Market Leder – FxStat, Currensee or MyFxBook?

Posted on 22. Oct, 2011 by Jakob in Random Noise, Review, Tools

FxStat has been around for some time and their popularity is increasing, which is not surprising. The first time I went to the site I thought of it as a completely copy of MyFxBook. Although there are many similarities, the two sites still follow their own trajectory. I have had a very solid opinion of my preferred “social” forex website (which has been reflected on here on TradeProfits) but I am starting to lean a bit more to the other side. With the recent addition to FxStat of Market Leader, I thought it would be a good idea to look closer at the main three social forex websites.

I can honestly say that the forex related site I visit the most is ForexPeaceArmy. Although I’m not completely sure this goes into the category of a social web site, it is a very interactive forum, with lots of useful information. And although this has no relation to social sites, the site I visit mostly after FPA, is actually my own site ForexPpop! This is link heaven for Forex traders, so if you haven’t seen it before, make sure to pay it a visit and bookmark the site. Anyhow, back to the social sites.

We have three competitors in exactly the same industry, and somewhat in the same niche in that industry.

I am aware there are a dozen of other sites as well, but for now the focus is on the three above mentioned sites, as this is where I have been most active recently. I am a member on all three sites. Signing up is free of charge (on all three) and will take you less than 5 minutes to join in.

FxStat
I spoke to one of the guys from FxStat when it was launched. I had signed up and as I had some questions about the site I wrote them an email. 10 minutes later I got a call from them elaborating on my concerns. Good stuff! As a new member, I was very satisfied with the service. I remember the first time I went to their site, I immediately thought of this is a complete copy of MyFxBook. Now they do have many simiarities but there are some differences. FxStat cannot be characterized as a first mover, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. As a “Second” mover, they have been able to spot issues that first movers have been exposed to, learn from it and build a truly amazing site, with the needed features and without all the unnecessary material. In my opinion, they have done a fantastic job, both in terms of design, features, convenience and customer service. FxStat is clearly becoming my favorite site. They continue to update their site with new and awesome features. Today I received an email from them about another addition which is worth highlighting; Market leader. This might ring a bell, as Currency operates with a very similar program named Trade Leaders. Once again, creativity is clearly not the main priority on FxStat´s list of important improvements. But then again, it works, and to be honest, does it really matter that much? We are all here to trade the forex market – Creativity is out! The new Market Leader program from FxStat sounds very interesting and definitely something which I will read (and post) more about in the future.

Overall, the site is very intuitive, easy to navigate around, and there are a lot of really great features. This is going to the top of my list! MyFxBooks is still my preferred choice but with new features on FxStant they are taking an important step in the right direction, making a site which combines the best from MyFxBook and Currensee. One of the issues is, that as a social site, the site still lack the critical mass, which could induce a tipping point where members really benefit from being a member. With MyFxbook, the volume is definitely there which have resulted in some really great changes in the retail forex market. MyFxBook´s graph widgets are popping out on pretty much every site out there, and readers almost take this for granted. The same goes for new commercial services, ea´s, etc. They use stats from MyFxBook to verify performance. FxStat is not there yet, but they are clearly working on it.

Currensee
This looked really promising in the beginning. I was signed up as a beta-tester and spent a lot of time around on the site. I was a bit disappointed initially, but I had my hopes up as the site was under development and I felt fairly sure that it would be a killer project. As of today, unfortunately I am still a bit disappointed with the site. One thing I would like to point out is the Trade Leader program, which is a good step in the right direction, and clearly the most important feature of the site in my opinion. I haven’t tested the service yet, so I cannot tell if this is functioning well or not. Anyhow, that is definitely something which I will look more into.

One of the things I dislike is the way you can customize the site, by dragging different windows around in the dashboard. I cannot pinpoint the exact issue I have here, but I just don’t like having all of these small windows with scrollbars open in my browser. If you are a member of Currensee, you probably know that you have to option to choose which widgets you want to be shown in the different tabs. This feature works well, and the idea is good, but there is definitely room for improvement; why anyone would want to have an Instant Messaging widget inside the browser is a mystery to me. I see this working somewhat on facebook but this is definitely not my preferred IM tool. I like the good old-style install skype kind of way. And finally, the widget does not seem to work, in case you wanted to give it a go. Another thing I am puzzled with is the feed widget on Currensee; this shows some 10 feeds, but there is no option to choose how many stories I would like to see. I have also tried to add additional feeds, but that does not seem to work. The same goes for Hot Topics; I can see some 10 hot topics, but I don’t know where I can go to see additional Hot Topics? In the sidebar there is a “People You Should Know” column; this works very well on facebook, LinkedIn, etc. because there is a reason behind it, and the friend suggestions you see on these site tend to be spot on (often you will find people from way back who you forgot about). But on Currensee it seems to show random individuals. Obviously it could be argued that I should know some guy because we share a similar interest in currency trading, but that doesn’t really cut it. Another thing is that the site loading very slowly on my computer, which is not a problem with any other site I visit. In addition to this, the site continues to load, even when the page actually has been loaded, which I guess is because the widgets continue to auto-update continuously, but I am not sure. Either way, the site continues to load all the time.

All this might be a bit harsh, and I know the guys behind Currensee really does try to make a great community, and I definitely think it is possible. But I from a personal perspective, I really think the site needs a makeover and a bunch of improvements before they will reach the popularity MyFxBook has. Once again, there is a lot more to cover about Currensee, and definitely some positive things as well. But overall, this feels like a project which is still in a testing phase. With some future changes, I am sure Currensee can make this site a great and valuable place for forex traders to hang out.

MyFxBook
This is my favorite. I love the design, the simplicity and the features the site offer. I have been with MyFxBook pretty much since the beginning and they continue to update the site with new great features. What I like the most is the analytical tools which they offer. They also have a great review section, detailed explanation tutorials, host trading contests every now and then, and they clearly have a lot of members. Based on the print screen below, it is easy to see that I am not the only one who finds the site useful. Every time they make an update to the site, it is done in a professional way, and the short version is that the site work wonders for a lot of traders out there. This is one site which really can help become a better trader, in my opinion.

The missing piece here is exactly what is offered at Currensee and now FxStat; a MyFxBook Leader program. With such an addition, I don’t think I could ask for anything else. Hopefully this is on the list for future upgrades to the site, but who knows.

All three sites offer free membership and they all have their own benefits and downsides. MyFxBook is on the top of my list as mentioned above. However FxStat is really doing a great job, and I will definitely be paying more attention to this site. Currensee still needs a lot of improvement in my opinion, but there is definitely potential for something big. Which site is your favorite?

Related posts:

1. MyFxBook – ToolBar and More
2. MyFxBook with New Cool Features
3. MyFxBook – Track Your Goals
4. MyFxBook – 1 Year Anniversary
5. New Features at MyFxBook

Tags: currensee, FxStat, MyFxBook, Social Forex Sites