More trading opportunities.
You can now trade four new currency pairs at FOREX.com - AUD/NZD, AUD/CAD,
GBP/AUD, GBP/CAD. These new cross currency pairs allow traders to directly target trading opportunities in the so-called “commodity” currencies.
Even more research.
Now you can access more research from within the platform; session recaps and pivot points are available from within our FOREXTrader platforms.
Published three times daily at the close of each major market session, the session recaps provide actionable insight on the market. Pivot point calculations can help you determine significant support and resistance levels to anticipate trend shifts, especially when used in conjunction with other technical indicators.
More trader education.
Sharpen your trading skills with enhanced Learn To Trade Forex training program. The new course features updated information and additional lessons. Also, as part of the program you now have unlimited access to an experienced FX instructor.
Also added half-day intensive training sessions with FOREX.com’s team of seasoned FX instructors in cities worldwide.
Even more convenient funding options.
Deposits in five currencies - USD, EUR, AUD, CAD, CHF and GBF. You can now withdraw funds online from MyAccount.
Your satisfaction matters.
Feed Back:
“We’re always eager to hear your ideas for improving FOREX.com. In fact, in our latest client survey many of you asked for pivot points and additional currency pairs - and we’re more than happy to deliver. Keep the suggestions coming!”
We’re also happy to report over 90% of survey respondents would recommend FOREX.com to their friends. If you feel the same, check out our Refer a Friend program. Every time you refer a friend who opens and funds a FOREX.com account, you’ll both have the opportunity to earn up to $250.
Jan 29, 2008
$117 Million Investment for GAIN Capital Group from 3i and VantagePoint
GAIN Capital Group, LLC, a market leader in the rapidly growing online foreign exchange (FX) industry, announced at January 22, 2008, the completion of an investment round from two leading private equity firms with a specialty focus in finance and technology. 3i - $97 million investment, existing investor VantagePoint Venture Partners - $20 million investment. 3i US Growth Capital Partner Whitney Bower will join GAIN’s Board of Directors.
3i and VantagePoint purchased a minority stake from existing shareholders of the privately-held GAIN Capital, with a portion of the proceeds going to the company’s balance sheet to facilitate larger trading relationships with leveraged funds and institutions globally, as well as to support GAIN’s growing white label business.
“We are pleased to welcome 3i to our investor group. We will undoubtedly look to leverage 3i’s financial expertise, strong global network and recognized ability to add value to help us achieve our long term business goals.”
said Glenn Stevens, GAIN’s chief executive officer.
“We are excited to partner with GAIN Capital. GAIN has a strong reputation and an impressive track record from a financial perspective, achieving no less than 65% annual growth for the past six consecutive years,” continued Bower. “We look forward to helping GAIN accelerate the success of its business development initiatives and further strengthen its operations in key international markets.”
Commented Whitney Bower, Partner at 3i US Growth Capital.
According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) - Forex is the most traded market in the world, with a daily volume that exceeds $3.2 trillion. Forex trading has gained widespread acceptance, among retail investors, over the past several years. According to U.S. research firm Aite Group, average daily trade volume in the retail forex market increased 500% from 2001 to 2006, reaching an estimated $77 billion per day in 2007.
Jim Mills, a managing director at VantagePoint Venture Partners and a member of GAIN’s Board of Directors:
“VantagePoint’s decision to make the follow-on investment is a testament to GAIN’s management team and the company’s prospects. We are confident that GAIN is well positioned to take full advantage of the significant market opportunities within this space.”
VantagePoint was the sole investor in the company’s previous investment round completed in April, 2006.
In addition to 3i and VantagePoint, GAIN’s investor group also includes private equity firms Tudor Ventures, Edison Venture Fund, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, and Blue Rock Capital.
ABOUT GAIN CAPITAL GROUP,LLC
Founded in 1999 by Wall Street veterans, GAIN now services clients from more than 140 countries and supports average trade volume in excess of $100 billion per month. Headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey, the company operates sales and support offices in New York and Shanghai.
The company operates two full service web portals. The company’s flagship service, GAIN Capital (www.gaincapital.com) focuses on the needs of professional forex traders, including hedge funds and money managers. FOREX.com (www.forex.com) services individual investors of all experience levels with a full-service trading platform, lower account minimums and extensive education and training. In addition to its direct marketing efforts, GAIN currently supports over 40 white label relationships with broker/dealers, Futures FCMs and other financial services firms in North America, Europe and Asia.
GAIN Capital Group, LLC and FOREX.com are registered with the National Futures Association (NFA) as a Futures Commission Merchant (NFA ID #0339826).
For more information, visit www.gaincapital.com or www.forex.com
About 3i
3i is a world leader in private equity and venture capital. 3i operates in 14 countries across US, Europe, and Asia, managing over $13 billion. In the past five years alone, 3i has backed more than 40 companies that have gone public on the world’s leading exchanges and has executed over 450 M&A transactions.
3i Growth Capital is the world’s largest growth capital fund investing over $1.4bn every year in businesses across Europe, Asia and the US. 3i’s strong financial services expertise has proven successful in growing many companies worldwide, including Travelex, RoyalBlue / Fidessa, Asia Capital Re and Interhyp.
For more information, go to: www.3i.com
About VantagePoint Venture Partners
VantagePoint Venture Partners provides creative growth strategies and capital to companies transforming global markets. With more than $4.0 billion of capital under management, the Firm invests in entrepreneurial companies at all stages of development in the CleanTech, Healthcare, and Information Technology sectors. VantagePoint partners with talented entrepreneurs who are seeking to build companies that are world-scale in both size and substance. The Firm has created a network of thought leaders and strategic partners with some of the world’s leading corporations to provide portfolio companies with a unique advantage to accelerate growth.
For more information, visit www.vpvp.com
Jan 27, 2008
Forex Benefits
The benefits of trading Forex (FX) online include but are not limited to the following:
- Real time live price quotes and execution
- Lower transaction costs
- Real time account position analysis as it relates to Profits & Losses
- Free full access to real time market news, data and analysis - including real-time price quotes, international news, government-issued economic indicators and reports, as well as subjective information such as expert commentary and analysis, trader chat forums etc.
The benefits of trading Forex (FX) vs. Equities & Futures Contracts are:
- Around the clock trading capability - 24 Hour a day trading (Weekdays)
- High level of liquidity, especially in the major currencies as the market exceeds US $1.8 Trillion daily.
- Highly leveraged with utilization of margins which allows for profit maximization and minimal up-front deposits. Please beware that this also indicates that the potential for losses is great as well if a prudent strategy is not adhered to.
- Lower transaction costs as most brokers do not charge commissions / fees as they operate from the width of the spreads in currency pairs.
- Real Time level information field between market participants
- Profit potential without restrictions in both a Long and a Short market (No up tick rule as in a Stock Short transaction).
- Uses easily understood terminology
Margins & Rollovers
Margins in the Forex (FX) market, unlike their counterparties in the purchase of equity (Down payment), provide for a performance bond against trading losses. The utilization of margins allows traders to hold a position much larger than their account value (Leverage). This allows for increased profit capabilities & positions while maintaining a constant counterbalance against trading losses even in a highly volatile market.
A Rollover is used for open daily positions; a trader will either pay or earn interest on their positions depending on the established margin and market position. Rollover positions are an inherent part of the Forex (FX) trading so it is imperative to keep track of the costs associated. Interest is paid on the currency that is borrowed, and earned on the one that is purchased. If a trader is buying a currency with a higher interest rate than the one he/she is borrowing, the net differential will be positive – and the client will earn funds as a result. Otherwise, the trader will have to incur a negative rollover and pay as long as the position remains open. (In other words, if you are long (bought) a particular currency and that currency has higher overnight interest rate you will gain and if you are short (sold) the currency with a higher overnight interest rate than you will lose the difference.)
Trading Hours
The trading is open 24 hours a day (Weekdays) - trading begins each day in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins in each financial center, first to Tokyo, London, and New York. Traders have the ability to transact virtually every hour of the day across the globe allowing for tremendous trading flexibility: A true 24-hour market, the online Forex trading market is unlike any other financial market as investors can immediately respond to currency fluctuations caused by economic, social and political events at the time they occur - day or night.
| Time Zone | Local Time | GMT | E.S.T (US) | |||
| Sydney Open | 8:00 AM | 9:00 PM * | 4:00 PM * | |||
| Sydney Close | 5:00 PM | 6:00 AM | 1:00 AM | |||
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| Tokyo Open | 8:00 AM | 11:00 PM | 6:00 PM * | |||
| Tokyo Close | 5:00 PM | 8:00 AM | 3:00 AM | |||
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| London Open | 8:00 AM | 8:00 AM | 3:00 AM | |||
| London Close | 5:00 PM | 5:00 PM | 12:00 PM | |||
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| New York Open | 8:00 AM | 1:00 PM | 8:00 AM | |||
| New York Close | 5:00 PM | 10:00 PM | 5:00 PM | |||
| * Previous Night | ||||||
Traders may either buy (Long) or sell (Short) a currency pairing based on their position and analysis; this provides for the ability to profit in either an up or down market. If a trader believes that a currency will appreciate in value they will buy that currency and if they believe that the currency will depreciate in value, they will sell that currency (Not unlike a short position in the stock market)
Market Overview
The Foreign Exchange or Forex (FX) market allows individuals and/or firms to speculate on the exchange rate between two currencies. It may also be utilized for hedging and protection purposes by individuals and/or firms that transact business globally.
The FX market is considered an Over The Counter (OTC) or 'Interbank' market, due to the fact that transactions are conducted between two counterparts over the telephone or via an electronic network. Trading is not centralized on an exchange as with the stock and futures markets.
The major players in the market up until now have been only professional traders from major international commercial and investment banks. Today, the market is being utilized by other market participants that range from large multinational corporations, global money managers, registered dealers, international money brokers, futures and options traders, to private speculators.
The three main reasons for the market are – conversion of foreign profits into domestic currency, hedging against unwanted exposure to future price movements in the currency market and the most popular reason is for speculative profits which accounts for 95% of today’s daily FOREX (FX) volume.
By speculating in the Forex (FX) market, traders buy & sell currencies with the hope of making a profit when the value of the currencies changes in their favor.
Traders utilize both Fundamental (Global News, Economic Data) & Technical (Real Time and Historical Rate Data) analysis in order to assess their bias / position.
Technical traders use charts, trend lines, support and resistance levels, and numerous patterns and mathematical analyses to identify trading opportunities, whereas fundamentalists predict price movements by interpreting a wide variety of economic indicators including news, government-issued indicators and reports, and even rumor.
The major factors affecting the Forex (FX) market are economic, social and political events that relate to monetary and fiscal policies around the globe (Interest rates, Inflation, Trade Surplus / Deficit, etc.) In addition, traders also assess Central Banks across the globe with regards to intervention policies where governments sometimes participate in the Forex (FX) market to influence the value of their currencies, either by flooding the market with their domestic currency in an attempt to lower the price, or conversely buying in order to raise the price. Any of the aforementioned factors or large market orders might cause volatility.
The most dramatic price movements however, occur when unexpected events happen. The event can range from a Central Bank raising domestic interest rates to the outcome of a political election or even an act of war. Nonetheless, more often it is the expectations surrounding an event that drives the market rather than the event itself.
The Forex (FX) market's volume is estimated at over US $1.8 Trillion daily which makes it the largest and one of the most exhilarating trading markets in the world today – 30 times larger than the volume of US Equities markets.
As in any investment, it is prudent to assess the online forex trading brokers prior to opening an account. Below you will find the regulating bodies that oversee the industry:
Currency Description
The world's currencies are on a floating exchange rate and are always traded and quoted in pairs. The most often traded currencies are those of countries with relatively stable governments, respected central banks, and low inflation. The major currencies in today’s market are - US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar.
The first listed currency is known as the base currency (With a value of 1), while the second is called the counter or quote currency; If a trader buys a EUR/USD position for example, he/she has bought the base currency, EURO and simultaneously sold USD, believing that the base currency in this case, EURO, will increase in value. (If a currency quote goes higher, that increases the value of the base currency. A lower quote means the base currency is weakening).
Currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. dollar are called cross currencies, but they are valued the same. Currency pairs are quoted either Direct (GBPUSD, EURUSD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD), Inverse (USDJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD, USDZAR) or Cross (EURGBP, EURJPY, EURCHF, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, CHFJPY) rate terms.
A forex quote will include a “Bid / Ask” spread; the 'bid' is the price at which you can sell the base currency (At the same time buying the counter currency). The 'ask' is the price at which you can buy the base currency (At the same time selling the counter currency).
The calculation of the value of a single PIP (The movement unit of a currency pair), a trader will utilize the following methods:
- For a Direct Quote, the PIP Value = Lot Size X Tick Size, where Tick size is the smallest possible change in price.
- For an Inverse Quoted currency pair, the PIP Value = (Lot Size X Tick Size) / Current Quote
- For Cross Quotes, the PIP Value = (Lot Size X Tick Size X Base Quote) / Current Quote where the Base Quote is the current Base Pair quote.
Exchange rate quotes are given as five digit numerals. For example, USDJPY = 108.25 signifies that US$1 equates to 108.25 Yen, and EURUSD = 1.2525 signifies that 1 EURO equates to US$1.2525.
For a quote expressed as AAABBB = C, 1 Unit of AAA = C Units of BBB.
| Symbol | | Currency Pair | | Nickname |
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| EURUSD | Euro / US Dollar | "Euro" | ||
| EURGBP | Euro / British Pound | "Euro Sterling" | ||
| EURJPY | Euro / Japanese Yen | "Euro Yen" | ||
| EURCHF | Euro / Swiss Franc | "Euro Swiss" | ||
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| USDJPY | US Dollar / Japanese Yen | "Dollar Yen" | ||
| USDCHF | US Dollar / Swiss Franc | "Dollar Swiss" or "Swissy" | ||
| USDCAD | US Dollar / Canadian Dollar | "Dollar Canada" | ||
| USDZAR | US Dollar / South African Rand | "Dollar Zar" | ||
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| GBPUSD | British Pound / US Dollar | "Cable" | ||
| GBPCHF | British Pound / Swiss Franc | "Sterling Swiss" | ||
| GBPJPY | British Pound / Japanese Yen | "Sterling Yen" | ||
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| AUDUSD | Australian Dollar / US Dollar | "Aussie Dollar" | ||
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| CHFJPY | Swiss Franc / Japanese Yen | "Swiss Yen" | ||
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| NZDUSD | New Zealand Dollar / US Dollar | "New Zealand Dollar" or "Kiwi" | ||
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