Oil
CFDs
Why Trade Oil through FXCM?
- No Re-quotes on all energy products, giving you fast, efficient trade execution without expensive re-quotes.
- Minimum Trade Size: Trade from as little as 1 contract or $1 per tick.
- Low Transaction Costs: Trade commission free*, no exchange fees, & no clearing fees. The transaction cost is the spread, the difference between the buy and sell price.
- Advanced Charting: Keep track of oil and trade from FXCM's advanced charting package.
- Generous Leverage: Generous leverage on all products that are clearly detailed on the Trade Station II. †
- Hedging Capability: You can go long or short oil from the same account.
Product Details
| Instrument Name | Minimum Trade Size |
Margin Requirement Per Min Trade Size |
Target FXCM Spread | Minimum Stop Distance (Points) |
Trading Hours (GMT)* | Break Time (GMT)* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | GBP | EUR | ||||||
| USOil | 1 | 200 | 125 | 140 | 8 | 16 | Sun 23.00 - Fri 21.00 |
Daily from 21.15 until 22.00 |
| UKOil | 1 | 200 | 125 | 140 | 0.05 | 0.1 | Sun 22.00 - Fri 20.00 |
Daily from 22.00 until 00.00 |
Trading Oil on Margin
Minimum Margin Requirements (MMR)
FXCM's margin rates are displayed in the dealing rates window on the trade station and detail the client's capital obligation to buy or sell 1 contract of a single index. FXCM has standardized minimum/incremental trade sizes for each instrument. To calculate the margin required to place the minimum trade size, simply multiply the minimum trade size by the margin required (per contract) which is displayed in the dealing rate.
- USOil minimum trade size is 1 contract
- MMR is $200 (U.S.) per contract
- 1 contracts x $200 = US$200
Expiration
US Oil has a monthly expiration (please see the table to the right). Clients that hold an open position on the ‘FXCM Expiration’ will be closed at our bid/offer at 5.15 EST.
The only consequence of this is the client will realise any floating P/L at the time it is closed.
Example:
- Client is long 5 US Oil @ 72.00.
- One day prior to expiration, the expiring month is trading at 73.00.
- The customer position is closed at 73.00 and the profit is credited to the clients trading account.
- All pending Stop and Limit orders that are associated with the expiring contract will be canceled.
USOil
| Contract Month | Reference Expiration | FXCM Expiration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | January | 18-Dec | 17-Dec |
| February | 19-Jan | 18-Jan | |
| March | 19-Feb | 18-Feb | |
| April | 19-Mar | 18-Mar | |
| May | 19-Apr | 16-Apr | |
| June | 19-May | 18-May | |
| July | 21-Jun | 18-Jun | |
| August | 19-Jul | 16-Jul | |
| September | 19-Aug | 18-Aug | |
| October | 20-Sep | 17-Sep | |
| November | 19-Oct | 18-Oct | |
| December | 18-Nov | 17-Nov | |
| Contract Month | Reference Expiration | FXCM Expiration | |
| 2011 | January | 17-Dec | 16-Dec |
UKOil
| Contract Month | Reference Expiration | FXCM Expiration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | January | 15-Dec | 14-Dec |
| February | 15-Jan | 14-Jan | |
| March | 15-Feb | 12-Feb | |
| April | 16-Mar | 15-Mar | |
| May | 15-Apr | 14-Apr | |
| June | 14-May | 13-May | |
| July | 15-Jun | 14-Jun | |
| August | 15-Jul | 14-Jul | |
| September | 16-Aug | 13-Aug | |
| October | 15-Sep | 14-Sep | |
| November | 14-Oct | 13-Oct | |
| December | 15-Nov | 12-Nov |
* FXCM is compensated through the bid/ask spread except where otherwise noted. Please note commission charges apply for certain classes of non-standard accounts such as Active Trader.
† Without proper risk management, currency trading has a high degree of leverage that can lead to large losses as well as gains.