FXCM posts September 2012 metrics - retail volume improves vs August but still lower than 2011

Just like all the Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term industry FXCM too suffers from lower than average volumes in 2012. It seems that 2012 marks, at least temporarily, the end of the high growth in volumes for most major retail and institutional brokers - market is simply not the same as it used to be and may take long to recover, if at all. FXCM's institutional volumes, which suffered the most, continued going down - something that probably most other institutional brokers such as ICAP, Reuters and Hotspot are too expected to report for September.

On the other hand it's business as usual at FXCM with the partnership with Forex Club becoming official. Not only that but FXCM's retail clients equity grew by staggering $200 million in past few months.

NEW YORK, NY, October 15, 2012 – FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM) today announced certain key operating metrics for September 2012 for its retail and institutional foreign exchange business. Monthly activities included:

September 2012

Retail Trading Metrics

• Retail customer trading volume(1) of $304 billion in September 2012, 12% higher than August 2012 and 18% lower than September 2011. Volume from indirect sources was 46% of total retail volume(1) in the third quarter 2012. Retail customer trading volume(1) for the third quarter 2012 was $861 billion, 1% lower than the second quarter 2012, and 17% lower than the third quarter 2011.
• Average retail customer trading volume(1) per day of $15.2 billion in September 2012, 29% higher than August 2012 and 9% lower than September 2011.
• An average of 363,031 retail customer trades per day in September 2012, 13% higher than August 2012 and 25% lower than September 2011.
• Tradeable accounts(2) of 202,394(3) as of September 30, 2012, a decrease of 5,266, or 3% from August 2012, and an increase of 31,075,or 18%, from September 2011.

Institutional Trading Metrics

• Institutional customer trading volume(1) of $46 billion in September 2012, 8% lower than August 2012 and 64% lower than September 2011. Institutional customer trading volume(1) for the third quarter 2012 was $156 billion, 61% lower than the second quarter 2012 and 49% lower than the third quarter 2011.
• Average institutional trading volume(1) per day of $2.3 billion in September 2012, 6% higher than August 2012 and 61% lower than September 2011.
• An average of 5,688 institutional client trades per day in September 2012, 4% lower than August 2012 and 75% lower than September 2011.

“The market is experiencing multi-year lows in Volatility Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad Read this Term. In our retail business, we are very pleased with the strong improvement in September volumes,” said Drew Niv, CEO of FXCM. “In our institutional business, our legacy business was impacted by the low volatility as banks are trading less and in smaller quantities. On the upside, we continue to make progress with our newer institutional initiatives including ECN, FastMatch and Lucid.”