CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Forex.com, founded in 2001 as part of GAIN Capital Holdings, is an established global online broker that caters to individuals seeking to trade the retail FX and CFD markets. GAIN Capital Holdings, a conglomerate that includes City Index, an online CFD and spread betting provider, and Daniels Trading, a futures advisory trading firm, was acquired by StoneX Group Inc. in February 2020.
StoneX Group Inc., a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: SNEX), advertises that it connects “clients to the global markets across asset classes through institutional-grade platforms, end-to-end clearing and execution, and high-touch expertise.”
Globally, Forex.com offers an extensive range of offerings, from CFDs, to spread betting to futures, across several different asset classes, though not all are available in every region that it services. Aside from forex, where it derives its name, Forex.com also offers commodities, indices, individual stocks, bonds, ETFs, unleveraged gold & silver, cryptocurrencies, and futures to provide trading opportunities for all types of traders. Forex.com (U.K.) also offers client account protection, such as ESMA-mandated negative balance protection and guaranteed stop loss orders.
Forex.com offers U.S. clients leveraged access to over 80 currency pairs with competitive spreads across different account types. A well-organized and navigable website with fully disclosed services and fees, multiple user interfaces, education and research tools that are on par with industry standards, and regulatory oversight place Forex.com in the upper echelon of online brokers.
Forex.com stakes its claim as the #1 FX broker in the U.S. and that claim is validated by the latest (June 30, 2020) CFTC Retail Forex Obligation report which “represents the total amount of funds at an FCM, RFED, or FCMRFD that would be obtained by combining all money, securities and property deposited by a retail forex customer into a retail forex account or accounts, adjusted for the realized and unrealized net profit or loss.”
Key Takeaways
Forex.com is the #1 FX broker in the U.S in terms of customer funds.
Forex.com is a good fit for high-volume traders.
Forex.com is registered with the CFTC (U.S.), NFA (U.S.), and FCA (U.K.).
Who Forex.com Is For
Forex.com is for all types of traders seeking exposure to a wide array of products and asset classes but is a good fit for the high-volume trader. Product offerings vary by region but the broker emphasizes fast and reliable execution, a variety of platforms, and account security. In the U.S., it is geared towards clients who want to trade the foreign exchange markets.
Pros
Wide range of product offerings
TradingView charts built into web platform
Regulated by FCA (U.K.) & CFTC, NFA (U.S.)
Offers protection for U.K./E.U. client accounts
Rebates for high-volume traders
Cons
No account protection for U.S. clients
No guaranteed stop losses for U.S. clients
Live chat advertised but unavailable
Subpar website maintenance
Pros Explained
Globally, Forex.com offers clients access to a wide range of product offerings that span several asset classes. Clients have access to forex, equities, commodities, indices, bonds, ETFs, industry sectors, cryptocurrencies, unleveraged gold & silver, and futures (through an affiliate).
TradingView is “an advanced financial visualization platform” that has been integrated into Forex.com’s web-based platform. Its ease of use and functionality make it, by far, the most impressive aspect of the web-based platform.
Forex.com is a registered FCM and RFED with the CFTC and a member of the NFA (#0339826). Additionally, GAIN Capital UK Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA #113942). U.K./E.U. clients also have additional asset protection through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), up to £85,000.
Forex.com offers its U.K./E.U. clients “negative balance protection,” as mandated by ESMA, and guaranteed stop loss orders (GSLO) (for an additional charge), which protects against market gap risk. These rules likely resulted from the SNB event of January 15, 2015 that roiled the markets, especially the highly leveraged retail FX market.
Forex.com advertises fast, reliable execution making it a good fit for the high-volume trader, who can earn rebates through the “Active Trader” program, thereby lowering trading costs.
Cons Explained
Forex.com does not offer “negative balance protection” for U.S. clients. This means that U.S. traders with negative account balances are on the hook for more money than they initially deposited into their accounts.
Forex.com does not offer guaranteed stop loss orders (GSLO) for U.S. clients.
A broker, especially an online broker, that does not place a high priority on addressing the needs of its customer in an efficient and satisfactory manner may be at a disadvantage. Forex.com’s live chat option, though advertised, is not available.
An effective web presence is crucial for an online broker. While Forex.com’s website has an intuitive feel, there are a few pages with either incorrect, outdated, and/or incomplete information, which speaks to a general lack of attention to detail.
Costs
Forex.com started out primarily as a market maker, but has since morphed into an ECN that generates revenue either through customer trades that “cross” the bid/ask spread, or as commissions, which are on par with the industry. Pricing is transparent and easily found on Forex.com.
The spreads vary depending on the type of account the client chooses. For example, the minimum EUR/USD spread for U.S. clients on a “standard” account is 1 pip while “commission” and “STP Pro” accounts will show spreads of 0.2 and 0.1, respectively. However, the latter two have commissions of $50 and $60 per million added to the displayed spread. Regions outside the U.S. also offer Direct Market Access (DMA) accounts for larger account sizes (25,000+). The DMA account offers no markup on spreads, but a commission is charged.
Standard account and commission account traders may also benefit from the Active Trader Program. The program is open to anyone who opens an account with at least $10,000 or who trades $25 million of volume in a month. The program is not open to DMA account holders, as that account already has volume-based fee reductions.
Forex.com requires that the minimum initial deposit “is at least 100 of your selected base currency,” though they recommend a deposit of 2,500 so that the client has “more flexibility and better risk management” in their trading.
As is the norm in the FX industry, clients will be charged swap fees on positions they hold overnight, which may be subject to currency conversion charges if they trade in a currency other than the account’s base currency.
In terms of other fees, accounts with no trading activity for more than 12 months are subject to a $15/month inactivity fee. The website does not list additional fees for deposits or withdrawals.
Trade Experience
Forex.com’s trading platforms accommodate the active day trading professional as well as the occasional longer-term trader. Clients can choose between the downloadable advanced trading platform or MetaTrader 4 (MT4) for a desktop experience, the web trader for a browser-based trading experience, or choose the Forex.com or MT4 mobile app for trading on portable smart devices.
Within the platforms, traders can access charts, economic calendars, news, positions, and trade/order history, and access trade signals and research reports, as well as market analysis from Forex.com analysts. There aren’t many drawbacks to the platforms. There are a sufficient amount of indicators and drawing tools to satisfy the avid technical analyst, and the platforms are functional enough to make rapid-fire trades, if needed. The charting package is provided by TradingView and is, by far, the most impressive aspect of the web-based platform.
Placing trades on the web trader or the downloadable advanced trading platform is intuitive. Clients can trade directly from charts by right-clicking and selecting the “trade” option or by clicking on the “buy” and “sell” buttons along the top of the chart. This brings up an order window where the entry, stop loss, and profit target are set. One-click trading can be enabled for rapid trade execution.
Forex.com’s platform has four basic order types with the option of attaching “take profit” and/or “stop loss” orders to them. Additionally, the trader can choose to make the stop loss a trailing stop loss order. The one difference between the web-based and downloadable offering is that guaranteed stop loss orders are only available on the latter and, furthermore, only for U.K./E.U. clients.
Market – The simplest order where a trader signals that their trade request should be executed at the prevailing market rate.
Limit – A pending order where the entry is at a predetermined point below or above the prevailing market rate depending on whether it’s a buy or sell. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.
Stop – A pending order where the entry is at a predetermined point above or below the prevailing market rate depending on whether it’s a buy or sell. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.
OCO – A pair of pending orders (one an entry stop and the other an entry limit) where the execution of one automatically cancels the other. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.
A Forex.com account can also be integrated with NinjaTrader, a popular third-party trading platform. VPS is available for MT4 accounts. Clients can use Forex.com’s API to connect in for their own strategies. MT4 and MT5 connectivity allows the use of automated strategies using MetaTrader algorithms.
Forex.com Web Platform.
The mobile app is functional, providing traders with access to all their account information. Traders can add or withdraw funds, view trade history, create watchlists, access news, and view charts from the mobile app. It is also easy to navigate and set up.
The charting feature is one of the drawbacks of the mobile app. There are a limited number of common indicators available, such as RSI, MACD, and moving averages, but drawing functions and more advanced technical tools are missing. Full order functionality is available, including conditional orders and the ability to easily place stop losses and profit targets at the time of a trade.
Functional demo accounts are provided for free, giving potential clients time to assess the pricing structure before committing real capital. The one criticism of the broker’s demo accounts is that they expire in 30 days and Forex.com doesn’t give the prospective client the option of extending or applying for a new one under the same credentials. The implication seems to be that you’ve had enough time to test our platform, so either open a funded “live” account or go elsewhere.
Range of Offerings
Globally, Forex.com provides access to a broad selection of financial instruments across a wide range of different asset classes, including:
80+ currency pairs
220+ equities
Commodities
Indices
Bonds
ETFs
Sectors
Cryptocurrencies
Gold & Silver
Futures & Futures Options – U.S. (FuturesOnline)
In the U.S., its product line caters solely to spot forex trading, unleveraged gold & silver, and futures through its affiliate, FuturesOnline.
Customer Service
The broker’s website lists multiple ways that clients can contact Forex.com, including online chat and live phone support, from 10 a.m. ET on Sunday to 5 p.m. ET on Friday. FAQs and website client support were satisfactory, but repeated attempts to contact via “live chat” proved to be unsuccessful. Social media support is not available, although they do have social media accounts where they post market analysis and company information.
Phone support is the quickest way to have questions answered by a real person. There is a small menu to choose from at the start of the call. Wait times will vary based on call volume, but during a normal day you can expect to wait several minutes before being connected with a representative. Email support is available for more in-depth questions but expect to wait one to three business days for a response.
Education
Forex.com’s educational offerings are on par with the industry standard and are well organized. Clients can access content according to their experience level, or thematically. All content, with the exception of “technical analysis” topics that are available on the platform, can only be accessed through the website.
Client experience is divided into three categories—beginner, intermediate, and advanced, while themes range from the industry norm of providing market basics, such as fundamental and technical analysis, risk management, and trading strategies, to platform tutorials. A comprehensive glossary is also available.
Forex.com Education.
New investors will find some helpful background information, but relying solely on Forex.com’s education to become proficient in the markets is unlikely. That said, the material covers all the major topics that a beginner should need to know.
Portfolio Analysis
Basic real-time information about client activity, such as balances, transaction activity, and profit/loss breakdown can be found on the platform. Forex.com does not provide a trading journal nor do they provide tax accounting tools on the platform. Unlike some competitors, Forex.com does not have a built-in tool for analyzing trading activity in any of its platforms.
Research Amenities
Forex.com’s market analysis and insights are on par with industry standards and serve to connect traders to the markets and supplement its educational resources.
Forex.com’s platform offers Trading Central, a third-party vendor that provides technical analysis reports along with an economic calendar, Reuters news feed, and proprietary news and analysis market-wrap articles. Additionally, a margin calculator and an array of trading and charting tools can be found on all of its trading platforms. The broker’s “premium” and “pro” accounts have the option of receiving research tailored to the client’s needs.
Forex.com Research.
Security
Forex.com is regulated in several jurisdictions but since laws vary by country, the products offered also vary. For example, CFDs are not available to U.S. clients but are available outside the U.S.
Forex.com is a registered FCM and RFED with the CFTC and a member of the NFA (#0339826). Additionally, GAIN Capital UK Ltd. is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA #113942) in the U.K.
Client funds are kept segregated from the funds of Forex.com, which helps safeguard clients’ money in the event the company has financial issues. U.K./E.U. clients also have additional asset protection through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), up to £85,000, while Canadian clients are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. U.S. clients are not as fortunate, as no additional insurance is provided by the company in terms of safeguarding their funds.
Forex.com offers negative balance protection, which is mandated under ESMA rules that went into effect in 2018, and guaranteed stop losses at an additional cost for its U.K./E.U. clients.
However, non-U.K./E.U. client accounts can go negative, as negative balance protection is not offered to them. In plain English, U.S. traders with negative account balances are on the hook for more money than they initially deposited into their accounts. Also, U.S. clients are not offered guaranteed stop loss orders.
Forex.com does have two-factor authentication (2FA) and bio-metric authentication for its mobile application, and encrypts data using SHA256, TripleDes, and MD5.
Verdict
Forex.com is an online broker that can service all types of traders but its emphasis on fast, reliable execution makes it a good fit for the high-volume trader who can earn rebates that would lower their trading costs.
The broker offers access to a variety of financial instruments with spread and commission costs that are on par with the industry, a choice of account types, multiple user interfaces, and educational and research resources. Customer service leaves a bit to be desired, especially the fact that “live” chat is functionally unavailable even though it is advertised as a selling point. In addition, substandard website maintenance speaks to a lack of attention to detail.
Being NFA/CFTC/FCA-regulated lends credibility, underscoring Forex.com’s status as a global online broker. That said, the inconsistency in not offering negative balance protection and guaranteed stop losses in the U.S. is a bit disconcerting given that the former gives clients peace of mind while the latter offers a viable risk management tool in volatile market conditions.
Overall, Forex.com checks off most of the boxes needed to be considered a good broker. However, the impression that one gets is that it could be so much better if a bit more attention was paid to the primary revenue generator – the customer.
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Methodology
Investopedia is dedicated to providing investors with unbiased, comprehensive reviews and ratings of online brokers. Our reviews are the result of six months of evaluating all aspects of an online broker’s platform, including the user experience, the quality of trade executions, the products available on their platforms, costs and fees, security, the mobile experience and customer service. We established a rating scale based on our criteria, collecting over 3,000 data points that we weighed into our star scoring system.
In addition, every broker we surveyed was required to fill out a 320-point survey about all aspects of their platform that we used in our testing. Many of the online brokers we evaluated provided us with in-person demonstrations of their platforms at our offices.
Our team of industry experts, led by Theresa W. Carey, conducted our reviews and developed this best-in-industry methodology for ranking online investing platforms for users at all levels. Click here to read our full methodology.
These new pairs have been available since July 1st, 2019 and provide an excellent opportunity to diversify your clients’ portfolios and increase their exposure to this vibrant 24/7 market.
Asset
Typical Spread
Leverage
Margin
Min Nominal Trade Size
NEOUSD
1.5% Over-market
2:01
50%
10
EOSUSD
2% Over-market
2:01
50%
10
MIOTAUSD
1.5% Over-market
2:01
50%
10
To unify their cryptocurrency instrument labels, They are relabeling their existing Ethereum, Ripple & Litecoin instruments, by replacing the existing instruments with new USD labelled ones:
Asset
Old Symbol
New Symbol
RIPPLE
XRP
XRPUSD
ETHEREUM
ETH
ETHUSD
LITECOIN
LTC_Mini
LTCUSD
These new pairs have also been available since July 1st,
The trading conditions for each one is identical to those of the older respective assets they replace.
Effective immediately, new positions are only available on the new pairs.
Avatrade Clients will not be able to open new positions on the old assets, but those already open will remain unaffected until July 29th.
Existing positions on XRP, ETH and Litecoin-mini that remain open on July 29th will be automatically replaced with corresponding positions on the new pairs, , at the same opening price and at no cost to clients.
as any broker that values their clients would do , Avatrade makes sure that the clients will not be affected by the change.
Neteller one of the most known Digital fiat currency wallet provider , has started allowing its users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies including BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, and LTC.
They do this on the large scale with a pilot in 10 countries and soon another 50 countries to join . They understand that if you do this effort it will only succeed if you can do this on a global scale.
founded in 1999, Paysafe Financial Services entered the market with the mission to provide an online alternative to the known traditional payment methods.
Most of the traders aiming us now neteller as one of the companies through which we made our deposits and if we had any profits also our withdrawals. A couple of years ago they left the Forex and Binary industry behind since the charge-back issue became just too expensive.
But as any companies knows, if you do not adept you die. The binary option market is all but dead and the Forex industry has moved also into the directions of the cryptocurrencies. thus, neteller understands that this is where the future is.
So Lasts week they announced that they are now offering a wallet with buy and sell cryptocurrency options.
As of today, Neteller users can buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies via a recognized cryptocurrency exchange including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, ethereum classic and litecoin, purchased using any one of 28 fiat currencies available in the Neteller wallet.
It may not seem so exciting but for many users that love this service it actually is. More and more currencies will be added making them an true exchange in the near future.
Now one is able to fund their neteller account through many different means (Mobile, Epay, Paysafecard, local bank deposits, and bitcoin)
We think that will make the threshold for many people, who would want to buy or sell cryptocurrencies, lower. This in return is a good thing for the overall acceptance of the cryptocurrencies in the mainstream of every day life.
The rates offered are somewhat in the lower middle of the current market making them go for the save route. The average market rates on the major cryptocurrency exchanges differ all in all not that much anyways, as this is not the main reason to choose to buy Bitcoin through Neteller
The minimum cryptocurrency purchase or sale amount is “approximately equal to 10 EUR,” the firm clarified, adding that the maximum amount depends on the transaction limits associated with each account.
When You open an account with Neteller you have to choose your default currency. This is of course for most people in accordance on their geographical locations, people in Britain will go for the pound most Europeans go for the euro and pretty much the rest of the work goes for the US Dollar, thou other currencies are available
The fee is 1.5 percent for purchasing and selling cryptocurrencies from wallets with EUR or USD as the default currency.
The fee rises to 3 percent for wallets with other default currencies.
Neteller | Why is this a good move for neteller and one that we should expect from other online Payment providers as well ?
At this moment till last week Neteller users can pay, get paid on thousands of sites, and send money around the world through their system.
The company claims to have “millions of point-of-sale, ATM and online locations” for users to withdraw or spend their cash.
Last July 25, Paysafe ( which as you remember is the company that owns Neteller and Skrill) announced that another digital wallet provider in its group, Skrill ( formerly known as moneybookers), started allowing customers to “instantly buy and sell cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin, using any one of the 40+ fiat currencies available in the Skrill wallet.”
We could now see that this was like their test run on this concept.
We do not know the numbers that Skrill produced since they offered this service but it must have been encouraging enough for Paysafe to include their flagship brand in this endevour.
We will see where this leads but we are hopeful that this is the next step in global acceptance to the cryptocurrency revolution. Let me know what you think
The currency trading industry and now also the cryptocurrency trading industry have gone through enormous volatile times the last couple of years. Now with trump and its trade wars. The fast rise and somewhat recline of the cryptocurrencies and the fast pace of international politics and economies that create high rises and steep fall of the currencies.
So what does it all mean and what can you do before start to trade on these news headlines.
Good brokers like LegacyFX and UBCFX provide the traders with the latest market news and updates on a continuous basis but if you are new to trading you still have no idea what to do with this.
You start by understanding that the involves a high degree of risk, including the risk of losing you hard earned money. Besides the ones that were lucky enough to have bought Bitcoin a couple of years back and cashed in in the end of 2017, most people don’t get rich overnight.
You have to understand that you only trade with money that you are able to lose, going hungry because you want to open a trade is not the right wy to go about it.
So, What is Forex?
You should by now understand that the value of currencies goes up and down every day.
This in general becomes apparent the moment you go on vacation and what you bought last year with your money now is not the same amount you get today at the exchange.
This is on a large scale, what a lot of people do not know is that there is a foreign exchange market – or ‘Forex’ for short – or “FX” for even shorter, where you can potentially make a profit from the movement of these currencies.
The most known Trader is George Soros who made a billion dollars in a day by trading currencies. This is of course on a scale that we are not able to reach and you need a huge amount of money to begin with. Still he made a billion in one day!!
The internet has played a huge part in making trading in currencies accessible for the masses. You also do not need huge amounts of money to actually do this. Now keep in mind that if you make 10% profit on your investment but the investment was just $50 you basically just end up with $55. still no bank will give you 10% interest on your money.
Many people and I am talking millions are now trading every day, most do this on the side and don’t do this as a full-time job, but there are today enough people that are full time traders and making enough money to live comfortably.
Retail forex market needed Brokers
The Forex market for the retail market was born, it started around 15 years ago to become more serious as technologies advanced and the stream of information became almost instant, this is important for trading as one second can make the difference between profit or loss.
So, the moment the technology was there the people that wanted to trade were there all that was needed were the Forex brokers that offered the platform for trading.
There are latterly hundreds of companies of not thousands that offer this service and there are good ones like LegacyFX and there are scams (these tend to not last long)
Forex explained in short
The Forex market is the largest financial market on the planet and has been for many years now.
Its average daily trading volume is more than $4 trillion. (just let that number sink in for a second). Of this total amount around 5% is the retail market meaning traders like you and me. Still 5% of 4 Trillion is still a number with a lot of zeros behind it.
If you compare that with the New York Stock Exchange, which only has an average daily trading volume of $55 billion. You truly see the size.
To give you another example:
if you were to put ALL of the world’s equity and futures markets together, their combined trading volume would still only equal a 25% of the daily Forex market. Insane right?
Why does this even matter?
It matters because there are so many buyers and sellers that transaction prices are kept low. To explain how trading the Forex market is different than trading stocks, here are a few major benefits.
Most Brokers don’t charge commissions – you pay only the bid/ask spreads.
There’s 24hour trading – you decide when to trade and how to trade.
You can focus on your currencies and become experts in only those pairs that you follow instead of following and selecting out of 5000 stocks
You can trade on leverage, (something to be very aware of as it can magnify potential gains but also your losses).
Forex is accessible for almost everyone– you don’t need a lot of money to get started
In the Forex market you can trade on Demo accounts to learn before you commit your money
How is Forex traded?
The mechanics of a trade are virtually identical to those in other markets. The only difference is that you’re buying one currency and selling another at the same time.
This is also the reason as to why the currencies are quoted in pairs, like EUR/USD or USD/GBP.
The exchange rate represents the purchase price between the two currencies.
Example:
The EUR/GBP rate represents the number of GBP one EUR can buy (relevant now with all the Brexit issues going on) . If you think the Euro will increase in value against the British Pound, you buy Euros with British Pounds. If the exchange rate rises, you sell the Euros back, and you cash in your profit.
Now the same works for strading Bitcoin, ethereum, Litecoin or other cryptocurrencies. this has become an entire new market and has introduced many people to Forex . you should here be also aware that trading cryptocurrencies is like regular trading so you will be able to lose great sums of money.
the Best thing i found about trading cryptocurrencies is that the Leverage by default tends to be very low which makes the risk of losing it all much smaller.
Sounds simply enough?
Why does not everyone Trade.
The same could be asked as to why not everyone plays poker, you can make money. The comparison between the 2 is actually closer than you might think.
All traders that are successful will tell you that 80% of successful trading is psychology and the other 20% is research. It takes time to get the research down, but it can take a lifetime to master the psychology.
People tend to do things differently when real money is on the line and are accepting losses in the hope that the trend will reverse or taking out profit too early because they don’t want to lose what they just have gained. In short, the psychology is the hard part.
One should be aware that you can loose real money and a lot of it very fast if you don’t know what you are doing.
Now most Good Forex brokers offer some educational tools, some more than others that will teach you how to trade. There is also something that is called social trading that will allow you to follow other traders and see what they are doing in order for you to learn and make money at the same time.
So here are some ground rules for those that look to start trading
Get involved in the market, watch read and listen to the news to understand what is happening
Go through a trading course ( a good one is here)
Open a demo account and trade at least a month (my advice to do this even longer)only on this before you even think about trading with real money.
Check out social trading, there are some options for this, this broker offers this also.
Try with an amount that you are able to afford losing. See this as your tuition money.
Take it slow, don’t become greedy and follow the basic rules
Basic Rules (there are many more but start with these)
The trend is your friend
Don’t add money to a losing position
Don’t trade on too many different currency pairs
Trade only with a good broker
Don’t open to many positions (no one needs 100 positions a day)
Develop your strategy and stick to it.
Know that NO ONE is 100% of the times right, everyone loses some.
Last but not least, don’t trade with money you cannot afford to lose.