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What Are Watchlists?

FXCM Research Team Written by FXCM Research Team

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing a forex trader is remaining organised in the face of a rapidly changing marketplace. During active trading periods, simultaneously staying on top of several different currency pairings is a formidable task.

A watchlist is a predefined group of currency pairings. Watchlists streamline the process of locating a specific symbol and related market data. Through their creation, desired pairs can be quickly located for active trade or observation.

There are three components that make up a watchlist:

  • Name: Any unique term used for identification.
  • Description: Information regarding the shared characteristics of the pairs on the watchlist.
  • Subscribed Symbols: Currency pairs that have been selected by the trader to populate the watchlist.

Different classifications of currency pairing may be integrated into one watchlist. Majors, exotics, crosses and minors may be chosen to populate the same list. This enables the trader to quickly reference various currency pairs that may or may not be correlated.

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How To Create A Watchlist

The process of creating a watchlist is relatively straightforward. From the currency pairings enabled for active trade (which may vary according to type of customer account), specific pairs are selected by the trader to populate the watchlist. Upon the population of the watchlist, it is named, described and saved to the platform for future reference.

For instance, a currency trader is interested in focusing on the Japanese yen (JPY) during a specified period. However, locating key JPY currency pairings within the live market on-the-fly can become tedious and inefficient.

The following watchlist will help the trader quickly identify opportunities surrounding the yen:

  • Name: JPY
  • Description: Currency pairings including the Japanese yen
  • Subscribed Symbols: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, CHF/JPY, ZAR/JPY

The watchlist JPY will help the trader easily observe key currency pairings that include the yen. The major pair of USD/JPY, minor pairs of EUR/JPY and CHF/JPY, and the exotic pair of ZAR/JPY, are all readily accessible for active trade or side-by-side comparison.

Beyond Watchlists: FXCM Brokerage And Trading Station

FXCM's flagship online trading platform is Trading Station. It is a robust software suite that includes an assortment of proprietary attributes sought by individuals looking to engage the forex market. In addition to giving traders the ability to construct nearly any variety of watchlist, Trading Station provides the following unique features:

  • Supreme functionality: Interact within the forex through access to multiple order options, real-time price data and preloaded indicators.
  • Advanced charting options: Advanced technical analytics and chart trading is available through the platform.
  • Strategy and system automation: Backtest and optimise trading strategies and execute them automatically in the marketplace.
  • Market connectivity: Connect to the forex via desktop, web-based and mobile applications.

FXCM is an industry leading online forex brokerage firm, offering award-winning service and trade-related support to its customers. Whether one is a small retail trader or large institutional investor, FXCM facilitates transactions with acclaimed execution, maximum liquidity and adherence to oversight and regulation.

FXCM Research Team

FXCM Research Team consists of a number of FXCM's Market and Product Specialists.

Articles published by FXCM Research Team generally have numerous contributors and aim to provide general Educational and Informative content on Market News and Products.

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When executing customers' trades, FXCM can be compensated in several ways, which include, but are not limited to: spreads, charging commissions at the open and close of a trade, and adding a mark-up to rollover, etc. Commission-based pricing is applicable to Active Trader account types.

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