Thursday, November 1, 2007

How to Choose a Low Spread Forex Trading Platform

When you start your Forex trading you will find that the Forex brokers - online or conventional, do not ask for a commission for their service. But of course, they do not perform their operations for free. They make money by charging a spread from the investor. It is therefore very important to find out a low spread Forex trading platform.

The spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for the currency being traded. The broker adds this spread onto the price of the trade and keeps it as their fee for trading. So you can consider this as a hidden commission.

One good thing about the spread is you pay it when you buy and not when you sell. A trading of 4 pips vs. 5 pips makes a difference of 25% on your trading costs! This makes the point clear why you would need a low spread Forex trading platform.

The popular currency pairs like the EUR/USD or GBP/USD typically have the lowest spreads. Some brokers offer different spreads for different types of accounts. A low spread Forex trading platform may not offer good mini trading and may have higher spreads than a full contract account. Obviously the smaller the spread on currency pairs the better the conditions for you as investor and trader.

You will find many online sites offering different platforms for Forex trading. Through these platforms you can actually buy or sell the Forex. You will have to identify a low spread Forex trading platform from them.

A good Forex trading platform shows live prices that you can actually trade at, and not indicative quotes. The low spread Forex trading platform should be fair and should let you know the actual prices so that you can have an idea of the spread.

While choosing the low spread Forex trading platform you wish to trade from the factors you should consider are:

Platform execution This refers to how fast and consistent the execution of trades are.

Fractional trading The low spread Forex trading platform allows the investors and traders to trade on a fractional basis. Instead of full lots 100,000 units or 300,000 units, it allows you to trade 163,345 units or 325,911 units. This is very helpful for traders risking certain percentage of their balance on each trade.

User friendly The trading platform should be easy to use and understand. It should be reliable during fast moving markets. The platform should offer services like one click buying or selling, trading directly from a chart, supports mobile devices, trailing stops, etc.

Minimum investment The Forex trading platform should offer minimum amount of money to open a trading account.

To find out which Forex brokers offer the lowest spreads and the best trading software please visit our Forex Reviews and Advice website