If you're thinking about applying for a spread betting, CFDs or forex trading account then one option is FXCM, a leading operator that offers all three types of trading:
If you spread bet with FXCM you will get all the normal benefits such as:
Tax Free Investments*
No Capital Gains Tax
No Income Tax
No Stamp Duty
You can buy or sell markets
There are no commission fees, only the bid/ask spread
There are no brokers' fees
You can trade a wide range of markets including stock indices, forex and commodities, for more details see FXCM spread betting markets
However FXCM also offers spread betting clients a number of additional advantages:
There are no re-quotes on spread betting markets such as stock indices, forex, gold and oil
Up to x200 leverage (beware that leverage can also work against you)
24 hour trading from Sunday evening to Friday evening (UK time)
* The UK tax treatment of your financial betting activities depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future, or may differ in other jurisdictions.
Why Spread Bet with FXCM?
FXCM won't act as a bookmaker on forex spread betting, so there is no conflict of interest. Every time you spread bet, FXCM will open a trade in the underlying market to hedge your bet on a one-to-one basis. For example, if you buy the EUR/USD market then FXCM will take the corresponding long position in the same forex pair.
Note that because all spread bets are hedged in real-time in the relevant underlying markets the 'spreads' available with FXCM can vary.
FXCM - User Friendly Spread Betting Platform
The FXCM spread betting platform is a result of more than 10 years of constant development and improvement to the FXCM trading platforms.
FXCM offers one-click execution as standard on all products. For cost transparency they display all charges in the same price window as the dealing price. This means that you know exactly how much you will pay or receive on rolling trades when you keep a spread bet open overnight.
FXCM Rolling Spread Bets
With FXCM spread bets are 'rolled' each day. Therefore as long as you have the funds in your account any trades that you don't close are automatically rolled over to the next trading day.
There is either an overnight financing charge or credit to your account, depending upon whether you are buying or selling a market.
FXCM Trading Charts
FXCM offers clients a range of charting packages (note that charges may apply for certain charting packages).
The 'Marketscope' package is a professional grade charts package which is built into FXCM's Trading Station II platform. Key features include:
Trading from Charts
Create Orders: you can click on the charts to create orders
Monitor Trades/Orders: you can keep an eye on trades and orders, they appear as dotted lines on charts
Manage Orders: you can drag and drop orders to new levels
Close Trades/Cancel Orders: naturally you can close trades and cancel orders from the chart
Indicators and Chart Elements
There are more than 30 popular indicators such as MACD, RSI and MA
There are more than 600 custom indicators that you can download
You can draw trend lines as well as add Fibonacci lines, Andrew's Pitchfork and Gann Fans
Price Alerts and Indicators
Price Alerts: you can set price alerts for when markets hit certain levels
Indicator Alerts: you can receive indicator alerts for when popular indicators such as MACD or Moving-Average Crossovers are generated
Alerts Types: these include emails and pop-up messages
FXCM Forex Trading
At the heart of FXCM's offering is its No Dealing Desk forex trading.
In short, clients benefit from FXCM’s large network of forex liquidity providers (banks, financial institutions, prime brokers and other market makers) which enables FXCM to offer competitive spreads on major currency pairs.
FXCM's No Dealing Desk forex execution aims to provide clients with fair and transparent execution.
Every new trade is executed back-to-back through one of multiple banks or financial institutions. These liquidity providers compete to provide FXCM with buy and sell prices.
The result is that the best spreads available to FXCM are offered to clients. There is a small markup by FXCM but this is normally just one pip for major forex pairs.
FXCM Forex Trading Advantages
Clients benefit from:
Low Spreads
You can trade on rates provided to FXCM by numerous liquidity providers
Fractional pip pricing helps to tighten spreads even further
No Dealing Desk Forex Execution
This means that there’s no conflict of interest between you and FXCM - the price providers, ie the banks, do not see your stop or limit orders
There is no dealer intervention in trades - this helps to speed up trading
Competition from multiple price providers helps to reduce the potential for market manipulation
No Trading Restrictions
You can trade during breaking news
You can place entry orders anywhere, even inside the spread itself
You can scalp the market
There’s rollover transparency, all rollover costs are displayed in advance
FXCM Mobile Trading
With FXCM you can trade via your mobile. The platform is available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows mobiles. With FXCM’s mobile platform you can
View the latest live prices
Open / close trades
Create new trading orders
View live charts
FXCM Spread Betting Practice Account
If you want to become more familiar with the platform or if you just want to test a few trading theories then you could try FXCM’s free practice account. Key features include:
Live prices
Live charts
24/7 client services
Risk-free trading - you only trade with virtual funds
Free practicing - practice accounts are free for 30 days and then expire
FXCM CFDs
In addition to spread betting and forex trading, FXCM also offers CFDs. With FXCM’s CFDs clients benefit from:
No re-quotes for stock indices
Competitive pricing
Commission free trading on stock indices – only pay the spread
Leverage - this can also work against you
Dividends - if you hold a long position on a stock index then you may be eligible for dividend payments
Going long or short on stock indices
The ability to trade metals as well as both US and UK crude oil
FXCM Multi-Award Winners
A review of some of FXCM's more recent awards:
2010 FX Traders Choice Awards
Best FX Broker – Europe
2010 MoneyAM Online Finance Awards
Winner Best Online FX Broker
2010 What Investment Magazine Readership Awards
Best FX Provider
About FXCM
Forex Capital Markets, Limited is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority, registration number 217689.
FXCM Inc., a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: FXCM), is a holding company and its sole asset is a controlling equity interest in FXCM Holdings, LLC.
Forex Capital Markets Limited ("FXCM LTD") is an indirect operating subsidiary of FXCM Holdings, LLC.
Spread Betting, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and Margined Forex trading are leveraged forms of investing which carry a high level of risk. You may incur losses that are in excess of your initial stake or investment. Make sure that you only speculate with funds you can afford to lose. Before trading ensure you recognise the risk. These products might not be suited to all kinds of investor. Seek independent investment guidance if necessary.
Spread Betting, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and Margined Forex trading are leveraged forms of investing which carry a high level of risk. You may incur losses that are in excess of your initial stake or investment. Make sure that you only speculate with funds you can afford to lose. Before trading ensure you recognise the risk. These products might not be suited to all kinds of investor. Seek independent investment guidance if necessary.
Article provided / approved by Forex Capital Markets Limited which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority, reference number 217689.
'FXCM' edited by DB, updated 09-May-12
For related pages also see:
FXCM, updated 09-May-12
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Risk Warning:
Please note that spread betting and CFD trading carry a high level of risk to your capital. You can lose more than your initial deposit. These products may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.
* Tax law is subject to change or may differ if you pay tax in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
