Introduction
The Forex market is highly dynamic. It is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, open for 24 hours every day and for 5 days in a week. It offers a lot of amazing opportunities to profit from rising and falling relative prices of currencies.
Best Forex Trading Platforms.
However, all those opportunities will elude you if you do not get a broker. You cannot access the market directly. You need a broker for that, to provide a comfortable platform via which you can conduct your analyses and research, place and monitor your trades. All these functions have to be done with a high level of efficiency.
From our previous post, we detailed the operations of five brokers adjudged as some of the best in the industry. Here are the remaining four of the best nine brokers for you to have ample choices from which to pick.
Saxo Bank
If you are looking for safety, then you should go for Saxo Bank. Established in 1992, Saxo Bank is a bank and broker that is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, its users’ funds are protected up to £50,000. The broker’s product catalogue is large, with over 180 currency pairs, at least 300 indices and 5,000 bonds supported. Altogether, over 40,000 instruments are offered.
It has also built its own trading platforms to provide major upgrades over the popularly-used MetaTrader 4 and 5; which are available in both desktop and mobile versions. The desktop trading platform has highly-customisable features which enable you to organise charts, monitor the market and conduct your analyses and more all within an effectively-optimised space.
The mobile version of the broker’s trading platform, the SaxoTraderGo apps, is suitable for a wide range of Android and iOs devices. Via both the desktop and mobile trading platforms, you can access real-time market updates and commentary. While Saxo Bank also offers excellent customer support service and discounted fees, its high minimum deposit of $50,000 will deter many potential clients. Also, the broker does not offer cryptocurrencies.
CMC Markets
CMC Markets, the UK-based Forex and CFDs broker, was founded in 1989. It is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada (IIROC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and others. Therefore, it is safe. The broker is especially popular with professional traders who seek low-cost trading deals. When compared to its peers, its product offerings are, however, modest. The broker offers close to 10,000 tradable instruments nevertheless.
CMC Markets has a proprietary trading platform known as the Next Generation. It is available in web, tablet, and mobile forms. It is advanced with over 80 technical indicators, 12 chart types, and 35 drawing tools. It also comes with highly-customisable watch lists and analytic and research tools. Integrated into the platform are different educational resources to handle even the most advanced of trading topics.
Particularly, CMC Markets has as its competitive advantage its competitive pricing. In fact, it is arguably the best in this regard as it offers low spreads across different customer segments and account types. The average spread on Forex pairs is as low as 0.81 pips. Another benefit of using CMC Markets is its Guaranteed Stop Loss Order (GSLO) which helps its clients to effectively manage their risks.
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade was founded in 1975. It offers online brokerage services for the trading of a wide range of financial assets including stocks, Forex, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, options, fixed income, and cryptocurrencies. Spanning those instruments, the broker gives access to traders of different skill levels. Sadly, it accepts clients only from the U.S. If you are worried about safety, with TD you should not be. TD is duly registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
TD Ameritrade offers the Thinkorswim trading platform which has been found to be especially great for trading multiple assets, but most especially equities and options. This platform provides awesome desktop and mobile experiences. The desktop version especially, by arranging tools into separate tabs, ensures that users have streamlined and efficient trading experiences. Both the desktop and mobile platforms are equipped with over 300 technical indicators – arguably the most in the industry!
Whether you are inexperienced or experienced, active or passive, TD Ameritrade’s trading platform will supply you with enough analytic capabilities, extensive research tools, and wide educational resources that will only make you grow better at you trade. Notably, the broker has a readily accessible support service which you can communicate with via multiple channels with social media included.
FOREX.com
FOREX.com was established in 2001. It is a global Forex and CFD broker operating under the brand name, GAIN Capital, an online trading services provider listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is registered with and regulated by top-tier regulatory authorities the most notable of which are the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the U.S. and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK.
FOREX.com has a flagship trading platform, known as Advanced Trading, which comes with a robust offering of charting functionalities and tools. The platform is also equipped with about 140 technical indicators. The AutoChartist tool embedded into it also enables users of the trading platform to easily scan the markets for both emerging and old trading opportunities. FOREX.com also has a platform strictly dedicated to web-based trading.
And its AdvantageFX App has a host of trading features that make it easy to research, chart, and trade on the go. Sadly, the broker, overall, has a limited range of tradable products. However, that is made up for by its varied currency pair offerings, affordable required minimum deposit, diverse technical analysis and research tools, and low trading costs.
Conclusion
Here you have the final part of our 2-post series on the top 9 brokers in the Forex industry and their trading platforms. Now, feel free to make your choice. Nevertheless, bear in mind that no amount or quality of brokerage services can substitute for top-notch trading skills.
However, those may be arduous and time-consuming to develop. Hence, it might be much better and easier to just use accurate Forex signals. 1000pipBuilder can help and you should sign up for their signals.
