Picking the Best FOREX Trading Software

As with everything you do, making sure that you have the best available tools to assist you in your FOREX trading simply makes common sense. With FOREX trading these tools come in the form of FOREX trading software programs.
Nearly all FOREX brokers will now offer their customers some for of software program when you open an account. To know that you are on the road to picking the best software package for you, you need to ensure that you package can provide you with:

Real Time FOREX Trade Prices

In this regard, you need to know both the buy and sell prices (also known as the ask and bid price). In the case of most brokers, these are also called the broker’s spread – and different brokers may display different spreads, so check this out.

FOREX Charts

Possibly more so than any other online investment strategy, FOREX charts are essential to any successful trader. A useful FOREX chart, however, needs to not only supply you with historical information of what the currency high and low has been, but should also supply you information in spreadsheet format that allows you to decipher the movements of selected currencies against each other; for example, why the movements happened.

"Stop Orders"

The FOREX market is 24-hours and continuous. You, on the other hand, are not. There will be a time when you need to sleep, and unless you intend to be a day trader the time will come when you’ll be left with an exposure during the time when you are asleep. To limit your exposure during this time you need to make sure you have in place software that accepts stop orders. Essentially a stop order occurs when a currency reaches a pre-determined get out price and will automatically issue a sell order once that trigger-point has been reached. Likewise, you may need to install a buy order, which does the reverse and buys a currency at a pre-determined price which you believe is likely to be the lowest that currency will reach against your base currency.

Dummy Accounts

Before you can embark on a successful career as a FOREX trader you will need to spend some time learning the ropes and getting to understand how the technology works. The best way to ensure you do this is to trade ‘real’, but where no money passes hands. Ideally this will be in the form of a dummy account in the software program your broker provides to you. Once you have learnt the basics to FOREX trading using your broker’s dummy FOREX trading software account, you can then start to trade with real money.

The Benefits of a mini FOREX Trading Account

If, like millions of others, you have decided that trading in foreign currencies appeals to your investment strategy, but do not believe that you have reached the levels of experience that warrant you exposing your life savings to FOREX trading, then opening a mini FOREX trading account may well be just the answer you are looking for.

Unlike a standard FOREX trading account, it is possible to open a mini FOREX online account with a little as $250. The immediate benefits of having this type of a FOREX account are that: (i) you can put in place some of the trading strategies you have learnt using your FOREX dummy account, without risking too much actual cash; and (ii) you can leverage your mini account once you feel you have sufficient real experience, again without the need to necessarily risk losing your life’s savings; and (iii) you can get the feel of trading in a real life FOREX trading environment for a minimum deposit – something trading in your dummy account will not train you for – before moving on to bigger and, hopefully, better pastures.

Depending on which broker you open your mini account with, you should also note that certain currencies may not be part of your FOREX trade account portfolio. In most cases, brokers only allow traders with mini accounts to trade in ‘hard’ currencies, with exotic currencies reserved for standard and premium accountholders. Moreover, commission rates will normally vary with mini trading accounts, and as this may play a fundamental role in determining whether or not you make a profit when dealing in such small margins, you should make sure you check these commission charges carefully.