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FXCM Discussion

BarrySDCA, your statements about FXCM's "VPS" are valid. The system does indeed appear to be shared between two users. The other user can be seen by just browsing to "C:\Documents and Settings" in Windows Explorer. You can see your own user name plus someone else's.

This can be a problem if one of the users runs multiple terminals, and/or runs Expert Advisors that use a continuous loop (e.g. "while(true)") - they'll be hogging resources from the other user.

What would be the best way to measure the performance of a VPS or (so-called "VPS") account? I was thinking of simply running an Expert Advisor that uses a continuous loop to count the number of iterations per second; the higher the count per second, the better the performance of the system. Maybe there are better approaches (or software) to quantitatively compare performance. I'd be very interested in a quantitative comparison between FXCM's "VPS" and Commercial Network Services' VPS service.

I think FXCM should provide a more professional VPS solution.
Quoting mr.az
isn't this fxcm micro's platform?
The platform update will go through for clients of FXCM Australia, FXCM LLC (US), FXCM Ltd (UK), and micro.
[quote=Syxf;3614370]
Quoting madmatz
I hear what you're saying. It seems to me like a lot retailers trade the equivalent of driving a car with binoculars on, staring 1 inch in front of the bumper. There are definitely traders who can make it work but it's more stressful than I care to deal with....
Please show me where I professed what is, and is not possible. I simply stated that markets move with a purpose long term, economically. I happen to prefer trading long term. I acknowledged that money can be made trading any time frame. I prefer not to tie myself down to the computer all day though. I don't like playing around with small time frames personally.

How much volume is required to move a market 1,000 pips vs 10 pips???? There's your answer to volatility vs purposeful movement.

You don't see a difference in charts because volatility moves in cycles. It is entirely cyclical. There are cycles within cycles within cycles. The patterns are similar, just faster moving as you focus on shorter time periods.

You don't have to be an "expert" to understand cycles. It is basic economics. Cycles apply to real estate, products & services, human emotion, etc.

"Do it better looking at 2160 two minute bars" is a subjective statement. I think I do it better spending a few hours a week in front of a computer vs. hours a day. But, that's subjective too. I'd rather be doing other things while making money. I don't feel the need to watch it happen minute by minute.

"if you went down to the floor of the CME you wouldn't find anybody looking at daily charts... seriously.."

I'm not concerned with floor traders at the CME. I know a CME trader personally. Big deal... I also know one investor who trades from weekly charts only. He is plenty profitable.

"When your model is as accuarate as mine is there isn't really a difference in the real risk between long term trading and short term."

The risk is relative, and is not necessarily dictated by the accuracy of a system.

"I haven't looked at a chart larger than two mintues in months, and I'm not stressed, trying to have fun, though my eyes do water too much, there is one big difference, the amount of work involved"

That last part makes my point for me. The difference is the amount of work involved. I would much rather make X dollars for 1 hour of work than the same amount for 10 hours of work. Decreasing work load adds value. I'm not in this game to sit in front of a computer all day. Some people love it. I like doing other things with my time.

Time is the most valuable commodity.
Quoting Syxf
Seems like people don't realize that the FX markets move with purpose.

And this is how I know you are the king of the bucket shops.... this is funny... If how cross-eyed drunk an options market maker is staring at his vega is purpose, you could be right, but you are not....
How am I the king of the bucket shops??? I don't run a shop. I trade my own capital. What you claim to know here is 100 percent wrong. Your assumptions are not fact. You are no one special, just another trader with an opinion. Congratulations

I am right. If you removed speculative trading from the world, the markets would still exist. They would just be more volatile. International transactions would still occur. The sole purpose of speculators is to reduce price risk. We assume risk that hedgers gladly give up. That is the basic reason for the markets.

Real estate markets, technology sales, etc. also move with a purpose, or will you deny that too?

Apparently you look at a much smaller picture than I do. And, there's nothing wrong with that. But I can assure you that you do not know everything there is to know. And, neither do I but, I do know that markets move with a purpose. Again it comes down to basic cycles.
Quoting razorboy
I day trade equities with direct market access and trade FX long term from home....
I agree! Time frame is not irrelevant, though. The decision process needs to be much quicker on a 1 minute time frame vs a 1 week time frame. Faster decision time requires a different mindset than long term decision making. But, yes, you can either trade or you can't. I can trade my strategy on any time frame, and it is extremely simple and based on price movement. I just don't like staring at a computer screen. It's all about efficiency for me personally.

I find it much more efficient to make a decision and walk away while the market does all the work. I just collect. Managing risk, and growth is good enough for me.

Alright, enough computer for me already. Workout time!
Quoting Hyper
BarrySDCA, your statements about FXCM's "VPS" are valid. The system does indeed appear to be shared between two users. The other user can be seen by just browsing to "Cocuments and Settings" in Windows Explorer. You can see your own user name plus someone else's.

This can be a problem if one of the users runs multiple terminals, and/or runs Expert Advisors that use a continuous loop (e.g. "while(true)") - they'll be hogging resources from the other user.

What would be the best way to measure the performance of a VPS or (so-called "VPS")...
the best solution would be to not use this shared VPS at all. It is just too risky and restrictive - find a real VPS instead. You know it is funny how I even found out about it. I received an email from a Boston Technologies tech asking how to hide the folder you are describing!

If you ask me, they should be more concerned with fixing their MT4 servers than fixing the "VPS". You can't fix the "VPS". You can only throw it in the garbage and start over.

You can't compare our vps to theirs. Our VPS's are hyper-v - virtualized on the metal with only one (adminstrator) user - YOU. You can even install your own device drivers if you want to and there is no risk of causing problems for other subscribers or other subscribers causing problems for you. It even outshines Virtuozzo, which is what other VPS providers use. We have a document that details the differences between hyper-v and virtuozzo here.

But as far as the "VPS" from fxcm....my best advise to you is don't even waste your time.
BarrySDCA Commercial Network Services
Quoting BarrySDCA
You can't compare our vps to theirs.
There must be a number of ways to quantitatively compare performance, including my idea of counting the number of iterations per second in a continuous loop.

I know that it's not good to share resources with another user, but I want to see some numbers that show how much worse it is to do so compared with having a VPS all to myself. Simply saying "just don't use it" is not convincing enough.

For the price (10 trades per month or balance >= 5K) FXCM's "VPS" service is not bad value for money, and is far better than the VPS services that are offered by Gallant or IamFX.
Regarding the VPS offered by FXCM, we obviously do our best in providing this service, for free, to our traders. As a part of it being free, there are restrictions on its use, for example only being able to use MT4 since that is the intended purpose in providing it. The VPS itself is not something we’re looking to make money off of. For clients wanting a more personalized VPS setup, we can always make arrangements for a monthly fee or you're welcome to search for a payed for service as well. I'm sure CNS and every other VPS provider would be happy to share their pricing plans if you would like purchase a setup, and quite a smart business move to mention on the discussion thread for one of the worlds largest forex brokers. Either way, the trades on your FXCM account will make its way to our servers.
Hyper: maybe try installing some type of benchmarking software in each of the VPS's. You may be too restricted to. In that case, you will be correct a custom EA will need to be created to test this. Only you should do this after markets close because it will most certainly interfere with the other trader.

Jason: You are not offering a free vps. these traders are giving you $5000! In fact, you are not offering a vps at all. the P in VPS means "private", which it clearly is not. You are giving these traders the false understanding that it is. What's worse is they do not even know it and you don't even care to enlighten them.

I don't need a forum thread to advertise our services. We have been setting new sales records month after month for just about the past 3 years. To even suggest that is a joke. Our sales records are coming from providing GOOD service! You should try it some time! It really works!!

The issue I have with the configuration is that one of the "worlds largest forex brokers" is duping people into believing they are getting a VPS when it clearly has been demonstrated in the forum that it is not. Eventually one of your traders is going to lose a lot of money because the other user in their "VPS" crashes the system or otherwise consumes their resources, etc., or an admin at BT makes a VERY easy human error and opens the entire file system to all the traders on the box exposing confidential data, etc. (and if they are sending ME a email asking how to conceal the other users folder then I suspect it is more than likely already) It's just an irresponsible way of hosting any type of financial traders who have nothing to do with each other, other than the fact that they are using the same broker. I suppose this is going to be one of those "listen to me now, hear me later" things.

This setup you have is actually common in CORPORATIONS, where everyone is working on the same team and sharing files, etc.. It's also very cheap to host, which is why I assume you are using it. Hyper-v on the other hand is very expensive to host because you cannot get nearly as dense. apples/oranges

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I will call a foul wherever I see it (not limited to the forex world). Do you think we want to post such a harsh advisory against trading with your brokerage? Jason - I would like nothing more than to take it down! really! but it will not happen until the problems are resolved, period! I know of at least one formerly mutual trader who closed their NYC VPS with us and is keeping only the UK VPS because they quit trading with you after reading our advisory and confirming it with their own server logs. You see, people tend not to look at these logs and are likely unaware of the MT4 server issues you are experiencing or how it could be costing them $$ (of course you make $$ either way). I don’t/can’t see everyone, I am sure there are more. So we both lost a few bucks already due to your issue. However, I would prefer to lose $30 than have a trader lose $5000 any day!

You see I am not a sales guy like you are. Just a decent human being who would never EVER do what you are doing to a fellow trader. You may not believe it now, but once you fix these issues you will find that we may just start recommending you again. It's nothing personal or sales motivated here Jason, just calling it as I see it.

-peace
BarrySDCA Commercial Network Services
I am right. If you removed speculative trading from the world, the markets would still exist. They would just be more volatile.

Well bud, I don't really have time to go into deep philosophical treatise on markets. I will say this. All trading is speculative. Markets are simply a battle ground for the war of animal spirits and the fight over limited resources. There is no such thing as non speculative trade. If we regressed to cave man times we would fight it out with clubs, and more often than not this is still how the distribution is decided. Volatility like everything else is relative and always changing. The only way to remove speculation is to remove the speculators, get it.

Now my original comment was aimed at what sounded like some haughty superiority in a comment that suggest the writer had a higher understanding of a logic behind market movements. There is no logic, causality is a fools game, and whether you trade once for 100 pips or three times for 30, we are all playing the same game in the same water. I just don't see difference in trading on whatever chart you like. Any system that is geared correctly for risk-reward will have the same dynamic over any time frame. The difference is the person who has learned to trade on the small frame can produce similar absolute returns to a long time frame trader but with less capital. And I also believe trading on the short time frame require far more technical skill. If I had millions of dollars behind me I would certainly not spend my life glued to my pc hunting for scalps, I would most certainly be on the larger time frame doing less trading, less risking, and more golfing. For now, I hunt endlessly for 15 to 30 pips trades. You might go to Dukascopy's trader of the month page and see the last two winner were both short term traders targeting 15-30 pips per trade. You won't see any long time frame traders doing 90% plus per month on their capital.
Quoting BarrySDCA
Hyper: maybe try installing some type of benchmarking software in each of the VPS's. You may be too restricted to. In that case, you will be correct a custom EA will need to be created to test this. Only you should do this after markets close because it will most certainly interfere with the other trader.

Jason: You are not offering a free vps. these traders are giving you $5000! In fact, you are not offering a vps at all. the P in VPS means "private", which it clearly is not. You are giving these traders the false understanding that it is....
I believe that this guy is telling the truth...........

The fact that a "big" broker...or should I say a popular broker among the sheeple is doing something like that does not surprise me at all.

This people operate like casinos and their crew employ used car salesman tactics. I wonder why they set up their conventions in Vegas

Just read through this thread and you will see how some questions are just NOT ANSWERED by our friend Jason boy.

Anyways...... above and beyond all that, there is the fact that thousands of suckers are out there begging to be screwed, does not matter how much advise they get...for free !! The crooks feast on this people, and since the beginning of this world the same thing repeats itself over and over again....over and over again.........
Anyways...... above and beyond all that, there is the fact that thousands of suckers are out there begging to be screwed, does not matter how much advise they get...for free !! The crooks feast on this people, and since the beginning of this world the same thing repeats itself over and over again....over and over again.........[/quote]


Surely any Broker is not that generous to give anything for free.
Yes the broker does not charge for their very limited non private VPS directly, but they do attach certain condition to that free service. If those conditions are not met then you will pay for your free VPS.
Even if the trader meet those condition then obviously the broker recoups the incurred costs true the spread, interest received of your deposited money, nice little sum of wiring fees to get your money transferred back to your everyday banking account and the list goes on.
Is there really anything for free in this world, that’s the question?
Jason: You are not offering a free vps. these traders are giving you $5000! In fact, you are not offering a vps at all.

Barry, could you explain in a nutshell vps. I'm non-technical. I have been using fxcm active trader and very unhappy with delayed fills. In the past two months I've had two dozen or more trades, market orders on mt4, that hang anywhere from 30 seconds to five+ minutes. Usually happening at high volume times. There is a complaint/bad trade resolution procedure but after receiving a message that it would be followed up, and never hearing back from them again I stopped filing and just have to hope and pray my orders don't freeze or get horrendous fills during high volume times.

I have used Xtrader on CME and was blown away by the speed of execution. I am thinking of moving to fx futures and just using the brokers for mt4 charting. You mention vps via third party for a fee, is this some sort of way to get similar connection to the ecn?
Quoting Syxf
Jason: You are not offering a free vps. these traders are giving you $5000! In fact, you are not offering a vps at all.

Barry, could...
Just more and more testimonials that back my thoughts that FXCM is nothing but marketing bullshit!
Quoting Platypus
I believe that this guy is telling the truth...........

The fact that a "big" broker...or should I say a popular broker among the sheeple is doing something like that does not surprise me at all.

This people operate like casinos and their crew employ used car salesman tactics. I wonder why they set up their conventions in Vegas

Just read through this thread and you will see how some questions are just NOT ANSWERED by our friend Jason boy.

Anyways...... above and beyond all that, there is the fact that thousands...
There are three facts your broker does not want you to know.

1. You only have a 3-5% chance of making money through trading

2. Most accounts at Forex brokers last for between 3-6 months
before blowing out or withdrawal

3. Your broker has a 97% chance of making money from you.

This means your chance of succeeding in Forex trading is very small
and the odds are stacked against you.

by James de Wet
Quoting Syxf
Jason: You are not offering a free vps. these traders are giving you $5000! In fact, you are not offering a vps at all.

Barry, could you explain in a nutshell vps. I'm non-technical....
in a nutshell...

VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a way of taking a phsyical server and splitting it up into indiviual smaller servers, each called a VPS. They each have their own isolated operating system instance and can be rebooted individually without affecting the other VPS's on the same server.

They are hosted in a datacenter and always on to faithfully run your software. You can connect to them from anywhere, your home, office, mobile...it makes no difference. VPS's keep running, even if you lose your Internet connection or run out of battery. The Internet speed to a VPS is always fast, regardless of your own connection speed. And since the VPS is (or should) have lower latency to your broker, you will get a better MT4 experience all the way around.

You can intsall any software - many traders go beyond MT4 and install other trading software to work with them. Since you have your own isolated operating system, think of it as your own PC hosted in a datacenter that you can install what you want to in.

In the case of FXCM, you do not have your own isolated operating system instance and are actually sharing a VPS with another trader, so I doubt you can reboot it. What they have is more "shared meta trader hosting" similiar to "shared web hosting", but not by VPS.

I hope this makes sense...
BarrySDCA Commercial Network Services
Quoting LaughingDicK
There are three facts your broker does not want you to know.

1. You only have a 3-5% chance of making money through trading

2. Most accounts at Forex brokers last for between 3-6 months
before blowing out or withdrawal

3. Your broker has a 97% chance of making money from you.

This means your chance of succeeding in Forex trading is very small
and the odds are stacked against you.

by James de Wet

Amazing, know you know why you want to be a bucketshop
Quoting Syxf
I have been using fxcm active trader and very unhappy with delayed fills. In the past two months I've had two dozen or more trades, market orders on mt4, that hang anywhere from 30 seconds to five+ minutes. Usually happening at high volume times.
Jason,


How do you explain the above ? (I thought AT was STP processing, bank holding orders that long?)
This means your chance of succeeding in Forex trading is very small
and the odds are stacked against you.

Be there some other form of arbitrage that provides the hungry with cheaper meals???
know how to trade or you don't.........relative to your time frame of choice. While on the shorter term, the nuances of any broker may impact your trading through such things as widening spreads and hanging trades, to "blame" the broker for people blowing accounts is laughable.........its pretty close to "blaming" the market for your losses

An experienced trader owns his mistakes, losses and wins...........or at least understands that sometimes, shit just happens........

Of course, if a broker is rigging the game by adjusting spreads and quote timing and fills on individual platforms based on a factors like a player's positions, SL's or account equity, that is a whole other ball of wax, but I suspect that most brokers don't need to help retail FX traders lose..........they seem pretty good at it already.
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