My Dream Trading Platform

Trade blotter
This is for me to save some time keeping a separate trade blotter which I would record the trades that were taken. Since the account statement would already capture all my trades, it would be nice if I could customize it to include the columns I wanted.

Right-click and "Save chart for trade journal"

It would be even better if the charts can be presented together with the corresponding trades and that would replace my trade journal!

Trade from charts

When I click on a price level which I wish to place an order, the order will be entered and a floating dialog box prompts me to enter my profit target and stop loss (or specify them on the charts directly). Best if I can keep my eyes off the charts when entering orders.

Provides both online and desktop platforms

...that are exactly the same!

Automated money management features

After an order is filled, I have the option of specifying where are my next profit target and stop loss levels and they will be adjusted automatically as the prices move...all out of the box.

Flexible orders

Must allow me to take partial profits...

Alerts

Alerts are useful so that I don't have to keep my eyes on the charts. I can set it to alert me when trade opportunity arises.

Adapting a line from Cadbury chocolate: Wouldn't it be nice? :-D

Practical Questions to Ask When Choosing a Suitable Forex Broker Part 3

Brokerage Platform Functions

Because I am looking for an online trading platform, the functionalities I expect of the platform has to be lowered. You can be looking if a particular technical indicator is available or whether it allows trading from the charts directly. For me, I am only looking out if I am able to set pending orders for different profit targets levels for one single order with 2 lots or more. This will help me greatly when trading in the office!

Account Features

I suggest after deciding on the above, then let's look at account features that can help you to decide between two brokers if there were two brokers that fit the above criteria.

• ECN vs market maker (dealing desk) - basically, ECN brokers are touted to have better fills and have lesser chance of taking out our stops, because they are fully electronic.


• Spread - some brokers offer 2-pip spread for major currency pairs (even without commission!) when others offer 3 pips. ECN brokers tend to have smaller spreads. Some even offer 1/2-pip spread! But they usually charge transaction fee.


• Leverage - 1:50 or 1:100 is recommended for beginner traders. So if the broker can provide such leverage, all the better.


• Account Type (micro/mini/standard) - Beginner traders are usually advised to start on a mini account, to hon our skills.


• Minimum capital - Some brokers allow us to open an account with as little as US$400. We would not want to start with that little amount to avoid hitting margin call. We got to stick to our money management rules. What I am talking about here is that some brokers (seldom) require US$10,000 to open a mini account. Well, that's a little too much for a mini account.

Freebies
Just when you thought you will not be tricked into opening an account with an online brokerage because of the freebies they give. Well, it is very competitive in their line of business and don't be surprised that they give away very irresistible freebies! Just recently, I opened an account with a broker simply because it offers very comprehensive education for its customers, the likes of a free 1-day seminar by Ray Barros! Of course I made sure that there is no or minimal minimum activity fee, account closure fee, fee from transferring money out etc.

Brokerage selection - an art or science?

Practical Questions to Ask When Choosing a Suitable Broker Part 2

After making sure that my trading funds is in safe hands, what do I look out for next?

A Brokerage Platform that Suits My Trading Style

Most of the aspiring traders, myself included, start off trading part-time. That is, we have full-time jobs that keep us bounded to our place of work from 9am to 6pm or thereabouts. For me, because I am working in a government agency, my office laptop is locked down. That is, I cannot install any private software on my office laptop. I can bring my personal laptop to the office but personal laptops are not allowed to connect to the office network to access the internet. Now you know how secure our country is! A very important consideration for me is to look for a forex broker that provides a pure online trading platform (with charting!).

Hey, I don't mean to skive while working :P For my current trading strategy only requires me to check the charts once every hour. So no harm done (yet)! Relax, boss! 8)

A Brokerage Platform that Suits My Trading Type

If I am only doing pure manual trading, a online trading platform is perfectly fine. Let's say I am interested in running a few expert advisors (EAs) or two. Then I will need to look for a broker that provides the MetaTrader platform (EAs are mostly developed for the MetaTrader platform).

So is there a broker that offers both the MetaTrader platform and an online trading platform? Well, there is one, but they are new so let's wait and see.

(to be continued...)

Practical Questions to Ask When Choosing a Suitable Broker Part 1

I have come up with some criteria which I feel that everybody can reference to when choosing a broker for themselves.

Our money must be safe! - What is more important than this? Especially for some of us who sign up with overseas brokers. Our funds have to be wired overseas. I think we have to be quite concern about our money not by our side. What should we look out for?

• Net excess capital > Net capital requirement. In fact, in the excess of US$20-30 million is the best. Download the latest financial data of the brokers. Check the column headers for "Net excess capital" and "Net capital requirement".


• Currency depreciation. 3 years back, I deposited my trading funds with a US broker in US dollars at an exchange rate of 1.6. Now the exchange rate has dropped to 1.3. A S$10,000  (my local currency) trading fund became S$8,125. I lost S$1,875 without even trading! How scary is that!!? How to get around this?
  
  
  
  • If this has already happened, continue to trade in US dollars and hope your winnings will cover your currency depreciation and at the same time, hope that US dollar will strengthen eventually.
  
  
  • Find a broker that allows you to keep your money with them in your local currency. Currency conversion will only be done when the trade is made.
  
  
  • Hedge against currency rate fluctuations. Easier said than done for me. Hedging is a whole big subject by itself.

(to be continued...)