CitiFX Pro Introduces New Pricing Structure for Forex Clients
Now Offers Spreads from 1.2 pips in EUR/USD
New York – February 9, 2011 – CitiFX Pro today announced a new pricing structure for its clients, reflecting its focus on sophisticated and active individual traders within the forex trading community.
CitiFX Pro introduced a tiered account structure for its margin forex clients, with improved bid-ask spreads for major currency pairs for account sizes between $10,000 to $50,000 and still tighter spreads for accounts larger than $50,000.

CITI FX TO PROVIDE FX PRIME BROKERAGE TO FX BRIDGE OPTIONS PLATFORM
New Service Expands Credit Alternatives for Brokers and Banks
NEW YORK —14 FEBRUARY 2011— FX Bridge Technologies Corp. today announces that Citi FX will provide foreign exchange prime brokerage services to eligible brokers using FX Bridge’s trading platform to offer options, CFDs and spot FX trading to clients. The new service will support credit access for brokers to provide multibank options pricing to clients using the platform.

“Citi is pleased to provide foreign exchange prime brokerage services and options liquidity to FX Bridge’s leading broker clients,” said Andrew Coyne, head of Citi FX Prime Brokerage. “We believe the integration of Citi’s market leading prime brokerage platform with FX Bridge’s technology and global broker franchise are a powerful combination.”

FX Bridge’s Pro Trader Plus platform is used by brokers and regional banks globally to offer trading in spot FX, contracts for differences (CFD) and FX options to their individual and institutional clients.
Previously, only brokers that were capable of making markets could use the platform. Now brokers without market making capability, or those who prefer not to take market risk, can use the platform with multibank pricing and/or that of another bank or liquidity provider. Brokers using this liquidity solution will be the trading counterparty to a bank prime broker or intermediary and act as counterparty to their clients.

“We welcome Citi FX as a prime broker and are pleased to offer its world-class FX prime brokerage services to our broker clients,” said Stephen Best, CEO, FX Bridge. “Providing multibank liquidity enables brokers to offer world class FX options markets to clients. Selecting Citi’s FX prime brokerage service reflects our commitment to enhancing our wholesale FX offering by refining our credit and liquidity alternatives as well as our trading technology.”

About FX Bridge Technologies Corp.
FX Bridge Technologies Corporation is a leading developer of foreign exchange trading software solutions and services to brokers and banks worldwide. The firm provides innovative spot FX, FX options and contract for differences (CFD) trading platforms and related integration services as well as liquidity and prime broker credit solutions to leading FX brokers and banks. Its flagship ProTrader Plus™ platform supports spot FX, FX options and CFDs in a single customer account, enabling cross-margining credit efficiencies as well as a comprehensive array of trading and risk management strategies.
For more information about FX Bridge, please visit the firm’s Web site at www.fxbridge.com.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Press contacts:
FX Bridge
Peter Burton, Delta Markets Group
732 546 3700

Citi FX
Alex Samuelson, Citi
212 816 8022

Hi everyone

Finally we are pleased to publish the highly anticipated second part of the CitiFX Traders Survey 2010, a follow up to the first installment which was released some weeks prior. Some of the most interesting findings this time around include why traders choose FX as opposed to other markets, preferred trading strategies as well as styles, and information concerning performance.

Methodology
Over 3000 traders responded to an online survey that was posted from September 8 to October 8, 2010 on four high-traffic FX websites: FXstreet.com, ActionForex, ForexPros and ForexTV. The 25-question survey took approximately 5 minutes to complete. The survey results are tabulated in two parts, this is part two about Traders’ Methodology and Performance.

Key Findings
1. Traders said (34%) that FX’s potential for return in up and down markets was the best reason to trade FX, with a surprisingly high percentage (16%) saying that FX’s status as the “most interesting and intellectually stimulating asset class” was the strongest reason for picking FX. Other reasons included the 24-hour nature of the market (15%), low initial capital requirements (13%), superior liquidity (12%) and high leverage (9%).

2. The EUR/USD currency pair is by far the favorite pair to trade, with more than half (51%) of traders choosing it. Other frequently chosen pairs included GPB/USD with 18%; EUR/JPY with 6%; and GBP/JPY at 5%.

3. Most traders focus on a relatively narrow range of currency pairs, with 65% saying they trade from 1 to 5 pairs. About 25% trade from 5 to 10 pairs and 6% trade 10 to 15 pairs, with only about 5% trading more than 15 pairs.

4. Traders identified “speculation” as by far their main purpose in trading currencies at 83%, with hedging a distant second at 8%.

5. Traders were extremely diverse geographically, with representation from dozens of countries. Although the survey was conducted in English, only 23% of respondents were from the U.S., 8 percent from the U.K. and 7.5% from India.

6. More than half (53%) of traders employ a combination of fundamental and technical strategies, with 36% saying they use a technical strategy involving tracking trading patterns and only 8% saying they adhere to a strictly fundamental strategy.

7. Half of traders responding to the survey said they employ a short-term trading style. The next most favored styles are swing (26%) and scalp (17%) with long-term the least popular at 7%.

8. Almost half of traders (47%) experience average profits on a trade of between 0 and 5%, with 32% saying that profits average between 5% and 10% on a trade. A seizable percentage (22%) claim profits above 10% on each trade.

9. More traders (65%) report average losses on a trade of 0 to 5%, with 22% experiencing average losses of 5% to 10% and 13% experiencing losses over 10%.

10. Traders report largely positive net performance over the last 12 months. The largest group (37%) said they experienced net returns between 0 and 25%, with 15% saying that returns were in the 25% to 50% range and fully 10% reporting returns of between 50% and 100%. The top tier (11%) said returns were in excess of 100%. Only 27% reported negative net returns of 0 to -25%.

11. Traders vary widely in their use of leverage. Leverage of 50 to 100 times capital invested was the most common range, with another 18% employing leverage of more than 100 times capital. Low ratios of 1 to 5 times were also relatively common at 20%, with 5-10 times at 13%, 10-20 times at 10% and 20 to 50 times also at 10%.

12. Traders maintain a relatively short-term focus, with trades typically intraday or a few days for 49% of traders and “a few minutes to a few hours” for 42%. Only 4% say they hold as long as several weeks while another 4% may hold for long periods.

13. While three quarters (75%) of traders say they do not hedge, e.g. make the trade opposite to the one that is currently open, hedging is employed by a full 25% of respondents.

Download the Survey Results - Part II with Charts
Download the Survey Results - Part I with Charts

The first part of The FX Traders Survey 2010, Sponsored by CitiFX Pro, has just been released.

Methodology
Over 3,000 traders responded to an online survey that was posted from September 8 to October 8, 2010 on four high-traffic FX websites: FXstreet.com, ActionForex, ForexPros and ForexTV. The 25-question survey took approximately 5 minutes to complete. The survey results are tabulated in two parts, this is part one about Traders’ Profile, Environment, Resources and Technology.

Key Findings

1. Traders are very focused on FX as their asset class of choice, with 63% saying FX is the only instrument that they trade. Of the 37% who do trade other instruments, 71% cited equities, followed by commodities (47%); options (31%) and fixed income (20%).

2. While many traders are relatively new to FX – with 77% saying they have been trading from 1 to five years — a significant number of traders have many years of experience. More than 16% have 5 to 10 years of experience and about 6% have over 10 years of experience.

3. Respondents overwhelmingly (91%) describe themselves as “individual” traders. Money managers account for 6% of survey participants and institutions another 2%.

4. The vast majority of traders (84%) trade from home, with less than 16% trading outside the home.

5. A substantial minority of traders surveyed (40%) trade FX full time. Almost 30% trade more than 15 hours in a given week, with 19% trading between 10 and 15 hours, 30% trading between 5 and 10 hours, and only 22% trading less than 5 hours a week.

6. A sizable number – more than 33% — of traders follow the markets and/or make trades using mobile technology such as iPads or smart phones; this is significant given the relatively short amount of time that mobile applications have been available.

7. Approximately 36% of traders said they would rather deal with a bank in trading FX, with 64% expressing a preference for dealing with a broker. Reliability was by far the most important consideration in selecting a platform at 40% of responses, trailed by spread at 29%, ease of use at 16% and speed/latency at 11%.

8. Some traders have spent large sums on books, conferences, DVDs and other training aids. More than half (54%) have spent less than $1000 on educational resources. Almost 20% of traders, however, have spent over $5,000 on educational resources, with almost 10% of that number having spent more than $10,000.

9. Traders get information from a wide range of sources, with Internet finance sites ranking first at 63%. (Respondents were allowed to choose multiple sources.) Other popular sources of information include online forums at 38%; information provided through a bank or broker at 34%; blogs, at 33%; and the trader’s own network of contacts at 26%. Other frequently cited sources include paid services such as Bloomberg and Reuters (19%); newspapers (17%) and magazines (15%).

Download the Survey Results - Part I with Charts

Hi everyone

2,839 Forex Traders have already participated in the first-ever Survey of Traders launched by CitiFX,  ActionForex.com, ForexTV.com and FXstreet.com.

I previously posted here that Thursday 22nd 2010 was the last day but I did get it wrong.

The survey is not much available at this time at FXstreet.com, but you can still find it in participating sites.

To participate in the survey, please go to:

http://www.fxstreet.com/about/survey

Francesc

Hi everyone

2,045 Forex Traders have already participated in the first-ever Survey of Traders launched by CitiFX,  ActionForex.com, ForexTV.com and FXstreet.com.

Thursday 22nd 2010 is the last day so hurry up and participate!

To participate in the survey, please go to:

http://www.fxstreet.com/about/survey

Francesc

Hi everyone

Just two days ago we reported that 1,075 traders had participated in the first-ever Survey of Forex Traders launched by CitiFX,  ActionForex.com, ForexTV.com and FXstreet.com.

Well…, two days after the number of participants has risen to almost 1,475 Forex traders and with still a week and two days to go we hope that the base of participants is going to be very big.

To participate in the survey, please go to:

http://www.fxstreet.com/about/survey

Francesc

Hi everyone

Thursday September 9th we launched with CitiFX and the participation of other top Forex sites like ActionForex.com or ForexTV.com the first ever survey of Forex Trader.

CitiFX To Launch First Ever Survey Of Forex Traders

Well…, I’ve just been told that 1,075 Forex traders have already participated… And you?

To participate in the survey, please go to:

http://www.fxstreet.com/about/survey

Come on in and participate… it is just a 25 questions survey

Francesc

Hi everyone,

CitiFX Pro, Citi’s online forex trading platform, is launching a large-scale online survey designed to provide information on the background, trading methodology and chosen technology of margin Forex traders around the world.

The CitiFX Pro Forex Trader Survey 2010 – the first-ever industry-wide survey of Forex traders – will be conducted in partnership with major forex sites including FXstreet, ActionForex and ForexTV among others.

To participate in the survey, please go to:

http://www.fxstreet.com/about/survey

Survey data will be analyzed immediately and results will begin appearing in October of 2010.

I’m eager to see the results of the survey… I think it will display invaluable information for all of us, brokers, forex sites and traders.

Bravo CitiFX… Great Initiative!

Francesc

Hi everyone

Since Portuguese Fortune required Danish FSA To Withdraw Saxo Bank License a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been frequently checking what the Berlingske Tidende’s Business.dk web site is saying about the case.

Berlingske Tidende is a Danish daily newspaper. Founded in 1749 by Ernst Henrich Berling, it is the oldest Danish newspaper still in existence. With a circulation of about 125,000 copies on weekdays, it is also one of the “big three” broadsheet-quality newspapers in Denmark along with Jyllands-Posten and Politiken.

Well, today I found some interesting articles but one above all got my attention. It seems that after a disappointing start - this was what market rumors were pointing out, Saxo Bank’s major white label CitiFX is gattering steam and its trade turnover grew 500 percent the last 6 months.

The Newspaper article states:

“After initially refusing to give any further details of cooperation, said Lars Seier Friday evening - after talks with the Americans - that Citibank trade turnover has increased almost 500 percent. According to Lars Seier is therefore Citibank today Saxo Bank’s largest partner in terms of trading volume.
“The growth we are experiencing at present is quite exceptional, and we think it can be much more in that Citi rolls us out in several countries during 2010. One must not forget that Citi has established branches in around 100 countries worldwide, and thus have much greater impact than Saxo Bank,” says Lars Seier Christensen.

Not bad at all

Francesc

Also Here you have some recent articles about Saxo Bank at Business.dk

• Bank man gave half a million for party
• Saxo money from property sales shot into the bank
• Saxo-founders scores 225 million on sales of domicile
• Saxo Bank’s aggressive growth increases the risk of trouble
• Lars Seier Christensen: Saxo Bank clients make money
• Capital causal to Saxo withdrew from the U.S.