FXCM reports December 2011 monthly metrics

FXCM just reported its December 2011 metrics and also metrics for the full 2011 year. As expected volume in December was substantially lower than in November. The reason for this is both the holidays slowdown and relatively low 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 the currency markets. December 2011 was more than 20% higher than December 2010 which shows FXCM's year on year growth.

December 2011

Retail Trading Retail Trading In finance, retail trading refers to individual traders, trading through a broker, or on a platform. This can include novice traders and experienced traders. Trading and investing are divided into two categories, retail and institutional. Institutions include investment banks like JP Morgan or Citibank and global central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. When we talk about retail trading however, we usually are referring to forex trading, but there are retail trade In finance, retail trading refers to individual traders, trading through a broker, or on a platform. This can include novice traders and experienced traders. Trading and investing are divided into two categories, retail and institutional. Institutions include investment banks like JP Morgan or Citibank and global central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. When we talk about retail trading however, we usually are referring to forex trading, but there are retail trade Read this Term Metrics

• Retail customer trading volume(1) of $288 billion in December 2011, 16% lower than November 2011 and 21% higher than December 2010. Volume from indirect sources was 46% of total retail volume(1). Retail customer trading volume(1) for the fourth quarter 2011 was $972 billion, 7% lower than the third quarter 2011, and 16% higher than the fourth quarter 2010.
• Average retail customer trading volume(1) per day of $13.1 billion in December 2011, 16% lower than November 2011 and 26% higher than December 2010.
• An average of 356,883 retail client trades per day in December 2011, 21% lower than November 2011 and 29% higher than December 2010.
• Tradeable accounts(2) of 194,606 as of December 31, 2011, an increase of 1,834, or 1% from November 2011, and an increase of 19,366,or 11%, from December 2010.

Institutional Trading Metrics

• Institutional customer trading volume(1) of $104 billion in December 2011, 31% lower than November 2011 and 103% higher than December 2010. Institutional customer trading volume(1) for the fourth quarter 2011 was $429 billion, the highest in FXCM history and 39% higher than the third quarter 2011 and 125% higher than the fourth quarter 2010.
• Average institutional trading volume(1) per day of $4.7 billion in December 2011, 31% lower than November 2011 and 112% higher than December 2010.
• An average of 17,470 institutional client trades per day in December 2011, 42% lower than November 2011 and 393% higher than December 2010.

“2011 was a solid year for FXCM,” said Drew Niv, President and CEO. “We delivered strong growth in our retail FX business growing customers 11% to 194,606 and total retail trading volume grew 19% to $3.7 trillion. In addition, our institutional business has been gaining traction and our institutional volume grew 56% to $1.2 trillion.”

1. Volume that FXCM customers traded in period translated into US dollars.
2. An account that has sufficient funds to place a trade in accordance with FXCM trading policies.

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