[Jason Rogers]

A big development in the world of forex trading today:

Feb 21, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- E*TRADE Financial Corporation and FXCM Inc. announced today that E*TRADE FX will now offer customers access to global currency markets, research and education through FXCM, on the newly launched E*TRADE FX platform.... E*TRADE Launches Retail Forex Trading - MarketWatch

New! Trade Currencies on E*Trade FX

[Jason Rogers]

Please take note of changes to the following CFD trading hours for Good Friday and Easter. There is no change to forex trading hours, but forex trades will be affected by holiday rollover this week.

For example, on Wednesday, April 4th there will be up to 5 days worth of rollover interest that you could earn or pay on some currency pairs. For details look at the rollover calendar.

[Jason Rogers]

Originally Posted by Jason Rogers

Coming Soon! Forex Trading Apps

In a few weeks, FXCM will be launching a forex trading app store with custom indicators and EA's available for MT4 and the Trading Station Desktop platform. The full site hasn't launched yet, but you can enter your email to get the "24-Hour Trend Locator" app for free before the official site launches. Here's where to find it: http://www.fxcmapps.com/

Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the FXCM App Store was coming soon. Well it is finally here!

The app store launched this week, and it is starting out with around 40 apps for MT4 including scripts, EA’s, and stand-alone apps. This is just the beginning, and we plan to release more apps in the coming months for MT4, Trading Station, and possibly other platforms.

Below are 3 apps you can test for free, and there are more on the website. If you have suggestions for additional apps, please do let me know, and I will ask the programming services team if they can be added to the website.


DailyFX PLUS Trading Signals—Breakout2 (Expert Advisor)

Those of you that use DailyFX PLUS will likely have heard of Breakout2. You can now automate the strategy to run on MT4 rather than having to visit the website to check for updates and then manually place trades on your platform.

Breakout 2 is one of the six strategies in the “classic” DailyFX signals. It’s designed to perform best in market conditions where price is likely to move through an identified support or resistance level. When this happens, trading volume and price volatility often increase. Breakout2 attempts to capitalize on these increases by recommending to buy or sell in the direction of the breakout. We will likely release more of the DailyFX PLUS strategies for MT4 automation, so stay tuned.

Click here to download Breakout 2 for the FXCM MetaTrader 4 platform

Trend Identifier (Indicator)

This indicator is pretty self-explanatory, and it incorporates the Aroon indicator for trend identification. The indicator displays two lines: “Aroon up,” which measures the strength of the uptrend, and “Aroon down,” which measures the strength of the downtrend. Both lines fluctuate between values of zero and 100, with values near zero representing a weak trend and values near 100 representing a strong trend.



Click here to download Trend Identifier for FXCM MT4

Quick Buy (Script)

This app lets you open trades on MT4 in one click similar to how one-click trading works on the Trading Station desktop platform. You can even pre-set your stop-loss and take-profit levels.

Click here to download Quick Buy for FXCM MT4

All of these apps can be used on FXCM’s MetaTrader 4 platform, so if you’re using our MT4, enjoy! If not, you can register for an FXCM MT4 demo. And again, let me know, if you have suggestions for new EA’s, scripts, etc. Stay tuned for an app that will let you automatically share your trades with your friends on facebook and twitter.


Jason

[Jason Rogers]

Hi everyone,

Those of you who have an MT4 demo with FXCM will be getting an email about this, but I wanted to give everyone on the forum a heads up.

Due to a server upgrade this weekend, all current MT4 demos on the FXCM MT4 platform will expire this coming Sunday, April 15th. Past trading history of those demos will not be saved. Please take appropriate measures to save any necessary data. You can create a new demo after April 15th.

Why is this necessary? FXCM recently rebuilt the backend of our MT4 platform from the ground up. Now our No Dealing Desk forex execution is seamlessly integrated and auto syncs have been eliminated. We have also integrated functionality for MT4 accounts to work with the MT4 mobile and Trading Station mobile platforms. In order or put through the ability for demos to login to Trading Station and the mobile apps, the old demos have to go unfortunately.

I know that this is an inconvenience for everyone using a current MT4 demo with us, but I hope you will like all the new changes that will come with the new demos.

Jason

[Jason Rogers]

Just a heads up for everyone.

The following indices will be closed for trading on May 1st due to the holiday in Europe: GER30, FRA40, ITA40, SWE30 and SUI30.

Normal trading hours will resume on May 2nd.

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Everyone,

Due to the Golden Week holidays in Japan, all Yen crosses will have 5 days’ worth of rollover interest today except for GBP/JPY which will have 6 days’ worth.

For example, that means if you buy 10k of GBP/JPY and keep the trade open through 5pm New York time today, you will earn $0.66 or 66 cents. On the flip side, if you sell 10k of GBP/JPY and hold that trade open through 5pm, you will pay $1.56. You can always check what amount of rollover you can earn or pay for holding a particular currency pair through 5pm by looking at the RollS and RollB on the Trading Station.



And to keep track of when holidays will affect the number of days of rollover, you can look at the Rollover Calendar at DailyFX.com

Jason

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Everyone,

We've had a lot of traders ask for a way to easily share trades on Twitter and Facebook. FXCM's Programming Services team has created a free app now available in the app store called Trade with Friends. The app will give you the option to automatically share your trades on Facebook and Twitter to discuss with friends or other traders. Below is a screenshot of what the post will look like on Facebook and Twitter:

Here's a quick guide on how to setup the app to share your trades.


Step 1. Installation and Login

a. Click here to install Trade with Friends from FXCMapps.com. When you land on the page, click the Purchase button at the top right. The app is free, but you still need to click on "purchase" to go through the quick app store process to access the download file. The installation works like other programs you have probably installed on your computer where you double click on the .exe file and go through the installation window that appears.

b. After completing the installation, double-click on the Trade with Friends icon on your desktop and enter your account login details. You will need an FXCM account login. If you don't have one yet, you can click here to register a free practice account. If you look in the screenshot below, you will see what the Trade With Friends icon looks like on the left, and the actual program on the right once it has opened.

Step 2. Connecting to Facebook and Twitter

At the top left of the Trade with Friends app, click on “Login” and select Twitter. After selecting Twitter, an authorization box will appear for you to login to twitter. FXCM is not able to see your twitter password when you give authorization. The below screenshot shows buttons to click on and what will appear.

The same steps are used to authorize Facebook, but you would click on Login > Facebook instead.

Please note: While FXCM keeps all of your trading information private, FXCMs privacy policy may not fully apply to clients exposing their own information publicly. Trade With Friends app allows you to broadcast your trading details. Users of this app make their own judgment about how much information and to whom they wish to share it with. Lack of proper privacy controls can share information to unwanted individuals and/or parties.

Please feel free to reply with any questions about setting up the app, and I would appreciate any feedback you have about the app.

Jason

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Everyone,

Monday, May 28th is Memorial Day in the US. As usual, the forex trading hours will be unaffected. Below are the holiday trading hours for CFDs.

Times are in GMT


Have a great weekend!

Jason

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Everyone,

This weekend margin requirements on several currency pairs will be reduced. This is to account for the weakening of the Euro and other currencies relative to the US dollar. Basically, if you have a US-dollar denominated account, you will now have to put less money in dollars as margin for your open trades.

Below are updated minimum margin requirements for FXCM LTD (UK) and FXCM LLC (US) accounts.

Minimum Margin Requirements for FXCM LLC (US)

Click here for the expanded table


Minimum Margin Requirements for FXCM LTD (UK)

Click here for the expanded table

Note that the margin requirements for FXCM Australia and FXCM Canada are unchanged.

Jason

[Jason Rogers]

Hi Everyone,

As a reminder, the Greek elections are being held Sunday, and there's a possibility it could cause immense volatility. Please factor this possibility into your trading going into the weekend with any positions you have open.

For more info about the elections, you can read this DailyFX article: CAUTION: Greek Elections Could Spur Immense Volatility, Euro Outlook Unclear | DailyFX

Have a great weekend!

Jason