email:  
 
 
  
 

Monday, October 31, 2005

Futures Closing Bell 10/31/2005

Mild weather forecast doom Natural Gas rally: Natural gas futures closed at its lowest levels since mid-September, as mild weather greets the start of the heating season. Private forecasters are predicting warmer than normal temperatures across the eastern U.S. for the next two weeks. Read More....

XPRESSTRADE Is Looking For A Few Good People!


Are you a dynamic, energized person who's ready to join a leader in online futures brokerage that offers a fast-paced, exciting, team-oriented workplace? Then you may have found the right place! Click here to find out more....

XPRESSTRADE Trading Contest!


Each quarter, nearly $4000 will be awarded to the top 3 futures and options traders with the highest percentage gain in the value of their accounts. This is NOT a demo contest -- this is a live trading competition open to all XPRESSTRADE accountholders. At the beginning of each calendar quarter, the slate is wiped clean and traders have a new opportunity to win the prizes. What makes this contest unique? All prizes are CASH prizes with no restrictions on withdrawing the prize money! See the current leaders.

FX Markets Today 10/31/2005

The U.S. trading day started off with a surprise personal income reading, which was reported up 1.7% for September. This was a full four-times higher than analyst expectations. Consumer spending was up a more restrained 0.5%. This week will see a lot of central bank analysis, as the U.S. Fed meets tomorrow and the ECB on Thursday. Read More....

Daily Futures Spotlight 10/31/2005

Nikkei futures ready to test contract highs: Friday's rally on Wall street carried over the Pacific Ocean this weekend, as the December Nikkei 225 futures flirted with contract highs. Buyers were eager to get a jump on the market, with reports of large foreign buy orders in pre-market trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Read More....

Friday, October 28, 2005

Futures Closing Bell 10/28/2005

Sugar futures fall as speculators liquidate: It was not a good day for Sugar bulls as speculative and local selling allowed the most-active March futures to fall to 1 1/2 week lows. The market has started to look heavy, and longs started to book profits before the weekend. Read More....

Can Crude Oil Hit $100 Per Barrel?

Earlier this summer, an equity analyst at prestigious New York investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted that oil prices have entered a "super spike" phase that could lift them above $100 per barrel. While we don't pretend to be able to estimate future commodity prices with any degree of precision, we do know that the energy markets are receiving serious attention lately and that there's plenty of action and trading opportunities. Read More....

FX Markets Today 10/28/2005

The Dollar is up marginally, heading into the U.S. session against the Euro, although the greenback is neutral relative to most other majors. The initial softness in the EUR/USD is the result of this morning's solid GDP number. At 3.8%, the figure confirms the preeminence of the U.S. economy, with strong spending noted both in the consumer and government sectors. Read More....

Daily Futures Spotlight 10/28/2005

Are Copper prices ready to top? The bull market in copper, which some may argue started almost 4 years ago, may finally be ready to end. Several factors are starting come into play that have bullish traders nervous. Inventories in exchange warehouses are starting to increase after several weeks of draw-downs. Read More...

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Futures Closing Bell 10/27/2005

Weak exports doom Cotton rally: Bears have taken control of the Cotton market as the USDA confirmed the fears of market bulls that prices will have to decline to boost exports. The report released this morning showed exports of 107,600 running bales, well below last week's totals of 137,700RB. Read More.....

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

What It Means To Be On A Margin Call


The market’s moving in the wrong direction, losses are accumulating, and the value of your account is declining. By the time your broker issues a margin call, you’re already feeling substantial frustration and anxiety. It’s easy, under these circumstances, to see the broker as an adversary. But veteran traders know that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

For starters, nothing’s more disappointing for us than to see a good client roughed up in the marketplace. We’re not merely being altruistic we want you to be successful and to earn profits, because we’d like to see your account, your trading activity, and the commissions you generate grow over time. Ideally, if you’ve enjoyed a terrific trading experience, you’ll introduce your friends and acquaintances to futures and options trading, and they’ll open accounts with us, too. In other words, our interests are aligned, and our fortunes are closely tied to yours. When your trades aren’t turning out as planned, it brings us absolutely no pleasure to issue a margin call.

Understand that margin calls place pressure on us, too. You may not realize it, but futures brokers are responsible for all the accounts and positions they carry on their books. Larger brokers may be responsible directly to the various futures exchanges, while smaller brokers may be accountable to their clearing firms. But whatever the arrangement, it’s a virtual certainty that your broker is the financial guarantor of your account. In the event you lose more money than you have available in your account, we’re obligated to cover your shortfall. The only protection we have against this unpleasant possibility is the margin you’ve deposited. So, if your equity falls below the prescribed margin level and remember that futures trading requires only about 3-8% of the contract value to be posted as collateral there’s good reason for us to be concerned.

Finally, consider the possibility that by issuing a margin call and demanding that it be addressed without delay, your broker might very well be doing you a favor. Traders, by and large, tend to be competitive, independent, passionate personalities, and admitting that a trading idea’s not working can be incredibly challenging. We see it all the time even the most experienced, successful traders occasionally resist closing-out unsuccessful trades at a loss, because they’re absolutely convinced the market will turn in their favor. Sometimes a margin call can be the only thing that finally convinces a trader to cut his losses, exit a bad position, and begin looking for the next potential trading opportunity.

Visit our Margin Table here!

Futures Closing Bell 10/26/2005

Online Webinar Today and Tomorrow

Though we expect you'll find our website to be refreshingly intuitive and user-friendly, you might still like to join us for a live, online system walk-through. This is a new service that we've decided to offer, and we think it'll be a great way for both new and existing clients to learn about everything our browser-based trading platform has to offer.

These training sessions will be held twice weekly and take place online, in a virtual classroom. If you're interested in participating, you'll simply log into the training site at one of the designated times, and you can watch in real-time as a member of the XPRESSTRADE customer service team moves through the website, pointing out all the tools at your disposal. You can even listen to the instructor over your computer speakers.

At the end of each online group training session, you’ll have the opportunity to post questions for the instructor. Not only will you receive direct answers to your questions, but you might very well find that answers to questions from your fellow traders will be helpful to you, too. We encourage you to give this new complimentary service a try!

Every Wednesday at 12:00PM CDT and Every Thursday at 1:00PM CDT

Futures Daily Spotlight 10/26/2005

Monday, October 24, 2005

Futures Closing Bell 10/24/2005

FX Markets Today 10/24/2005

Friday, October 21, 2005

Futures Closing Bell 10/21/2005

FX Markets Today 10/21/2005

Daily Futures Spotlight 10/21/2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Financial Safeguards to Protect Your Trading Funds

In connection with the well-publicized scandal at one of our competitors, Refco, and that company's subsequent bankruptcy filing, several traders have asked for more general information about how the futures industry protects customer funds. Please be absolutely assured that the safekeeping of your trading capital is of paramount importance not only to XPRESSTRADE but to the entire futures industry. We'd like to share a few very reassuring facts with you, and if you're not familiar with all the U.S. futures industry regulations and safeguards designed to protect you, we think you'll find this to be quite fascinating and impressive. Read More...

Online Webinar Today at 1:00PM CDT

Though we expect you'll find our website to be refreshingly intuitive and user-friendly, you might still like to join us for a live, online system walk-through. This is a new service that we've decided to offer, and we think it'll be a great way for both new and existing clients to learn about everything our browser-based trading platform has to offer.

These training sessions will be held twice weekly and take place online, in a virtual classroom. If you're interested in participating, you'll simply log into the training site at one of the designated times, and you can watch in real-time as a member of the XPRESSTRADE customer service team moves through the website, pointing out all the tools at your disposal. You can even listen to the instructor over your computer speakers.

At the end of each online group training session, you’ll have the opportunity to post questions for the instructor. Not only will you receive direct answers to your questions, but you might very well find that answers to questions from your fellow traders will be helpful to you, too. We encourage you to give this new complimentary service a try!

Every Wednesday at 12:00PM CDT and Every Thursday at 1:00PM CDT

FX Markets Today 10/20/2005

Daily Futures Spotlight 10/20/2005

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Futures Closing Bell 10/19/2005

FX Markets Today

Each morning our Forex Specialist, Mark Smyth, writes up commentary on the major currency markets related to Forex. You are welcome to subscribe to his newsletter, which is sent out each morning. Great way to start the day! Please let us know if you have any questions, we will always be happy to assist you. More about Mark...

Click Here to Subscribe Now!

Daily Futures Spotlight

Each day our in house analyst and Futures Desk Manger, Mike Zarembski, will provide a hot topic for the morning as well as a Closing Bell Newsletter. The Closing Bell offers a wrap up of daily events. You are welcome to subscribe to his newsletters, so that each day they will be conveniently emailed to you. If you have questions, don't hesitate to email us. More about Mike.....

Click here to Subscribe Now!