Forex
Trade
The ability to trade
instantaneously from real time, streaming quotes is the centerpiece
of our forex trading system. The current bid/ask prices appear in the
dealing boxes seen below, and clients can at any time click on the current
bid or offer and instantaneously execute a forex trade. More importantly,
the forex dealing desk publishes ONE price to the entire client base
and allows any client to deal on that available price.
By offering instantaneous
execution from live, two-way prices, clients are always certain that
the available prices are "at the market". Dealing from live quotes offers
forex traders the advantage of anonymity and faster execution. Normal
execution times are sub-one second, currently the fastest execution
available from ANY online forex trading platform.
Step 1: Enter
number of lots to trade. Use the pull down list or type in the number
of lots (1 lot = 100,000 of the first currency) you wish to trade.
Step 2: Deal.
Click Buy or Sell to execute the trade.
Step 3: Forex
Trade Confirmation. A green box confirms the deal
was executed, with a "you bought, you sold" statement confirming the
precise details of the forex trade and a confirmation number. A red
box will say "deal not accepted" followed by the reason if there
was a problem with the order.
Step
4: Automatic Limit/Stop Orders (Position Orders) - Beginning
day traders in the FX market usually lack the discipline to consistently
place stop orders (or "stop losses") when they trade. The
Auto Stop Loss feature helps traders build discipline by placing
stops automatically with every trade. If the auto stop loss feature
is enabled and there is no existing position in a given currency pair,
a window will pop up asking the trader to enter a stop loss after a
trade for that pair is executed. The automatic stop loss is not mandatory,
since a trader can always decide not to set a stop by selecting "Abort."
Nevertheless, it is wise for day traders to always have specific stops
in place when trading currencies. To enable Auto Stop, check "Auto
Order Prompt" in the log on tab of the trading platform. Since
they are associated to an existing currency position, orders that are
placed using the Auto Order feature are called Position
Orders. The columns titled "Limit" and "Stop"
of the Position Management
section show the price(s) at which the Position Orders were placed.
We teach customers how to set stops and other
orders in our free training.
When the automatic
order feature is enabled, the window below pops up. The Auto Order feature
can be used to enter either a limit order, stop loss, or OCO order for
the entire amount of the new position.
Click the button
labeled "Confirm" to send the order. Notice that when the
order is accepted by the system, the "Status" bar background
color will change from gray to green (see below).
When the order is
accepted, the information will show up in the Position Management section.
After the placing of the order shown in the example above, the existing
100,000 Euro-Dollar position will indicate a value of 1.1952 in the
"Limit" column of the Position Management section; in other
words, the order will become a linked order to sell an existing 100,000
EUR/USD position at 1.1952 or better. This Position Order will not show
up in the Order Management
because it is linked to an existing position rather than being an independent
order that was placed separately.
IMPORTANT:
Position Orders appear in the Position
Management section. All other orders appear in the Order
Management section.
Squaring
Your Forex Position.
The SQR Button gives clients the ability to exit a
forex position with greater ease. Pressing the SQR button automatically
executes an offsetting trade to close out the entire open position in
a specific currency pair. If the trade is successful, the Net column
will show "0", and the deal will appear in the Deal
Blotter. To confirm all forex trade details, check the Activity
Log. In the example shown below, pressing the SQR button on the
third row will sell the 200,000 British Pound-U.S. Dollar position shown.
IMPORTANT:
Position orders are cancelled automatically when the position they are
linked to is squared or closed. All other forex orders remain open until
they are manually cancelled or triggered.
Point
and Shoot Feature
To see what individual trades make up an entire position in a specific
currency pair, the system's Point and Shoot (P&S) button must be
pressed. After the P&S is pressed, an FX trader can close any individual
trade that is part of that position. The example below shows that the
long 600,000 (6 lots) British Pounds (GBP) position is made up of two
transactions: a purchase of 400,000 GBP at 1.6987 and another 200,000
at 1.16957. This information is obtained by clicking the P&S button
on the third row.
After the Point
& Shoot button is pressed, the details of the GBP/USD currency pair
appear (look below):
To sell the first
set of British Pounds (4 lots of GBP/USD), a forex trader would just
press the "CLOSE" button to the right of the 400,000-position
and it will disappear from the screen (look below).
Clicking the "Abort"
button will return the trader to the Position Management window.
Position
Orders (PO)
Positing Orders are linked to existing positions in individual currency
pairs. PO's will remain active in the trading system for as long as
the position it is linked to remains open. Having the capacity to link
an order with an existing position gives traders the ability to place
an order that will cover a position in even as the corresponding exchange
rate changes.
Checking the "Auto
Order Prompt" box in the Log On tab of the platform enables the
placing of Position Orders. When this box is checked, entering a new
position or reversing an existing position causes the system to prompt
the trader to enter a Position Order to cover the new position. This
position order can be a Limit, Stop or an OCO Order.
As the size of a
position in a currency pair increases or decreases, the Position Order
is automatically modified by the system to match the value of the new
position. When a position is cancelled, the linked position order is
removed from the system on behalf of the customer. When a position is
reversed, the PO is automatically cancelled and the currency trader
is asked to enter another order.
If a Limit Position
Order is placed, the limit price appears under the "Limit"
column of the Position Management window (as in the EUR/USD example
below). If the PO is a stop order instead, the stop price is added under
the "Stop" column field by the system. For an OCO Position
Order, both the "Limit" and "Stop" column values
will be added.
By simply clicking
on the "PO" button to the right of the corresponding limit
or stop price, a forex trader can cancel or modify an existing Position
Order. When the PO button is pressed, the Auto Limit/Stop Order window
pops up.
By clicking the
PO button highlighted in red above, the window below will pop up:
Changes made to
a position using the Auto Limit/Stop window above will show up in the
"Limit" and "Stop" columns of the Position Management
table.
IMPORTANT:
Entering a new Position Order can be easily accomplished by clicking
on the PO button beside the corresponding forex position, then entering
the appropriate parameters in the Auto Limit/Stop pop up window. The
new Position Order will be linked to the corresponding FX position.
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