1. What is your name and position?

Nikolay Ignatov – Dealer
FOREX and CFDs Dealing Desk, Deltastock AD

2. How has your firm been coping with the current financial crisis?

I would say we have been coping very well despite the current economic situation. We were able to reorganize and restructure certain company operations at the first signs of the financial crisis in a way to minimize expenses, but still, to optimize our marketing strategy. At that point, serving a client base from more than 60 countries worldwide, we had undertaken a number of steps to further expand our markets by soliciting more foreign clients as compared to the growth of their number domestically.
Those steps included opening offices and developing our operations in different EU countries like Romania (in Bucharest), UK (in London), and others, as well as providing a larger pool of services and introducing numerous improvements in our trading software. Now I could say we succeeded in this endevour, so that the large number of new clients helped us overcome the decreased turnover by existing clients by actually generating even bigger turnover than before.

3. How has the Forex market been affected by the financial Crisis?

The financial crisis did not have such a devastating impact on the FOREX market as on the stock market. The commodity traded on FOREX is currency. Since virtually all of the world’s leading economies experienced a financial meltdown, the currency rates did not change as significantly as the stock prices did. When the stock market was crashing, the FOREX market was blooming. Actually the global financial crisis has caused many investors to flee from the stock market and seek refuge elsewhere - currencies and precious metals proved to be the best choice for many of them.

4. What method of trading is preferred by clients – through ECN or Market Maker?

This is a particularly interesting question as usually both options are considered by clients. Both types of trading have their pros and cons, so that some prefer Market Makers, while others use ECNs. However most of the retail Forex brokers, which claim to be ECNs do not display the names of the liquidity providers in their order books. Deltastock is to release very soon a true ECN module which will be integrated in the Delta Trading platform. Unlike the other brokerages, Deltastock will have the names of all its liquidity providers listed next to their trade volumes and price feeds in the order book. Clients will know the particular liquidity provider with whom every single order has been executed. Moreover, every client will be able to choose any one of them, using STP engine.

I would like to add that our Delta Trading software is the only one that combines trading through Level 2 module as well as through fixed spreads in the same platform. Currently our Level 2 module includes offers of Deltastock and its clients, so that traders can view and analyze the market depth, as well as to trade at very tight spreads reaching fraction of a pip. The two methods of trading are combined in a way that allows clients to open positions through the Level 2 module and close them through fixed spreads, and vice versa. I should add that in comparison to some other companies our fixed spreads stay fixed at all times, even during important economic events.


5. Do you believe the worst is behind us?

I do believe the worst of this economic crisis is behind us. Important economic indicators also suggest improvement in the leading economies of the world. However, this does not necessarily mean we will see rapid progress in the short run. I share the view that the state of the financial system worldwide is still fragile and therefore I do not completely exclude the possibility for further deepening of the economic crisis, especially in some developing countries. I expect slow recovery on a worldwide scale, but still we need to watch closely the economic indicators for hints of the state of the economy.

6. Can you offer any tips to today’s traders?

I will give you tips that I am sure you have heard of many times, but it is because they are universal and are indeed important.

• Risk management – Forex is all about taking risks, so that it is pointless to try eliminating risk. Nevertheless, you must be completely aware of the level of risk your trading strategy involves and know what your limits are. In Delta Trading we offer Virtual Portfolio Module which enables traders to create and manage up to 6 portfolios. They can test a number of trading strategies, risk free, based on market forecasts and strategy back-tests. Traders can analyze the performance of their portfolio by using different type of charts, available in the module. Well performing Virtual Portfolios can be converted into live orders, with a single click of the mouse, using the Basket Order feature. Delta Trading platform also provides P/L Charts where traders can keep a sharp eye on the current and past performance of their positions.

• Psychology – it includes discipline and the right attitude. Try to minimize the effect of emotions on your trading. Stick to your trading style and do not make compromises. You can still change or adjust it, but only when your research shows it is the right thing to do.

• Research – today there is a huge amount of analytical data for the Forex market, but you should not rely entirely on such data. You should do your own research and process the information before using it.

7. Do you offer managed accounts? If so, what type of managed accounts?

Deltastock offers Managed Forex accounts, which are based on signal trading. The product we provide follows the latest trends on the Forex Market and allows you to choose from a number of strategies provided by experts and have them automatically executed by Deltastock. The strategies are developed by different providers including Deltastock. They are automated and use combinations of technical indicators and logic rules.

8. Do you offer a signal trading/Auto trading service?

Our Delta Trading software provides Application Programming Inteface (API) support, which enables clients to use automated systems for online trading. In addition to that we provide a piece of software called MetaTrader 4 bridge, which gives the opportunity to run experts on a MetaTrader 4 platform and execute them through the Delta Trading platform.

9. Which tool/software do you believe is the most important for a trader?

My observations show that automated trading systems have become much more popular in recent years and today, they have a significant impact on the Foreign Exchange trade volumes. I believe the role of automated trading will increase in the future and will become an integrated part of Forex even for retail traders.

10. What is your favorite technical indicator?

There is a vast number of technical indicators which are at every trader’s disposal. Some of these indicators are performing great in trending markets, others are very useful in ranging markets. Our analysts use a combination of technical indicators, but usually moving averages are always considered, so that I could say this is their favourite technical indicator.

It is always good idea to test different strategies. For example in our software there is a tool called Virtual Portfolio where you can easily create virtual portfolios with whatever instruments you would like and at whatever quantities