Getting Started in Currency Trading, + Companion Website: Winning in Today's Market, 4th Edition

Chapter 7

A Guide to FOREX Trading Platforms

Introduction

This chapter is almost all good news. Currency traders such as this author who have been in the game for many years can appreciate the wonderful current state and available options of the major FOREX trading platforms.

It has not always been this way. Until recently, a majority of FOREX brokers offered their own, proprietary trading platforms. Some still do have such an offering. But a majority now give traders a palette of third-party platforms for which the broker has fully integrated all functions—from charting to order entry and everything in between. Even brokers who continue to support an in-house solution typically provide traders a selection from one or two of the most popular third-party trading platforms.

This is a potential win-win-win situation. The broker wins by not having to invest large amounts of money in constant platform development, the platform vendor can concentrate on upgrading service with new features and more stability, and the trader just sits back and makes money trading.

Because these platforms are offered by multiple brokers, I have concluded the new trader will want to select a trading platform first and decide on a broker second. Except for one of my top selections, if you like the trading platform but learn to dislike the broker, you can switch the latter and keep the former. The broker’s functions are more or less transparent, but you live with the trading platform every time you sit down ...