By Forex Mansion
Online trading platforms are typically software that is downloaded and provides various trading tools via the internet. It is through the software that you can monitor the market and trade. You can expect to find the following features in a forex trading platform:
• Currency rates
• Trading
• Open Positions – Position Closing
• Entry Orders
• Hedging
• Account
• Account history
Features and Tools to Look For – Does Your Online Broker Offer These?
The basic feature any trading platform has to offer is a window displaying the current currency rates. Typically, they will display the various currency pairs via sell price and buy price, and they will also display the day’s high and low. The best programs have a live feed that actively charts the value according to the latest market data. Additionally, you have the options of how to view the charts (Bar, Line, or Candlestick). Many programs install indicator calculators that automatically provide common indicators important to trend forecasting.
The next basic feature is the trade feature. This will typically be a window in which you sell (bid for) or buy (ask for) a currency. The trades take place by lots. A lot is the minimum amount of currency that can be bought or sold in a given trade.
The net total of all holdings of a given currency are called a position. Most platforms will automatically calculate all your holdings in order to give you your position for each currency. This may be called an open positions window. It is called open because it refers to all the currency that has been bought and has not yet been sold. Position closing therefore means to sell current holdings. Many platforms allow you to preprogram a price at which you would like your position to automatically close.
More Important Functions to Make Sure Your Online Broker Offers:
An entry orders function is a function offered by many platforms that allows you to preset an amount (of lots) and a rate (or price) of a given currency to be bought in the future. An entry limit means that the program will purchase when the price goes down or sell when the price goes up (i.e. that there is a limit on what is to be paid). Entry stop means the opposite (i.e. to stop or liquidate if the price drops).
Hedging is a financial step taken to counteract risk. Some platforms will allow you to perform trades automatically calculated to counteract risk incurred by an existing position.
Another basic feature provided by trading platforms is an up-to-date display of your account. This typically includes the account balance, equity (calculation of the balance together with open positions), usable and used margin (the amount of available equity or equity in open positions), and also the net gain or less in all open positions.
Many platforms offer a detailed account history including reports of all positions that have been opened and closed since the start of the trading. These reports are helpful for looking back and examining which steps were most successful and which were not. The reports typically will also include current open positions as well as future orders.
Online trading platforms are the ultimate way to conquer the forex market. They provide all the tools necessary for successful trading. Many platforms offer the option of opening a demo account that will let you experience using the program by trading without actually investing any real money. (The trades respond to real market trends but the money is not real). In the modern world of online forex trading, an online trading platform is your best friend.
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About the Author
Don’t start global forex trading if you’re not using a quality online trading platform.. This article will explain what an online trading platform provides and the important role it plays for the modern forex trader.
