Choosing the right online trading platform is essential for a good experience when it comes to trading. If traders are new to trading or want to trade some other asset class, starting with a trusted name in the industry is best, like metatrader for ios or other reliable platforms.
- Regulation
Verify that the platform is regulated by a financial authority, such as ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission). This will ensure that the platform and broker are subject to specific rules and regulations. Check if the broker is licensed by a financial authority, like ASIC, and has all the necessary documents to prove it.
- Popularity
The popularity of a platform refers to the number of traders using it. With more significant numbers come more trading opportunities, which means that people are less likely to run into liquidity issues. However, one has to remember that this does not necessarily translate into higher profits for individual traders because market forces still apply. With the rising number of online traders in Australia, it’ll be easy to find popular trading platforms. Prominent ones like the metatrader for ios are always reliable and less likely to cause issues owing to a large number of Australians using them.
- What Can Assets Be Traded?
A trading platform should offer traders the ability to trade in a wide range of assets, from futures and spot forex to cryptocurrencies and stocks, options, and commodities. This is important as it gives people more flexibility regarding what types of trades they can make on the platform. The more assets available for trading on a given platform, the better. However, there is a limit to how many financial products can be traded by any single brokerage firm at once because brokers need liquidity for each product type to facilitate trades on their platforms.
- Leverage and Spreads
Leverage refers to the amount of money a trader can borrow to increase exposure and profit potential. For example, a trader with $100,000 in his account could use 20:1 leverage and trade $2 million worth of assets by using this form of financing.
The spread is the difference between the bid and asks prices on an asset. For example, if the broker offers 1 AUD at 1.1290 while another broker offers 1 AUD at 1.1300, then there exists a spread between these two prices (0.010). The difference between these two currencies represents how much money traders will pay or earn per unit traded when buying or selling currency pairs like AUD.
- Trading Platform Interface
Trading platform interfaces between the trader and their broker can be either web-based or desktop applications, and they enable traders to place their orders through a user-friendly and intuitive interface. Trading platforms come in many different forms, including:
- Order book trading
- Auction market trading
- Direct market access (DMA).
- Support
Support is an important part of any trading platform, and it’s something that Australian traders should consider before choosing a trading site. An ideal trading platform should provide its users with the ability to contact support at any time of day or night; this means having a phone number, live chat feature, and email support available.
The availability of other forms of communication is also beneficial. Some trading platforms will offer more than one way for their users to communicate with them in case they need help or advice on their accounts. These can include phone numbers, live chat features, and even forums or blogs where traders can ask questions directly from the company’s staff members without having to go through unnecessary rigmarole (i.e., sending an email).
