Forex Dealing Handbook


Trading HoursTop
The Forex Trading Desk is open 24 hours daily from 17:00 ET Sunday through 17:00 ET on Friday.
 
Currency Pairs, CFD's, and Other Tradable InstrumentsTop
24-hour trading on the MT4 Platform is currently available in 24 currency pairs and crosses, as well as spot Metals (Gold and Silver) and spot trading in Energies (Crude Oil, Gasoline, Heating Oil, and Natural Gas) and other commodities, such as: Wheat, Corn, Soybean, Sugar, Coffee, and Cotton. You can also trade indices in spot form (S&P500, Nasdaq Composite, and the Dow). Request a Forex Demo and see all the available instruments you can trade.
 
Dealing SpreadTop
Forex Day Trading's Normal Dealing Spreads are as Low as 1 pip depending on market supply and demand.
 
FeesTop
No Fees and Commissions are charged to customers who trade on the regular fixed spread or variable spread feeds. The ECN Premiere fee carries a $10 round turn commission.
 
Trading MinimumsTop
Forex Day Trading's Minimum transaction size is 1,000 units of the base currency (that is, a micro lot). Customers can also trade mini lots (10,000 base currency units) or standard lots (100,000 base currency units) all in the same account. Minimum account size is US$250.
 
Price QuotesTop
Forex Day Trading clients have the ability to execute trades directly from real time streaming bid/ask quotes. Live prices are continuously published to clients via the currency trading dealing software, and traders can at any time click on the current bid or offer and instantaneously execute a trade. Prices are updated automatically as market conditions dictate. On average, the Forex traders make 100,000 prices per day. More importantly, we publish the same dealing price to the entire client base and allows any client to deal on the available price.
 
Trading over the InternetTop
Executing a deal via the Internet is a simple two-step process. Simply enter the number of lots and then click on the bid (buy) or offer (sell) for the currency pair you wish to trade – your deal is automatically executed. The MetaTrader Forex trading software automatically calculates the initial margin requirement based upon the notional amount of the deal, and if sufficient funds are available in your account, will accept the transaction. Deals are confirmed normally within one second, and the system instantaneously updates both your open position and calculates your current P&L.
 
Order TypesTop
The Forex Dealing Platform provides sophisticated order entry and tracking. Orders may be entered at any rate using the following orders types:

  • Limit Orders
    An order with restrictions on the maximum price to be paid or the minimum price to be received.

    If a trader is long USD/CHF at 1.4627, a limit order would be entered to sell dollars above that price, for example, at 1.4800.

  • Stop Loss Orders
    Order type whereby an open position is automatically liquidated at a specific price. Often used to minimize exposure to losses if the market moves against an investor's position.

    If the trader above is long USD at 1.4627, a stop loss order could be left at 1.4549, in case the dollar depreciates below 1.4549.

    As a rule, sell stops are filled on our bid, and buy stops are filled on our offer. This allows us to fill client stop orders at the rate they requested in almost every case. In the rare instance that the market gaps over a requested rate, the stop is filled at the best available price. This is an important point for traders who are accustomed to being filled on sell stops when the offer reaches the requested order rate. For example, if a stop order is placed to sell USD/CHF at 1.4549, the trader will be filled when the bid reaches 1.4549 (i.e. the bid/offer is 1.4549/54).

  • One Cancels Other Orders (OCO's)
    A contingent order providing that one part of the order is cancelled if the other part is executed. This is a particularly useful order type in that it allows traders to execute specific trading strategies based on technical analysis – without having to watch the market tick by tick.

    As above, with the trader long USD/CHF at 1.4627, a typical OCO order would be a stop loss at 1.4562 and a limit (take profit) at 1.4700. If one part of the order is filled, the other is automatically cancelled. 

Orders remain open until they are triggered or cancelled.

Order ExecutionTop
  • Stop Loss Orders – Execution Rules
    As a rule, sell stops are filled on our bid, and buy stops are filled on our offer. This allows us to fill client stop orders at the rate they requested in almost every case. In the rare instance that the market gaps over a requested rate, the stop is filled at the best available price. This is an important point for traders who are accustomed to being filled on sell stops when the offer reaches the requested order rate. For example, if a stop order is placed to sell USD/CHF at 1.4549, the trader will be filled when the bid reaches 1.4549 (i.e. the bid/offer is 1.4549/54).
     
  • Good Til Cancelled (GTC) Orders – Execution Rules
    All GTC orders remain open until they are triggered or cancelled.
     
  • Orders Left Over the Weekend
    Orders left pending at close of trading on Friday at 1700 ET or placed over the weekend are subject to a gap open on Sunday evening when trading at 1700 ET. For both stop loss and limit orders – if your order is triggered due to news, events or other fundamental factors, it will not be executed over the weekend. Your order WILL be executed at the prevailing price when the trading desk opens Sunday. Because of the additional gap risk involved, you may want to reconsider leaving open orders over the weekend.
MarginTop

The Initial Margin Requirement is 0.2%.

If you Do not have adequate funds available to enter a new Forex position, you will receive an "insufficient margin funds" message when attempting to deal.

If the Unrealized P&L of your net total open position falls below your account balance, your trading account is under margined and all your open positions may be liquidated. To avoid liquidation of your positions, do not use your entire account balance as margin for open positions. Instead, leave enough funds in your account to withstand a market movement against your open positions. We suggest you always use stop loss orders to limit your downside risk when trading.

Please Contact Us if you wish at any time to use a lower degree of leverage or otherwise adjust the margin settings in your Forex Account.

RolloversTop

A rollover is the simultaneous closing of an open position for today's value date and the opening of the same position for the next day's value date at a price reflecting the interest rate differential between the two currencies.

All open positions are automatically rolled over to the next day's value date following the close of NY trading at 1700 ET.

Clients have the opportunity to earn interest on rollovers, depending on the direction of their positions and interest rate differential between the two currencies involved. For example, US interest rates are higher than Japan's, so if a trader is long USD/JPY (i.e. holding dollars), they will earn interest on the roll. Conversely, if a trader is short USD/JPY (i.e. holding yen) they will pay interest on the rollover.

The spot Forex market is traded on a two-day value date. For example, for trades executed on Monday, the value date is Wednesday. However, if a position is opened on Monday and held overnight (remains open after 1700 ET), the value date is now Thursday. The exception is a position opened and held overnight on Wednesday. The normal value date would be Saturday; because banks are closed on Saturday the value date is actually the following Monday. Due to the weekend, positions held overnight on Wednesday incur or earn an extra two days of interest. Trades with a value date that falls on a holiday will also incur or earn additional interest.

ConfirmationsTop
Deals are confirmed on screen, typically within one second. Full transaction details may be accessed on screen as well in the "Account History" tab of the MT4 platform, including date, time, rate, notional amount bought and sold, and reference number.
 
ReportingTop
The MT4 Trading Software tracks all trading activity in real time, allowing clients to view current open positions, real-time profit and loss, margin availability, account balances, and all historical transaction details directly on-screen.

To sign up for a live 30-day free demo of our Forex day trading software, click on this link…