ATM not working with FXCM

[jmflukeiii]

Hi again everyone

Further to my previous posts, I have now spoken to FXCM about these problems.

I'm pretty sure the situation is as follows:

- If an FXCM client has a 'Trading Station' (i.e. their own platform) account, with an account # with ten digits, there should be no problem. (jmflukeiii now has this type of account and all appears to work well.)

- if, on the other hand, the client has an account # with eight digits, this is an MT4 enabled account. The orders are routed differently and there's apparently a triple bridge. This is when problems arise.

The moral of this tale be that anyone using NT with FXCM should make sure they have the right sort of account, i.e. one with ten digits.

P.S. I wish to add that's I've always had top-class help whenever I've contacted FXCM's Customer Support Desk.

Thank you for the detailed response. I have placed another trade now and again it does work.

Its interesting you got so much information from FXCM. When I told them what I thought the problem was, they told me there was no way that was the issue. He treated me like an idiot despite my understanding of the situation (and their available platform choices in general) being drastically more advanced than his.

Anyway, thanks again -

[arbuthnot]

No problem, jmflukeiii. My contact was extremely helpful.

[ninZa]

Just thinking. Why doesn't NinjaTrader invite other partners like FXCM to participate in related support topics at this forum?

We need a FXCM representative here

[ninZa]

Just thinking... Why don't NinjaTrader invite their partners like FXCM to join related support threads at this forum?

We need a FXCM representative here

[arbuthnot]

Just thinking... Why don't NinjaTrader invite their partners like FXCM to join related support threads at this forum?

We need a FXCM representative here

Good point, ninZa. I did send a link to this thread to my very helpful FXCM contact.

I do think that this particular issue seems to have been resolved, though I myself still haven't traded live with them.

But I think you're making a very welcome suggestion that there should be tripartite discussions between users, Ninja and the major brokers. Good thinking!

[NinjaTrader_Brandon]

Hello,

Thanks for your replies.

Our development team is working directly with FXCM to look into this and verify any limitation that may exist with account types. Development and FXCM need to work together to find a full solution as a FXCM representative responding on here would not know the back ends of the NinjaTrader platform. I will update this topic once more information is available.

[arbuthnot]

Hello,

Thanks for your replies.

Our development team is working directly with FXCM to look into this and verify any limitation that may exist with account types. Development and FXCM need to work together to find a full solution as a FXCM representative responding on here would not know the back ends of the NinjaTrader platform. I will update this topic once more information is available.

Thanks again, Brandon.

I'm sure users would understand the point you make about technical collaboration between NinjaTrader and the major brokers and looking forward to the update.

But there may be some non-technical areas where a three-way discussion could be helpful to try to find a win-win-win situation when things aren't running smoothly.

Cheers,

Ed

[NinjaTrader_Brandon]

At this time we have verified that FXCM accounts that are enabled for MT4 rather than FXCM Trading Station do not properly function. Development is looking further into this to see if anything can be done to resolve this or if MT4 accounts will not be able to be supported. At this time if you have an FXCM account enabled for MT4 you will need to request that it be changed to a Trading Station account to trade with NinjaTrader.

[ninZa]

Good point, ninZa. I did send a link to this thread to my very helpful FXCM contact.

I do think that this particular issue seems to have been resolved, though I myself still haven't traded live with them.

But I think you're making a very welcome suggestion that there should be tripartite discussions between users, Ninja and the major brokers. Good thinking!

I agree with you. There are official representatives of FXCM on BigMikeTrading. Jason if I recall correctly. So there are no reasons why they cannot be here at the official forum of NT.

At this time we have verified that FXCM accounts that are enabled for MT4 rather than FXCM Trading Station do not properly function. Development is looking further into this to see if anything can be done to resolve this or if MT4 accounts will not be able to be supported. At this time if you have an FXCM account enabled for MT4 you will need to request that it be changed to a Trading Station account to trade with NinjaTrader.

That's not a "change". When you request this, FXCM will close your MT4 account and open a new Trading Station account with total funds transferred to the new one.

So you can do this yourself, open a new Trading Station account yourself (if you already have an existing account with them, opening a new one is very easy and quick), then request a fund transfer from the old MT4 account to your new Trading Station account. This will be completed in 1-2 days.

Thanks.
Pi

P.S. I love FXCM: their business model, customer service, especially Trading Station platform...
That's why my Smart Ruler takes the inspiration » www.fxcmapps.com/ninjatrader/smart-ruler

[NinjaTrader_Brandon]

Hello,

Below is some additional information available on this after working further with FXCM. This information is from FXCM.

Note that within NinjaTrader you do not have an option to specify if your stops are entries or exits.

This information is being reviewed by development for additional consideration in handling this.
At this time I would recommend setting up your account as an FXCM Trading Station account to avoid this.

FXCM allows all their account types to log into NinjaTrader including MT4 accounts. There are some limitations put into MT4 however in place for handling FIFO and non-hedging rules.

"1. Clients will only be able to have one stop price and one limit price for all trades on that currency pair. We usually refer to these as net stops/limits. These have to be put in as stop or limit orders, not entry orders to go in the opposite direction of an open position. Also, the net stop/limit will update for the last stop or limit price entered. For example, if a client opens one GBP/USD trade and sets the stop at 1.5600 then opens a 2nd GBP/USD trade and sets the stop at 1.5500, both trades will be stopped out at 1.5500. This is done to prevent trades to be closed out of FIFO order.

2. Clients are unable to close trades using entry orders. Entry orders set to trade in the opposite direction of an open trade will be cancelled when they are triggered. Post #8 by jmflukeiii was correct. US MT4 accounts are set to non-hedging. If I have a long EUR/USD trade and I set a limit entry order to close that trade when the entry order is triggered it interprets that as an order to open a short trade. This is rejected by MT4 and would generate an error message. Open trades should be closed using an order to close a trade, rather than opening a trade in the opposite direction.

3. Trades must be closed out in the order in which they were opened in accordance with FIFO regulations.

4. Margin calls will close only the largest losing position, not all open trades like all other account types. This affects all MT4 accounts.
- Rules 1 and 2 above seem to be causing the issues mentioned in the forums. Again, those rules only apply to US MT4 accounts. Clients could create Trading Station accounts (which will also allow them to log into NinjaTrader) and avoid these situations altogether. If clients don’t trade from MT4, there’s no point in having an MT4 account. "

[arbuthnot]

Thanks, Brandon, for the clarification.