Forex Trade Details

It may be intimidating to choose a forex trading platform when you first start trading - below are a few features that any good forex trading platform should have:

Does the forex broker offer details about the security measures of its platform? Your trading and personal data should be encrypted, in order that your money and identity are secure, whether you are paying and being paid through PayPal or online bank transfers.

The forex broker must also offer advice concerning how to enhance your online security - I'd be very suspicious of one that didn't given that they could be making themselves liable if you will discover any problems.
Additionally, are there backup systems where your information can be stored in case of an IT problem?

When can you use the forex trading platform? As forex is a 24-hour a day market, 5.five days every week, look for something that you can use constantly. Even when the market is closed, you want to be able to place orders to open in the event the market does.

The trading platform should also be efficient - if it really is slow then the costs at that you are trading may be out of date. A great forex trading platform should update several times a second.

If a forex trading platform is unreliable, slow or prone to interruption, a trader can miss a quick opportunity. A platform that offers one-click trading shall allow you to buy or sell forex contract with one click, which means there is no need to deal a ticket, and you will not miss the price you want.

Does the trading platform suit your trading style?

Is it easy to understand, or can it only be interpreted by a Wall St retiree? Look for a platform where it's
easy to search for your market, and, if you want to trade more than forex, look for one which also allows you to trade on shares, options and indices.

Where are you trading from? If you make use of a Mac, can you use the platform on it? Likewise, can the program be accessed using different browsers and different smart-phone handsets.

Basically, does it do what you'll need? The best forex trading platform should be customisable to suit your trading strategy - does it allow automated trading, and does it make it possible for you to micromanage every trade. The trading platform should be able to alert you to good trading opportunities, and accept complex orders, including the various stops and profits that the forex broker offers, so you can readily minimise your risk while maximising your profits.

Does the forex trading platform have a separate charting platform, and just how easy is it to navigate? And, if you want to trade from your iPhone or Blackberry, can you access these from your handset? And, can you trade directly from the charts, or do you'll need to deal a ticket?

Depending on your level of experience, you could want a charting package with a pattern recognition tool that may monitor the markets on your behalf, and could even let you know in the event the chart patterns are indicating trading opportunities.

And, if you want to trade forex throughout the day, it is important that the charts are updated in real-time.

Does your forex broker offer market analyses, and is this available using their trading platform or do you need to visit their website?

A good forex trading platform should include market analysis tools, including news feeds, in-house research and third-party research. As information is power, you want to be able to access as much of it as is possible, as well as to have access to it without crawling the internet for the information you need.

Any trading that offers market analysis should also have historical data available, so you can see how the forex was affected whenever a similar situation occurred.

Is the platform free? Many online forex trading platforms provided by reputable brokers are free, as well as your only costs will be if you make a loss.

If forex trading software is not free, or maybe if there's a nominal charge, find out just what the added benefits are. And, if it is not free, is there a money-back guarantee if you're not pleased with the software?

Does the trading platform offer the exact same pip spreads as the broker has advertised, or do you will need to phone to obtain the best deal?

A pip is a 0.0001 unit of currency, and also the pip spread will be the distinction between the buy and sell cost of your currencies - so should the AUD/USD is quoted at 1.0578/1.0579, the sell price is 1.0578 and the buy price is 1.0579. For virtually every spread, the cost of the currency needs to make up the main difference of the spread before you could make a profit. So, within the example, if you buy at 1.0579, the AUD only needs to increase two pips from 1.0578 to 1.0560 for you to make a profit. If there's a three pip spread, the currency would have to move by 4 pips before you made a profit.

Is your forex brokers broker just excited about getting you an account, or do they provide ongoing support for customers using the trading platform?

You should be able to email and/or smartphone your broker with questions ranging from placing trades to the button on your trading platform that isn't doing what you want.

Regardless of how many questions you ask a customer support, it's difficult to know how well a forex trading platform will suit you without being able to try it, so get online and see which companies have demo accounts available. The demo account should have all the functionality of the full account, or close to it.