-Meredith Lepore
Currensee, a social network site for FX traders, is expanding its
trading platform with new real-time services. Next quarter it will
launch a Trade Leader program that will allow its members to follow
the performances in real time of a successful "lead" trader as
selected by Currensee. The followers will be able to automatically
execute the lead trader's trades in their accounts.
The leaders are being recruited from the Currensee membership pool
and outside. Both professional and retail traders can qualify.
Trade leaders will be compensated with a 20% fee for trades with a
track record of followers. The leaders will be paid based on
positive results, said
Dave Lemont
, ceo. They will not be paid if one of their followers drops out,
he said. The firm began recruiting traders for the program in
January and has tapped a few, he said. The trade leaders have to be
reviewed against selection criteria.
The expansion is in response to demands from members for more
capabilities to put them on par with institutional traders and
bring more transparency to retail Forex trading. The site recently
launched a
Twitter
application called Tweet My Trades that automatically tweets a
trader's positions in real time. The Twitter application will not
be an additional cost for members. Lemont noted the service differs
from
StockTwits
because those tweets come up after the trade is made, said Lemont.
It also just formed a partnership with
Thomson Reuters IFR Markets
. Currensee Marketplace members can now purchase trade data and
analysis featuring Thomson Reuters market information. "This is
unique because we are now offering institutional information to
retail traders. This information would usually only be available
through brokers or large institutions. It is giving them insight
into institutional trading ideas," said Lemont. For example,
Currensee members now access to Squawk Box, the information Thomson
Reuters is hearing from traders on the Street. There is an extra
charge for the new Thomson Reuters data, which also includes
Trading Desk, a service that provides trading ideas, support and
resistance levels, analysis and strategy. Currensee Marketplace
hosts more than 1,000 members.