they fall off it on either side, the consequences for the US — and for them — will be severe.
By Gerard Baker
RARELY in the annals of human history has inaction been so widely anticipated or so potentially consequential as yesterday’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged.
The Fed’s pass, after 17 straight meetings with a rate increase, comes as fears are mounting that the central bank may already have raised interest rates too far and tipped the US economy into recession.
After five years of robust growth following a brief downturn in 2001, the economy’s pace has decelerated sharply in the past few months, caused in part by the central bank’s tightening that began two years ago.
In the three months to June, gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 2.5 per cent, down from a 5.6 per cent pace in the first quarter. And in July almost all the most important economic indicators pointed to a further slowing. The housing market, the driver of much of the growth in the past few years, seems to be in full retreat, with prices falling in some areas and housing starts declining sharply.
Consumers have been relying on the steep increases in their housing equity in the past five years to keep up their frenetic pace of spending. But with prices now flat or falling and mortgage rates moving higher, they will need to increase their savings and curtail consumption. Business investment is also weakening, and high oil prices continue to crimp confidence and spending of both consumers and corporations.
Yet the Fed’s decision to leave rates unchanged does not necessarily mean its long period of tightening policy has ended. Indeed, the Fed’s dilemma is that, even as its rate increases have dampened demand, inflation has been accelerating.
In June, headline consumer price inflation was 4.3 per cent annually, its highest in more than a decade. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy costs, was 2.6 per cent — above the top end of the Fed’s comfort range, and still rising.
The new chairman, Ben Bernanke, who succeeded Alan Greenspan just six months ago, is eager to demonstrate his inflation–fighting credentials, the most important weapon a central banker has.
Making the Fed’s task especially difficult is the nagging concern that, in recent historical terms, monetary policy may still be reasonably accommodative.
The real fed funds rate — the difference between the headline figure and the rate of core consumer price inflation — is still only about 2.5 per cent. In the past that would have been considered nothing like high enough to restrain inflation — nor to induce a recession.
A year before the 1990-91 recession, for example, the real fed funds rate was just over 5 per cent. Twelve months before the brief 2001 recession, the real rate was a little under 4 per cent.
It is possible that the economy these days is more sensitive to short-term interest rates and that they do not need to be as high as they were in the past to restrain prices. It is also worth noting that inflation, though rising, is starting from a much lower base than in the past in the current cycle.
The Fed’s hope — and its critics’ fear — rests in the knowledge that monetary policy works with a lag. Interest rate changes today will not fully affect output and demand in the economy for about a year. That means that the Fed’s rate increases over the past year should squeeze inflation back to a more tolerable level in the next one. But declines in inflation generally only follow economic slowdowns — and growth is now so weak that the further squeeze expected in the next year might tip over into an outright recession.
Mr Bernanke and his colleagues believe they have read the economy just right, pushing rates to a point that will slow the economy enough to bring down inflation without causing a full-blown economic crash.
But it’s a very thin wire to tread, one that seems to be getting thinner by the week. If they fall off it on either side, the consequences for the US — and for them — will be severe.
wasp
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- 5,107
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Bank strikes hawkish tone
By Rhys Blakely
The Bank of England struck a hawkish tone in its quarterly Inflation Report today, raising the prospect of further interest rate hikes, as Governor Mervyn King said policy makers "[remain] ready to take whatever action" they regard necessary to keep inflation in check.
The remarks, made at a news conference after the report's publication, came as the Bank published an outlook for inflation "somewhat higher" than in May.
In the wake of a quarter-point hike in interest rates to 4.75 per cent last month and subsequent increases in utilities bills, Mr King said: "It is clearly premature to say that we can declare that there are no second round effects from the recent pick-up in inflation because we would expect to see a further pick-up in the next few months."
He added: "There remains great uncertainty about future energy prices especially in the light of political tensions in the Middle East and inflation is likely to be volatile over the coming months."
Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, said: "The MPC is refusing to sound the all-clear on interest rates ... There is a warning that rates may have to rise, but it will depend on the domestic and world-wide economy over the next few months."
On the reasoning behind last week's rate hike, the first for two years, Mr King said policy makers had judged the move necessary "against a background of firm growth and limited spare capacity and with inflation likely to remain above target for some while."
Malcolm Barr, UK economist at JPMorgan Chase, said the report showed a "clear tightening bias in place [on interest rates]" but added there was "ambiguity about timing and magnitude".
Alan Castle, the Lehamn Brothers economist said the report "leaves open the possibility of another move in the next three to six months."
The Bank expects consumer price inflation to rise from the current 2.5 per cent in the near term before easing back towards its 2 per cent target.
However, it gave warning today that higher university fees, soaring energy costs and limited spare capacity in the economy could push inflation up towards 3 per cent.
The Bank's forecasts are based on the City's expectations that interest rates will rise to close to 5 per cent at the end of 2007.
Mr King dismissed suggestions that the bank should "drop hints, provide steers" about the path of interest rates, adding that those seeking such direction are "barking up the wrong tree."
By Rhys Blakely
The Bank of England struck a hawkish tone in its quarterly Inflation Report today, raising the prospect of further interest rate hikes, as Governor Mervyn King said policy makers "[remain] ready to take whatever action" they regard necessary to keep inflation in check.
The remarks, made at a news conference after the report's publication, came as the Bank published an outlook for inflation "somewhat higher" than in May.
In the wake of a quarter-point hike in interest rates to 4.75 per cent last month and subsequent increases in utilities bills, Mr King said: "It is clearly premature to say that we can declare that there are no second round effects from the recent pick-up in inflation because we would expect to see a further pick-up in the next few months."
He added: "There remains great uncertainty about future energy prices especially in the light of political tensions in the Middle East and inflation is likely to be volatile over the coming months."
Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, said: "The MPC is refusing to sound the all-clear on interest rates ... There is a warning that rates may have to rise, but it will depend on the domestic and world-wide economy over the next few months."
On the reasoning behind last week's rate hike, the first for two years, Mr King said policy makers had judged the move necessary "against a background of firm growth and limited spare capacity and with inflation likely to remain above target for some while."
Malcolm Barr, UK economist at JPMorgan Chase, said the report showed a "clear tightening bias in place [on interest rates]" but added there was "ambiguity about timing and magnitude".
Alan Castle, the Lehamn Brothers economist said the report "leaves open the possibility of another move in the next three to six months."
The Bank expects consumer price inflation to rise from the current 2.5 per cent in the near term before easing back towards its 2 per cent target.
However, it gave warning today that higher university fees, soaring energy costs and limited spare capacity in the economy could push inflation up towards 3 per cent.
The Bank's forecasts are based on the City's expectations that interest rates will rise to close to 5 per cent at the end of 2007.
Mr King dismissed suggestions that the bank should "drop hints, provide steers" about the path of interest rates, adding that those seeking such direction are "barking up the wrong tree."
