Simple Forex System Trading

GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc.  now offers live comparison data demonstrating the accuracy of its pricing relative to the larger OTC FX marketplace.  The price information is now available at FOREX.com®, GAINs retail division, and compares the midpoint for each of FOREX.coms most widely traded currency pairs to that of GTIS, an independent FX rate feed from Interactive Data Corporation.

“Increasingly, retail FX traders expect pricing transparency. FOREX.coms benchmarking to GTIS prices is a bold move in that direction,” said Javier Paz, Aite Group, Senior Analyst.

“GTIS is an excellent proxy for the larger FX market as it represents the best bid and offer from over 150 global contributors in the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific, including many of the worlds leading banks,” said Glenn Stevens, GAIN Capitals CEO.  ”When evaluated alongside FOREX.coms published typical and live spreads, the GTIS comparison add a new dimension to our already robust pricing information.”

via GAIN Capitals FOREX.com Adds New Pricing Comparison With Third… — NEW YORK, LONDON, and SYDNEY, Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –.

It’s shocking to learn that FXCM, one of the biggest Forex retail firms, is still using unethical business tactics to take advantages of small investors.  This tells us how important it is to demo trade and test drive a broker’s trading platform before making a final decision.

National Futures Association NFA has issued a Decision imposing a $2,000,000 monetary sanction against Forex Capital Markets LLC FXCM in settlement of a Complaint issued by NFAs Business Conduct Committee on August 12, 2011.

The Complaint cited FXCM for retaining gains derived from asymmetrical positive price slippage; failing to adopt or carry out adequate procedures to ensure the efficient execution of all customer orders; failing to treat all customers equally when giving price adjustments; failing to adequately investigate suspicious activity in several customers accounts; and – together with its principal Dror Niv – failing to supervise.

In addition to the $2,000,000 monetary sanction, FXCM must credit the accounts of its customers the amount of asymmetrical positive slippage which its customers experienced on their trades from and after June 18, 2008 and provide verification to NFA of these credits.

The complete text of the Complaint and Decision can be found on NFAs website www.nfa.futures.org.

via NFA levies $2M monetary sanction against FXCM – Forex – Futures Magazine.

Luis Aguilar, a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, issued a statement this week expressing concerns about retail forex fraud.

“I am concerned about the risks to retail investors,” he wrote in a statement that explained his vote on the temporary rules.  ”My support of the promulgation of an interim final temporary rule was subject to the condition that the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy be directed to issue an investor alert warning investors about the potential risks and conflicts inherent in off-exchange foreign currency transactions.”

Last August, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission adopted retail forex rules for the firms it regulates that would cap leverage at 50-to-1 for major currencies and require forex dealers to hold more capital and abide by certain disclosure, reporting and record-keeping rules.

The CFTC already had planned to adopt these rules before the enactment of Dodd-Frank, but the Dodd-Frank law required the CFTC to speed up the deadline on finalizing the rules.

The Dodd-Frank law additionally required other regulators, including the SEC, to impose similar rules on the retail forex dealers they oversee. If the regulators do not establish a regulatory regime for these transactions, then retail forex dealing would be prohibited.

via SECs Aguilar seeks investor alert on retail forex | Reuters.

Financial Highlights

• Net revenue up 2% to $55.6 million, compared to $54.7 million in Q2 2010; up 38% compared to Q1 2011
• Adjusted net income and net income of $11.2 million and $10.0 million, respectively, compared to $2.5 million and $1.4 million in Q1 2011. Year-over-year comparisons to $13.0 million and $13.8 million, respectively, in Q2 2010 reflected increased investment in institutional business, indirect sales channel and new geographies in Q2 2011
• Adjusted diluted EPS of $0.29 compared to $0.06 in Q1 2011 and $0.35 in Q2 2010
• Diluted EPS of $0.26 compared to $0.04 in Q1 2011 and $0.37 in Q2 2010

Operating Highlights

• Traded retail accounts of 36,868 in Q2 2011, up 8% compared to Q2 2010
• Funded retail accounts of 78,395 at June 30, 2011, up 20% compared to June 30, 2010
• Client assets of $293.1 million at June 30, 2011, up 32% compared to June 30, 2010

via GAIN Capital Reports Results for the Second Quarter – PR Newswire – sacbee.com.

Saxo Bank acquires 25% stake in broker solutions provider Leverate to extendoffering for institutional and retail clientsThe acquisition will enable Saxo Bank to provide banks and brokers with a wide array of nonproprietary  trading services such as MetaTrader4 MT4 and  other trading solutions, while Leveratewill  benefit from Saxo Bank’s leading market presence

via Saxo Bank Acquires 25% of Leverate | Forex Crunch.