Francesc's Weblog

CFTC Obtains Permanent Injunction against British Virgin Island Firm InterForex, Inc.

2012-02-09T18:57:33.000Z

CFTC Obtains Permanent Injunction against British Virgin Island Firm InterForex, Inc. for Acting as an Unregistered Retail Forex Dealer; Firm Ordered to Modify Website
The CFTC obtained a federal court consent order that permanently bars defendant InterForex, Inc., of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, from soliciting or accepting orders to trade foreign currency from U.S. customers who are not Eligible Contract Participants. The order also permanently bars InterForex from offering to be the counterparty to U.S. customers’ forex transactions, without registering with the CFTC.

Retail Forex: MahiFX Unveils New Platform; NFA Fines PFG while Go Markets Is Acquired

2012-02-09T18:35:04.000Z

MahiFX Unveils New FX Trading Platform at City of London Launch
MahiFX vision, values, technology and functionality combine to offer retail FX investors enhanced trading experience.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MahiFX, the new proprietary-built foreign exchange (FX) trading platform, was officially unveiled at a launch held on the 2nd February at 30 St. Mary Axe in the City of London. The MahiFX browser-based platform will open for trading to retail FX investors on the 20th February.

NFA fines PFG $700,000; bars it from accepting new IBs for two years for deficient IB practices
by Michael Greenberg at Forex Magnates
Now this is a business killer. NFA just settled with PFG by fining it $700,000 and requiring it not enter into guarantee agreements with IBs for two years subject to an opportunity to request modification of this restriction. Peregrine, Wasendorf, O’Meara and Schiff (PFG’s principals), so long as they are employed by PFG and to the extent it is within the scope of their duties were ordered to develop and implement updated or revised supervisory procedures with respect to the supervision of Peregrine’s GIBs. PFG was also ordered to designate an individual to act as its full-time AML officer.

Go Markets acquired by AIP Global Holdings
by Michael Greenberg at Forex Magnates
Another sign for the boiling Australian forex market: first major broker to be acquired is also Australia’s largest – Go Markets. According to our survey Go Markets had about $25 billion monthly average in trading volume.

Forex Best Awards 2012 - Best Fundamental Analysis and Best Technical Analysis Nominees Released

2012-02-09T17:56:16.000Z

Hi everyone

I'm happy to announce you that we will very soon launch the Forex Best Awards 2012.
Let me remind you how it works:

FXstreet.com content team has built a list of roughly 60 nominees in several categories (this year they will be eleven) and the winner of each category will be elected by popular vote. Those awards highlight the best content and analysts/traders of the Forex English-speaking market in 2011.

The vote will be launched on February 20th. In the meantime, I will be announcing here in my blog the nominees, day after day, and next Friday, we will have the full list!

Here goes the first two categories:

1. Best Fundamental Analysis

What's up, Forex Doc? 6-month Check up - FXstreet.com
How to Trade Events- Forex Crunch
Piponomics- BabyPips
Top Fundamental Stories- ecPulse.com
Fundamental Updates - FXTimes

2. Best Technical Analysis

The Best Pair to Trade Now - Valeria Bednarik
Daily Technical Majors Analysis- FXEmpire.com
Technical Trading Strategies- MIG Bank
Today’s GBPUSD Forecast- ForexMillion
Video Technical Strategy- MarketVisionTV
USD Index Forex Elliott Wave Analysis- ElliotWaveForex
Daily Strategic Report- FX Market Report
Experts Forecast Currencies Poll - FXstreet.com and contributors

May the better win!

CFTC Issues Final Rule Amending Registration and Compliance Obligations for CPO and CTA

2012-02-09T17:44:34.000Z

CFTC Issues Final Rule Amending Registration and Compliance Obligations for Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors
Also Issues a Proposed Rule to Harmonize Compliance Obligations for Registered Investment Companies Required to Register as Commodity Pool Operators
Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued a final rule regarding changes to Part 4 of the Commission’s regulations involving registration and compliance obligations for commodity pool operators (CPO) and commodity trading advisors (CTA). The rule increases transparency to the CFTC of CPOs and CTAs acting in the futures and swaps markets and enhances protections for their customers. The rule passed 4-1, with Chairman Gensler, and Commissioners Chilton, O’Malia and Wetjen voting in favor and Commissioner Sommers voting against the final rule. The rule, which was first proposed on January 26, 2011, will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

CFTC Charges Christopher B. Cornett with Forex Fraud

2012-02-08T17:15:18.000Z

CFTC Charges Texas Resident Christopher B. Cornett in Foreign Currency Fraud Action
The CFTC announced the filing of an enforcement action against Christopher B. Cornett of Buda, Texas, charging him with solicitation fraud, issuing false account statements, misappropriating pool participants’ funds, and failing to register in connection with an off-exchange foreign currency fraud.

Most Watched Forex Webinar Recordings Week Jan 30 - Feb 5 - Sam, Chris and Steve Are The Guys

2012-02-07T14:33:44.000Z

Most Watched Webinar Recordings Week Jan 30 - Feb 5
Jan 30 - Feb 5

#1 Sam Seiden - Major Forex Moves for 2012

#2 Chris Capre - Price Action Trading: Analysis and setups on any time frame - Jan 31

#3 Steve Primo - My Pattern Recognition Strategy

The New FXBootcamp.com Launching A Huge Success

2012-02-07T09:41:51.000Z

Hi everyone

Yesterday I had the honor to announce here the deal with FXBootcamp.com to let my company to manage the ad space of the new FXBootcamp.com site, now open to everyone and revamped with a new design and tons of very interesting contents from whom I shall highlight the educational videos produced by Wayne McDonell and his staff.

Well today I got some traffic figures from Wayne which one could only describe the launch as a huge success... brace yourself for the following figures:

Feb 1 - 6 2012
4,057 Visits
2,494 Unique Visitors
51,061 Pageviews
12.59 Pages/Visit
00:08:46 Avg. Time on Site
1.43% Bounce Rate
42.32% % New Visits

I take my hat off Wayne!

Great figures indeed

note: Remember this name... FXBootcamp.com... can easily become one of the top5 pretty soon

Francesc

UBS Gaining Market Share In Currency Trading

2012-02-07T09:21:52.000Z

UBS Gaining Market Share In Currency Trading
Dow Jones Newswires
ZURICH -- As it is moving towards conducting more flow business on behalf of clients, UBS AG (UBS) is gaining market share in currency trading, Tom Naratil, chief financial officer at Switzerland's largest bank, said Tuesday.
"We continue to see that our algorithmic trading engine helps us to gain market share; we are quite happy with the business," Naratil told journalists on a conference call to detail the bank's fourth-quarter earnings.

Global Forex Volumes Fall, Up in North America

2012-02-07T09:15:32.000Z

Forex Trading Volume Drops for First Time Since 2009
By STEPHEN L. BERNARD at the Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK—Global foreign-exchange trading volume dropped for the first time since the financial crisis, according to data released Monday by four major central banks.
Average daily trading volume in October totaled $3.470 trillion in North America, the U.K., Singapore and Australia, which combined account for most of the world's foreign-exchange activity. That is down from $3.474 trillion in April, according to reports from central banks in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Singapore. It was the first sequential drop in the semiannual survey since April 2009, though volume was still up 15% from a year earlier.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba6a994e-50dd-11e1-939d-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1lgZdJe4l

Currency trading in London surges
By Alice Ross at Financial Times
Foreign exchange trading in London, the world’s currency hub, surged as worries over the eurozone crisis grew last autumn, figures released on Monday showed.
Average daily turnover for trade in global currencies in the UK was just less than $2tn in October last year, according to a semi-annual survey by the Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee that gathers information from 30 separate financial institutions.
That represented a 17 per cent rise in foreign exchange trading on the previous year, but a slight dip of 3 per cent from April 2011, according to the six-monthly survey.
The decrease in turnover was driven by a 9 per cent fall in foreign exchange swap activity, the report said, while spot turnover rose 2 per cent to a record high.

FXstreet.com Announces the Management of FX Bootcamp Advertising

2012-02-06T15:42:17.000Z

FXstreet.com announces the management of FX Bootcamp Advertising
Barcelona, February 6th , 2012 – FX Bootcamp, Wayne McDonell's website specialized in the education of currencies traders, will join the FXstreet.com Ad network.

FX Bootcamp helps Forex traders learn and use technical and fundamental analysis through a combination of live and recorded training. The company has renewed and expanded its website which is now offering all its Forex training videos and educational articles, as well as providing live market analysis at the open of the Asian, European and American currency trading sessions... all for free. Other new features for FX traders include a real-time professional news calendar, free Forex tools via download, and collaborative community features. A new range of advertising spaces are available and Wayne McDonell entrusted their management to FXstreet.com.

FXstreet.com, the independent Forex information portal, is already handling the advertising of three external websites: Myfxbook.com, ForexCrunch.com and FXTimes.com. In total, those 3 websites represent more than 4,860,000 pageviews per month. From finding new clients to optimizing ad spaces, signing contracts and uploading banners, the FXstreet.com marketing team fully takes care of the advertisement. “The websites managers had difficulties to deal with content and advertising at the same time. By externalizing the marketing task and giving us the responsibility of clients accounts and advertising strategies, they can focus all their time and efforts on content... which is their first expertise”, explains Daniela Menascé, Accounts Manager at FXstreet.com. “And they directly benefit from our know-how. For example, since we started to handle the advertising of MyFXbook, in August 2010, the advertising income has quadrupled.”

Wayne McDonell, founder of FX Bootcamp, is very enthusiastic about the venture: "I have been working with FXstreet.com for over 7 years, having hosted 80 webinars and speaking at their International Traders Conference”, he says. “They are an extremely professional organization that cares deeply about their audience. I am very excited and proud to work even more closely with them by having FXBOOTCAMP.com join their Ad Network."

Francesc Riverola, CEO of FXstreet.com, also expressed his excitement to see FX Bootcamp join the pool of sites.“To be a partner of Wayne is first of all an honor as we are talking about one of the most important Forex educators in the world”, he underlines. “And second of all it is a challenge for us: his site will require the best of us. We hope to meet his expectations and to have a long and profitable relationship”.

--- Notes to Editors
FXstreet.com was founded in January 2000. As its distinctive trademark, the website has always been proud of its unyielding commitment to provide objective and unbiased information and to enable its users to take better and more confident decisions. On the website, the real-time quotes, news, newsletters and interactive chats with experts from all over the world are among the most well-received contents. FXstreet.com has managed to gain the collaboration of the entire Forex industry, from professional individuals and small companies right up to Forex Brokers and Investment Banks. The website exists in English (www.fxstreet.com), Spanish (www.fxstreet.es) and 13 other languages. In 2010, these FXstreet.com sites reached more than 108,000,000 pageviews. The English website garnered the most important part of the traffic with 86,274,051 pageviews and 5,759,383 absolute unique visitors. FXstreet.com was short listed as “Best e-FX initiative of the year (vendor)” for the FX Week e-FX Awards 2010.

Connect with FXstreet.com:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/FXstreetUpdate
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FXstreet
Forexstreet Network: http://www.forexstreet.net/
Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/fxstreet

WSJ: Technology Buoys Retail Currency Trading, Reshapes Old Models

2012-02-06T10:40:07.000Z

Technology Buoys Retail Currency Trading, Reshapes Old Models
By Eva Szalay Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Retail foreign-exchange trading is emerging as one of the biggest growth areas in the currencies space, and some of the trading firms that facilitate these flows are building up a whole new business model.
Traditionally, the model was simple: big banks feed currency rates to so-called retail aggregators, and those aggregators slap a margin on top before churning them out to clients with basic trading tools.
Now, though, some retail firms are making their own prices, using very similar techniques to traders at heavy-hitting banks, including computer-driven algorithmic trading that was considered cutting-edge in the wholesale market just a couple of years ago.

Australia Forex Trading Volumes Slump

2012-02-06T10:36:24.000Z

Australia Foreign-Exchange Trading Volumes Slump
By ENDA CURRAN at Wall Street Journal
SYDNEY—Daily trading volumes in the Australian foreign-exchange market slumped 23% in October 2011 from April 2011 in U.S. dollar terms, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of Australia on Monday.
Traders said the volumes were hit hard by rolling uncertainty from Europe's spiraling debt crisis as investors feared a break-up of the single currency and a hard default by Greece. The Australian dollar is one of the world's most growth-sensitive assets and slumped in October to a low of US$0.9395, after reaching a postfloat high of US$1.1010 in July as economists downgraded their outlook for world growth.

Two Principals of Foreign Currency Trading Firm Sentenced for $17 Million Fraud Scheme

2012-02-06T10:32:58.000Z

Two Principals of Foreign Currency Trading Firm Sentenced for $17 Million Fraud Scheme
by Evan Bedard at loansafe.org
(Source: FBI) – CHICAGO—Two principals of a foreign currency trading firm that collapsed in 2007 were sentenced to 17 years and 12.5 years in federal prison, respectively, after pleading guilty to fraud charges for operating a Ponzi-type scheme that diverted millions of dollars to themselves to finance lavish lifestyles and that caused more than 1,000 victim investors worldwide to lose nearly $17 million. Charles G. Martin, 46, formerly of Glencoe, Ill., and Malibu, Calif., was sentenced today to 204 months, while John E. Walsh, 63, of Lake Forest, Ill., was sentenced yesterday to 150 months in prison. Both men were arrested and charged in January 2009 and subsequently cooperated with the government and pleaded guilty in May 2011 to wire and commodities fraud and tax evasion counts.

FM: Metaquotes finally releases mobile app for Metatrader4, declares war on mobile forex providers

2012-02-06T10:23:41.000Z

Metaquotes finally releases mobile app for Metatrader4, declares war on mobile forex providers
by Michael Greenberg at Forex Magnates
Two months ago Metaquotes announced its plans to develop a mobile trading terminal for Metatrader4. Ever since Metatrader4 was launched it lacked a mobile app and due to this quite a few mobile development companies (Xogee, iphorex, forexonthego and others) emerged in the market.

FXstreet.com Global Transfers Turnover Adds A$2M In January 2012 To Reach A$22.6M

2012-02-06T10:18:56.000Z

In January 2012 FXstreet.com Global Transfers turnover rose for almost A$2M, the second best ever monthly turnover after the outstanding A$2,4M added in January 2011, bringing the accumulated turnover since inception to almost A$22.6 (€18.5M) in over two years of existence.
Since its launching last November 20th 2009, the service which offers exchange rates and services that are normally reserved for large corporations, it has reached over 360 deals. Average deal size grew in January to A$100,170.

FXstreet.com Global Transfers is a service of FXstreet.com in partnership with OzForex, a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Limited, one of Australia’s leading financial organizations.

Great numbers indeed!

Francesc

Marc Prosser is Back With Two New Websites Focused on Bonds, Annuities, & Fixed Income Investing

2012-02-03T16:59:26.000Z

welcome back Marc

A pleasure to have you around once again :)

Francesc

Two New Websites Focused on Bonds, Annuities, & Fixed Income Investing

New York--February 2, 2012--Learn Bonds (www.learnbonds.com) and Bond Moves (www.bondmoves.com) had formal launches in February. Learn Bonds focuses on investor education. The site is designed as a resource for investors interested in bonds, annuities, and interest bearing bank products. Bond Moves focuses on providing trade ideas and market commentary. The site aggregates content on bond ETFs, interest rate futures, and individual bonds.

“There are a number of great resources for stock investors and options traders, however, there are few if any quality websites for those that want to invest in bonds or fixed income products,” said Marc Prosser. Marc Prosser is the founder of Learn bonds and Bond Moves.

“Learn Bonds enables a person considering putting money in a long-term CD to research potential alternative investments like a Municipal bond or fixed annuity. We generally will not be providing specific trading ideas, but want to help people decide what type of investment meets their needs,” said Prosser. Learn Bonds will publish 5 - 10 articles of original content per week. The site also contains a 21 lesson course called Bond Basics.

When asked why the site covers all types of annuities instead of fixed annuities which resemble CDs, Prosser responded, “Annuities are extremely complicated and very nuanced. If we just covered traditional fixed and MYIG annuities, a reader might assume that the same information applied to variable annuities. We thought that our readers would be best served by covering the entire spectrum.”

Whereas Learn Bonds assumes no previous knowledge of finance, Bond Moves assumes that its audience already actively trades. The site makes it more convenient to find market analysis on liquid fixed income products. Ever trading day, the site will publish 7 - 10 articles with fundamental and technical commentary, including intra-day reports. Sources range from independent traders to a major futures exchange.

“Before Bond Moves, a trader would have to visit 7 websites to access the same information. Bond Moves serves two functions: To save the bond trader time and to help traders discover hard new quality sources of trade ideas. We expect the site be very popular among Bond ETF traders.”

Marc Prosser has a track record of launching successful financial services sites. Mr. Prosser served as Publisher of DailyFX, one of the largest forex news and analysis sites in world. “I am proud of what I accomplished at DailyFX which greatly improved the forex trading experience. With Learn Bonds and Bond Moves, I hope to change the way fixed income products are researched.

#######

For Additional Information,

Marc Prosser
mzprosserATgmail.com

917-443-0930

Boston Technologies Shares Some Forex Data With All of Us

2012-02-03T15:23:37.000Z

2011 FX Year in Review
by Boston Technologies
Boston Technologies recently reviewed the data passing through it's system. While we never release customer or proprietary data, we have collected some interesting bits of information that we thought our customers and the FX industry in general would find valuable. All of this information is based solely on what flows through Boston Technologies' platforms so it is not a snapshot of the industry in general, just of what Boston Technologies customers are doing.

FM: PFG sued for allegedly ignoring red flags in the Crown Forex case

2012-02-03T15:18:09.000Z

PFG sued for allegedly ignoring red flags in the Crown Forex case
By Michael Greenberg at Forex Magnates
This case just gets more and more complicated. Crown Forex is an extremely complicated case of a Forex brokerage that turned out to be a ponzi scam. We’ve already reported today about another uncovered forex ponzi brokerage (One World Capital) – this time in the US.
To those who don’t remember, Crown Forex S.A. was a forex broker based in Switzerland. On 29/05/2009 FINMA closed Crown Forex S.A because of potential liquidity problems. FINMA is investigating the company and its executives.

Forex Visionaries: 'It is still premature for China to become the first power' - Lan Yee Chan

2012-02-03T15:00:00.000Z

Forex Visionaries: Innovative minds reveal their thoughts
'It is still premature for China to become the first power' - Lan Yee Chan

“The development of this market far exceeds my imagination” says Lan Yee Chan, who joined the ranks of FX traders in the 1970s, shortly after the abolition of the gold standard. She thus has a long experience in Foreign exchange which, she says, is “a young profession still shaping and self-perfecting.” The VP and Chief Dealer of Union Bank thinks “retail traders with access to the Internet are gaining additional traction” these days and with the disappearance of old-fashioned means of brokering, “it may be quite possible that one day we see an Internet-based exchange”.

Federal Court Orders Anthony E. Linton To Pay More Than $1.7M For Forex Fraud

2012-02-03T11:23:42.000Z

Arizona Federal Court Orders Anthony Eugene Linton to Pay More Than $1.7 Million for Operating Ponzi Scheme
The CFTC obtained a federal court order requiring Anthony Eugene Linton of Tucson, Ariz., doing business as The Private Trading Pool, to pay a total of $1,776,610 in restitution, disgorgement, and a civil monetary penalty for defrauding investors in a commodity pool Ponzi scheme involving off-exchange foreign currency trading.

Most Watched Forex Webinars January 2012 - Sam Seiden Is The King

2012-02-02T13:18:41.000Z

Most Watched Webinar Recordings - January 2012

#1 Sam Seiden - Major Forex Moves for 2012 and The All Star Entry - Lesson and Application

#2 Rob Helean - Using Confirmation For Trade Entry, My Trading System and Want To Be a Great Trader? Better Get The Mind In Shape First!

#3 Chris Capre - Price Action Trading: Analysis and setups on any time frame - Jan 10th and Jan 27th

#4 David Pegler - Getting The Day Started Right and My Favorite Early London Setups

#5 Boris Schlossberg - How to start the New Year off Right Daytrading FX

Most Watched Forex Webinars Of The Week - Ron William and James Chen Join the Club

2012-01-31T11:42:19.000Z

Most Watched Webinar Recordings - Jan 23-29
#1 Sam Seiden - Major Forex Moves for 2012 and The All Star Entry - Lesson and Application

#2 Rob Helean - My Trading System

#3 Chris Capre - Price Action Trading: Analysis and setups on any time frame

#4 Ron William - Successful Trading in the Volatile year of 2012

#5 James Chen - My Daily Analysis: Finding High-Probability Trading Setups

FM: US Treasury Department reconsiders exempting Forex from OTC Derivatives Regulations

2012-01-30T12:35:11.000Z

US Treasury Department reconsiders exempting Forex from OTC Derivatives Regulations
by Michael Greenberg at Forex Magnates
En route to an official visit to Israel, Neal Wolin, the US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Department commented that the treasury dept is currently debating whether or not to exempt FX products from new U.S. derivatives regulation that would force OTC derivatives to be traded on exchange. In the first half of 2011 the US Treasury proposed to exempt certain Forex contracts including FX Swaps.
Wolin mentioned that there is no time table on when the decision to exempt Forex will be made but that discussions are currently ongoing. He said as things currently stand FX Swaps and FX Forwards will most likely go on exchange and there is now serious debate about whether or not to exempt spot Forex. However, he did mention spot Forex is much more likely to be exempt than FX Swaps and FX Forwards. The CFTC in the meanwhile has published final rules concerning Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants and will require them to register with the NFA.

WSJ: Retail FX Traders Going Mobile In Droves

2012-01-30T12:31:01.000Z

Retail FX Traders Going Mobile In Droves
By Erin McCarthy Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--There's a long-standing rule in Jared Johnson's household: no smartphones, iPads or foreign-exchange trading at the dinner table.
Johnson, an Indianapolis-based financial services broker who trades currencies on the side, is one of a rapidly growing number of retail foreign exchange clients using smartphone and tablet applications that make it possible to trade a 24-hour market from anywhere.
Retail foreign exchange traders, known for their somewhat obsessive approach, are increasingly shunning home desktop computers and monitoring and executing trades on mobile devices. Indeed, with a growing number of younger, tech-savvy people trading in a volatile market that can turn against a position any time of the day, there's been explosive growth of the use of smartphones and tablets in mobile foreign exchange trading. And mobile trading providers say it will grow quickly from here, as the technology improves and clients grow more comfortable trading on the go.

Australia and New Zealand Forex Market Gathering Steam

2012-01-30T12:27:43.000Z

Leading Australian Forex Trading Broker IC Markets Ends a Record 2011 Year
International Capital Markets Pty Ltd (IC Markets) a market leading Australian forex broker today announced its 2011 results culminating an exciting year for the company. Over the 2011 year forex trading volumes increased by 83%, with the number of clients increasing by a record 93% representing two straight years of double digit growth. IC Markets continues to expand throughout the Asia Pacific region with trading volumes in Australia and New Zealand accounting for 52.8% of total volume up from 38.7% in 2010, trading volumes from Asia contributed 31.2% up from 12.4% in 2010.

Saxo Capital Markets Launches Australian Retail Operations
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, Jan 30, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd ('SCM Australia'), the online trading and investment specialist, today announced the launch of its retail operations in Australia, offering investors the opportunity to trade thousands of asset classes across award-winning online platforms.
Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank A/S. It holds an Australian Financial Services Licence 280372 and is regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.
The move extends Saxo Bank Group's reach in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific, and is consistent with its goal of being the premier multi-asset online trading platform in the world.

Interview to Michael Greenberg, FX Person of the Year 2011

2012-01-30T10:47:48.000Z

The discreet insider who investigates and shares the sector's secrets and news

“I don't like discussing myself much” answered Michael Greenberg when asked to tell us more about himself and his career. Or maybe not. Maybe he knows the rules better than anyone and play with them very well. Anyway, we know the essential: prior to creating Forex Magnates, Greenberg worked for an investment banking firm and a Forex software development company. But the Israeli businessman is not a trader anymore. “I used to trade stocks and options up until a few years ago when I lost most of my investment and realized I'm no good as a trader”, he admitted.

Trade Interceptor released Kindle Fire forex trading App for currency investors

2012-01-30T10:16:36.000Z

Trade Interceptor released Kindle Fire forex trading App for currency investors

Trade Interceptor released a free forex trading application for Kindle Fire, which allows currency investors to trade with multiple brokers from a single interface, set price alarms and use a large range of technical analysis indicators and studies.

27 January 2012. Trade Interceptor, the fastest growing forex trading platform on the Apple and Android stores, released a free trading application for Amazon Kindle Fire, which allows traders to stay connected to the forex markets and trade currencies from anywhere, at anytime. The new Kindle Fire app offers advanced forex trading capabilities including the possibility to receive real-time currency prices from various feed providers, trade with various forex brokers, set price alerts, receive real-time currency news, watch multiple charts updated in real-time, and use a wide range of technical indicators, graphical tools and studies. The application can be downloaded for free on the Amazon Appstore .

Kindle Fire is a Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display available on Amazon for $199.
For those who don’t have an Amazon US account, it is possible to install Trade Interceptor app on Kindle Fire devices following the instructions on Trade Interceptor download page.

"Our objective is to give forex traders the possibility to trade currencies at anytime, from anywhere, with the broker they like, using the most popular mobile and tablet devices. Kindle Fire is a very performing tablet, perfectly adapted to mobile forex trading, available at a very competitive price” explains Rodolfo Festa Bianchet, CEO of Riflexo, the software company which develops Trade Interceptor.

Trade Interceptor forex trading platform provides live prices and trading capabilities for over 120 currency pairs and CFD instruments. Advanced forex trading functionalities include Touch-Chart-Trading chart order management and server-side alerts. Subscribers can use over 80 technical analysis indicators as well as advanced interactive studies.
Trade Interceptor is powered by Riflexo, a Sofia-based software company, which has been developing real-time trading solutions for financial institutions and professional traders for the last 11 years.

Rodolfo Festa Bianchet, Riflexo’s CEO, is among the 5 nominees for the “FX Person of the Year 2011” award, an event which pays tribute to a person, a team of people and a project that positively contributed to make the Forex world better in 2011, with a particular focus on innovation and quality.

About Riflexo
Riflexo Jsc. is in the business of providing software solutions and services to clients around the world. The company has strong track records in the development of financial, real-time, and mobile applications. Riflexo also developed a JDO implementation for the management of persistent data, teaming-up with world technology leaders to create standard-based applications. The company’s objective is to offer high quality and cost-effective software solutions, based on standard technologies and delivered on time, which meet today’s most advanced development needs.

Media contact:

E Girodet
359 2 980 14 34
e.girodetATriflexo.com

Ashraf Laidi joins City Index as Chief Global Strategist

2012-01-27T16:16:51.000Z

Ashraf's New Role at City Index/FX Solutions
January 24, 2012 20:19 ET : Ashraf Laidi joins City Index as Chief Global Strategist, where he will be focusing on foreign exchange and global macro issues pertaining to central bank policies, sovereign debt and intermarket dynamics. Ashraf's Premium Intermarket Insight shall continue its offering to to existing and new clients.

FROM THE CITY INDEX PRESS RELEASE
"As part of his role at City Index Group, Ashraf will draw on his extensive experience and background in global macro & central bank issues to provide expert market analysis to its global client base, the media and the company's key stakeholders, with a particular focus on currencies. His role will also include oversight and implementation of City Index's brand reach in key markets, including the US, Middle East and Europe. Ashraf is a fluent speaker of Arabic and French, and has oral command of Spanish and Italian. He is also author of the best-selling Currency Trading & Intermarket Analysis, originally published in 2007. Ashraf will complement what is already one of the most extensive commentary teams in the industry, which provides expert insight and analysis on a range of markets worldwide, including indices, currencies, commodities, bonds, interest rates and more."

ABOUT CITY INDEX
City Index Group is one of the leading global providers of retail trading services, transacting in excess of 1.5 million trades per month for the groups customers around the world. City Index trading platforms give access to thousands of derivatives on global financial markets, including; Spread Betting, Contracts for Differences (CFDs) and margined foreign exchange (FX). The Group trades primarily under the City Index, Finspreads and FX Solutions brands and also provides a fully outsourced white label solution to numerous partners. City Index recently launched City Trading, its first iPhone Spread Betting and CFD Trading application that provides full and secure access to customers trading accounts, whenever and wherever they want. City Index Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (no. 113942) and its head and registered office is Park House, 16 Finsbury Circus, London EC2M 7EB (Registered in England and Wales, no. 1761813).

ABOUT INTERMARKET STRATEGY
Ashraf will retain his role as CEO of Intermarket Strategy Ltd, a provider of insights and analysis on capital markets and the global economy, focusing on FX markets. Intermarket Strategys Premium Intermarket Insights shall continue its offering on www.AshrafLaidi.com . Subscribers to the Intermarket Insights shall not be affected by
Ashraf's new role at City Index.

Correlation Between U.s. Presidency And The Euro - Dollar Exchange Rate

2012-01-27T10:28:20.000Z

Correlation Between U.s. Presidency And The Euro - Dollar Exchange Rate
A little less than 4 years ago we began studying the correlation between changes in the Euro - Dollar exchange rate and the U.S. president's party (Democrat or Republican).
Election years mark an extreme point and the trend seems to change when the United States change government. The Dollar rises against the Euro when the United States are led by a Democrat and the opposite when a Republican is in charge.

This chart graphs the Euro - Dollar exchange rate in late 2008 with my forecasts:

ForexDuet a New Magazine For The Spanish Forex World Soon To be Released

2012-01-27T10:11:35.000Z

Hi everyone

Two experienced traders Yuri Rabassa and Alicia Ortí that I've had the pleasure to meet and chat with in the last two editions of our ITC (International Traders Conference) here in Barcelona, are now the leaders of a new and very interesting project: ForexDuet, a new monthly Forex Magazine in Spanish.

The first issues is going to be released soon and includes a nice interview with Boris Schlossberg.

I had the opportunity to read a couple of articles of the magazine and it is promising... A very good start!

Francesc