Source: www.jagsreport.com

“The ECN model has matured, and MB Trading FX has led those changes. We believe now is the time to again raise the bar with a commission-free ECN model. This bundles the best of all things FOREX to date—an ECN model with orders reflecting on our Limit book, customers able to cross orders with one another, and a non-fixed spread where all participants may reduce the spread with their bids and offers,” said Ross Ditlove, CEO of MB Trading. “Some traders clearly prefer to not have a commission added to their trade after the fact. With this plan, we take our bank fee and apply a small mark-up to cover our costs. The price that is reflected in the montage is the total trade cost. For clients who prefer to only post their limit orders, MB Trading FX will continue to offer its hugely successful Pay for Limits plan, which to date has paid clients over half a million dollars in rebates.”

The company is the first brokerage to offer such a pricing structure via its MetaTrader 4 platform. MB Trading FX is now accepting live accounts for the new pricing model and has updated its website to display comparisons of its spreads to other non-commission brokers on its website, www.mbtrading.com.

”Thanks to MB Trading FX’s neutrality, our bank quotes are very  competitive, thus we can add a small mark-up into the quote and compete with any spread-based Forex broker while still showcasing our ECN technology to allow retail customers to enjoy these benefits,” according to their Executive Vice-President.

Source: www.ibtimes.com

Pecunia Systems, specializing in outstanding software and services for traders, unveils FX Synergy, a feature-rich and user-friendly trade manager for MetaTrader™, designed by professional traders to make trading with MetaTrader™ easy and simple. FX Synergy gives traders the functionality they need to better manage their trades, including several features they currently don’t have. FX Synergy is a Windows™ application and works with any broker using MetaTrader™.

“We have an outstanding product that will help traders in so many ways” said Claus Stokholm, CEO of Pecunia Systems.

One of the main features of FX Synergy is 1-click execution, allowing traders to execute orders literally with a click. FX Synergy is “an absolute must for both the novice trader and professional” said Rick Thoennes, a professional trader, adding that with 1-click execution, FX Synergy “has enhanced my trading and my equity balance is proof that it works”.

FX Synergy manages up to 10 MetaTrader™ accounts, giving traders unique features of trading multiple accounts with a single click. FX Synergy “provides me with a much better and easier control of my trades” said Frode Husbyn, a private trader from Norway, adding that “FX Synergy just makes things easier”.

Support for NinjaTrader™ and Dukascopy™ planned for Q4 release. “It’s our goal to make FX Synergy the industry-standard for trade management across all major trading platforms” said Claus Stokholm.

FX Synergy’s features include:

• 1-Click Execution
• Multiple Accounts
• Group Trades
• Stealth Mode
• Trailing Stop
• Break-Even
• Stop Reverse
• Scale In
• Partial Close
• News Alerts
• Presets

Source: www.prwebs.com

Forex Magnates recently did an article in their Q2 2011 Report covering the state of Forex in Australia. Through the research for this article, we discovered that FX is booming in Australia not only with existing brokerages but new shops are coming into play. One notable company is Synergy FX who recently opened for business, we sat down and interviewed Piers Cracknell of Synergy to get an inside look into why Forex is making waves down under. Second part of the overview will be an interview with an Go Markets’s COO Chris Reynolds.

1. What is the current state of retail Forex trading in Australia?

Retail forex trading in Australia is in excellent shape and experiencing strong growth. Volume traded in the Australian Dollar has increased significantly, due in part to its very visible strengthening against other currencies, and so the currency markets are very much in the forefront of investors’ minds right now. In the last 12 months there have been a number of new entrants into the Australian marketplace, with a combination of overseas brokers establishing a local presence here and new Australian-owned businesses setting up. Australian forex traders demand a lot from their brokers, and rightly so. They want to deal with a local regulated broker who is working with them to achieve their financial objectives. They won’t deal with unregulated brokers or companies operating a dealing desk.

2. Do you foresee the tightening of local regulations anytime soon in the retail Forex industry in Australia?

Yes. I do expect ASIC, the financial regulatory body, to raise the minimum capital requirement level for new forex brokers. I see this as a good thing, meaning that only well capitalized firms will be able to acquire their financial services license and operate a retail focused forex brokerage. Of course just being well capitalized doesn’t necessarily protect the client any further, so I do expect a growing emphasis on the monitoring of risk, with the safety and protection of client funds being of paramount importance. Even with a certain amount of tightening of regulatory requirements, I don’t think Australia will be subject to the same degree of sanctions imposed recently in the US, which I do feel were overly strict.

3. Do you foresee Australia reaching the level of clients and deposits as the US and China?

With a nation of just 20 million people, Australia will never have the volume of clients and deposits that the US and China have. I do however see Australia in a huge growth phase right now and fully expect that the trading activity of retail traders to continually grow.

4. What do you attribute the recent boom of financial trading in Australia to?

I think there’s three main influencing factors. The strengthening of the Australian Dollar has been making headline news, and made the general public more aware about the effects, and in turn, the potential profitability by being able to take advantage of its movement. In the wake of the financial crisis, investors believe they can do a better job than the fund managers they’ve paid to deliver double-digits losses in recent years. And with the liquid nature and high level of technology now available to retail investors, many are. The Australian economy has been relatively unaffected by the global financial crisis, when compared to other economies, so their investment portfolios are relatively healthy, coupled with an optimistic outlook. The tightening of the CFTC rulings in the United States last year has caused brokers to relocate or establish presences overseas, and Australia has benefited from this, which has been reflected in a greater public visibility of forex trading as an asset class.

5. Why should local Australians and international traders alike, trade with your firm?

Synergy FX really has a unique combination of factors at play. The management team has over 100 years of financial experience between them and is highly regarded in the forex markets. For example in 2008 I was invited by Bank of England to give my opinion of forex trading at retail level; other members of the Board have worked in Operations and Treasury departments of some of the largest banks, so it’s that first-hand experience that has created Synergy FX. We’re ASIC regulated, so peace of mind for traders, and client funds are held in segregated client trust accounts with a AA rated bank. We’ve adopted a very transparent model that support the retail trader – straight through processing, no dealing desk, and with our multi-bank liquidity, traders are receiving prices from up to 20 banks. We provide free trade signals, alerting clients to trade opportunities as they occur – this is a huge time saver. We also provide the latest Virtual Private Server technology so our clients can get full Metatrader 4 access on their Iphone, Ipad, Android and MAC.

6. Where does FX go from here both in Australia and Globally?

High speed or high frequency trading will continue to grow. High frequency trading accounted for around 30% of all forex flows in 2010, up from 13% in 2004, so by the end of this year you could see this up above 40%. The majority of the growth in daily turnover, which is now above $4 trillion, is due mainly to high frequency trading. This has lowered spreads and led to an increase in FX volatility, you’ll see this in sudden price spikes when automatic orders in large volume flood the market. Spreads on the majors are extremely tight so I don’t see much further compression here In Australia, I expect the number of new entrants coming into market place to continue, albeit under the potential of changing regulatory rules and increased capital requirements. Established firms will widen their product offering through the use of additional services – the broker that goes above and beyond the standard offering will thrive.

7. Why did you decide to open a Forex Brokerage?

The management team all have a background in financial markets and worked for some of the most successful forex firms globally, so forex is what we know. We’ve seen traders continually disappointed by firms running dealing desks, or slipping customers – so when we set up Synergy FX we decided to be completely transparent in how we operate. That’s the whole idea of a synergy – the combined output is greater than the sum of the individual parts – and we believe that trader’s using our technology is a win-win for both parties. Here is their most recent press release announcing their formation and some of their services.

Executive Director Piers Cracknell comments, “Synergy FX reaches far beyond the traditional brokerage offering. We provide full MetaTrader 4 capability to all clients, whether it’s an asset manager using our MAM to manage multiple accounts, or a retail trader receiving trade alerts on their iPhone, our overall product offering is unique.”

Receiving liquidity from up to 20 banks, Synergy FX operates as a straight through processing broker.

“Our clients take peace of mind from the fact that we have no dealing desk. With no dealer intervention and straight through processing, trade execution is super quick. “We’ve invested heavily in our technology. Through our multi-bank price feed, we receive a deep source of liquidity from the world’s largest banks, allowing us to provide interbank pricing to all traders”

Highlighting just one part of their service, trade signals alert their clients to trade opportunities by continuously scanning the markets on their behalf. In addition, most forex brokers’ mobile trading offerings only allow limited MT4 capability, whereas Synergy FX’s clients enjoy full benefit of MT4 on their mobile handset or tablet, including automated trading, use of indicators and trade alerts.

Source: http://forexmagnates.com

“While Integral is honored to have been recognized by FX Week, the leading trade publication that covers FX markets, it is crystal clear to us that as a company, we win when our partners win,” said Harpal Sandhu, CEO, Integral Development Corporation. “Since it is well-known that FX Week puts a lot of emphasis on customer endorsements when selecting the winner, we are proud and thankful to everyone who helped us get to this point.”

When characterizing this category, FX Week stated, that “this award will go to the business that can demonstrate their track record in delivering the best technology to the FX industry. The winner will be able to show how the innovative products they have offered the market have set them apart.”

Added Sandhu: “Integral has a track record of successful innovation that spans many years. To be recognized in this overarching way, not just for a particular product, is a source of great pride.”

Last year, Integral won in the category “Best Algorithmic Trading Technology” of the 2010 e-FX awards for FX Inside Alpha(TM), the most complete solution designed to take on the challenges of FX algorithmic trading.

Integral also was recognized twice by Profit & Loss Magazine in the magazine’s 2010 Reader’s Choice Digital Market Awards. Integral won in the category of Best Retail FX Platform with FX Power Trader(TM), Integral’s white label retail margin trading solution. It also took top honors in the category Best Algorithmic Trading System with FX Inside Alpha(TM).

Source: www.marketwatch.com

Source: www.ibfx.com

Alpari (US), LLC (“Alpari”), a global provider of online foreign exchange (“Forex”, “FX”) trading services, announced enhancements today to its Pro Division, AlpariFX Pro. Alpari FXPro is an advanced line of FX business that offers a competitive trading environment for professional traders as well as a variety of dynamic solutions for partners.

The AlpariFX Pro trading environment features an ideal combination of competitive pricing and liquidity from multiple tier 1 banks. Clients can choose from a variety of platforms to access to the Pro pricing model, including MetaTrader 4, Alpari Direct and Alpari Direct Pro, powered by Currenex ®. All platforms are designed for speed to market and enable trading on over 55 currency pairs.

I don’t want to add to the many interpretations of cloud computing out there, rather outline the most important characteristics that in my view define it: 1) Market participants receive and deliver services over the Internet. 2) They are sharing a common pool of IT infrastructure. 3) They have the ability to easily scale these services up or down in line with how their business needs change. 4) They pay for these services in a pay-as-you-go business model and, and 5) these services are managed by a provider. If all these statements are true, you are looking at a real example of cloud computing.

Open matters

Today, Integral announced an open platform for FX. While ‘open’ to some might just be yet another buzzword, it is critically important in this context.

In FX, many trading venues are in the cloud — but private, in that they are limited to a group of market participants that the bank, broker or venue that operates it, considers favorable to reach its business goals. That by definition limits their appeal and growth, but makes them a great source of revenue for that particular provider. Any market participant however, who is on venue A and wants to connect with others in venues C and D, is required to replicate his efforts, building and managing these connections, again and again. We at Integral don’t believe this is the right solution for such a vibrant market.

Changing the economics of FX

By using Integral’s FX Grid, the FX platform already used by hundreds of customers today, and re-launching it as an open FX platform, making it accessible to non-customers and all third-party FX service providers, Integral delivers on its vision to provide the common infrastructure to integrate the fragmented world of FX today. Every participant, whether a liquidity provider, a liquidity taker, or an FX service provider, will be able to leverage this shared platform to dramatically change the ROI of their FX business.

As a neutral technology provider, our primary interest is in increasing the flow through our platform. Launching initiatives like this, that stand to grow the market, is our way of getting there.

If your goal is to simultaneously trade with counterparties on all venues— A through Z let alone C, D and E — check us out. Through our platform, you’ll be able to keep on trading on A, but as effortlessly be connected with other venues out there.

Think about it. If you were offered great deals to sign up with phone company A but only allowed to talk with people on their network, not also with people who have previously chosen phone company B or C, would you accept that? If you don’t accept it in any other business, why accept it in FX?

Jet Blue ran a number of funny commercials, filming people with a hidden camera, while putting them in positions that treated them on the ground the same they are treated while on a plane.  In one, a faux NYC cab driver is trying to charge customers $25 per bag that was in the trunk, just because it was there and not a ‘carry-on’ to the back seat. In another, a street vendor gives a paying customer only a small glass of Coke but wants to keep the can for the next guy.

Jet Blue’s tag line was: If you wouldn’t take it on the ground, don’t take it in the air. My feelings exactly.

Here is your chance to read more about Integral’s open platform for FX.

Source: http://blog.integral.com

Panda TS, a global leader in FX technology, today announced the launch of Panda Sync Server, a product which enables FX brokers to integrate and synchronize MetaTrader 4 with their existing proprietary systems. This eliminates the need to operate two trading environments, reducing cost and complexity.

Today’s retail FX world is becoming increasingly competitive, and brokers are adding more services to attract new customers. One such service is the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Brokers are adding MT4, or other third-party platforms, alongside their proprietary trading platform—but then find that they are forced to operate two or more separate trading environments. This adds overhead, cost and complexity, and scatters valuable customer data across multiple separate information systems.

Panda Sync Server solves the problem by offering multi-way synchronization between MT4, other third-party trading platforms, and a broker’s proprietary trading system. Panda Sync Server does not add one more central system—it simply pushes MT4 data to the existing proprietary systems. Brokers can integrate MT4, or other third-party platforms, and deliver immediate value to traders, without affecting their business.

Panda Sync Server is most suitable for top-tier FX brokers, which already offer MT4 as an additional trading platform, or are considering adding it. Because these brokers manage a large volume of customers and transactions, maintaining two separate trading platforms becomes a major challenge. With Panda Sync Server, large brokers can add MT4 to their service offering without sacrificing scalability and agility.

“We have recently implemented Sync Server at a top-ten FX broker, and I was very pleased with the results” said Sam Gutman, CEO of Panda TS. “Our dedicated integration team was able to complete the project in only a month, and our client was immediately able to offer MT4 services to traders and second-tier brokers. In parallel, the client substantially reduced operating costs and complexity, by managing only one trading environment, instead of two.”