Forex Platforms
Before you can trade in the currency markets, you need to open yourself a forex trading account. There are lots of forex brokers online to choose from, all of whom offer online forex platforms for you to trade from.
The forex market is a huge business with several trillion dollars worth of transactions completed daily. The majority of transactions have traditionally been made by phone, but the development of the internet and sophisticated trading software means that more and more people now have access to the world of forex trading from the comfort of their own homes.
Online access allows investors to trade and monitor their investments twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and to trade real time.
So what do you need to look for from a forex broker when opening a new forex trading account?
As a beginner you would ideally want to find a trading account that offered both a mini account option and a demo facility. A mini (or micro) account is designed especially for forex newbies and requires only a small deposit to get you started trading, usually around $200. Mini accounts are specifically offered for individuals who only want to trade in small amounts.
A demo facility allows you to make trades without risking any of your money, put simply, it’s an opportunity for you to practise trading before you start for real. You can familiarise yourself with trading techniques and simulate systems without any risk.
Another feature to ask about is ‘leverage’. The higher the leverage that comes with your account, the more currency you can buy with your deposit. The typical leverage on a mini account would be 100:1. This means that if you opened a mini account with a deposit of $1,000, you could actually buy $100,000 worth of currency, and gain from the movement on that amount. The most you could lose on a trade would be the $1,000 not the $100,000! This is known as leveraging your deposit.
As well as the above features, you should also look for brokers who provide personal training courses and online support. Look for long established brokers who can provide testimonials from satisfied customers. Make sure you can make deposits using credit or debit cards and that the site has good security against online fraud and hackers.
Make sure you understand all of the broker’s terms and conditions, and that their fees and any commissions are clearly stated and competitive, and that their spreads are competitive also.
Finally look at the trading tools that come with the various forex platforms, do they include charts, outlooks and financial news? And how easy to use is the software? Don’t get lumbered with a platform that is difficult to trade with, look for a platform where you do everything online and doesn’t require the downloading of software, you want the flexibility to be able to log on to any computer anywhere and trade.
The forex broker that I use fulfills all of the requirements above and provide an excellent service that I cannot fault. I highly recommend that you go and take a look at the features and prices on offer at Easy Forex …
Also take a look at this excellent Forex ebook below …
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