Broker News

The Alpari group has just announced that it will be closing down its Cyprus office and moving its clients to FSA UK office. According to Daniel Skowronski, Chief Executive Office of Alpari, the decision was purely a strategic one. "?We will continue to provide the best trading experience for clients," he said. "?Our clients will be able to continue trading on their familiar platform across the same product sets with similar terms and conditions."

TradeSmarter Holdings was one of the first companies to offer a binary options system to retail traders, and it has enjoyed industry recognition since its launch in 2009. In recent months, however, TradeSmarter has re-evaluated its approach and is now offering its services in two different and distinct areas. TradeSmarter itself will remain focused on B2B activities such as providing its superior trading platform to white label binary options providers, while the company's own trading services will now be offered through an offshoot named 24bulls. The DailyForex.com team has completed a full review of 24bulls' offerings, which can be viewed here. However, it is worth noting some differences between this new binary options provider and its predecessor.

While U.S. citizens and taxpayers can breathe a little more easily now that the fiscal cliff deal has been brokered and is merely awaiting the formality of a Congressional vote, the implications were much farther reaching than just the United States. Indeed, had President Obama and the U.S. Congress not reached an accord and allowed the U.S. economy to fall from that precarious precipice it would be more than just $600 billion at stake, immeasurably more.

In advance of the holiday season, the DailyForex.com team wishes all of our traders a happy holiday and a prosperous New Year. We also wish to remind you of the holiday trading schedule so that you can plan your trades, and your holidays, accordingly. We look forward to being a part of your success in the coming year!

The Japanese binary options market could be due for an upheaval according to one financial newspaper, the Nikkei, which said recently that a framework for regulating binary options has already been decided. Though there has been no official word from the Financial Services Agency or the Financial Futures Association or from the opinion makers within the binary options industry, those in the know believe that the Nikkei's observation has some validity and will likely include a number of rule changes which will prohibit some options trading which are available elsewhere, as well as offer various consumer protections. For example, it is believed that specific types of binary options will not be permitted, such as High/Low types which are generally seen more as gambling rather than financial trading. Short term options, i.e. less than 60 seconds, will also likely be prohibited. Protections are likely to include limitations for trade volume and maximum daily loss per trader, as will spread options. Furthermore, binary options brokers will be required to make disclosures regarding profits and losses as well as their rationale for halting trade on certain types of options.

Brian Twomey is a full-time trader, author of "?Inside the Currency Market" published by Wiley and a new upcoming book, "?Using the Z-Score to Trade Foreign Exchange and Other Financial Instruments". Brian has a very unique self-developed method of applying statistical analysis, and in particular Standard Deviation calculations, to plan his trades.

There could be tough times ahead for brokers in the forex industry given the precedents; since the beginning of the year, several forex brokers have made the decision to shut their doors and close up shop; GFT is just the latest in a string of forex broker-related closures or restructurings. Earlier this week, GFT had reported that it was pulling out of the U.S. and Japanese markets, a move that the company's management called "?strategic repositioning." In other words, the head of GFT said that in those markets they will focus primarily on institutional investors and to that end will be shifting their U.S.-based retail trade to another broker, "?trusted partner," TD Ameritrade; likewise, the Japanese retail trade will be handed over to a Japan-based partner.

It's an issue that's been discussed before: how the protection of U.S. consumers with punitive fines for brokers and more stringent regulation infringes on Forex-related business activity. Those usurious fines and the increasingly tighter rules by the National Futures Association (NFA) resulted in a number of U.S.-based brokers like Advanced Markets and Forex Club making the decision to downgrade their operating license to Futures Commission Merchants or FCMs. The downgrade from the previously held RFED license that permitted retail trade meant Forex brokers were allowed only to accept only institutional investors.