Getting to know what your trading platform has to offer can benefit your trading style. Remember back to when you were in High school; you’re in class, what tools have you brought with you? What steps were taken for you to be ready to understand and participate fully in a particular class? Your teacher surely gave you homework and outlined sections of your workbooks to study. Trading is no different. You can’t turn up to attend class, without fully preparing yourself on the fundamentals of the trading process.
Often the most important, yet mostly underrated aspect of any brokerage is the actual trading platform itself. The trading platform is the user interface – It’s what traders see when they log in to their accounts. Basically, the trading platform is the pillar of any broker. Many brokers have gone to the extent of creating their own platform from scratch in a bid to add some personal touch, maintain user friendliness and most of all add a unique touch to their product. XTrade Europe is a good example of that.
Electronic trading platforms typically stream live market prices on which users can trade, they should provide additional trading tools, such as charting packages, news feeds and account management functions.
Accessibility
Today’s trading platforms, such as XTrade Europe, have been optimized for most smart phones, including iPhone, Android, and Windows Phones – as well as iPad, Android and Windows tablets. So now you know that you can trade from practically any device. But more importantly, you should be aware of the valuable tools that trading platforms have to offer.
Available assets
Knowing was assets are available to you is a great indicator of the quality of the trading platform. Taking XTrade Europe as an example – You can choose between 52 currency pairs, 21 of those being exotic pairings (including BitCoin paring) that you may not find available with many other brokers. Outside of forex, there are nearly one hundred additional asset choices, each with its own Bid/Ask spread dynamics, leverage amounts, and minimum margin requirement.
Account management
Firstly, opening a trading account should always be FREE. If a broker asks you for payment just to sign up – be cautious, this might be a sign that the broker isn’t creditable. Once you have your account set up – crediting and withdrawing should be a quick, safe and smooth process.
Education
Many traders offer you learning tools or educational centers. XTrade Academy offers tutorial videos, e-books and other resources suitable for both beginning and professional traders. These tools are not only great for novices but for traders with more experience, who want to further polish their skills.
Spreads and Leverage
Spreads and leverage should be published for every asset choice. Each asset has its own individual criteria, but as a group, leverage can be 400:1 for currency pairs, 200:1 for commodities and indices, and 20:1 for stocks. XTrade Europe is compensated via the Bid/Ask spreads, which do vary by asset, and margin requirements are also stated separately. Margin calls can be a possibility with CFDs, if the market moves abruptly against you.
There are many more tools, charts and analytics available to help you trade successfully – don’t pass up on familiarizing yourself with everything that your trading platform has to offer.