IKON PLATINUM (Spot FX)
$1,000 USD Minimum Deposit (Trade standard and mini contracts in same account)
Note: Trade spot forex on the Ikon Platinum platform and forex options on the Core Options platform - all in the same account (the platforms are linked together for live accounts).
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IKON PLATINUM platform details: |
CLICK HERE FOR FREE DEMO |
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OPEN ACCOUNT |
Risk Mgmt/Hedging
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* TRADE SPOT & VANILLA OPTIONS | ||
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* Cross-Margin Spot & Options | ||
| * Live Streaming Quotes | ||
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* Free News, Charts & Research | ||
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* No Commissions or Fees** | ||
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**CFOS/FX is compensated through the bid/ask spread for forex trading | ||
"Forex" and "FX" are simply abbreviations of "foreign exchange" and in the context of this website generally refers to off-exchange retail foreign currency markets. The forex market is not a "market" in the traditional sense due to the fact that there is no centralized location for fx trading activity and, therefore, trades placed in the forex market are considered over-the-counter (OTC) or "off exchange".
CFOS/FX customers may transact in off exchange retail forex markets, but CFOS/FX customers should note that they are not direct trading participants in the forex interbank market and that the respective FCM/OTCFX Dealer holding customer funds acts as the counterparty to customer trades. The true forex interbank market is a cash interbank/interdealer market which, in simplest terms, means foreign currencies are traded directly between banks, foreign currency dealers and forex investors wishing either to diversify, speculate or to hedge foreign currency risk. It is the respective FCM/OTCFX Dealer holding customer funds that may directly participate in the true forex interbank market - not the CFOS/FX retail forex customer.
To be clear, the off exchange retail forex market is only a small fraction of the true forex interbank market. Therefore, CFOS/FX customers may transact in off exchange retail forex markets, but are not direct trading participants in the true "interbank" market. It is important to recognize this difference.
Until recently the forex market has not been available to the small speculator. The large minimum foreign currency transaction sizes and financial requirements left this market in the hands of banks, major foreign currency dealers and the occasional large fx speculator. However, online margined forex trading has now been made available to many retail investors. CFOS/FX clients can trade through online forex trading platforms and/or over the telephone. It is important to note that high leverage is a double-edge sword and can lead to large losses as well as gains. For more information about margins and leverage, please click the following link: how margins work.
Five major currencies dominate trading in the forex markets: the U.S. Dollar, Eurocurrency, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc and British Pound. The foreign currencies are traded in pairs, also known as crosses, in the forex spot market. For example, purchasing the EUR/USD in the forex spot market simply means the purchaser is buying the Eurocurrency and selling the U.S. Dollar in anticipation of the Eurocurrency gaining value in relation to the U.S. Dollar. Similarly, the seller of a EUR/USD contract would be selling the Eurocurrency against the U.S. Dollar. The "spot" market simply refers to a currency contract with a prompt valuation date requiring settlement within two business days.
Over the past several decades, an increase in international trade and foreign investment has made the economies of the world more interrelated. New opportunities for investors have also been created with the fall of communism and the dramatic growth of the Asian and Latin American economies. Today, supply and demand for a particular currency is the driving factor in determining exchange rates. Many factors such as regularly reported economic figures and unexpected news reports, such as disasters or political instabilities, could also alter the desirability of holding a particular currency, thus influencing international supply and demand for that currency.
The forex spot market is open 24 hours a day from Sunday 4:00 pm CST through Friday 3:00 pm CST, except on scheduled holidays (hours may vary by dealer). There may be a brief period of time during daily rollover when trading is stopped to properly rollover all open spot positions.
The minimum account deposit is $1,000 USD
Please note: once the FX trading account is open and
funded, it is acceptable if the FX trading account balance drops below the minimum initial
account size, provided the balance of the account does NOT fall below the margin
level requirements.
If you are unsure how margins work in the FX
market, please click here
FOREIGN CURRENCY CONTRACT DESCRIPTIONS
- Typically $100,000 (standard) notional
contract size
- Typical tick
size (one pip) = $10 per $100,000 notional contract value for currency pairs
with USD as quote currency (actual tick values will vary depending on the base
and quote currency)
- Mini contracts are only available for the
most liquid currency pairs such as the EUR/USD and USD/JPY. Currency pairs
available for mini trading and the respective minimum notional contract size
depends on liquidity.
- Rollover occurs at 5pm ET and the trading platform may not be accessible for 15 or 20 minutes.
*The 24-hour phone dealing desk is only available for live
clients, and not demo clients.
**If you are trading both spot and options in this
account, only the Core Options platform provides a complete snapshot of
both forex spot and option
P/L and account values. Further, the spot and option margins may not show as cross-margined on the Core
Option platform but, in actuality, are cross-margined in the backoffice and will
be reflected in the daily account statement after rollover.
FOREIGN CURRENCY PAIRS & TARGET DEALING SPREADS
To view current pairs and bid/ask spreads, please
REGISTER FOR DEMO ACCOUNT
*The 24-hour phone dealing desk is only available for
live clients, and not demo clients.
**Spreads may widen during volatile market conditions
Mini contracts are only available for the most liquid currency pairs such as the EUR/USD and USD/JPY. Currency pairs available for mini trading and the respective minimum notional contract size depends on liquidity and are subject to change at any time without notice.
*The 24-hour phone dealing desk is only available for
live clients, and not demo clients.
There is no addition cost to to execute a
trade through a live broker.
For phone trading procedure, please click on the following
link: Phone Etiquette
The online currency trading platforms offered through CFOS/FX allow you the flexibility to enter a wide variety of order types including:
- Market Orders. A market order is an order to buy or sell a specific currency, which is to be filled immediately at the online current exchange rate quoted on the screen. Please note that fills may be much better or much worse if you attempt to trade during fast, volatile markets (such as around economic report releases, etc.)
Each of the online currency trading platforms offered through CFOS/FX offers our clients real-time streaming prices with fast, easy and efficient one-touch order execution. The market order allows the online currency trading client to follow the real-time bids and offers on the screen that can be executed with a click of the mouse. The most advantageous aspect of the market order is the ability for the trader to capture better fills. In simplest terms, CFOS/FX online currency trading clients will be offered a better price if the bid or offer improves while you are executing. However, if your price becomes worse, the foreign currency trading platform will warn you of the change (via an instant online requote) and confirm your desire to execute your transaction prior to providing a confirmation.
- Limit Orders. An order to buy or sell a currency pair, which is executed when the forex trading price is breached. For example, you place an order to buy 100,000 euro at 1.0950. The online forex trading platform will automatically fill your order when the offer reaches 1.0950. Limit orders can be placed to both buy and sell forex contracts.
- Stop Orders. A stop order is a type of limit order that is placed to attempt to "lock in" a specified gain or loss, closing the position. Typically a risk management order used by online forex trading clients to help manage their market exposure, this type of order can also be used to enter into a new position. Stop orders can be used to both buy and sell forex contracts.
Please note: A stop loss is designed to protect traders from excessive losses in the event that a market's price dramatically changes in one direction or another. As a general rule of thumb, even professional traders with years of experience should utilize stop losses. Traders should establish a threshold of pain before entering into a trade and set a stop loss at said level. When and if the price moves to the stop loss the trade will be closed. Stop losses do not guarantee that the trader will be protected from loss. In certain market conditions the stop loss will be filled at the next available price which may be at a different price than the trader has specified, and could potentially be significantly higher or lower than the desired price.
The traditional "stop-loss" order is used by online forex trading clients to attempt to prevent losses in excess of pre-determined acceptable risk levels. Virtually all professional online foreign currency traders determine both their profit targets and risk levels prior to entering each and every trade. For example, if you bought GBP/USD at 1.7480 you could enter a stop-loss order to sell at, say, 1.7460. This would effectively attempt to limit your potential loss on the position to 20 pips if the price fell.
The "trailing stop" is used by online currency trading clients to attempt to lock in profits. For example, if you bought GBP/USD at 1.7480 and the online forex trading price has risen to 1.7520, giving you a profit of 40 pips, you may want to attempt to lock in a certain amount of that profit in case the price falls back down. On the online forex trading platform, you would simply place a stop order to sell at, say, 1.7510. If the forex trading price does drop, your position will be closed automatically with a profit of 30 pips. If the forex trading price keeps increasing and the position becomes even more profitable, the trader may move his or her trailing stop up yet again, thereby attempting to "lock in" more profits.
The stop order can also be used to enter into a new position. For example, if the EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.3200 and you believe if the market breaches an expected support-level of 1.3185 that the EUR/USD will continue to fall in price until it reaches a lower support level around, say 1.3150, then you could place a "sell-stop" order at 1.3180. The sell-stop order will trigger an automatic order to sell at market price once the EUR/USD is 1.3180 bid, allowing you to potentially capture currency trading profits from the expected downward price movement. Conversely, if the EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.3200 and you believe if the market breaches an expected resistance-level of 1.3225 that the EUR/USD will continue to rise in price until it reaches a higher resistance level around, say 1.3260, then you could place a "buy-stop" order at 1.3230. The buy-stop order will trigger an automatic order to buy at the market once the EUR/USD is 1.3230 offered, allowing you to potentially capture profits from the expected upward price movement.
It is important to note that, by convention, buy limit and sell stop orders are entered in below the current market price. Sell limit and buy stop orders are entered in above the current market price.
- GTC or GTM Orders. "GTC" simply stands for "good-til-cancelled" and is fairly self-explanatory. When a GTC order is placed, the order will remain in effect ("good") until it is cancelled by the trader. For example, if you place an order to buy 3 EUR/USD at 1.2700 "GTC," then the order will remain in effect until you cancel it. "GTM" stands for "good-til-market close," meaning the order placed will only be good until the close of daily trading (4 p.m. CST rollover) and will be automatically cancelled at that time.
- "OCO" Orders. "OCO" stands for "one-cancels-the-other" or "order-cancels-order." An OCO order is used when two separate orders are placed but only one fill is required by the trader. For example, if you bought EUR/USD at 1.3240 you could then simultaneously place a sell limit order at 1.3270 and a sell-stop at 1.3220 "OCO." You would then effectively have your profit target order in place while simultaneously protecting yourself with a stop-loss if the market moved against your position. If one order or the other order was to get filled, then the remaining order would immediately and automatically be cancelled. Please be aware that in fast markets, due to extreme price volatility, you may be unable to place an OCO order where one or both of your orders are too close to the market (the current price).
- "If Done" Orders. An "if done" order is placed to automatically enter a new order "if" the original order gets "done" (gets filled). This order allows our online forex trading clients freedom to work on other strategies or other business rather than having to constantly monitor the markets waiting for his or her original position to get filled before placing a new order. You could use an "if done" order in the following instance: you want to sell and you believe the current price of GBP/USD at 1.9270 is too low, but you would like to sell if the price rises to 1.9290. Further, you also want to protect yourself with a stop-loss believing in case the price continued to rise above and beyond your projected sell at 1.9290. You could place a sell-limit order at 1.9290 to effectively enter the market at your price, and you could also state "if done" place a buy-stop at 1.9305 to protect yourself from prices continuing to rise and move against your position. The net effect of your order is that "if" and when your order gets "done," then the buy-stop order would immediately and automatically be placed as protection.
*Please note: All of the above trade examples are not actual trading recommendations. The above examples are for informative and educational purposes only.
*CROSS-MARGINING: Spot and Options on Spot positions are cross-margined (the margins are combined to account for decreased risk exposure) in this account.
**Leveraged trading can lead to potentially large losses as well as gains. Please read our Risk Disclosure for detailed information.
Since each online forex trading platform offered through CFOS/FX is based on leveraged products, each forex spot transaction requires a margin deposit that ensures credit-worthiness. Minimum allowable margin levels are set by the National Futures Association. The actual margin levels and policies are outlined in the account opening documentation and are the decisions of each forex FCM's credit committee. CFOS/FX clients can utilize leverage of up to 50:1 in the forex spot market. This simply means that an investor can leverage a forex contract worth $100,000 with an initial margin requirement of only $1,000.
Initial margin requirement is based on the standard leverage available (50:1). Maintenance Margin level is considered the "safety level" whereby a client has adequate funds in the account to hold open positions. Margin Call level is reached when the FCM feels the client no longer has adequate funds in the account to appropriately margin open positions, and the account is in jeopardy of falling to a zero balance. A Margin Call is a request by the FCM for a client to deposit additional funds into his or her trading account to adequately margin open positions. Margin Calls should immediately be satisfied with a wire transfer. If a Margin Call is not immediately met by a client, then either a portion or all open positions may be closed at the FCM's discretion. At IKON Global Markets, the Initial Margin requirement is also the Maintenance Margin requirement (there is only one margin level, and it should not be breached).
At the discretion of the foreign currency FCMs, maintenance margin rates may be increased from time to time, especially before a weekend or holiday, to account for unexpected price volatility that can occur while the forex markets are closed.
**If you are trading both spot and options in this account, only the Core Options platform provides a complete snapshot of both forex spot and option P/L and account values. Further, the spot and option margins may not show as cross-margined on the Core Option platform but, in actuality, are cross-margined in the backoffice and will be reflected in the daily account statement after rollover.
If you are unsure how margins work in the forex market, please click here. Also, please feel free to contact us to discuss the nature of leverage and margins to ensure your complete understanding of the leveraged nature of forex trading and/or view our forex risk disclosures.
Each spot forex transaction executed through CFOS/FX is basis the standard two day value date confirmation. Upon reaching the value date, each transaction is automatically rolled over to the next value date. Rollover occurs at 5pm EST and the trading platform may not be accessible for 15 or 20 minutes. When a currency pair is rolled over to the next value date, there is either a cost or a credit to such a transaction. Wednesday rollover is used to compensate for Saturday and Sunday interest that is unaccounted for while the markets are closed on those two days. Any open spot positions held at rollover on Wednesday will experience three days worth of credits or debits in the account. For additional information, please click on the following link: How to Calculate Rollover Interest
Forex option trading is not appropriate for every investor. Please carefully read our risk disclosures page for an explanation of risks involved in forex trading, including a detailed explanation of leverage.