Por a neophyte trader, choosing the right trading platform involves correctly understanding these three features, in order to select the one that will be best suited to your trading profile. Trading platforms are rapidly becoming more popular and allow individuals, in a few clicks, to enter the world of trading in stocks, crypto-currencies, and other currencies. Nevertheless, it is better to go through a platform that allows you to learn this activity for free before trading “for real” this, without betting your money, at least to start.
What is trading?
Trading consists of buying financial securities such as shares, currencies, etc. with the objective of reselling them at a higher price in the shortest possible period of time.
What is a Trading Platform?
A trading platform like Avatrade is a virtual space, dedicated to securities trading activity and on which the trader will be able to interact with the financial markets, using all the appropriate tools. To know :
- The GUI
- The order entry interface
- Information news feeds*
*If you risk yourself on the wrong platform, you risk not being able to sort out the good from the bad information on the markets and making dangerous decisions for the success of your trades.
What is a good trading platform?
The basics that a beginner should have are:
The ability to register simply and quickly. Indeed, some brokers use a complicated language that you will not necessarily understand from the start. It is a question here of choosing from the start, a platform that has proven itself (of the metatrader type, for example), and which will allow you to go directly to the securities you wish to trade, and so on… Better is worth opting for a platform that dusts off the world of trading right from the start and explains to you, step by step, in an intuitive way, the steps to follow.
The essential role of access to information
An online trading platform should be able to provide you with all the technical and basic information related to trading in one place.
To do this, you must be able to access real-time information such as:
- earnings per share
- the dividend rate
- balance sheet and income statement
The management of emotions
We probably don’t say it enough, but a bad trading platform can affect your stress. On the other hand, if you use a good platform, you will de facto be more intellectually agile, because you will have confidence in your tools and your interfaces. The quality of the broker can really make the difference.
Traps to avoid
It is better to take a little time and do some research before embarking on CFD or cryptocurrency trading. Check the reputation and reliability of the site beforehand, via recent and well-argued customer feedback.
You will absolutely have to choose a platform that is well established and that can present an official license with all the approvals of the French financial authorities. Make sure that the trading platform is under the aegis of a recognized financial authority, and that it has a solid and proven security system.
Finally, a good platform worthy of the name must be able to allow you to train for free before getting into serious things with money real…
Trading platform fees
Brokerage fees are one of the most important elements. Indeed, if you use the scalping technique, for example, it is better to opt for an inexpensive platform. In fact, everything will depend on your trader profile. In other words, to succeed in your strategy, you will need to identify the functionalities that you absolutely need, in order to minimize the costs on your trades as much as possible. Conversely, if you maintain your positions over the long term, the “costs” factor will be less important, and other features will be preferred in this case.
Avatrade, a platform with a solid reputation
The Avatrade platform is arguably one of the best platforms currently available on the market, thanks to its open architecture formula. Indeed, Avatrade offers three trading platforms:
- The Web Trader application (limited in terms of features)
- Meta Trader 4, in downloadable version and in web version (one of the most used and popular trading software by Forex traders). MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is also excellent technical analysis software that provides a wide variety of Forex technical indicators and other analysis tools. moreover with MetaTrader 4, we can add oscillators and many tools for CFDs.
- Meta Trader 5, available in downloadable version and in version 2.0, dedicated to all markets (stocks, cryptos, indices and commodities). The main difference between MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), is that MT5 is not only a Forex and CFD trading platform, but also a stock trading platform.
So many tools that the trading platform makes available to you and which can impact your ability to execute your orders. By using a bad platform, the main risk will be not being able to execute your trades on time, and therefore recording subsequent losses.
Article written by Bertrand Dubourg, Consultant for AvaTrade.