Thread: Frequently Asked Questions

Is it necessary to have the platform connected to the Internet permanently?
No, all trade signals are executed on Remote servers, therefore is not a requirement to keep your PC running for trade execution on your account. You are required to connect to the internet to set your Money Management settings initially.

Does the platform allow hedging?
Yes it does.

What are the costs for the signals and trade execution, are there any other charges?
The only charge the client pays is 1 pip commission per round turn trade in addition to the spread. For example, $10 on 100k lot, $1 on $10k Mini-lot. There are no subscription or platform fees. This commission charge is automatically taken from your live account. *Please note that the demo accounts and the performance summary statistics do not account for the commission charge.

Can I set leverage with your platform, what if signal provider wants to buy $100k but I only want to open $10k?
The client sets the leverage for each currency pair to their requirement, the signal provider only sends the signals, not a suggested lot size, a client can trade from $10k lot upwards for each pair they decide to trade. There are 3 Modes of Money Management:
• Fixed Lot – Fixed Lot size per trade.
• Fixed Ratio – Fixed Account % Risk per trade on Principal.
• Fixed Delta – Increases or Decreases lot size dependent on Account Balance.

Can I trade any signal Provider I like?
Only signal providers listed within the platform are available.

How do I get started, what is the process and how long does it take?

Click on the following link to open a Forex System Selector account:

FXCM LLC (US) l FXCM LTD (UK) l FXCM Australia

Our New Accounts department will notify you regarding the status of your account application by email within 2 business days.

Does your platform support multiple strategies in parallel?
What happens if Provider A is short on EURUSD and Provider B tries to place a long EURUSD trade. The platform will recognize signals from multiple signal providers and hedging is used when necessary.

Can I close or change the Stop or Limit manually myself?
Yes, you can close or modify a trade signal, however it will be re-adjusted again if a new modify order is placed by the signal provider after the client adjustment.

If I close a trading signal, when the signal arrives to close the trade, will it then put me in a new open position?
No, signals to open and close are distinctly different, if you manually close a trade, no position will be taken when the close order arrives. The next new trade to open will executed on your account.

What happens if I disable money management for a signal provider when I have an open position, how will the trade be handled by the system?
If you remove a signal provider from your portfolio, any open trades will be closed when the close order arrives, but a new position to open will not be executed.

What happens if I change my lot size for a system when I currently have an open trade?
The trade will be closed with the lot size it was opened with, the next new trade to open will be reflected with the new money management settings.

What are the margin requirements for a Trade?

Margin requirements will vary depending on where your account is held.

For the margin requirements, please visit:
FXCM LLC (US) l FXCM LTD (UK) l FXCM Australia

Which is the best system to trade?
This is left to the discretion of the client, we provide them all the tools and trade history for them to make an informed decision regarding their investment choices, but do not provide investment advice. Please feel free to visit our FSS Forums for additional resources and reviews. Systems Reviews by DailyFX Course Instructors

Do the performance figures include commission?
No, the performance does not include the 1pip commission per round trade.

How long does the demo account last?
FSS Demo accounts stay active for 30 days.

What if I want to place a manual trade in addition the automated trades?
You are able to open manual trades in addition to auto trades, these will be labeled as “manual” in signal provider column in the positions tab of the platform.

Do the performance figures include swap values?
Yes, they include swap/rollover rates.

How do I know what size of stop a signal provider uses so that I can calculate my risk?
In the PERFORMANCE tab of the platform, there is an INFO tab which displays some information on the strategy. The information in this tab was provided by the signal provider, so look at the actual trade details to verify for yourself. This tab is the first column on the left in the PERFORMANCE tab.

How many systems/ pairs is it possible to trade in a LIVE account?
It is possible to trade 100 system/pairs in the LIVE account version.
Does the DEMO account have the same functionality as the LIVE version?
The DEMO account will not show the Stop Loss or Target Point to avoid signal misuse.

Can I stop trading at any time?
Yes, you can close all your positions and disable your portfolio instantly, you are in complete control if your account at all times.

What does Max DD mean in the signal provider list?
It is the largest peak to valley drawdown for that pair, in pips. This figure can be used for evaluating your risk.

Why are some pairs showing less profit than other pairs with same number of pips?
This depends on the pip value of the currency pair in question.

Can I trade various modes of money management in same portfolio?
Yes, you can have Fixed Lot, Fractional and Ratio settings applied to different systems within your Portfolio.

When is the commission charged, at end of month or every trade?
The commission is applied when the trade is closed.

Hi!

You say in the Q&A's that the system provider's contact information is included, but I can't find any in the system info's. Does this mean that contact information is not included anymore? Regarding the amounts of money invested it would be nice to have the option to ask questions if needed.

Thanks

Is there a easy way to keep a specific system from opening up all its positions on a pair? I learned the hard way ealry in my demo account with agressive systems that if they say their max. open positions is "10" that they will almost always open up near 10 positions. If you have even 2 such systems in your portfolio you could end up with up to 20 bad trades open up instantly. How can we regulate short of trying ALL the systems for a pair and charting their behavior in terms of how many positions they will open up? If so can you please list detailed instructions on doing so? Thank you!

Would someone please tell me how these MM methods work in simple-pimple language? I want to keep some of the "10 Position Max." systems on a shorter leash, and short of the "chose a less agressive system by observing the past data", I need to make such an adjustment.

Also, I did put together a portfolio of >85% WIN and >50 RAR but with max. positions between 6 and 2....... guess what happened? NOTHING. For 48 hours not ONE trade. So I am back to the more aggressive ones.

PLEASE HELP!

Originally Posted by laurentius

Hi!

You say in the Q&A's that the system provider's contact information is included, but I can't find any in the system info's. Does this mean that contact information is not included anymore? Regarding the amounts of money invested it would be nice to have the option to ask questions if needed.

Thanks

Hi Laurentius. With the new version of the FSS platform, the previous website was changed and the information regarding the signal provider is included in the PERFORMANCE tab of the platform.

Regarding how much money to invest in each system, consider the risk involved in the system through its past drawdowns. For example, if a system regularly has $3,000 drawdowns and if you want to start with $5,000 account, would you be ok possibly losing 60% of your account value?

Originally Posted by strongtower1

Is there a easy way to keep a specific system from opening up all its positions on a pair? I learned the hard way ealry in my demo account with agressive systems that if they say their max. open positions is "10" that they will almost always open up near 10 positions. If you have even 2 such systems in your portfolio you could end up with up to 20 bad trades open up instantly. How can we regulate short of trying ALL the systems for a pair and charting their behavior in terms of how many positions they will open up? If so can you please list detailed instructions on doing so? Thank you!

Hi Strongtower. This request has come up before. There are pros and cons to such a feature. Gavin addressed a similar request several months ago. Here is a link to his post. (FSS Feedback: Help Improve the FSS Product and Experience)

Originally Posted by strongtower1

Would someone please tell me how these MM methods work in simple-pimple language? I want to keep some of the "10 Position Max." systems on a shorter leash, and short of the "chose a less agressive system by observing the past data", I need to make such an adjustment.

Also, I did put together a portfolio of >85% WIN and >50 RAR but with max. positions between 6 and 2....... guess what happened? NOTHING. For 48 hours not ONE trade. So I am back to the more aggressive ones.

PLEASE HELP!

Fixed Lots : Each time a signal is sent to your account, a fixed trade of 10k or 40k or whatever you select is sent to your account.

Fixed Ratio : As you system produces a profit of x amount (Delta amount), then the trade size will increase by ratio base

Fixed Fractional : This figures the trade size by risking a specified portion of your account. You determine the % of your account risked. Also, you need to find out the distance of stop used by the signal provider.

It is common for some signal providers not to send a trade for a couple of days. Especially when you just add them to your portfolio. That is because they may have open trades you missed on. So it may take a few days for the trades to cycle through.

Also, remember that a system that places more trades also means you will have more in commission costs. Unless the signal provider is knocking it out of the park, the commissions could eat you up on an actively traded system.

I think that letting the account balance be the judge at the end of the month of a good system. An active aggressive system can provide the thrills, but if you are undercapitalized in your account for the system, you will also receive the chills.

I was told one cannot access a FSS account from MetaTrader (I wish one could!) since they work on different servers.

However, access would be allowed from the Trading Station.

But, if one wants to change, open or close an order - shouldn't that possible from the Trading station?

I am in a process of opening up a $3000 account. What would be the best strategy (pair wise) and system to select for a medium risk trading.

Some advise would be highly appreciable.

Enam

Originally Posted by Alec

I was told one cannot access a FSS account from MetaTrader (I wish one could!) since they work on different servers.

However, access would be allowed from the Trading Station.

But, if one wants to change, open or close an order - shouldn't that possible from the Trading station?

That is correct...

You can view the performance from the FSS platform or by logging into the FXCM Trading Station II. The FXCM TS II will be in read only format so you can't make any trade changes from there. You can run a report, though. You can make trade changes (close a ticket or change a stop) through the FSS platform.

Originally Posted by enam100

I am in a process of opening up a $3000 account. What would be the best strategy (pair wise) and system to select for a medium risk trading.

Some advise would be highly appreciable.

Enam

Hi Enam...

Glad to hear you are opening a live account.

You can filter through the systems on the platform. Feel free to check out some of the past recordings of the LIVE FSS webinar I do each Wednesday. Press HERE for a recording from it.

Also, I would suggest checking out this thread with some reviews of some signal providers. Press HERE for a link to it.

By starting with a small amount, you'll want to filter through systems with a relatively small Max DD that have been around at least 12 months. Also, you'll want to consider systems that open a smaller number of Max Positions (like 1-3 Max Positions).

Feel free to post questions/comments in the Systems Review thread or the What's in your Portfolio thread.

I'm trying to figure out how to set my money management on my demo account and I would like to trade 10K for every $10,000 in account balance. I though that the fixed ratio would allow me to do this but the trade size that the system is trading is 20K with a balance of $8000. Am I missing something here?

Originally Posted by WaveMaster

I'm trying to figure out how to set my money management on my demo account and I would like to trade 10K for every $10,000 in account balance. I though that the fixed ratio would allow me to do this but the trade size that the system is trading is 20K with a balance of $8000. Am I missing something here?

The fixed ratio is an imperfect way to achieve what you are looking for. When the signal provider is producing a profit for you, it will work. However, when the signal provider experiences losses and you move down a $10,000 layer, fixed ratio doesn't go backwards meaning it won't reduce trade size...it only increases according to the delta.

One way you could handle is monitor the trading and readjust the trade size and reset you fixed ratio manually when you notice a draw down that may affect it.

Thanks for your answers Jeremy

Jeremy,

I am thinking about registering for an FSS Account but I have a couple questions regarding how the trades function.

1. I understand that when I choose a system, the trades that are created "mirror" the trades on some backend system (Tradency). Is someone manually entering the entry/exit trades on the Tradency end or are the trades automatically executed by technical data analysis?
2. I have had experience with trading robots in the past. When I compared the results from my robotic trading with other users who used the exact same robots there were always discrepencies. There were instances where my account had entered a trade and another individual using the same robot had not entered those trades, and vice versa. My question is, does EVERYONE using the same FSS system enter into the exact same trades at the same entry price or are there discrepencies?

Any assitance is appreciated, thanks Jeremy.