Whether you are an expert trader that plans to trade throughout the day, or even if you plan to trade occasionally, it’s important to have access to a mobile application. Many trading platforms provide both downloadable applications or browser-based applications and access to a mobile app. A mobile app allows you to execute trades while you are on the go, as well as, have access to price changes, headline news and analysis. You can also use a mobile app to track your portfolio, deposit capital and withdraw funds.
Before You Start to Trade
Having access to a good platform is important but having a robust trading strategy is the key to your success. This includes creating a clear impetus for trade entry as well as sound risk management which tells you where to enter or exit an asset. You also want to test drive your strategy before you begin to risk real capital.
The first step in the process is learning about each market and why it moves. This can include going to the iFOREX educational center which as a plethora of articles and videos that describe why specific markets move. You want to know the fundamentals surrounding a market and what kind of economic releases or monetary policy changes will drive the asset. For example, if the US Fed unexpectedly increases interest rates, US yields will move higher which will likely increase the value of the US dollar.
You also want to know when a company is releasing its earnings. In addition to the fundamentals that surround the movements of specific assets. You may also want to learn about technical analysis. Technical analysis is the study of past price movements. By analyzing the past, you will have some guide to what could happen in the future.
Some of the more popular technical analysis tools are trend following, momentum and mean reversion. Trend following is a strategy where you try to find a trend that is perpetuating. A moving average crossover strategy is one of the most helpful trend trackers. Momentum is the acceleration of prices. The MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index is excellent at pinpointing momentum. A great mean reversion tool is the RSI (relative strength index), which is a momentum oscillator. This describes overbought and oversold levels and helps you determine if the market is stretched.
Using a Demonstration Account
After you have found a technique to enter the market, you may also want to determine your risk management. This is a plan that tells you how much you are willing to lose to reach your financial goals. Once you have your strategy in place and your risk management is devised, you can test your strategy using a demonstration account. Many mobile accounts like the online trading app provided by iFOREX, include access to a demo account. A demo account allows you to risk virtual money instead of your real capital. You can test your trading strategy using a demo account and only begin to trade real capital once you believe the strategy has merit.
