2Bull Forex Blog

Online trading software have flooded the World Wide Web with offers from numerous banks and brokerages all around the world. It is not unusual to see advertising banners and attractive websites selling the services of certain trading platforms these days.

But with the increasing popularity of online trading, and as more and more Forex trading software are being introduced to the market, the quality of these software have become questionable.

Here are the 2 minimum requirements that all good trading platforms should have.

Requirement 1 - Accurate Price Feeds

Not many traders know this, but the data feeds that show the fluctuating ‘live’ prices on their trading platforms are not always precise. I’ve often experienced huge price spikes of up to 600 pips in one hour! This was obviously an error, but some beginner traders may have taken it to be the real thing.

As traders, we rely on our charts to make good trading decisions. How can we make good money if our trading charts show the trading prices that were never actually traded? This would not be an uncommon occurrence especially if you are using a demo trading account.

So always check to make sure that the platform you are using has access accurate price feeds. Your trading success depends on it.

Requirement 2 - Graphical Representation Of Profit Targets And Stops

Since we rely on the graphical representation of historical price movements when we trade, it makes sense that we should also be able to see where our profit targets and stops are, graphically on the trading chart.

This helps you to better estimate a better profit target with higher probability of being hit. For example, you may want to place you profit target near to the recent swing high or swing low, which can only be seen on the graphical trading chart.

So you wanna know which is possibly the best Forex trading platform there is out there that you can use don’t you? Well, I’ll tell you a bit later if you promise to be patient.

Without further ado… let’s get right into it.

Now I’ve come across tens of different Forex trading platforms available out there. From retail platforms to institutional platforms (these aren’t available to the general public). Platforms such as Oanda, GFTForex, FXCM and the various brokers that run on MetaTrader4. There are also very professional platforms such as TradeStation and VTrader.

So with all these trading platforms available to you, you must be wondering which one would be best for you?

Want the TRUTH?

No one can actually answer that for you except yourself. We can only give our opinions as to which ones would be suitable for your needs but you need to discover which ones really serve yours. The other thing is… this whole issue about the best trading platform is actually not THAT important in my opinion as compared to issues like your trading psychology and things like that.

When you become more experienced and more familiar with trading, you’ll understand how you like to trade and what features you need. One trader might need trailing stops while another doesn’t. One might need the ichimoku indicator built into the trading platform whereas his counterpart doesn’t. Since all of us are unique and not made the same, what makes you think that there is a trading platform solution that suits all of us?

While I leave you to think about what I’ve just said, do be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to get acquainted with the flavors available. All the best with your search.

Not too long ago, someone (a friend) wanted to get started with forex trading and asked me for advice with regards to which trading platform and broker to start with so that the learning curve wouldn’t be that steep.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I answered with Oanda as the recommended trading platform to start with. You see… when I first started trading forex, I used Oanda and found myself picking things up really quickly and I suspect that’s the case for most beginner traders starting out.

Here’s the thing with them though… They don’t have trailing stops which isn’t a biggie in my opinion. Their indicators leaves a lot to be desired as well together with their charting (which probably is the biggest reason NOT to use them from the onset). So what you essentially got to do is weigh your pros and cons.

In any case, they have what it’s called FXGame and it doesn’t cost you a cent to try that out. FXGame is their demo trading platform and with that, you get a very similar experience to what you’ll experience with FXTrade (which is their live trading platform).

Oanda’s FXTrade is JAVA based so it doesn’t quite matter if you’re running Windows or MacOS. You’re good to go on both accounts.

Before I leave you to decide for yourself if you want to give Oanda a shot, I’ll also like to suggest a very popular alternative which is called Metatrader. Google it and you’ll find it in a sec.

Forex trading using software has been growing in popularity all over the world. 10 years ago, currency trading involved either renting a seat down at the trading pit, or calling your broker to execute your trades on your behalf. In recent years, the boom of the internet has made the process of trading so much easier.

These days, one can easily trade Forex via an internet connection on his or her computer. However, online trading does not only involve the retail trader looking at live price fluctuations, but also the history of the price movement over a period of time using price charts. Charting software has been increasingly incorporated into trading platforms, and has made the Forex market very accessible to any one who is interested in trading.

With these integrated functions, retail traders can now easily look at a price chart, and execute their trades all using the same piece of software. Now, almost anyone can trade currencies just by installing the trading platform software into their computer.

Web-based Trading Platforms

Not all Forex trading platforms are required to be installed into your computer. There are numerous trading brokers who also provide web-based trading solutions for people who do not wish to install any software.

These web-based trading platforms will provide the same charting and trade-execution functions too. However, due to technical limitations, the number of platform functions you’ll have access to is limited when using a web-based platform.

If you want the full suite of supporting trading functions, it would be best if you could download and install a piece of trading platform software.

Experiment

Not all trading platforms are made equal. Some have more functions than others, and some are more intuitive to use than others. There is no one ‘best’ trading platform for everyone: it is all up to your personal preference.

That’s why I recommend that you try at least 2-3 different trading platforms before you decide on using one for good. Try both the software install and web-based platform versions, you’ll never know which one you’ll prefer until you try both.

Forex Traders who use software to automate the trading process should be very careful about the software that they use. The internet boom has brought with it a variety of so-called Forex trading ‘systems’ and ‘automated trading tools’ that have often brought more trouble than benefits to their users.

First of all, you should understand that in the online Forex trading arena - as with any other money making industry - there exist a number of scams that try to cheat you of your money. These scams are run by conmen who try to make a quick buck out of unsuspecting Forex retail traders who are looking to make easy money in the currency markets. One of the ways in which they do this is by selling some sort of Forex trading software.

Not All Forex Trading Software Is Bad

Of course, you should be aware that not all Forex trading software is of poor quality. There are indeed a good number of software that can be of practical use to the casual trader. However, such software are not easy to find. If you do a quick search on Google, you’ll likely come across a variety of websites selling some form of trading ‘system’ that claims to be able to make money for you via automatic trading. These software can range anywhere from $67 to $100 or more.

While it is not my intention to question the integrity of such software, I would personally stay away from such ‘get rich easy’ claims. When things seem too good to be true, chances are that they are.

If You Absolutely Want To Be A Forex Software Trader

Generally, it is my humble advice for you to ignore any type of software that claims to be able to trade profitably for you. If you insist on trying it anyway, please remember to at least use a demo account to gauge its profitability first. Run the software for at least 3 months, and see if it reliably provides you with consistent profits. Chances are, no piece of software can consistently give you profits all the time.

Also, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the largest draw down that the software gives you. It’s useless to be able to make 20 pips for 80% of your trades, if you can lose 90 pips on 20% of your trades. In this case, you’ll still be an overall loser.