MB Trading and their Volume representation | Forex Factory

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MB Trading and their Volume representation

  • #1
  • First Post: Aug 12, 2010 11:12am Aug 12, 2010 11:12am
Hi guys,
Considering MB as possible FX broker I've asked their representative a couple of questions.
First of all I wanted to understand what does their volume on FX charts stand for.
Actually it could be just 2 basic types of volume: number of contracts/lots/stocks and the actual monetary turnover.
After a lot of misunderstandings I've got some rather strange answer.
According to them,volume depicted on charts means number of transactions which took place in that specific time frame.
On the other hand volume (or size) printed on time&sales window stands for the number of mini-lots i.e 10,000.
And here comes the question.
How on earth can it be that in 30 sec at least $50,000,000 change hands taking into account we are not speaking here about some even Tier 2 PB?
Are their figures just fabricated?
What do you think?
  • #2
  • Aug 12, 2010 11:15am Aug 12, 2010 11:15am
Quoting liopro
Hi guys,
Considering MB as possible FX broker I've asked their representative a couple of questions.
First of all I wanted to understand what does their volume on FX charts stand for.
Actually it could be just 2 basic types of volume: number of contracts/lots/stocks and the actual monetary turnover.
After a lot of misunderstandings I've got some rather strange answer.
According to them,volume depicted on charts means number of transactions which took place in that specific time frame.
On the other hand volume (or size) printed on time&sales window...
That's only 500 lots. Hardly seems like a big number.

Having said that, I believe that the volume number on a chart in FX is only the number of bid changes during that bar.
  • #3
  • Aug 12, 2010 11:24am Aug 12, 2010 11:24am
Quoting wannatradefx
That's only 500 lots. Hardly seems like a big number.

Having said that, I believe that the volume number on a chart in FX is only the number of bid changes during that bar.
You think so?
They told me that the number reflects actual transactions.
Anyway,50M is quite a big number if we're talking about not so volatile time interval between US and Asian sessions and 30 sec frame.
Do you think they show you the banking activity as well?
  • #4
  • Aug 12, 2010 11:48am Aug 12, 2010 11:48am
Quoting liopro
You think so?
They told me that the number reflects actual transactions.
Anyway,50M is quite a big number if we're talking about not so volatile time interval between US and Asian sessions and 30 sec frame.
Do you think they show you the banking activity as well?
Liopro,

Do you happen to know the name of the person you spoke with that told you that? Volume numbers in FX are not transactions for any broker. They are tick movement. We don’t have a Time and Sales for FX.
  • #5
  • Aug 12, 2010 11:53am Aug 12, 2010 11:53am
Quoting jleblang
Liopro,

Do you happen to know the name of the person you spoke with that told you that? Volume numbers in FX are not transactions for any broker. They are tick movement. We don’t have a Time and Sales for FX.
Hi,
No,I don't remember his or her name.
Regarding the time and sales..If you don't have it so what am I seeing when I navigate to Depth of Market screen and insert EUR/USD as an underlyer?There're bids and offers as well as t&s where the trades are being printed.
I'm talking about your Navigator software.
  • #6
  • Aug 13, 2010 6:03am Aug 13, 2010 6:03am
Quoting jleblang
Liopro,

We don’t have a Time and Sales for FX.
Hm..I did open the system yesterday and yes there's DOM and T&S window in Navigator for FX.
More than that,the prices and quantities seem to reflect the reality.
At least the MB's internal reality
  • #7
  • Aug 13, 2010 6:13am Aug 13, 2010 6:13am
Thats only bid/ask updates with associated quantities. MB does not publish info about traded volume.
  • #8
  • Aug 13, 2010 8:32am Aug 13, 2010 8:32am
Quoting shrike
Thats only bid/ask updates with associated quantities. MB does not publish info about traded volume.
Well let's go for some example.
Assume in t&s I see the following was printed:

14:30:00 100@1,3500 As Bid
14:30:01 100@1,3501 As Bid
14:30:02 200@1,3502 As Bid
14:30:03 500@1,3501 As Ask

So what do those numbers (100,100,200,500) mean?
Quantities of what?
  • #9
  • Aug 13, 2010 8:52am Aug 13, 2010 8:52am
14:30:00 100@1,3500 As Bid

It means someone put in a buy-limit order for 1 million @ 1,3500 at 14:30:00
It doesn't mean someone traded at this price. If you put in a limit-order, you should see it displayed too. Try it with some odd amout that is easy to spot.
  • #10
  • Aug 13, 2010 8:56am Aug 13, 2010 8:56am
So what's the point of displaying those "virtual" bid/asks?
Do you think there's no way to see the actual trade printed?
Is there any broker at all who can print the actual trades out as it happens with stocks?
  • #11
  • Aug 13, 2010 9:39am Aug 13, 2010 9:39am
I dont think so. Hotspot does publish volume data, but not in realtime. You have to trade futures for reliable traded volume data, but they represent only a small fraction of the overall currency market.
  • #12
  • Aug 13, 2010 9:55am Aug 13, 2010 9:55am
Well it's not about the volume.
It's more about the buy/sell presure I'd say.
When dealing with stocks there's more or less clear indication of buy/sell presure on the T&S screen.
Not always readable but sometime it can tell something about possible breakouts/reversals etc.
  • #13
  • Aug 13, 2010 10:04am Aug 13, 2010 10:04am
In my opinion, level 2 data in fx is useless except for checking if there is sufficient size available for a large order. There are dozens of ecns and even more marketmaker platforms which dont even give out depth information, you'd have to monitor them all to get a complete picture. Additionally, there isn't even traded volume info available, as discussed. Tape reading and similar tactics is something for exchange-traded instruments.
  • #14
  • Last Post: Aug 13, 2010 10:06am Aug 13, 2010 10:06am
Yes.I see.
Thank you for participating in the converstaion
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