Best Thread FXCM Discussion

[Trading Gurus]

Hi Jason,

FXCM is holding an automated forex trading contest which begins October 17.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I don't suppose there's any chance you could persuade someone to answer the question I first asked on your Strategy Trader forum over a month ago is there? I asked it again yesterday, and there's been no response as yet.

At the moment I'm merely trying to port an extremely simple MT4 strategy that works off ticks rather then bars, and it's still not quite right.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Jason,



I don't suppose there's any chance you could persuade someone to answer the question I first asked on your Strategy Trader forum over a month ago is there? I asked it again yesterday, and there's been no response as yet.

At the moment I'm merely trying to port an extremely simple MT4 strategy that works off ticks rather then bars, and it's still not quite right.

Thanks,

Jim

Hi Jim,

Sure, I can help get this taken care for you. Can you let me know the link or send me a private message with the link.

-Jason

 

[Trading Gurus]

Hi Jason,

Hi Jim,

Sure, I can help get this taken care for you. Can you let me know the link or send me a private message with the link.

-Jason

http://forexforums.dailyfx.com/deve...4-style-built-stops-targets-2.html#post594208

Thanks for your assistance,

Jim

 

[Orange Juice]

Hi Jason,

I just activated and deposited into my account for the first time today. I am trying to connect, however, and it continuously says that 'Connection real not found on server www.fxcorporate.com' I downloaded the Java version and that works, but there's not charts on the program other than web based charts! It's very frustrating and I would love a little help to figure out the problem.

Aaron

 

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Jason,

I just activated and deposited into my account for the first time today. I am trying to connect, however, and it continuously says that 'Connection real not found on server www.fxcorporate.com' I downloaded the Java version and that works, but there's not charts on the program other than web based charts! It's very frustrating and I would love a little help to figure out the problem.

Aaron

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for the message. Can you send me an email to [email protected] with the account number so I can check on it?

The Java platform doesn't have any built in charts. That's why we're in the process of releasing the Trading Station Gateway platform. TSG has charts built in and overall a better platform to navigate and trade on in my opinion. The platform is in beta release, and FXTSII accounts are unable to login to TSG at the moment. Only TSG specific accounts can, but in the months ahead we will be working to where you can login to either FXTSII, TSG, or the mobile platform all with the same login.

Look forward to hearing from you so we can get this straightened out.

-Jason

 

[Orange Juice]

Jason

I placed a couple trades this afternoon and now when I try to close them it says "Functionality is disabled for clients of FXCM LLC." This is extremely scary as I don't want to be in the trade anymore. Any help is appreciated.

Aaron

 

[TraderNumber7]

September 19th and counting.... 20, 21, 22, 23, ??, ??, ??, ??.

 

[oildaytrader]

Jason

I placed a couple trades this afternoon and now when I try to close them it says "Functionality is disabled for clients of FXCM LLC." This is extremely scary as I don't want to be in the trade anymore. Any help is appreciated.

Aaron

Fxcm's metatrader does not accept buy stop and sell stop orders , if placed with a expiry time.Could you guys get your act in order?

I stopped using ODL's metatrader for the above reasons.

 

[Jason Rogers]

Fxcm's metatrader does not accept buy stop and sell stop orders , if placed with a expiry time.Could you guys get your act in order?

I stopped using ODL's metatrader for the above reasons.

Hi ODT,

You can place a buy stop or sell stop, but the expiration feature is not enabled. This is not a feature which we have offered on our MT4 setup. If you need order expiry, the FX Trading Station II has this capability, or I would recommend using the Strategy Trader platform instead.

-Jason

 

[stockofnepal]

REALLY good information over here. love to read them.

 

[suman123]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for creating this thread on FXCM. It is very informative, so much so that it persuaded me to register!

Anywayy, I have almost decided to open a FXCM (UK) account for automated trading, and have a few questions to help me decide which type of account to open:

1. It seems that Strategy Trader does not support hedging even for UK accounts. That is, I cannot keep a buy and a sale position open on the same currency pair. Is that correct? If so, why did you disable this very feature for which lots of users migrated their account from US to UK?

2. For MT4, where are the FXCM servers located? US or UK? It seems the VPS accounts are maintained by BT in US. Does they connect to UK servers to trade?

3. If I sign up through a "referring broker", will my spread increase? I am referring to:
http://www.fxcm.co.uk/forex-spreads.jsp
"Additionally, typical spreads may not be applicable to Japanese-yen-denominated accounts or client accounts of referring brokers". It seems to imply that signing up through referring brokers increase spread. Please clarify.

thanks a lot in anticipation.
Suman

 

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for creating this thread on FXCM. It is very informative, so much so that it persuaded me to register!

Anywayy, I have almost decided to open a FXCM (UK) account for automated trading, and have a few questions to help me decide which type of account to open:

1. It seems that Strategy Trader does not support hedging even for UK accounts. That is, I cannot keep a buy and a sale position open on the same currency pair. Is that correct? If so, why did you disable this very feature for which lots of users migrated their account from US to UK?

2. For MT4, where are the FXCM servers located? US or UK? It seems the VPS accounts are maintained by BT in US. Does they connect to UK servers to trade?

3. If I sign up through a "referring broker", will my spread increase? I am referring to:
http://www.fxcm.co.uk/forex-spreads.jsp
"Additionally, typical spreads may not be applicable to Japanese-yen-denominated accounts or client accounts of referring brokers". It seems to imply that signing up through referring brokers increase spread. Please clarify.

thanks a lot in anticipation.
Suman

Hi Suman,

Thanks for the post, and would be happy to answer your questions.

You are correct that Strategy Trader does not support hedging. Hedging has to be turned off on the account in order to access the Strategy Trader platform. The reason for this is because the platform is designed for exchange execution, such as equities and futures trading. In these markets, it is not possible to be long and short the same product at the same time. So Strategy Trader will not be able to support hedging. The way to get around this is by opening two accounts under the same login. This way you will be able to take a long position in one account and a short position in the other.

For MT4, the servers are located in the US. If you have any concerns about latency, I would recommend doing a trace route to our servers (can send over details to you by private message if you would like) or use the VPS service.

A referring broker could choose to add a pip mark-up to the spread as part of their compensation, but this doesn't mean that every referring broker does this. The referring broker should disclose this whether you are receiving normal spreads or a marked-up spread. Our support team can also check on this for you if you contact us directly about the referring broker. From my experience, most referring brokers are compensated through the normal pip spread mark-up rather than adding an additional mark-up to the regular spread.

-Jason

 

[suman123]

Hi Suman,

The way to get around this is by opening two accounts under the same login. This way you will be able to take a long position in one account and a short position in the other.

Well, the mt4 EA that I have keeps track of both positions (buy/sell) and manipulate one based on the status of the other.
This can be done for two accounts only if the same software instance can track/manipulate two accounts simulteneously. I am not sure what the capabilities are of the new FXCM automated trading platform.
Also, I am tad nervious in putting my money on a Beta software. Afterall, mt4 has been tried and tested for years.
Having said that, I am sold to the advertised fast, native execution for the new platform.

The referring broker should disclose this whether you are receiving normal spreads or a marked-up spread. Our support team can also check on this for you if you contact us directly about the referring broker.

I have Forexcashback in mind. They claim normal spreads with no markup. Could you confirm?

One last question: I am now running forward testing of my EA with mt4 demo account. Could you let me know if the real account can be expected to behave exactly the same as the demo account it terms of execution speed, slippage etc?

Thanks a lot in anticipation!

 

[Jason Rogers]

Well, the mt4 EA that I have keeps track of both positions (buy/sell) and manipulate one based on the status of the other.
This can be done for two accounts only if the same software instance can track/manipulate two accounts simulteneously. I am not sure what the capabilities are of the new FXCM automated trading platform.

I see what you mean, and that's a good question. Best way to find this out would be to check with the strategy trader team at [email protected] . I'm also going to ask around on my side since this would be interesting if strategy trader could communicate this type of management between two accounts within the same login.

One last question: I am now running forward testing of my EA with mt4 demo account. Could you let me know if the real account can be expected to behave exactly the same as the demo account it terms of execution speed, slippage etc?

A demo account won't simulate slippage because the demo orders are not executed against actual liquidity available at that price. So please keep this in mind, especially if your orders are going through when the market is very volatile, such as during news events.

 

[Jason Rogers]

Margin Alerter for FXTSII

Have you ever wanted an alert or notification that your usable margin has fallen to a certain level?

FXCodeBase created a new strategy which will alert you by email and/or a FXTSII alert/sound notification when your usable margin drops to a certain level. You can specify up to 5 levels at which you will receive a notification if your usable margin starts to drop. This way you don’t have to monitor the FX Trading Station II constantly. Take a look at this screenshot of the notification pop-up on FXTSII when my usable margin dropped below $2500. You can also set it up to send an email or play a sound.

Below you will find an example of how to setup the margin alerter from start to finish, with examples on a demo account for two usable margin alerts I created.

Setup

1. Download the Margin Alerter:
   I have attached the Margin Alert strategy directly to this post (as zip file) or you can download it directly from the FXCodeBase here (http://fxcodebase.com/code/download/file.php?id=2004). Save the file to your desktop or somewhere you can easily find it.
   
2. Load Margin Alert into FXTSII:
   The next step is to add the Margin Alerter to the strategy list. See the image below for instructions. 1) Click on Charts > Strategies > Manage Custom Strategies. 2) In the window that appears, click on the Load button at the bottom of the window. 3) Find the MarginAlert.lua file on your desktop and add it.

You should now have the Margin Alert feature in your Strategies list.


Creating a Margin Alert:

1. In FXTSII, click on Charts > Strategies > Add Strategy. In the window that appears, choose Margin Alert Signal from the list.
   
2. The Strategy Properties window should appear. This is where you set the specifics of the alert such as the margin level at which the alert will occur, whether to play a sound or issue a pop-up notification, email notification, etc.
   
3. Here’s a brief description of the main areas you need to be concerned about. Take a look at the image below for reference.

Parameters: This is where you select the account(s) for the signal as well as the frequency with which the signal should check your usable margin. I have it set to every 3 seconds in the image.

Level 1: “Use current level?” should be set to Yes in order for the level 1 signal to work. If you have it set to No, then the alert is not turned on. The margin level of 2500 is the Usable Margin dollar amount at which point the alert is generated. And lastly, Check Type let's you base the alert on the Usable Margin in dollar terms or percentage. I selected "Exact Amount" which lets you set the alert in dollar terms.

Level 2: Works same as level 1 and is where you will create an additional alert level.

Signal Parameters: This is where you indicate whether a pop-up window, sound, or email alert should be generated.
​

Margin Alert in Action


From the setup above, you remember that I created a margin alert for Usable Margin below $2,500 and $1,000. Here’s how it worked.

Margin Alert 1 when Usable Margin drops below $2,500

Margin Alert 2 when Usable Margin drops below $1,000

Please bear in mind, the FX Trading Station II has to be running in order for the alert to work.

 

[capa]

Hi Jason,

I had an OCO entry for GBP/USD prior to a news announcement earlier today for a buy or sell entry with a stop loss on both set at -15 pips and when the news was announced the market dropped triggering my sell entry. The sell price in the order entry was 1.3791 making the stop loss at 1.3806 but when the order was filled it was opened at 1.3764 but the stop loss remained at 1.3806 which turned a 15 pip loss into a 41 pip loss as the market recovered from the drop. Now I am assuming that the difference from the 1.3791 to 1.3764 was a result of slippage is that correct? I know there is no way to prevent slippage but is there a way to set the entry so that the order isn't filled in the event of such a fluctuation? I have a micro UK account on trading station II.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Jason,

I had an OCO entry for GBP/USD prior to a news announcement earlier today for a buy or sell entry with a stop loss on both set at -15 pips and when the news was announced the market dropped triggering my sell entry. The sell price in the order entry was 1.3791 making the stop loss at 1.3806 but when the order was filled it was opened at 1.3764 but the stop loss remained at 1.3806 which turned a 15 pip loss into a 41 pip loss as the market recovered from the drop. Now I am assuming that the difference from the 1.3791 to 1.3764 was a result of slippage is that correct? I know there is no way to prevent slippage but is there a way to set the entry so that the order isn't filled in the event of such a fluctuation? I have a micro UK account on trading station II.

Thanks,

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

You are correct. The difference between the price you set the entry order for (1.3791) and the price where the order was able to filled (1.3764) was slippage. If the order is setup as a stop entry order then the order will always be filled as an At Best market order. Meaning it could experience slippage.

An entry order is setup as a stop entry if you want to buy above the current market price or sell below the current market price. An entry order is setup as a limit entry if you want to buy below the current market price or sell above the current market price. There's no way to set a maximum amount on slippage if the order is a stop entry unfortunately because a stop entry will always execute as an At Best market order.

-Jason

 

[Jason Rogers]

If you're using the Strategy Trader platform for automated trading, it comes with 3 pre-loaded strategies: Grid, Breakout and After-Hours. When logging into the platform for the first time 6 default workspaces will open. Workspaces 4, 5, and 6 have the strategies pre-loaded onto the charts. Take a look at the image below, I've circled where to find them:

Next, you can automatically run any performance metrics if based on the strategy and backtested results. To do this you have to goto the top of Strategy Trader, click on Report > Generate Strategy Performance Report and you can generate backtest results. Below is an example of the types of metrics you can run:

Lastly, enabling the auto-trading is as easy as clicking on the red auto button at the top left of the chart. Once you click on Auto, the button will turn green. See where I circled in red below:

 

[Jason Rogers]

Here's a video we put together visually explaining how FXCM's NDD forex execution works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkeqcfvojHA​

 

[Jason Rogers]

Important Update for MT4 Users:

The server time for FXCM's MT4 platform has changed this weekend from GMT+1 to GMT. If your EA logic uses the server time, please adjust your EA settings accordingly.


New Demo Expiration Time-frame

The demo expiration settings have also been updated for FXCM demo accounts. Previously, demo accounts would expire every 30 days. This has been changed. Demo accounts will now only expire if inactive for 30 days. So as long as you login every 30 days, the demo will not expire.