Forex Market Comparison

Trade Around the Clock

The forex market is a near-seamless 24 hour market. Subject to available liquidity, FXCM offers trading from Sunday, starting after 5:15 p.m. EST, until Friday, 4 p.m., EST (FXCM Client Service is available 24/7). With the ability to trade around the clock, currency traders have the advantage of customizing their own trading schedule; they can usually get in or out of the market at any time without waiting for an opening bell or encountering a market gap. While trading stocks after usual market hours is possible, very often that possibility is negated by a lack of order flow or a drastic widening of the bid-ask spread.

24-Hour Market Action

Unlike most futures exchanges, the currency market is a seamless 24-hour market. Subject to available liquidity, at 5:15 p.m., Sunday, New York time, trading begins as markets open in Sydney and Singapore. At 7 p.m. the Tokyo market opens, followed by London at 2 a.m., and finally New York at 8 a.m. As a trader, this allows you to react to favourable or unfavourable news by trading immediately. If important data comes in from England or Japan while the U.S. futures market is closed, the next day's opening could be a wild ride. (Overnight markets in futures currency contracts exist, but they can only be thinly traded, are not very liquid and are difficult for the average investor to access.)

Pay No Commissions*

In the forex market costs are confined to the bid-ask spread. FXCM charges no commission or additional transaction fees, and its customers trade on spreads provided to FXCM by some of the world's largest banks via the FX Trading Station. In the stock market, "no-fee" programs are frequently offered only with provisos mandating minimum account balances or minimum trades per month.

* FXCM is compensated through the bid/ask spread except where otherwise noted. Please note commission charges apply for certain classes of non-standard accounts such as Active Trader. For additional information, click here.

No Uptick Rule

Unlike the equity market, there is no restriction on short selling in the forex currency market, no matter which way the market is moving. Since currency trading involves buying one currency and selling another, a trader has the same ability to trade in a rising market as in a falling one.

Forex Market Information Easily Accessible

Information about stocks is abundant, but so are the stocks. Finding a trade opportunity in the equities markets may mean sifting through data on thousands of stocks, while the forex trader has only six major currencies to research. Additionally, the vital information that moves equity markets, such as revenues and profits, is proprietary and private, and sometimes subject to fraud, deception and insider trading. In contrast, virtually all of the news that bears on the forex market is in publicly disseminated reports from governments or research institutions, and released to everybody at the same time.

The knowledge you've gained in analyzing stocks is easily transferable to the forex market. Many of the economic indicators familiar to equity traders, such as payroll data and interest rates, affect the currency markets. And many technical traders have found the forex market to be particularly attractive, since currencies respond well to many of the common technical indicators, such as MACD, RSI, and Candlestick charting.

To learn more about transitioning from trading equity markets to trading in the forex market, contact the FXCM staff today at: 0808 234 8789.