Thread: Question Regarding ''Picking'' Rules 8.

Hi ,

8. NO PICKING
At FXCM's discretion, entrants may be removed from the contest for employing trading techniques including but not limited to, "picking", use of orders or Margin Calls inappropriately, and over-leveraging. Receiving a Margin Call is grounds for disqualification.

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I Don't understand what the rule meant by Picking. Doesn't what we trader all try to do Trying to ''pick'' the best entry with few pip drawdown? And the Best way to win a trade is to sell at at extreme high and buy at extreme low. If Fxcm doesn't allow picking best trade entry like this then does that mean FXCm don't allow fair play base on some pro-experienced skill to be patience and wait for the right timing to place a trade? I find it ridiculous if picking tops and bottom precisely at a 90% rate would cause you to disqualify.

That's what i Understand by the world ''picking''. Unless the term Picking mean totally different from above please explain to me.

If the word ''picking'' is what I stated above, then I would like an explanation why this is prohibit because Not every one is good enough to pick Near Perfect Entry. And Isn't what FXCM contest is about? To show who is the Best at picking perfect entry? The loser would pick bad entry and broke their accounts......


Thank you,
- Victor

Here's a similar question and the Moderator's answer back from July 2009:

Originally Posted by B Positive

8. NO PICKING
At FXCM's discretion, entrants may be removed from the contest for employing trading techniques including but not limited to, "picking", use of orders or Margin Calls inappropriately, and over-leveraging? Receiving a Margin Call is grounds for disqualification.

Is "picking" and "scalping" the same thing? Also, what percentage of your account would be considered "over-leveraging?

Originally Posted by Moderator3

Hello.

These are both good questions.

Basically, "picking" is a term used to refer to the use of technical latencies to make a profit. (i.e. somehow exploiting a technical issue for gain) Obviously, it's not something that is a long-term strategy for trading profitably, and as such is not allowed in the contest.

Regarding the "over-leveraging" portion of the rules, that simply means that you may NOT receive a margin call during the contest. If you receive a margin call at any point during the month's competition, you will be disqualified. Other than that, there are no limitations regarding leverage. Just keep in mind that while leverage can lead to outsized gains, it can just as easily lead to outsize losses.

I hope this answers your questions, and good luck for the month of August!

-Brad

Thank you imported_PipWrangler

That is a great question, one that I need clarified as well. I also try to pick the right entry points and I certainly hope that does not disqualify me.

Thanks

I think from what I read of the answer "picking" would be to find another source of data that gets to you more quickly. This is possible for FXCM Micro because they trade with you, you are not actually trading out there in the real market.

They try and make it close so you can't do this, but technically if you had a feed that gave you quotes say 400 milliseconds faster you might be able to have a computer trade for you or just sit there and watch for volatility spikes yourself and click into a trade knowing the market would move with you very soon. I have a couple of micro acccounts and it is pretty obvious side-by-side that one is slightly behind the other if you set them up to watch tick by tick. You could do the same for the exit and get out once it drops but before the other one has.

Sometimes you see a spike in one that is not in another because you are dealing with two separate markets that are not subject to arbitrage. What you get is a realistic representation of the market, but its not THE market. I think FXCM Micro is the best out there, I have seen others that have set up a market that will basically steal your money by jumping around just as they let you in. That is why I compare them side by side to see who is trying to represent the real market accurately and who is trying to get more per commission than they are really due. FXCM Micro is top notch in my book.

Trying to trade using picking would be dumb, because we are all looking for trading strategies that will scale up to THE market. What point is it in perfecting something that can make you $50 a day if it can't make you $5,00 a day once you have more money in the account? Oh, but then you add in the $25,000 incentive and they have to make the rule. Because all of a sudden it is worth it. I think the rule is there to tell professional traders with top notch systems that they will not be allowed to win by cheating.

Originally Posted by Frog

I think from what I read of the answer "picking" would be to find another source of data that gets to you more quickly. This is possible for FXCM Micro because they trade with you, you are not actually trading out there in the real market.

They try and make it close so you can't do this, but technically if you had a feed that gave you quotes say 400 milliseconds faster you might be able to have a computer trade for you or just sit there and watch for volatility spikes yourself and click into a trade knowing the market would move with you very soon. I have a couple of micro acccounts and it is pretty obvious side-by-side that one is slightly behind the other if you set them up to watch tick by tick. You could do the same for the exit and get out once it drops but before the other one has.

Sometimes you see a spike in one that is not in another because you are dealing with two separate markets that are not subject to arbitrage. What you get is a realistic representation of the market, but its not THE market. I think FXCM Micro is the best out there, I have seen others that have set up a market that will basically steal your money by jumping around just as they let you in. That is why I compare them side by side to see who is trying to represent the real market accurately and who is trying to get more per commission than they are really due. FXCM Micro is top notch in my book.

Trying to trade using picking would be dumb, because we are all looking for trading strategies that will scale up to THE market. What point is it in perfecting something that can make you $50 a day if it can't make you $5,00 a day once you have more money in the account? Oh, but then you add in the $25,000 incentive and they have to make the rule. Because all of a sudden it is worth it. I think the rule is there to tell professional traders with top notch systems that they will not be allowed to win by cheating.

Hi Frog,

Thanks for that.

Your explanation of picking was spot on. That said, it is a moot point with FXCM Micro transitioning to No Dealing Desk execution, since FXCM would never be taking the market risk opposite to client trades.

Click here to view all the Contest Rules and ask questions about them.


Suhail