[FX_Cowboy]

I have used Ensign for several years now, and have been relying on the FXCM as my data source for Ensign charting for perhaps six months. In general, the combination is very stable and reliable (and if you're already plunking down $40/month for Ensign, it's free!), but you should be aware of a few anomalies in terms of data availability.

Obviously, this data is made available on FXCM's schedule, which it turns out is different (and slightly more limited) than the data provided from other sources. For example, FXCM data cuts off at 4:00 pm EST on Fridays, compared to a market close of 5:00 pm on the FX futures markets and some other spot FX brokers such as OANDA. The data flow only resumes at 12:01 am EST Monday morning, compared to 6:00 pm Sunday night for futures and as early as 1:00 pm Sunday afternoon for OANDA (just two other sources I have experience with).

On major holidays (I noticed this over Christmas and New Year's, but there may be other examples as well), FXCM will stop its data feed altogether, so unless you have alternatives, you're forced to take the day off too. That may not always be a bad thing, but it's nice to have alternatives.

Obviously, these quirks are going to leave you with some "gaps" in your data. If you trade on the basis of price action and pay attention to support and resistance areas, this means that you'll have a few blind spots. You can compensate for these blind spots, of course, by referring to other data sources, but that data will remain outside of the charting package.

Just a couple of things to consider if you are evaluating this combination. These limitations may not affect your style of trading at all. Personally, I consider all this to be a disadvantage, but again, if you are using Ensign and like that charting package, you can't beat the price of FXCM as a data source.