FCMarket Review

WHO IS FCMARKET?      

According to research in South Africa FCMARKET is based in Indonesia and acts as the introducing broker (IB) to Hot Forex, owned by HFM Ltd which is licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

FCMARKET was established in 2007 and first was an IB for NorthFinance.com and FxPro.

FCMARKET provides trading of currencies, indices, shares and commodities.

FCMARKET claims to be one of the most outstanding and reliable online forex trading consultants in the industry with tight spreads, flexible leverage up to 1:1000, EAs, scalping, and hedging allowed, winner of industry awards and more.

The information on the site is however full of contradictions, leaving an impression that everything may not be as kosher as it first appears.

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SAFE OR SCAM

One of the best benchmarks to measure the safety of a broker like FCMARKET, is to establish which regulating authorities are watchdogs over its actions.

Specific details of the license, registration and regulation of FCMARKET cannot be found on its website, however they claim that only top tier international banks are used, client funds are held in segregated accounts and that they operate fully transparently.

PRO AND CONS

LEVERAGE

Leverage is a facility that enables you to get a much larger exposure to the market you are trading than the amount you deposited to open the trade. Leveraged products, such as forex trading, magnify your potential profit – but also increase your potential loss.

Leverage amount is expressed as a ratio, for instance 50:1, 100:1, or 500:1. Assuming that you have $1,000 in your trading account and you trade ticket sizes of 500,000 USD/JPY, your leverage will equate 500:1.

Margin is the amount of collateral to cover any credit risks that may arise during your trading operations. It is expressed as the percentage of position size (e.g. 5% or 1%), and you have to have funds in your trading account to ensure sufficient margin.

For example, on a 1% margin a position of $1,000,000 will require a deposit of $10,000. The margin level in a trading account needs to be equal or more than 100% to be able to open new trades, otherwise your trading account will be fully hedged.

FCMARKET offers a maximum leverage ratio of 1:400 although the broker also indicates that the maximum leverage available is 1:1000 – one of the contradictory statements on the website.

ACCOUNTS   

A forex account at FCMARKET is a trading account that you will hold and that will work similarly to your bank account, but with the difference that it is primarily issued with the purpose of trading on currencies.

Forex Islamic accounts are also known as swap-free accounts as they imply no swap or rollover interest on overnight positions, which is against Islamic faith.

Often, the number and type of accounts that a trader can open with a broker company differs depending on the country in which it operates and the regulation authorities under whose jurisdiction it falls.

FCMARKET offers micro (1K), mini (10K) or standard lot (100K) accounts. The minimum amount needed to open a live account at FCMARKET is only $500. Accounts are set up depending on the funds in the account and registration is made under the HotForex name.

No fees or commissions are taken.

FCMARKET offers investors a Forex Managed Account Programme (Fund Management) with an estimated 5-30% profit per month for those who want a passive income investment or for those who do not have time to trade. The spreads are variable with the minimum spread at 1 pip.

A $100 000 dollar unlimited time demo account is available for to practice trades before putting real money at risk. Swap free Islamic accounts seems to be available, although it is elsewhere stated that FCMARKET does not provide swap free Islamic Trading Accounts.

MARKET INSTRUMENTS

The most popular market instruments available from most brokers for trading include:

Forex

Forex trading describes the currency exchange market which refers to the global, decentralised marketplace where individuals, companies and financial institutions exchange currencies for one another at floating rates.

Commodities

Commodity markets offer many investment opportunities for traders. Soft commodities have been traded for centuries and plays a major role in portfolio diversification and risk management. Investing in contract-based tradable goods is a reliable way to mitigate risk during times of economic uncertainty.

Indices

Equity, or stock indices, are actual stock market indexes which measure the value of a specific section of a stock market. They can represent a specific stock market or a specific set of the largest companies of a nation.

Precious metals

The trading of gold and other precious metals, along with crude oil, copper or petroleum, are hard commodities that play a major role in the commodities market and are contract-based tradable goods.

Energy

The typical feature of energy prices is high volatility due to the influence of political and environmental factors, supply and demand, extreme weather conditions and global economic growth.

FCMARKET offers Currencies, Metals, Futures and CFDs for trading.

FEES

Cost depends on different factors, like spread and margins, and FCMARKET clients may also experience different fee structures according to their country or place of residence.

The spread of a currency pair is the difference between the bid and the ask rate. A pip represents the smallest increment that an exchange rate can move.

Margin is the amount of money required in your account in order to open a position. Margin is calculated based on the current price of the base currency against USD, the size (volume) of the position and the leverage applied to your trading account.

FCMARKET does not clearly indicate whether there are additional commissions.

The minimum spread starts from 1 pip. The spread is variable and different instruments also have different natural spreads.

DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL

Accounts usually requires a certain minimum initial deposit, which can be paid in several ways. Withdrawals can usually be done with the same ways, but sometimes differ.

In the case of FCMARKET Bank Wire, Skrill (MoneyBookers), WebMoney, Neteller, CashU, UKash, FinalPay credit card, and debit card money transfer methods are provided for deposit and withdraw of funds.

The minimum amount required to open up an account seems to be $500, although it is stated as $50 on the account opening page.

It is not stated if there are any added fees or not, but banks and processors may charge a fee for transfer processing. It can take up to three days for a withdrawal request to be processed by FCMARKET.

TRADING PLATFORMS

The forex trading platform provided by FCMARKET to its clients is in essence the software to carry out their trades. Some brokers provide only one, others quite a few platforms.

A multi-asset trading platform is one that allows clients to trade forex as well as other asset classes. The decision about which platform to choose will usually depend on what a client would like to trade.

FCMARKET provides Metatrader4 and a Mobile Trader.

Multilanguage support allows traders to switch between languages of the mobile terminal interface and work with all features of the terminal in the native language.

HOW TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT

Similarly to a bank, to register a forex trading account with FCMARKET for the first time, you will be required to go through a basic “know your customer” process, which will allow FCMARKET to ascertain that your submitted details and ensure the safety of your funds and account details.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Potential traders need to make sure the broker company they chose will offer sufficient support whenever they need it.

In the case of FCMARKET the customer service team is available 24 hours a day from Sunday to Friday. The only certain method of communication provided is an email address.

EDUCATION       

Before starting to trade, potential clients of FCMARKET should avail themselves of all possible information and trading skills needed to be successful in the world of forex and commodity trading.

FCMARKET offers a Forex section that explains the fundamentals, risk and risk management very well.

There are tutorials on basic and advanced topics and both technical and fundamental analyses are covered in detail.

There is also a forex glossary that details different trading terms and an economic calendar that details different news events and what impact they may have on the markets.

RESEARCH         

To be able to trade with confidence, traders should do as much as possible research about this kind of speculative trading before commencing, but also preceding every daring deal to ensure that they don’t lose money unnecessarily and trade as profitable as possible.

With FCMARKET they have access to two economic calendars, one provided by Bloomberg and the other by Forex Factory. There are no news updates or reports provided.

AWARDS

Being an awarded company instils extra confidence by traders.  Although FCMARKET is acclaimed by customers, there is no indication of awards won on its homepage.

CONCLUSION  

FCMARKET allows for a lot of confusion and some noted contradictions on its website. The leverage is indicated with different levels, as does the minimum deposit. Some information is taken from FCMARKET directly while other bits come from FxPro and HotForex.

The trading conditions on offer are average and the spreads are acceptable, with many assets available.

FCMARKET has been around and the demo account makes it easy for novice traders to get used to Forex trading.

DISCLAIMER

FCMARKET warns potential customers that Forex and CFDs trading always carries a high risk and may not be suitable for all investors.

Before deciding to trade with FCMARKET, potential traders are advised to carefully consider their investment objectives, financial situation, needs and level of experience before investing money they cannot afford to lose.

FCMARKET warns that margin trading involves the potential for profit as well as the risk of loss and that movements in the price of foreign exchange and commodities are very unpredictable, hence FCMARKET cannot guarantee a maximum loss that a trader may suffer, according to research in South Africa.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many instruments can I trade with FC Market?

You can trade several different instruments with FC Market, which include the following:

• Currencies,
• Metals,
• Futures
• CFDs.

Which platforms are supported by FC Markets?

FC Markets provides the following popular trading platforms:

• MetaTrader 4.
• MT4 Mobile.

What type of broker is FC Markets?

FCMarkets is an introducing broker for Hotforex, who is owned by HFM Ltd.

What is the overall rating our of 10 for FC Markets?

Overall rating is 5/10