Hours
The dealing desk is continually open between Sunday 5:00 PM New York time
and Friday 4:00 PM New York time.
Mode of
Trading
Quotations, Order Placement, and Confirmation available over the telephone
or via the Internet. Bid/Ask Spread4-5 pips on the Majors and 5-20 pips
on the Crosses: U.S. Dollar / Japanese
Yen (5 pips)
U.S. Dollar / Swiss Franc (5 pips)
U.S. Dollar / Canadian Dollar (5 pips)
Euro / U.S. Dollar (4 pips)
Euro / Great Britain Pound (5 pips)
Euro / Japanese Yen (5 pips)
Euro / Swiss Franc (7 pips)
Euro / Canadian Dollar (10 pips)
Euro / Australian Dollar (20 pips)
Great Britain Pound / U.S. Dollar (5 pips)
Great Britain Pound / Japanese Yen (10 pips)
Great Britain pound / Swiss Franc (15 pips)
Swiss Franc / Japanese Yen (10 pips)
Australian Dollar / U.S. Dollar (5 pips)
Australian Dollar / Canadian Dollar (10 pips)
Australian Dollar / Japanese Yen (10 pips)
New Zealand Dollar / U.S. Dollar (5 pips)
Order
Sizes
On the Refco FX trading platform all trades are executed in standard sizes
of 100,000 base currency per one lot. There is no maximum trading volume
on the Refco FX trading station, however, for trading sizes larger than
$10,000,000 traders must request a quote over the telephone.
Margin
Refco FX enables currency trading to be conducted on a highly leveraged
basis. You are able to select the degree of leverage or gearing that the
client wishes to employ in trading. Unless you specify otherwise, Refco
FX sets your leverage level at Trade Center Inc.'s most lenient requirement.
The requirements for leverage vary with account size.
Accounts Under $50,000 Minimum $1,000 in equity per open lot (1%)
Accounts $50,000 - $200,000 Minimum $2,000 equity per open lot (2%)
Accounts $200,000 - $500,000 Minimum $3,000 equity per open lot (3%)
Accounts Over $500,000 Minimum $5,000 equity per open lot (5%)
Equity is the value of funds in the account adjusted for
floating profit/loss on open positions. One lot has an approximate market
value of $100,000. A requirement of $1,000 in equity per open lot is,
therefore, approximately equal to a maximum leverage or gearing of 100:1.
Dealers constantly monitor the leverage
levels of all accounts. Although Refco FX makes no guarantees, the dealing
desk may attempt to contact clients whose accounts are near the minimum
equity requirement for their open positions. Clients are fully responsible
for monitoring the activity in their accounts. In
the event that an account exceeds its maximum allowable leverage, the
dealer has the right to liquidate all positions in the account.
Rollover/Interest
Policy
In the spot forex market, trades must be settled in two business days.
If a trader sells 100,000 euros on Tuesday, the trader must deliver 100,000
euros on Thursday, unless the position is rolled over. As a service to
our traders, Refco FX automatically rolls over all open positions to the
next settlement date at 5:00 PM New York time. Rollover involves exchanging
the position being held for a position expiring the following settlement
date. The positions being exchanged are usually not valued at the same
price. The amount of the difference varies greatly based on the currency
pair, the interest rate differential between the two currencies, and fluctuates
day to day with the movement of prices. For instance, on any given day,
the rollover can be $2 per lot for USD/JPY and $15 per lot for GBP/JPY.
At 5:00 PM New York Time, funds are subtracted
or added to accounts with open positions because of the automatic rollover.
For accounts that have a margin requirement of 2% or more, funds are added
to the account for positions in which the client is long (holding) the
currency bearing the higher interest rate. Funds are deducted in the opposite
circumstance. For accounts that do not have a 2% margin requirement, the
rollover amount is deducted from the account for each position regardless
of the account's holdings. This 2% margin requirement is the most generous
policy available to traders in the forex industry, as many firms require
3-5% minimum margin before traders can benefit from rollover.
Note:
On Wednesdays, the amount added or subtracted to an account as a result
of rolling over a position tends to be around three times the usual amount.
This "3-Day" rollover accounts for settlement of trades through
the weekend period.
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