If you decide to invest in the FOREX market to buy and sell currencies, you have no other choice than to do it through a online trading platform. One of the first things you need to do when you decide to become a trader is to choose the best online trading platform.
What should you be mindful of when choosing a trading platform?
There are a lot of different factors you need to check before making your decision, but here are the most important ones:
- Dealing Desk/No-Dealing Desk broker. Some might argue about the importance of knowing the difference between these two kinds of brokers and understanding if your broker plays the role of market maker. Let’s not spend too much time on this one: both are making money on the Spread – the difference between the ask and the bid price.
- Fixed/Variable Spread. Competitive spreads are generally fixed, but vary by types of currencies (majors, minors, exotic currency pairs). You can also find the spread, depending on the characteristics of your own account type.
- Downloadable/Non-Downloadable trading platforms. The format is important depending on how often and from where you trade. Web-based platforms can be accessed from anywhere, while downloadable platforms are stored on a specific device.
- Programming languages. Different trading platforms are classified in different types according to the programming languages they use such as Metaquotes, ActFX, Lua etc. One of the most well=known FOREX trading platform is MetaTrader provided by MetaQuotes Inc.
Now that you are aware of these differences, you can then decide what’s best for you. Choosing the right online trading platform will have an impact on your trading performance, because you will have the right tools to trade on the FOREX market.
With the UFX platform, you can have access to spreads adjusted for many account and trader types, leverage as high as 1:400, and a variety of different trading platforms available both online or via download, such as the famous MetaTrader, and much more.