Forex Account Types

Standard Forex

The Standard Forex Account is designed for traders wishing to trade currencies and other major financial products on one of the most sophisticated and full-featured trading platforms in the industry. Narrow spreads and rapid execution are consistent in all market conditions.

* $5,000 To open
* 100,000 Currency units per lot
* Currencies, Equity Indices,
Crude Oil, and Metals
* 200:1 Leverage
* 2 pip spreads
* ICTS trading software

Open A Live Account
Free Practice Account
More Details...





Mini Forex

The Mini Forex Account is ideal for traders wishing to trade currencies and other major financial products with a smaller transaction size and lower account opening minimum.

* $2,000 To open
* 10,000 Currency units per lot
* Currencies, Equity Indices,
Crude Oil, and Metals
* 200:1 Leverage
* 3 pip spreads
* ICTS trading software

Open A Live Account
Free Practice Account
More Details...





MetaTrader

The MetaTrader Account offers a wider product range and the MetaTrader software platfrom. While default lot sizes are 100,000 currency units, traders can select as little as 0.10 lots to transact. Unlimited charting and programmable trading signals are among the features offered in GCI's MetaTrader account.

* $2,000 To open
* 100,000 Currency units per lot;
fractional lot capability
* Currencies, Equity Indices,
Crude Oil, Metals, and Shares
* 200:1 Leverage
* 3 pip spreads
* MetaTrader software

Open A Live Account
Free Practice Account
More Details...

The GCI Advantage

Why trade with GCI? Our mission is to offer clients the best combination of advanced trading software, low costs and low margin requirements, efficient and secure back office fund administration, and a broad array of products with high profit potential. Advantages of opening a live account include:

Zero commissions. Client trading performance is enhanced by eliminating all commissions and fees.

Superior trading software. The GCI trading software provides real-time prices in all major currencies, market indices, shares, and commodities. Customers can choose from a Windows-based or Java-based version, and have access to mobile phone trading as well real-time charts and market news. Click here to download a free demo.

Product Offerings. In addition to Forex, GCI offers trading in indices, shares, and commodity CFDs.

Hedging Capability. Clients can open positions in the same instrument in opposite directions, without the positions offsetting and without using additional margin. Clients have complete control over whether they close or hedge their positions to reduce risk.

Rapid and fair trade execution. Market orders are confirmed within seconds at prices clicked on or accepted by the client. GCI also has a "zero slippage guarantee" for all Forex Stop and Entry Stop orders.

Low margin requirements. GCI provides access to Forex, share, and index trading with margin requirements of 0.5% on Forex, 1% on Share Indices, and 2% on individual shares.

Safety of Funds. Client funds are insured and maintained in separate accounts. Furthermore, GCI is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) for trading in financial and commodity-based derivatives and other securities, including foreign exchange. Please see funds for further details.

Client Service. GCI's professional staff is available 24 hours a day to answer questions and provide assistance. Our dealers can be accessed at all times via Live Chat, and our technical and administrative support is second to none.

Fast and Efficient Back Office. GCI prides itself on speed and efficiency of both opening new accounts and processing client withdrawals. Accounts can be funded via bank wire transfer, major credit card, or PayPal. We have also established multiple global fax numbers for our clients' convenience and have a staff dedicated to making administration of your account fast, efficient, and secure.

Risk is limited to deposited funds. GCI's sophisticated margin and dealing procedures mean that clients can never lose more than their funds on deposit.

Tools for successful trading. GCI clients benefit from a wide array of resources to improve their trading results, including market analysis and research, real-time charts, and free Forex trading signals.

Regulated broker. GCI is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC). The IFSC's strict requirements include capital adequacy, reporting and record keeping, and proper disclosure and conduct with clients.

CFD/Share Trading

CFD Trading with GCI is an efficient, commission-free way to trade shares, global equity indices, currencies and commodities. Benefits include lower costs, low margin requirements, and state-of-the-art online software. Download a Free Practice Account!

Available products include:
CFD Products
(Partial List)

Stock Market Indices

S&P500

NASDAQ 100

Dow Jones Industrials

DAX 30

CAC 40

FTSE100
Nikkei 225

SPI 200

Hang Seng

DJ EuroStoxx


Commodities

Crude Oil

U.S. 10 Year Note
Gold
Silver
Soy Beans


Individual Shares

Microsoft

Vodafone

Barclays

I.B.M.

Nokia

Pfizer

eBay

...and many other European and North American Shares

Foreign Exchange

EUR/USD

USD/JPY
GBP/USD
USD/CHF
USD/CAD
AUD/USD
EUR/JPY

CFD Trading Details:

Account Opening Minimum: $2,000, or € 2,000

Lot Size: 100 shares. Click here for details on other CFD products

Margin Requirement: 2% on individual shares, 1% or less on other products

Spreads: Click here for spreads in all products.

Commissions: Zero (commission-free)

Free Demo Account: Click Here!

Open a Live Acount: Click Here!

CFDs Explained

The "CFD", or "Contract for Difference", was developed to allow clients to receive all the benefits of owning a stock without having to physically own the stock itself. For example, instead of purchasing 1,000 shares of Microsoft from a stock broker, a client could instead buy a 10 lots of Microsoft on the GCI CFD trading platform. A $5 per share rise in the price of Microsoft would confer to the client a $5,000 profit, just as if he had purchased the actual shares that are traded on the exchange. A major difference is that there are no exchange fees and many of the inefficiencies of trading the underlying shares on the exchange are eliminated. GCI can therefore offer CFDs with zero commissions and very attractive margin requirements. CFDs have grown in popularity dramatically over the past few years, and we believe that this will increasingly be the preferred way to trade the financial markets.

The other major benefit of trading a CFD is the fact that the client can trade on margin. CFD trading means clients can trade a full portfolio of Shares, indices, or commodities without having to tie up large amounts of capital. Using the example above, a client purchasing $50,000 worth of CFD Shares will only be asked for $1,000 margin.

CFD Performance

As with Shares, CFD investors benefit from normal market movements. Clients' open positions are valued in real time, with every tick of the market. Profits or losses similarly are credited to or debited from the clients account equity in real time.

Margin

Unlike physically purchasing stocks, clients only have to deposit approximately 2% of the value of the Shares. So if you want to buy $50,000 worth of Shares, you only need to have $1,000 on deposit with GCI.

Click here to try a free demo account...

FOREXTrader Charts

FOREX.com's currency charts combine a rich, intuitive interface with easy access to the tools and resources you demand for forex trading.
Forex Trader Chart
Click here to enlarge

Traders seeking a robust, yet easy-to use charting tool will find FOREXTrader Charts to be a comprehensive technical analysis package. A streamlined layout makes it easy to access commonly used features and indicators.

Whether you use Stochastics, Bollinger Bands, Moving Averages or Fibonacci, you can find over 60 technical and line studies right within the charting application.

* Monitor currency trades and orders directly on the charts.

* Use the template saver to save your technical indicator setups and apply them to future charts.

* Get a closer look at the markets with FOREXTrader Tick Chart.

* Customize and save fonts, colors, indicator parameters, and more

FOREXTrader Charts are available on the FOREXTrader Windows platform. To learn about forex charts available on FOREXTrader.java and FOREXTrader.web, click here.

Resources

Award-winning research, powerful
technical tools and much more.

Choice of advanced forex charts

Daily & weekly forex research

Live streaming forex news and commentary

Forex Charts

FOREX.com offers you access to a variety of forex charting packages and premium technical analysis tools to help you trade the Forex market.


Access real time forex charts directly inside the trading platform


Benefit from free access to eSignal's award-winning charting software

Forex Research & Commentary

With a 24-hour streaming news feed, professional forex research and live market commentary, you’ll always be up-to-date on important economic events, price movements and market developments

Intraday Commentary
FOREX Insider

Daily & Weekly Reports
Daily Technical Analysis Report
Strategy of the Day
The Week Ahead
The Weekly Strategy

New to the Forex market

Discover the full breadth of our offering
We've worked hard to distill our collective trading experience into an approach suitable for all skill levels.

Step 1: Understand the FOREX market.
Dive into Forex 101 for a compact overview of the basics or sit back and join us at one of our live interactive webinars.

Step 2: Prepare to trade in a live environment.
Register for one of our training courses and study at your own pace or join us at a local workshop, where our experienced instructors can teach you in a dynamic classroom setting.

Step 3: Test your skills risk free.
Sharpen your technical analysis techniques with a free 30 day practice account.

What is Forex

Whether or not you are aware of it, you already play a role in currency trading. The simple fact that you have money in your pocket makes you an investor in a nation's currency. By holding US Dollars, for example, you have elected not to hold the currencies of other nations. When a currency is traded, the transaction is carried out on the Foreign Exchange market (also referred to as the Forex or FX market). The Forex market is the largest financial market in the world, with over $1.9 trillion changing hands every day!

Unlike other financial markets that operate at a centralized location (i.e., the stock exchange), the worldwide Forex market does not have a central location. It is a global electronic network of banks, financial institutions and individual Forex traders, all involved in the buying and selling of national currencies. A major feature of the Forex market is that it operates 24 hours a day, corresponding to the opening and closing of financial centers in countries all across the world. At any time, in any location, there are buyers and sellers, making the Forex market the most liquid market in the world.

What is Forex? Traditionally, access to the Forex market has been made available only to banks and other large financial institutions. However, with advances in technology over the years along with the industry's high leverage options, the Forex market is now available to money managers and individual Forex traders.†

With some initial capital (as low as $200 with CMS Forex), and a computer with an internet connection you can become a participant in this global and liquid financial market.

Or, you can test the market with a practice account that does not involve real money. Just fill out a simple form here to receive a username, after which you will be prompted to download VT Trader, our trading software.

This Forex Overview continues with a quick, but detailed explanation of how forex trading works. You can continue by clicking on Next Page or use the navigation on the top of this page to skip ahead.

If you are looking for a more robust educational resource, please visit our Online Forex Course.

Trading Forex

Using fundamental and technical analysis, the individual trader attempts to determine trends in the price movements of currencies, and by buying or selling currency pairs, attempts to gain profits. The most often traded currencies, the major currencies, are those of countries with stable governments and respected central banks that target low inflation. Currencies that often trade along with the U.S. Dollar include the European Euro, the Japanese Yen, and the British Pound as they are the most liquid. A trader can trade these currencies in any combination. CMS Forex also offers the Swiss Franc, and the Canadian, Australia and New Zealand Dollars making for 19 total trading instruments when accounting for all the cross pairs. More "Exotic" currencies are not offered as they are often tightly regulated and simply too illiquid.

Buying and Selling Currencies

Traders can generate profits (or losses) whether a currency is rising or falling by buying one currency, which is anticipated to gain value against another currency or selling one currency, which is anticipated to lose value against another currency. Taking a long position is one in which a trader buys a currency at one price and aims to sell it later at a higher price. Alternatively, a short position is one in which the trader sells a currency that he anticipates to depreciate and aims to buy the currency back later at a lower price.

Learn Forex Diagram www.cmsfx.com
Diagram illustrating how a position is opened and closed generating a profit. Position is closed based on speculated downward market movement. Forex trading involves a substantial risk of loss.

Buying or selling currencies in response to economic or political events which occur are reactive, whereas buying or selling currencies on anticipated events is speculative. The bulk of currency activity is generated by market participants anticipating the direction of currency prices. In general, the value of a currency versus other currencies is a reflection of the condition of that country’s economy with respect to the other major economies.

It is the trader’s option to take either a conservative or a more risk-taking approach. Employing a conservative approach, the trader establishes and liquidates positions quickly and efficiently to capitalize on even the slightest of price fluctuations, using limit and stop orders to manage risk. A limit order is placed to ensure a position is established once a price level in the market has been reached.* A stop order is placed to automatically liquidate a position at a chosen price level in order to limit potential loss on a particular trade. By placing orders in relation to technical support and resistance levels, the trader may profit incrementally from the minor price fluctuations that occur each day.

The Time in the Major Financial Centers Impacts Market Players

Major Financial Centers Impacts Market Players Financial Centers - London, Tokyo and New York City.

Foreign exchange is a continuous global market, providing participants with 24-hour market access. The only breaks in trading occur during a brief period over the weekend. Although foreign exchange is the most liquid of all markets, the fact that it is an international market and trading 24-hours a day, the time of day can have a direct impact on the liquidity available for trading a particular currency.

The major dealer centers and time zones are that of Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. Therefore, traders must consider which players are in the market, since in the modern interconnected financial world, events that occur at any hour, in any part of the globe, can affect some or all parts of the investment community.

The market's 24-hour nature is a substantial attraction to traders that prefer to trade at all times of the day, or night.

*Under volatile market conditions, a broker may not be able to execute a limit or stop order at the exact price specified by the trader. CMS’s own policy, however, is to attempt to honor all stop and limit orders up to 10 lots in size.
Forex is an over-the-counter (OTC) or off-exchange market.

Forex vs. Stocksarrow-online

Unparalleled liquidity
In the forex market, over $3.2 trillion worth of trades are traded daily, which makes the currency trading market the most liquid market in the world – trading in 1 day what Wall St. trades in 1 month. No matter what time of the day or night it is, the forex market is always moving, and around the world active traders are buying and selling currencies.

200 times more leverage than trading stocks

With stocks, the maximum leverage is 2:1. But when you trade Forex with CMS Forex, you can use up to 400:1 leverage. For example, if you invest $1,000 in stocks, with 2:1 leverage you may buy up to $2,000 worth of shares. However, if you invest $1,000 margin on a foreign currency trade, at 400:1 leverage, you can control up to $400,000 in currencies. Leverage is one of the most appealing and risky factors of the forex market. Traders should note that trading using leverage may increase potential gains as well as losses on any given trade.

Scratch-out the middleman

Spot currency trading bypasses expensive middlemen that are always associated with trading stocks. With forex, clients are able to interact directly with the currency market, and can buy and sell at the simple click of a mouse. No mess. No hassle. No middleman.

Commission-free*

With CMS Forex, you are never charged a commission. No clearing fees. No exchange fees. No Software fees. No brokerage fees.

*CMS charges no commission on your trades; we are compensated through the Bid and Ask prices or spread of a given currency pair. We may charge a fee for fund withdrawals. Please see Withdrawal of Funds for more information. Please be aware that the bank you deal with may be charging fees on your deposits or withdrawals. CMS has no control over any applicable bank fees.

Forex and the technical trader

Because currencies typically develop strong trending patterns, a technical currency trader may potentially identify new trends, breakouts, and opportunities to enter and exit positions.

Measuring the currency market

Currency prices are reflected in the balance of supply and demand for currencies. When it comes to currencies, there are two primary factors that affect supply and demand and they are interest rates and the strength of the originating country’s economy as a whole. Fundamental indicators, such as foreign investment, PPI, CPI, GDP, and the trade balance, echo the overall health of the economy, and alter the supply and demand for that currency. Expert commentaries and data on interest rates, International trade, and currencies are release on a regular basis.

Trade forex 24-hours a day

When you are looking at your forex platform, you are actually looking at a window display of the world’s economy. Currency trading is available twenty-four hours a day, starting on Sunday at 5P.M. EST with the opening of the market in Sydney and Singapore. A short while after, the Tokyo market opens. Then London, which opens at 2A.M. EST on Monday. And, by daytime in N.Y., the currency market has already been very active for fifteen hours. With currency trading, you are able to decide when to trade. Trading stocks when the U.S. markets are closed is difficult and only offers limited liquidity. With forex, you can trade twenty-four hours a day, from Sunday at 5P.M. EST. until Friday at 5P.M EST.

6 major currency pairs vs. over 8000 stocks

There are approximately 8,000 publicly traded companies, deciding which one to trade can become downright tedious and confusing. How do you determine which needle to pull out of the haystack? With Forex, there are currently 6 major currency pairs to choose from, and about 34 second-tier currencies.

Superior Software

CMS Forex began in 1999. Since then, our team of professional forex specialists has spent many late nights improving our software and services to guarantee a simplified, all-inclusive forex system that enables users to make the most educated decisions possible – providing over 100 tools and technical indicators, as well as streaming Reuters News to cover necessary fundamental updates that impact the forex market. We offer advanced chart-based trading, streaming price quotes, custom alerts, as well as the ability to create an automated trading system (so you can pre-program your system to buy or sell at specified market occurrences). Through VT Trader, users are able to connect directly with the live currency market on a stable platform that has been made to make your currency trading as intuitive as possible.

Simply download our easy-to-install software and open a free practice account to become better acquainted with the live forex market.

Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis involves examining the intrinsic value of a nation’s currency based on economic news releases that reflect the strength, or weakness, of a country’s economy. Fundamental traders follow these news announcements, known as “fundamental indicators,” because they paint a picture of a currency's strength in relation to other countries.

Fundamental indicators are reports that include statistical data on things such as employment, gross domestic product (GDP), international trade, retail sales, housing, manufacturing, and interest rates. The stability, growth, or decline in any of these sectors may have an effect – direct or indirect – on the value of a country’s currency.

Factors That Move The Forex Market

Central banks play a key role in the Forex market because they have the responsibility of changing the country’s “base” interest rate. A central bank has to find a fine balance when setting interest rates as it wants to maintain growth in the economy, but at the same time it has to be careful to curtail inflation. The bank’s decisions on whether to raise, cut, or hold the interest rate fuels speculation in the Forex market, where the value of a currency, or group of currencies, changes in real time.

In addition to information about a country’s economy, the value of a currency is connected to national and international political events, elections, and changes in government trade policies. The prices of sensitive commodities like oil and gasoline are an important fundamental indicator as high prices can hurt consumer spending and confidence, and curtail the activities of certain businesses and government services.

Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and militarily actions in a sensitive region cause instability in the world and have a significant impact on the Forex market as they develop. These types of evens can be hard to predict in advance.

The ability to identify trends in macroeconomic indicators and reading central bank’s current and future actions is a valuable tool that comes from following financial news, watching the markets, and trading Forex.

If you are interested in trying, sign up for a free practice account; or to start trading real money on a live account.

Technical Analysis

The technical trader is concerned with studying patterns of price movement on the chart in order to predict the direction of current and future trends in the Forex market. The decision to buy, sell, or hedge a current position – or to stay out of the market entirely – is made upon this analysis. Identify recurring patterns and make educated assessments to guide your decisions; should you initiate a trade at the current price, or set your system to open a position at a future price? The goal of the technical analyst is simple: to make profitable Forex trades by identifying past patterns that have historically led to a predictable outcome. However, the potential risk should always be considered. A recurring pattern is not precise and does not guarantee a desirable or expected price movement.

Tools of the Technical Trader

Using various chart types and technical indicators, more accurate predictions can be made from better analysis of the Forex market. Technical indicators use price, volume, volatility, and other factors to create measures of how the market crowd is behaving. Technical indicators can be utilized to help decipher underlying currents that are behind price action. Trend lines, support and resistance levels, reversals, and numerous patterns can also be used to track and identify trends. Once a pattern is recognized (not all are apparent), the Forex trader can decide whether to place a trade, or wait and monitor the price to see if the predictions were accurate.

This is the end of our introduction, but it is not the end of the educational resources we have to offer. Our Online Forex Course is a great place to go next if you want to learn more. It has a lesson on technical analysis that presents the basics of trendlines and common chart patterns.

If you are interested in taking an in depth look into specific technical indicators and how to use them, refer to our Technical Analysis Articles. Or, if you would like to experiment with technical analysis and technical indicators right now on our trading platform, VT Trader, you should sign up for a free Practice Account.

Online Trading with CMS Forex

Online Trading with CMS Forex
Forex Overviewarrow-online
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1. What is Forex?arrow-online 2. Trading Forexarrow-online 3. Forex vs. Stocksarrow-online 4. Fundamental Analysisarrow-online
5. Technical Analysisarrow-online
6. VT Trader - CMS's Trading Softwarearrow-online
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The internet revolution of the 90’s changed many aspects of everyday and corporate life. One such change was to open the Forex market to individuals. What was once the domain of banks, hedge funds, and giant multinational corporations is now accessible to retail consumers. What fueled this change was the onset of trading software that connected anybody to the currency markets through the internet.

VT Trader Logo 228 Pixels Wide CMS Forex was one of the first companies to offer a trading platform built specifically for the online currency trading markets. VT Trader™ encompasses cutting edge technology to help you take full advantage of your online trading experience. This includes real-time quotes, dynamic charts, and detailed and up to the minute account reports, as well as dozens of other resources to enhance your online Forex trading. Equipped with over 100 customizable technical indicators, integrated Chart Pattern Recognition technology, and actionable Dow Jones newsfeed, VT Trader™ provides a platform for every level of technical and fundamental Forex trader.

2 of VT Trader’s Main Windows
Two of VT Trader's main windows: Dealing Rates and a USD/JPY, 1 day, chart.
VT Trader has live quotes, charts, and detailed and up to the minute account reports.

VT Trader charts serve as a virtual canvas for trader to:

• effortlessly draw and customize trend lines and moving averages.
• map out support and resistance levels by applying Fibonacci ratios, price channels, and other drawing tools.
• use and combine over 100 different technical indicators in order to strengthen one's analysis.

The platform's interface is graceful in allowing the user to move and customize VT Trader's windows according to individual preferences.

Forex Trading Software

VT Trader is packed with features. From simple ones like entry and bundled market orders, stops and limits, and hedging to more complex ones such as trading system and indicator builders, VT Trader has something for every level of Forex trader.

We welcome you to take VT Trader for a test drive to see for yourself the power of one of the most revolutionary trading platforms on the market. It is completely free to download; all one has to do to get started is sign up for a free practice account.

For more information on how to start using VT Trader, please view our VT Trader User Guide.