Article Content:
Hi everyone

This is becoming a routine but I do love this kind of routines!!!

Last week left us a new all-time high in terms of Page Views and Visits with the site reaching 1,467,999 page views and 502,271 visits, beating the previous high of 1,369,805 set the week of January 17th to 23rd 2010 and 468,523 reached the week of December 6th to 12th 2009.

In terms of unique visitors, the site reached the best week since March 2009 with 167,503 visitors, still a way to go till the incredible all-time high of 181,856 of the week from October 5th to 11th 2008.

Way to go guys!

Francesc

———————

Article Content:
Hi everyone

I’m very happy to announce here today that FXstreet.com together with HY Investment UK Ltd and HY Markets will be launching the 4th edition of the Trader of the Year Contest.

This will be a special edition as it is our 10th anniversary. We had over 1,200 contestants last year and hope to increase the number of participants this edition.

As you probably already know, the Forex Trader of the Year contest has two parts:

1. A Demo Contest
2. A Real Account Contest

The contest will start next May 3rd with the Demo part and September 6th for the Live part.

We are working to have great prizes and some surprises… but remember that the purpose of the contest is not winning or making the best ever single trade in the history of Forex trading but learning, having a good time and learning again.
Stay tuned for more details.

I want to thank HY Investment UK Ltd and HY Markets for their support to make possible this very important 4th edition of our Forex Trader of the Year Contest the year of our 10th anniversary.

Francesc

About HY Markets
HY Markets has its global headquarters in London and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom. The Group has over 30 years of operational history and is the trading platform of choice for investors seeking fast and direct access to the world’s capital markets.
This long-standing expertise has enabled us to develop our revolutionary web-based Internet trading platform, which enables clients to invest in all major capital markets from one integrated account in an easy-to-use interface.
HY Markets is a division of the Henyep Group, a global diversified conglomerate with business in financial services, property, education, and charity spanning 3 continents and 20 countries worldwide. The Henyep Group of companies are registered and authorized in world-leading jurisdictions including London, Dubai, and Hong Kong. This provides clients with the comfort and security of a global institution.
HY Markets provides investors with efficient and direct access to all their trading needs. Start trading with the security of an FSA regulated company.

About HY Investment UK Ltd
HY Investment is a global leader in capital markets trading.  Headquartered in London with over 30 years of operational history, we are authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom (FSA). HY Investment is the partner of choice for Introducing brokers and Whitelabel partners wishing to grow their trading operations.
We specialize in providing our partners with access to all capital markets including foreign exchange, commodities, metals, equities, indices, and treasuries traded through our network of partners and advanced online trading platforms.

———————

Article Content:
NFA permanently bars Colorado firm CFS Capital Management LLC and sanctions its principals
February 8, Chicago - National Futures Association (NFA) has accepted CFS Capital Management LLC’s (CFS) settlement offer to permanently withdraw from NFA membership. CFS is a Commodity Trading Advisor located in Lakewood, Colorado. Andrew G. Elrod, a principal of CFS, was also ordered to permanently withdraw from NFA membership with no findings that he committed the allegations as charged in an NFA Complaint.

———————

Article Content:
Hi everyone

Go Markets Pty Ltd has just become the first ever Australian broker to enter FXstreet.com Leading Brokers & FDMs list.

The move responds to the growing audience FXstreet.com is experiencing from both Australia itself and South-Eastern Asia region.

Currently, South-Eastern Asia region is the second most important region at FXstreet.com with 15% of the audience, right behind Northern American with the 23%. Austrlia and New Zealand represent already 4% of our audience.

Here you have some stats I took today from Google Analytics for the month of January 2010 in order to give you a better idea of our traffic.

January 2010 FXstreet.com GeoMap Report - By Country
January 2010 FXstreet.com GeoMap Report 2 - By Region

Welcome on board Go Markets Pty Ltd!

Francesc

About Go Markets
Go Markets Pty Ltd is an Australian registered company offering a wide range of financial products to an extensive client base both here in Australia and overseas.
Go Markets is an ASIC registered company (AFSL licence number 254963) that is regulated to offer financial services including Securities, Derivatives (including CFDs) and Margin FX.
To be able to offer a high level of service as standard to all of our clients we have entered into partnerships with various financial institutions that specialise in the global securities and derivatives industry.

———————

Article Content:
BANK OF CHINA CLEARED TO TRANSACT RETAIL FOREX ONLINE
The Bank of China (BoC; SSE:601988) announced on Sunday that it had been approved to launch retail foreign exchange sale and purchase business via online banking
from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), becoming the first bank approved to carry out such business.

———————

Article Content:
Hi everyone

As you already know, my people will be attending the New York Traders Expo next week. We are sending over media relations manager Maud Gilson, marketing manager Carolina May, sales manager Colm Mullan and my partner Sergi Fernández.

For those of you that have purchased FXstreet’s DVD Series issue 1 with Rob Booker or issue 2 with James Chen, I thought you would like to know that we have a Maud has organized a signing session with both.

Here you have dates and times:

#1 Support and Resistance Trading by Rob Booker
http://www.fxstreet.com/education/forex-dvds/support-and-resistance-trading/

Meet Rob in person here at our Booth on MONDAY, Feb 15 at 2:45 pm

#2 High Probability Trend Following in the Forex Market by James Chen
http://www.fxstreet.com/education/forex-dvds/high-probability-trend-following/

Meet James in person here at our Booth on TUESDAY, Feb 16 at 11 am

FXstreet Booth: number 6809 - 6th Floor

Of course, you’ll be able to buy both DVDs at our booth as we are taking over some copies with us

Francesc

———————

Article Content:
CFTC rules could be blow to retail currency traders
NEW YORK, Feb 09 (Reuters) - Rules proposed by the regulator of U.S. futures markets to fight fraud in foreign currency trades are too restrictive for retail trading firms and could dramatically cut into the growing business, dealers said.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was given clearer authority last month, in farm legislation passed by Congress in 2008, to go after foreign currency (forex) trading scams being pulled off in the unregulated over-the-counter market.

Related News:
US Retail FX Brokers Oppose CFCT Lower Leverage Proposal by Market News International

———————

Article Content:
Premier Czech Retail Broker, Patria Direct, Launches Patria Forex with FXCM
London and Prague, 9 February 2010—FXCM Holdings LLC, a leader in the retail forex business, today announces that Patria Direct, a leading retail securities dealer headquartered in the Czech Republic, will provide forex and CFD trading through a platform built, customised, and serviced by FXCM’s in-house developers. The collaboration combines FXCM’s established technology with Patria’s expertise in capital markets and professional, customer-focused service.

———————

Article Content:
Rumors abounded last week that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was losing political support for re-confirmation and there was some speculation that he might not get the “nod’.  Combine that with president Obama’s populist rhetoric and the markets  sold off because of the uncertainty.  The one thing I cannot stress enough is that THE MARKETS HATE UNCERTAINTY!

Realizing the consequence of their actions, politicos this weekend conceded that Bernanke will most likely be re-confirmed so it was game on for the markets again.  As a result, the theme so far this morning is mild risk-taking.  The Aussie (AUD) and Kiwi (NZD) are up, the Japanese yen (JPY) is down.

The yen drop also comes as a result that “people familiar with the situation” claim that the Bank of Japan will expand bond buying to keep the yen from strengthening too much and encourage weakness to help exports.

The British pound (GBP) is also showing strength this morning, as the UK GDP report is expected to show an expansion of .4% in Q4 vs. a previous contraction of .2% in Q3.   The pound is also near 5-month highs against the Euro (EUR) which is currently under pressure from problems with the PIIGS countries, particularly Greece.

Also on tap this week is GDP reports from the UK on Tuesday and Annualized GDP from the US on Friday.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports from the Euro Zone and Australia on Wednesday and Japan on Thursday.

Interest rate decisions from Japan on Tuesday and the US and New Zealand on Wednesday.

That plus a smattering of consumer confidence numbers from various regions plus the US and President Obama’s State of the Union address should make for a volatile week!

When trading markets that are expected to have a higher degree of volatility, it is important to stay nimble and not “get married” to a position.  Remember to cut your losers short and let your winners run!

Happy trading!

To learn more about how to get involved with the fastest growing market in the world– the forex market– be sure to check out our currency trading courses!

To follow these events live in a free, real-time practice account, get started here!

none

———————

Article Content:
UK GDP came in this morning at a less than expected .1%, missing analyst expectations of .4%.  However, the good news is that their economy did indeed expand, officially removing the “recession” tag from their economy.  Now the question remains what happens from here.

Will policy makers see this growth as a sign that the economy is still fragile, or will they be inclined to believe that recovery is under way?  My experience tells me that that the British tend to err on the side of caution, which means that they could leave the stimulative measures they took in place for an extended period.

Had growth come in as expected, then most analysts were expecting a withdraw of quantitative easing.  As a result of this shift in sentiment, the British pound (GBP) is down against all but the commodity currencies, as risk-aversion is the play of the day.

As can be expected, stock market futures are down pre-open, and it looks like there’s some pressure on gold and oil.

Adding to the mix is the strength in Japanese yen (JPY).  Their growth outlook was cut to “negative” by S&P, which essentially means that interest rates will remain extraordinarily low and stable for a long time, helping the yen to reassert its dominance as the funding currency of choice for the carry trade.  This causes demand for the currency which helps it to strengthen, even though this seems counter-intuitive to most investors.

Also contributing to yen strength is the fact that China is trying to slow its own growth and has restricted lending to attempt to prevent asset bubbles, though they may be too late.   Should the Chinese restrict growth, then the possibility of a global double dip recession increases.  This also plays into the risk aversion play.

So not surprisingly, the largest movers are the AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY pairs, down 1.6% and 1.9% respectively which of course, show yen strength.

As I mentioned yesterday, this is a heavy week for economic data so should it continue to come in worse than expected, we could see some serious moves in the broader markets.

So remember to stay nimble when volatility picks up!

To learn more about how to interpret economic data, be sure to check out our currency trading courses!

To follow the news events live in a free, real-time practice account, get started here!

 

none

———————