Using Fibonacci ratios to manage your trades efficiently
by Sunil Mangwani
November 23, 10:00 GMT
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Hi everyone
A funny success that just happened today here at FXstreet.com.
Colm Mullan, FXstreet’s Sales Manager send me this regarding a guy that contacted us to show his interest for our Pip Rebate Program:
“..I called someone earlier in Colombia ref. pip rebates and his mum answered the phone ..said he was at school”.
Come on boys, stick to video games for the time being please! 
Francesc
CFTC Sanctions Foreign Currency Broker Who Allowed Confidential Personal Information of its Customers to Appear on the Internet
Interbank FX, LLC Ordered to Pay $200,000 and Establish Systems to Ensure the Safety of Consumer Records and Information
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today simultaneously filed and settled charges against Interbank FX, LLC (Interbank), ordering Interbank to pay a $200,000 civil monetary penalty for violating rules designed to protect the confidential personal information of consumers. The CFTC order also requires Interbank to establish a comprehensive security program that provides administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for the protection of consumer records and information.
According to the order, in March 2008, an Interbank customer discovered that personal information about herself, such as her name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, and bank account numbers was accessible on the Internet through a Google search. Interbank began an immediate investigation and learned that one of its Information Technology employees had placed files containing the confidential personal consumer information of approximately 13,000 customers and prospective customers on a personal website that was accessible on the Internet for at least a year. This security breach was possible because Interbank did not have policies or procedures directed to the protection of confidential consumer information at the time its employee uploaded the information to the Internet.
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Another one… 
Francesc
Capital Blu investors’ $17M mostly gone, authorities say
By Orlando Sentinel
Investigators have found only a fraction of the $17million that investors poured into a Central Florida-based currency-trading scheme called Capital Blu, according to the company’s court-appointed receiver.
Less than $500,000 in cash has been recovered so far from Capital Blu Management LLC, whose operations began unraveling last year, said Lewis B. Freeman, the receiver and a veteran fraud examiner based in Miami.
Capital Blu’s money didn’t simply evaporate; authorities allege that the company’s principals spent at least some of it on striptease dancers, ritzy cars, island vacations, trips to Las Vegas and a private jet, among other things.
“We’ve seen testimony about money going to things like strip clubs and expensive cars, and we’re still looking into that,” Freeman said in an interview last week. “The question is, what money are we really able to recover? Getting money back from dancers and limousine companies is no simple chore.”
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FXstreet.com, the leading independent portal dedicated to the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, presents its third conference, the International Traders Conference (ITC), which will be held on October 14-16, 2009 in Barcelona (Spain). This year, guest speakers are Valeria Bednarik, Rob Booker, James Chen, Kim Cramer Larsson, Markus Heitkoetter, Ashraf Laidi and Andrei Pehar.
Some readings for the day:
Is this the death of the dollar?
The Telegraph
Border guards in Chiasso see plenty of smugglers and plenty of false-bottomed suitcases, but no one in the town, which straddles the Italian-Swiss frontier, had ever seen anything like this. Trussed up in front of the police in the train station were two Japanese men, and beside them a suitcase with a booty unlike any other. Concealed at the bottom of the bag were some rather incredible sheets of paper. The documents were apparently dollar-denominated US government bonds with a face value of a staggering $134bn (£81bn).
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Other Stories:
Goldman to make record bonus payout - The Guardian
TARP Banks Stop Paying The Government Its Dividend - The Business Insider
No Credit for TARP Banks - New York Post
Interesting… It seems we are all in a very attractive industry for entrepreneurs
Francesc
The World According to Google
by Free Presse Release
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 19, 2009 — The Big Mac Index aims to measure purchasing power parity between different currencies. It’s informal, no doubt entertaining to economists, and also really interesting when employed as a rate of earnings.
While very much more is known about the commercial and social realities of the internet than ten years ago, we are still struggling to get to grips with all of its complexities. It could be argued that Google is to the internet what the Big Mac is to mass-market consumerism.
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Hi everyone
I just got this from Maud that could be of your interest
Francesc
FXstreet.com Learning Center: Chapter 2 of Unit B is out: Fundamental Analysis
Chapter B02 has been released and covers the following topics:
1. Basic Theories Of Fundamental Analysis
2. Economical Indicators Related
3. Interest Rates
4. Sentiment Indicators
Read it now!
Check Index of Unit B - Analytical Tools
All the free Chapters of Unit A - Absolute Essentials are available
We hope you will enjoy! Don’t hesitate to leave us your feedback in our forum!
We are still working on the Practice Part of
and we wanted to apologize for the delay in that release. We will inform you as soon as it’s available. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
FXstreet.com Team
Hi everyone
Recently I had a nice talk with a top executive of the U.S. Retail Forex Industry. We were talking about the impact that the latest ruling is having on the Forex business.
Under his view, 4 new rules have vast potential to change things in the United States:
1. NFA rule on limiting leverage to 100 to 1 will be enacted very soon
2. NFA rule that mandates that customers receive price improvements on limit orders. It potentially has very wide implications for all firms as it may mean best execution standards. If the NFA reads a typical order in FX which is “hitting a price” as a limit order as well it will mean best execution applies to all orders and that will be very problematic for market makers.
Time isn’t certain on this, but its this year.
3. NFA rule mandating that if firms re-quote negatively they must re-quote positively continuing the theme above of giving customers the absolute best price available at the time. Same time line as above.
4. CFTC is months away from passing IB registration requirements. Although this is one year over due they did just get their new chairman so now he will need to “prove” himself as a tough policeman in the financial arena. The new rules will mandate that all IBs and money managers for US clients have to register with CFTC/NFA.
The specifics of what exact capital requirements and fees will be is unsure but its likely to mirror the futures industry’s.
What’s your opinion about this?
Francesc
Note: Follow this theme at FXstreet’s Forum:
U.S. Says Bonds Seized in Italy Are ‘Clearly Fakes’
By Bloomberg
June 18 (Bloomberg) — U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a suitcase carried by two Japanese travelers attempting to cross into Switzerland are fake, a Treasury spokesman said.
“They’re clearly fakes,” Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt in Washington, said yesterday. “That’s beyond the fact that the face value is far beyond what’s out there.”
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Hi everyone
As you know, we are requesting top U.S Forex executives to give us their view about how new NFA requirements are changing - for good? - the US & Worldwide Retail Forex Industry.
After publishing the view of Gary Tilkin, President & CEO at GFT, Drew Niv, CEO at FXCM, Glenn Stevens, CEO at GAIN Capital (Forex.com), and Peter Wong, Chairman and CEO at MG Financial LLC, today I have the pleasure to welcome Vera Hawkin, CEO at CMS Forex.
Thanks Vera.
Francesc
FX Street Questionnaire Regarding Removal of the Hedging Feature
1. The new NFA rule eliminates the ability of traders to hedge open trades; there has been a lot of discussion about how retail traders may respond to the new rule. How much of your current business do you feel may be lost to off-shore retail brokers?
We don’t feel that our business will be lost to brokers overseas. CMS Forex and its affiliates have multiple offices outside of the United States, located in Bermuda, Tokyo, Saint Petersburg, and Shanghai, with a planned office opening in the United Kingdom. Different rules and regulations apply to the various locations and clients can decide which branch to hold an account with. Recently we’ve had several inquiries about our other offices, but most new clients continue to open accounts with our US branches.
2. Do you think properly educated clients regarding hedging could reduce losses to over-seas brokers?
We think clients are aware that the NFA is only looking out for the clients’ best interest. Regulations passed by the NFA are in place to ensure fair dealing practices. In this case, the NFA had uncovered certain instances where money managers and others have abused the “hedging” feature and also found that traders who are unaware of how to effectively use the feature can incur additional costs without added benefit. However, if a client really wants to use the hedging feature, he/she will find a way to do so, either with multiple accounts or via our offices outside of the US.
3. Do you feel the FIFO rule could negatively affect other strategies or multiple strategies executed in the same account? What else would you caution your traders to be aware of with regards to the new rule?
Since it is a new rule, we think it will take traders, especially those who rely on auto-trading programs for offsetting their positions, a little while to get used to FIFO. Clients will need to come up with more sophisticated trading strategies when holding multiple positions of the same size for the same currency pair. Since FIFO doesn’t go into effect until July 31, CMS Forex is working on educating clients to ensure that the transition will be a smooth one.
4. The NFA stated hedging provides no direct economic benefit and may result in higher transactional impact; have you seen any evidence to contradict that? Have you seen any evidence that indicates removing the ability to hedge will actually reduce a traders risk profile over time?
We originally offered hedging as an added flexible trading tool due to high demand from our clients. When hedging a position, traders are essentially opening a new position, requiring them to pay a spread on that position as well. Beginners who do not really know how to use the hedging feature, can misuse the tool and, as a result, incur higher costs. For more experienced traders, however, hedging can be an integral tool during times of low market volatility.
5. In their report the NFA noted that in a hedge, interest roll-over should wash but typically doesn’t; how do you account for the discrepancy?
There are costs associated with hedging positions, whether it is paying the spread or the difference in roll-over interest. Though clients will not incur any gains or losses on hedged positions due to market fluctuation, clients may incur minor losses on hedged positions due to rollover interest charges. The amount of interest credited for the pair is less than the amount charged to hold the pair. Such losses are usually limited to a few cents per day or a few dollars or cents per standard lot.
6. A simple work around to the current rule appears to be dual accounts at the same or even different brokers. Is there a downside to this approach traders should be aware of?
Hedging can be simulated by using two separate accounts. However, this method presents a greater risk of being margin-called, as the positions do not offset each other in the same account.
7. Will your firm promote the dual-account strategy to keep clients and what can you do to help streamline the process for your current clients who implement hedging?
We will not promote the dual-account strategy; however, having two accounts with CMS Forex may work as a solution for your hedging needs. An alternate option for our non-US clients is to open an account with CMS Forex International.
Francesc Riverola,