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Why Trade Forex (FX)?

Commission Free Trading: *Trade Wall Street is compensated through the bid ask spread. There are no additional clearing fees, exchange fees, government fees, brokerage fees or commissions for forex trades.

Leverage: In forex trading a small margin deposit can control a much larger total contract value (up to 100:1 leverage). This high degree of leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains and requires proper risk management.

Strong Liquidity: The forex market is large (over $3T daily volume) and extremely liquid. Traders can even set the online trading platform to automatically close a position at the desired profit level (a limit order), and/or close a trade if a trade is going against this position (a stop loss order)

Free "Demo" Accounts, News, Charts, and Analysis for Traders: Traders need only a computer and internet connection to begin trading. Free demo accounts are available that allow traders to practice trading, and access real-time forex news, analysis and charting services.

Trade FX 24 hours per day, 5.5 days per week: The TWS FX platform offers access to the forex market from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon. The extended hours provide superior flexibility for traders to trade on their own schedule.

Platform Highlights Retail margin trading in foreign exchange is the latest addition to TWS's broad suite of products and services for the global securities and brokerage industry. TWS's forex trading platform features diverse liquidity, advanced technology, streaming quotes, executable prices, complete and reliable back office operations and technical support.

The TWS FX trading platform supports multiple order types to give traders complete control of order timing and execution, customizable charting capabilities and chart based trading, in addition to market access from the office, at home, or while traveling. Benefits include:

  • Fully customizable user interface
  • Capability to support multiple languages
  • Real-time account information
  • Completely adaptable charting
  • Real-time news
  • Over 40 technical analysis tools

At Trade Wall Street Financial, you have the ability to place trades using any of our platforms, and/or using one of the automated System trading strategies.

 

FAQ: The Foreign Exchange Market

 

What is Commission Free Trading?

*Trade Wall Street is compensated through the bid ask spread. There are no additional clearing fees, exchange fees, government fees, brokerage fees, or commissions for forex trades.

Why trade currencies?

Currencies are traded for hedging, investing and speculative purposes by individuals, businesses, investors, commercial and investment banks, governments, and central banks. Corporate treasurers and some institutional investors have currency exposures during the regular course of business that are met through transaction in foreign exchange markets. Individuals and organizations also exchange currencies whenever they require foreign goods or services.

What are the most commonly traded currencies?

The most commonly traded currencies are: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and AUD. The most commonly traded currency pair is EUR/USD. These currencies when paired together feature the greatest amount of liquidity and lower spreads than that of other currencies or when paired with minor or exotic currencies.

What are the "majors," "minors" and "exotics"?

The following currencies are considered "majors" because they are frequently traded and feature strong liquidity: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and AUD. Minors include the NZD, SEK, NOK, and DKK. Other currencies are considered "exotics" because they are not broadly traded.

How is FX trading different from stocks or futures?

Forex trading features deep liquidity, high leverage, and extended market hours. With stocks, the maximum leverage is 2:1 but forex trading on the TWS FX trading platform allows up to 100:1 leverage in certain pairs depending on order size. There are also no commissions, brokerage fees, exchange fees or government fees. Forex trading differs from futures trading in that there is no fixed lot size. In the futures markets, lot or contract sizes are determined by the exchanges but in orex you can trade lots as small as 10,000 units of currency.

Finally, the majority of forex trading occurs in the seven major currencies. By contrast, NYSE Euronext has approximately 8,500 listed issues and another 3,800 are listed on the NASDAQ. Forex trading features fewer traded instruments and can be easier to follow than equities. TheTWS FX trading platform provides technical analysis tools and news to support traders in their decisions.

FAQ: Trading FX

Forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and the selling of another. The forex market is considered an over-the-counter market due to the fact that there is no exchange or central clearing house to support the transaction. In retail forex, currencies are generally traded through a broker or dealer, and are traded in pairs. Currencies are typically traded in lots (100,000 units = standard lot) and changes in quotes are measured in pips (the smallest whole fraction of an exchange rate).

What is a currency pair?

Currencies are priced in pairs, and all trades require the simultaneous purchase of one currency and sale of another. For example, the currency pair Euros versus US Dollars is expressed as EUR/USD. The first currency (EUR) will be bought (long position) while the other currency (USD) is sold (short position).

What is the bid/ask spread?

The bid/ask spread is difference between the bid price and the ask price. The bid price is the price at which the currency can be sold. The ask price is the price at which the currency can be bought. The bid/ask spread differs between currency pairs reflecting the liquidity of various currencies. More common pairs (majors) typically feature the tightest spreads.

What is a "round trip" transaction?

Currency trading is designated "round trip" because the positions will be closed (settled) within the same account and same account currency from which the trades originated.

What is a pip?

A pip (percentage in point) is the smallest value change in a currency pair exchange rate. If the Euro-Dollar currency pair (expressed as EUR/USD) moves from 1.3250 to 1.3251, that is one pip. Generally, this is the fourth decimal place, but be aware that currency pairs involving the Japanese Yen (JPY) are quoted with only two decimal places.

When trading foreign exchange, the value of a pip is dependent on two variables – the amount of currency and the currency pair. The pip is how you measure your profit or loss.

What is margin?

The term "margin" refers to the amount required to hold or open a position. For example, if the margin requirement is 1% and a trader wishes to buy $1 million USD/JPY, $10,000 USD in margin is required in his or her account (1% of $1 million or 0.01 x 1,000,000 = $10,000).

Due to the relatively small fluctuations in foreign exchange rates (typically less than 1%-2% per day); retail forex trading is typically executed on margin. Trading on margin gives the trader the ability to hold larger positions than the actual account value.

What is leverage?

Margin is often expressed in terms of leverage, which is the ratio of amount used in a transaction to the required deposit. The TWS FX trading platform allows as much as 100:1 leverage for majors, and 25:1 all other currency pairs.

Use of leverage creates the possibility to generate profits quickly, but also increases the risk of rapidly incurring losses. It is important to review the margin thresholds and limitations to determine proper trading strategies that incorporate risk management objectives.

What types of orders can be executed on the TWS FX Trading Platform?

There are a number of basic forex order types that facilitate efficient transactions. The TWSFX trading platform supports multiple order types including market orders, limit orders, stop loss, stop limits, trailing stops, and "if done" orders with qualifiers. The diverse order options allow traders to employ many different strategies to assist in protecting gains and containing losses. A review of order types and how to access them on the TWSFX trading platform can be found in the User Guide located on the trading platform.

At Trade Wall Street Financial, you have the ability to place trades using any of our platforms, and/or using one of the automated system trading strategies.

 

Automated Strategies for Forex

Automated system trading strategies:
Defers all futures trading systems and executions to a tested 3rd party futures trading system.

How it works
Experts design the futures trading strategies.  Computers make sure the trades are executed as you request.

Flexibility
You can choose from hundreds of different trading strategies that fit your trading style and investment objectives.  You can change strategies or even demo a strategy whenever you want.

Control
You will have complete access to the performance results and executions of your account.

Watch the tutorial video

Go to Strategy Exchange website to select your Strategy

How it works?

Select your Strategy Strategy Exchange provides you with hundreds of futures and forex strategies to choose from, developed by leading system vendors. For easy orientation strategies are arranged according to categories using several parameters such as; traded market, vendor name, age of strategy and more.  You can use our rich selection of strategy performance analysis tools to help you choose the strategies that best fit your investment goals and needs

Open your account
In order to automate you will require an active account with Trade Wall Street Financial.  If you don't have an account click here to open an account.

Add strategies for autotrading in your account

Strategy Exchange will run your selected strategies on the Strategy Runner server, which will execute your strategy signals automatically.

1. Add relevant contract(s)/currency pair(s) to your platform (Movie Clip instructions):

  • Check the strategy page on SE under the Features section to determine which contract(s)/currency pair(s) the strategy trades on.
  • From Contracts menu choose Manage Contracts submenu. In opened window check the box next to the relevant contract(s)/currency pair(s) and click Add.

2. Add strategies (Movie Clip instructions):

  • Highlight the relevant contract/currency pair in contracts table.
  • From Strategies menu choose Add Strategies submenu. In opened window check the box next to the relevant Strategies and click Add.
  • From Strategies menu click Run Strategies submenu.

Track your strategies performance
Monitor your selected strategies' performance in real-time. You can also set daily risk control parameters for all strategies and most importantly, you can liquidate, stop or delete strategies from your portfolio at any moment; securing total control over strategies' functionality. Click here to see how you can track your strategies on the SR Platform.

How are the strategies being executed? 
Strategy vendors generate trades and route them as signals to our servers.  The signals are then automatically executed by the servers in all subscriber’s accounts.

Commission Free Trading: *Trade Wall Street is compensated through the bid ask spread. There are no additional clearing fees, exchange fees, government fees, brokerage fees or commissions for forex trades.
 


Who do I contact for more information on Forex?

Call TWS at: 1(800) 776-1018, directly at (202) 449-7260 or email:forex@tradewallstreet.com
 

 

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