Trading CFDs on the financial markets has become much more user-friendly than it ever was before. These days, once you take a few minutes to download an online trading app to your smartphone or PC, you can be empowered to actively trade on any one of the world’s financial markets.
However, it’s crucial to build up a knowledge base of financial trading before even thinking of settling on an app. That said, the right trading app can make a big impact on your trading journey, no matter how experienced you are. In order to effectively sift through the many available apps you will find on a Google search, it will help to know what you’re looking for, so let’s get started exploring the many ins and outs of choosing a trading app.
Consider Your Needs
Whatever features you find in a given app, you should evaluate them in terms of what you, as an individual, need from your trading app. Therefore, clarify for yourself how much trading you actually plan to do, what you hope to achieve through that trading, and how much capital you have available to trade with.
This may make a difference to the app you choose, and it certainly will make a difference to your approach to trading itself. For example, not every app is suited for newcomers in the way of providing an ample set of educational materials. In fact, included educational resources are pretty standard for most trading apps nowadays, so you may have to do an extra measure of investigation to ensure said materials meet your needs.
Also, find out how deposits and withdrawals are made on the platform—is it a long, drawn out process or streamlined for the user’s benefit? Take your time to set out your specific needs and then explore trading apps one by one.
Demo Account
Look for the feature of a free demo account so you can try out the platform without putting any of your real money down. If you’re less experienced, this will give you a realistic sense of the market volatility you’re going to be encountering, and without having anything at stake to lose.
Try out opening deals, placing stop-loss orders, monitoring your instrument, and closing your deal at the right time. Experienced traders can also benefit from demo accounts, as they allow them to get a feel for a platform they may not be familiar with. Lastly, using a simulated account can give those traders looking to grow the chance to try new features they haven’t tried before, such as technical analysis charts, thus helping to boost their trading journey forward.
Instruments
When it comes to trading CFDs, variety is the name of the game for many traders who appreciate the chance to trade a wide selection of instrument types and achieve broader market exposure.
The top six categories of CFD trading include shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, foreign currencies, and ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds), and while most brokers will offer all six on their trading apps, be sure to dig deeper to ensure each category contains the particular instruments you’re looking to trade.
Streamlined Platform
You’ll appreciate having a user interface that makes intuitive sense so you can easily navigate around and feel at home on the platform. Make sure you can open and monitor trades with simple, one-touch orders because timing is integral to your financial trading.
After this, ensure the app will send you real-time quotes and offer you the most useful indicators like moving averages and market signals. Whether you’re ready for it now, or will be later, your trading app should offer you the power to analyze information using charts, since these are the bread-and-butter of many traders’ strategies.
Education
Many traders believe that your strategy is only as good as your education, thus no matter how experienced you are at CFD trading, it pays to brush up every so often on your knowledge. That’s where a broad-spectrum educational approach comes in.
Most brokers offer convenient PDF guides that explain anything from rudimentary topics such as ‘How to open a CFD deal’ to more advanced content, such as ‘What is technical analysis?’ But beyond PDF guides, more and more brokers are providing clients with more in-depth materials, such a video tutorials and even live training sessions with trading coaches who can help advance their skills at their own pace.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, choosing an online CFD trading app isn’t as easy as doing a search on your app store and combing through the reviews. There are many other factors that can make one trading app better for a certain trader than another, and since your money is at stake here, it’s worth taking the time to do your homework and find one that’s ideal for you.