1. What is your name and position?
Lior Alkalay – Forex Dealer

2. How has your firm been coping with the current financial crisis?
Mainly through very disciplined risk management. Markets are currently fluctuating very unexpectedly and the only way to manage your business especially in the FX arena is through disciplined risk control. There is no growth to a business without risk but the risk should be confined to a predefined and reasonable level.

3. How has the Forex market been affected by the financial Crisis?   
At the beginning of the crisis when fear was the dominating force we saw a big rise in FX volumes as investors moved away from the equity markets which seemed very risky at the time and into the FX market mainly by opening counter risk positions of US Dollar and Japanese Yen. The consequence was record volumes in the FX market. However as the crisis evolves growth prospects improved and with it risk appetite rebounded strongly, pushing Equities back in the game.
As a result OTC FX volumes drop 21% in H2 last year to a $49.8 trillion in comparison to an 11.9% growth in H1 that year, according to dealers.

4. Have you got any current data/statistics as to the size of today’s Forex market?
On a daily basis we relay on our inner statistics but when examining the status of the sector as a whole the Euromony survey is a pretty reliable index for activity in the FX market and the business behind it.

5. Do you believe the worst is behind us?
Yes, I think the worst is probably behind us. The most dangerous factor we had in this crisis was unprecedented fear level, which was much more severe than the crisis itself. Since only a fear with such magnitude as we experienced at the climax of this crisis could paralyze financial markets and bring the economy on the brink of collapse. We feel the fear factor has already reached its climax around the Lehman bankruptcy hence the worse is over for markets. Although we might experience some dips along the way.

6. Can you offer any tips to today’s traders?
My tip for traders is building your risk strategy in accordance to market range. When market range is wide it is more reliable and therefore you can relay on it to make good risk reward trades. However when market range is tight the probability of a strong break to each direction is much higher and very difficult to predict.

7. Which tool/software do you believe is the most important for a trader?
Accurate pricing is the most valuable tool a trader needs in order to make his decisions, software with precise quotes and quality graphs is the best tool a trader can have or need.

8. What is your favorite technical indicator?
The cross between the fast exponential average and the slow exponential average when calibrated correctly to the instrument and time scale can provide a fairly reliable indicator on the trends and pivots along the way.