FXCM's volume increased in January 2012 amid slowdown in institutional volumes

Despite an evident slowdown in January institutional volumes where HotSpot’s volume decreased 11% comparing January 2011 and ICAP’s volumes too have plummeted in January 2012 when comparing to previous year, FXCM managed to actually increase its trading volumes:

NEW YORK, NY, February 14, 2012 – FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM) today announced certain key operating metrics for January 2012 for its retail and institutional foreign Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term business. Monthly activities included:

January 2012

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 $298 billion in January 2012, 3% higher than December 2011 and 15% higher than January 2011.
• Average retail customer trading volume(1) per day of $13.5 billion in January 2012, 3% higher than December 2011 and 10% higher than January 2011.
• An average of 345,677 retail client trades per day in January 2012, 3% lower than December 2011 and 12% higher than January 2011.
• Tradeable accounts(2) of 167,710 as of January 31, 2012, an increase 2,104, or 1% from December 2011, and an increase of 22,720,or 13%, from January 2011.

Institutional Trading Metrics

• Institutional customer trading volume(1) of $109 billion in January 2012, 5% higher than December 2011 and 39% higher than January 2011.
• Average institutional trading volume(1) per day of $5.0 billion in January 2012, 5% higher than December 2011 and 33% higher than January 2011.
• An average of 21,459 institutional client trades per day in January 2012, 23% higher than December 2011 and 281% higher than January 2011.