We could obtain information about major banks' FX positions through the convenience of our living room by visiting this browser-based FX newsfeed.

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Do you know who are the movers in the forex market? Most forex players are retail traders. However, the largest funds are in the hands of the government, central banks, and big banks. Knowing where and when they will move would benefit us greatly.

Government and central banks' moves are usually announced publicly. But, how do we know major banks' FX trade positions? Even top US forex brokers are not commonly providing such information.

In the days of old, we should register an account with each major bank in order to receive their newsletters. Nowadays you can access eFXdata to get various insights about major bank FX.

 

What is eFXdata?

eFXdata (previously known as eFXnews) started as a Dow Jones newswire subscription, then transformed into a premium FX newsfeed offering priceless insights into the thinking of major banks about the macroeconomic landscape and the developing trends on the Forex market. The Boston-based fintech company is run by a team of economists, scientists, data analysts, and developers.

In 2014, they introduced eFXplus which aggregates insights from sell-side research on 26 currency pairs at FX trading desks in:

  1. Goldman Sachs
  2. Credit Agricole
  3. Bank of America Merill Lynch
  4. Morgan Stanley
  5. Commerzbank
  6. Credit Suisse
  7. Citibank
  8. Barclays
  9. BNP Paribas
  10. JP Morgan Chase, and many others.

The browser-based service displayed lists of major banks' FX position changes, equipped with desktop and email alerts for premium subscribers.

You could also enjoy the service for free on the web (without auto-refresh, customized notifications, and alerts). See the following screencap for a sneak peek into their insights.

Major Banks FX Positions

Next, follow these steps:

  1. Click on any news ticker, then you would see a brief explanation for each analysis.
  2. In the following screenshot, a research team from Bank of America (BofA) spoke about how they revised down EUR/USD forecast for the rest of the year from 1.20-1.25 to 1.15-1.20 (from 1.25 to 1.15 year-end).
  3. As EUR/USD currently traded around 1.21, we could respond by selling the pair. Alternatively, we could check other major banks' research briefs for the same pair.

Major Banks FX Positions

Be aware that guests could not access eFXdata full services. What we could see here are the ones available for guests. But even the bits and pieces shown could give us ideas on whether major banks will buy or sell certain FX pairs, and at which levels.

Basic subscription for eFXPlus premium newsfeed started from USD99 per month (7-day trial available for USD19) for full web-based access, auto-refresh every minute, and in-app notifications. Or, you could also register for the premium plan at USD199 per month to get all basic features plus instant and daily email notifications.

 

Is It Important to Know Major Banks' FX Positions?

Looking at the precious information on eFXdata, you might be tempted to register for the premium services A.S.A.P. However, we should warn you that this service might not benefit everyone. Do consider it carefully beforehand.

One of the key factors to reach success in forex trading is proper market timing: the ability to identify continuing trends, reversals, and bounces in advance before they happen. It is also the ability to identify where market prices will go before they go there. It's also important to keep watch of the economic calendar. 

The primary reason you would want to know major banks' FX positions is to obtain the lowest risk, highest reward, and highest probability of entry into a position in the market. Nevertheless, copying major banks' actions does not guarantee rich results.

The law of uncertainty in the forex market makes sure that even major banks may lose at times. So do you. Meanwhile, registering for a premium FX newsfeed would hike your trading costs. If you could afford it, then it may boost your profitability. But if you are a beginner or someone who started trading with low capital, it might not be so profitable.

Relying on your own fundamental research and technical analysis could also provide you with high probability entry, as long as you could do your homework well enough.

With trend-following strategies, you could still profit from riding the trend a few moments after it happened instead of insisting on catching the trend before it happened. You could also use contrarian strategies to identify trend reversals scientifically before they occur.