如果申请开立Hotspot Fxi，大概需要做哪些准备？

linx

写这个东西的这个老外并没有完全看清楚ECN以及CX和HOT

外汇的ECN和纳斯达克的ECN是不完全一样的，这一点我赞同，纳斯达克的ECN更多的是一个“通道”，是交易者得以进入纳斯达克这个中央市场的通道，但是外汇市场的ECN则更偏向于一个“网络”

另外，就这个老外文章中的观点（不知道我有没有理解错，我英语不好，看这个东西真TM累）我有一点不同意见，文中对CX和HOT的看法似乎偏向于更认可HOT而略轻视CX，而我想反，我更觉得CX合我胃口而HOT有点问题

CX不接受客户直接开户，完全交给白标去做，因此一般客户对CX的印象可能都来自于他选择的白标，而白标们赚钱心切，在我看来，目前没有一个白标不加点（若你有知道确实不加点的，麻烦告诉我）。本身CX的平台是相当优秀的，它哪儿优秀我就不说了，打字累。而HOT本身接受客户直接开户，但是HOT的平台在接受客户直接开户的情况下就能“拉大点差”，你叫我如何放心它呢？HOT另外的缺点，我也有专门的帖子说明

玉龙行者

刚巧看到这篇文章，比较能支持我目前的看法。

My purpose in starting this thread is to pull back the FOREX curtain just a bit, so we can take a good look at the "wizard".

First of all we need to understand what we are talking about when we say ECN.

The first thought that comes to mind are the ECN's that enable trading on the NASDAQ market. These ECN's, do nothing but communicate Bids, Offers, Last, Size, depth of market and orders. Hence the acronym, ECN, Electronic COMMUNICATIONS Network

Here are some points to remember about true ECNs and the market places they work in.

1. The ECN has nothing to do with setting the prices

2. The ECN communicates with a central market place

3. The central market place (nasdaq) pushes the quote data of the price action on the different ECN's, which includes depth of market and Id of participant if shown, to the broker, the broker then passes it on to the trader.

Now here are the differences

1. Forex does not have a central market place

2. The ECN programming does mess with the prices

3. There is a limited circle of liquidity

Lets use an example, I bid 50 qqqq at a specific price. My order waits in line until it is filled. Now here is the biggest difference between Forex and Nasdaq, this bid is being offered to the whole universe of Q traders, not just a select pool of liquidity, or two or three liquidity providers. So no matter where you live or who your broker is, if the feed comes from the Nasdq, everybody sees the bid, 50 shares qqqq at x, minus any latency from the broker.

Knowing this we can compare our example to the CurreneX (CX). CX in its purest form is a true ECN. But since there is no central market, the brokers control the liquidity. Remember also that CX is fully customizable by the broker. This means that the scope of liquidity seen by the trader is limited by the white label broker. The CX allows for "hubs" of liquidity, or groups of liquidity providers.

For example, if your broker has a relationship with 5 banks, and 5 large hedge funds/brokers, plus any "local liquidity" or retail traders, this is what you will see on your quote feed.

But we are only talking about quote feeds above, the broker can also restrict who you execute against. So out of 11 feed providers you may only be executing against 1 hedge/broker and the locals, and not the banks. And really, if you are not executing size, you are not going to interact with the banks.

Of course if you need more liquidity the broker will only open it up to you if you are trading larger size. The reason for this is $$$$$. To get to these feeds the broker has to pay, so to make up for this, you, trader dude or dudette, need to trade size so that they can be compensated for the fees they pay. Remember the larger the size the greater the fees. (egad, did I just say that!!!)

Now Hotspot is another true ECN, but they do not use liquidity pools, what you see is what you get. But remember, you only see the quotes and liquidity that Hotspot provides through the banks etc. that they have relationships with. They do not have all of the banks in the world trading on their platform.

Why is this the case, again, no central market.

Now there are other platforms that claim to be ECNs, and compared to passing orders through a trading desk I guess in a sort of a Forex kind of way they are.

But the programming of the platform changes the spreads with some platforms. For example one broker clearly states that during time of high volatility the spreads will widen. Ok, we know this going in, but where does this widening of the spread come from. It DOES NOT come from the banks, if you have a pure feed from Hots or CX, you will see that the spreads in general, do not widen right before news. The spreads will bounce like crazy for a few seconds, but this is normal price action. Any platform that has a fixed wide spread before news is doing so artificially.

Why do they do this? How the heck should I know. Some say it is to prevent incurring losses, and other reasons. But I will tell you it is not the banks who do this.

Now what does this mean to retail traders, not much. For example my 50 shares of qqqq will probably be filled by some other wiener like me who is trading 50 shares, and not by CANT or NITE. So even if your Forex trades are executed against other traders and not by the banks, if you are profitable who cares.

Again, there is no guarantee on the Nasdaq that you will execute against NITE or CANT if you are not trading size, but you are literally participating in the whole market and not just a segment.

The problem is that some brokers like to represent themselves in a way that is, well not exact. An ecn on the Forex works wayyyy different than an ecn on the Nasdaq. To some it may be a case of "define ECN'" and semantics. But you have to know that when somebody sees the acronym ECN used they think of the Nasdaq model. This is not the case in FX

linx

你说对了一部分。“目前市面上的ECN，只是一个个类似Nasdaq的各自不同的独立的ECN，其流动性，要看它的“圈子”的范围”，是这样的

但是，有句话不对，“其流动性在其客户范围之内，而不是所有ECN交易商公享的“广义的”平台”，这句话不妥，哪儿不妥，卖个关子先

玉龙行者

所谓ECN交易商，它的平台，是“狭义的”ECN，其流动性在其客户范围之内，而不是所有ECN交易商公享的“广义的”平台（当然，直到现在，我还不能下结论确定这点，但应该基本是这样了）。若是这样的话，目前市面上的ECN，只是一个个类似Nasdaq的各自不同的独立的ECN，其流动性，要看它的“圈子”的范围。

这是到目前为止，我认为的这东西的性质。

玉龙行者

回复 17# 的帖子

好的。

linx

收短信

linx

因为我看到了银行

玉龙行者

是的，我现在在求证ECN的模式。
请问linx你是怎么断定一个相对好的ECN交易商，连1000Unit的单子也放到市场里去的呢？是因为市场深度里面看到该单了吗？

linx

原帖由 玉龙行者 于 2009/1/18 01:15 发表
我现在主要的问题，就是对能否通过交易商进行杠杆交易得出一个结论，因为还有朋友要一起做，我必须要有相当的把握才行。我的朋友提出的是通过香港的银行进行交易，但是，我考虑到交易成本和未来发展（比如成为交易商，目前是个思路，但需要提前布局），所以想先仔细探讨一下可行性。
说到底，我没有把握的是，这个ECN是否真的就是具有它这个职能，因为我以前做外汇那会儿，好像没这东西。如果这东西确实存在，那就正如你所说，只要ECN交易商遵守职业道德，这个领域，就可以进入。

你想的东西似乎有点复杂

如果要做一件事情，首先要做的是明确运营模式，但是你现在对ECN本身的概念还有怀疑，所以，就这样动手去做是会走弯路的吧（我个人的感觉）


ECN和做市商，都能赚钱，从某种意义上说或许做市商的利润更可观，但是长期看来承担的风险是不同的

玉龙行者

linx，据你所知，就目前的情况看，到今年5月，美国这几个知名的ECN交易商，能否都达到EFTC的资本金的要求？