FXCM Review |
FXCM Group is one of the largest, fastest growing FOREX companies, and has been awarded as such by Inc. 500 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies three years in a row (2004-2006). The group has offices around the world including U.S.A, UK, Hong Kong and Japan, and is regulated and licensed in each of them as an established Future Commissions dealer or financial dealer.
For those that want to use a browser as a trading platform or if using a Mac, the Java Trading Station or FXCM Active Trader is available.
The FX Trading Station is equipped with cutting-edge technology, including some of the best execution in the forex industry and the ability to trade directly on charts.
Education is another major area of emphasis at FXCM. Over the years, the FXCM Education Department has developed several beginner to expert-level currency trading courses, enrolling almost a thousand new traders each month.
The website is available in 9 languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, German, Italian, Arabic
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FXCM Accepted Deposits: Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Paper Checks, Wire Transfers, (electronic checks – for US customers only)
FXCM Languages: (9)
English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, German, Italian, Arabican
FXCM Country of origin:
New York City, USA
Also offices in: London, Hong Kong and Tokyo
How Do you Get Started?
FXCM caters to both beginners and professional traders. Before opening a live account at FXCM, we advise traders to try the free extensive practice account first. Test your strategies and skills with $50,000 practice money. The free practice version of FXCM expires after 30 days. The practice account includes real-time statistics and 24/7 customer service, actually, it is just the same as a live account with the only difference that the money is not real. After testing FXCM's Forex trading software for 30 days, you can decide if you want to join the group of more than 100,000 traders who took the step of opening a live account at FXCM. Traders can also benefit from tight spreads and the ability to trade over 24 different currencies and commodities.
There are a few tools available to you if you are just getting to know the market and FX Trading station. Manuals for using FX Trading Station are available in several formats, as well as walk through videos that provide an overview of the platform’s main features. A support representative will introduce you to the system either via chat or over the phone. To get to know the FOREX market, free webinars are offered on a daily basis.
A feature unique to FXCM is Market Scope integrated charting package – enables you to load charts directly inside the platform. You can trade directly from the charts. And of course they have a great videos to help you get started to learn and use this powerful tool. It’s powerful and easy to use.
FXCM's trading platform
FXCM’s a high quality platform is called the FX Trading Station. The platform comes as a downloadable client which is easily installed. What we specifically like about this platform is the fact that all the information required for trading Forex fits on one screen and is well-arranged. All common basic features are included but there are also some attractive more advanced features.
Another nice feature is one click execution. You can configure FX Trading Station so that orders are executed upon a single mouse click. This feature is especially useful for traders that use high speed trading strategies like scalping.
What We Liked About FXCM
FXCM also offer mini accounts ($10k contract sizes) with leverage of 200:1 alongside their standard accounts ($100k contract sizes) with leverage of 100:1.
What We Didn’t Like About FXCM
We found that mini positions do not accumulate interest during rollover.
What about the Spreads at FXCM
FXCM offers competitive spreads that sometimes get even below 1 pip for major currency pairs. Spreads are variable which means that they vary with the volatility of the market. When the market becomes more volatile, the spreads widen.
No Dealing Desk?
The advantage of dealing online is having the possibility to deal with no Dealing Desk. With this option, traders basically trade on rates provided directly by the banks, which enables FXCM to offer spreads as low as 1-2 pips. FXCM also offers the possibility to trade via a Dealing Desk, which provides traders protection against spread uncertainty. In these cases the spreads offered are typically 3-5 pips on the major currency pairs.
Awards Given to FXCM
FXCM has received numerous awards from the investment community, including “Best Currency Broker” from Shares, “Best Retail Foreign Exchange Platform” from FX Week and “Best Foreign Exchange Specialist” from Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities.
Account Types – which one should you choose?
FXCM provides several account types designed for experienced traders as well as for those who are new to the FOREX market:
FX Trading Station (FXTS) - FXCM’s trading platform needs to be downloaded to your desktop. The environment is user friendly and intuitive to use, and can be customized according to the users preferences. FXCM now offers a toolbar to be downloaded to your browser, which provides instant access to FOREX market news and currency rates, and enables setting alerts for when the market reaches desired rates
Standard 10K account – $2000 to open - Leverage up to 200:1 ideal for experienced traders wishing to leverage the full advantages of FX trading
Mini Account - is designed for those who are still new to online currency trading. It requires an initial deposit of $300, and the leverages offered are up to 200:1. Mini accounts can be opened not just in US Dollars, but also in Euros, Pounds, Japanese Yen and Australian Dollars
FXCM Micro account - $25 to open. Allows traders to experience the excitement of the forex market with as little as $25
Free account - FXCM also offers a training account, which is available for 30 days and loaded with $50,000 demo money
Forex System Selector - $2000 to open. Offers automated trading. Forex System Selector accounts incur a $1 round turn commission per Standard (10K) lot traded. Befits of this account: the remove the Emotion and Guesswork from Trading; create a Customized Portfolio from over 40 Back-Tested Systems; web-Based so you can view performance anywhere
FXCM Active Trader - $25000 to open an account – There is a $5 charge for buying and $5 for selling. Benefits of this account are: provides level II type market depth; No Dealing Desk Execution; Web-based trading platform; Spreads on major currency on EUR/USD is .7 pips; offers lower spreads than the FXCM standard account
MetaTrader 4 - $2000 to open an account. Preferred by automated system traders and those already familiar with it
The Final Verdict
We feel that FXCM is one of the top brokers in the market right now. By testing the sight thoroughly and looking at customer satisfaction, we can say with certainty that FXCM is an honest and reliable broker that is highly secure, provides its users with a trading platform that is top quality, great customer service with low spreads (on major currencies). It is perfectly suited for people just starting to learn currency trading, but it also has more advanced tools for the more experienced trader. Many new, but also experienced traders give this broker their top forex broker rating due to its innovation in visual charting abilities.
By offering a large number of options, FXCM can fulfill the needs of most traders. Spreads are very competitive, and the no dealing desk model assures you that this broker does not trade against you. FXCM is a solid broker and a good choice.
n tenths of a pip to provide lower spreads for popular currency pairs.
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