Introduction
Good you are interested in trading Forex signals. At about $6.6 trillion, the market has the largest daily trading volume of all the world’s financial markets. The constant liquidity resulting from this size has also made it one of the most exciting markets in the world. Hence, be prepared for loads of actions in it.
However, to actualise your enthusiasm to participate in this market, you need a broker. A broker will serve as the intermediary that will connect you to it, execute your trades on your behalf, and generally make your trading as comfortable as possible. In fact, without a broker, literally, you will not be able to access the Forex market.
The critical importance of these roles of a broker means that you should not take any chance when choosing one. Hence, here, we present those essential factors you should look out for whenever you want to make a choice. Read on.
Security and Safety
The first and most important factor to check about any broker you will be using is its security and safety status. Of course, you would not want to use a broker of questionable regulatory status. Such a broker can run away with your money and render all your efforts and skills ineffectual. To ensure that it is secure and safe, there is a way to go about it.
It is to check if the broker is registered with one of the foremost and most-established regulatory boards. Specifically, check if it is licensed by any of the following:
- National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – United States.
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – United Kingdom.
- Investment Information Regulatory Organisation of Canada (IIROC).
- Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) – Australia.
- Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) – Cyprus.
Before you make a deposit with any broker, first make sure it is registered with one of those agencies. And, another thing to look for, as far as the security and safety factor is concerned, is to check if it keeps segregated accounts for its clients’ funds. A broker that does so is better able to protect its clients from possible mismanagement of funds.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Having ascertained the security and safety of the broker, you should then check for the deposit and withdrawal options it makes available to its users and the ready availability and safety of those options. Remember that the more and convenient and safe those methods are, the better the broker is. A good broker should allow you to deposit and withdraw via multiple methods hassle-free.
For example, does the broker accept only credit/debit cards which can be Visa and/or Mastercard? In addition to cards, does it also accept wire transfer and the use of electronic wallets such as Skrill and Neteller? You should know this and also the number of days it takes to either deposit or withdraw with each of those methods.
Always remember that the only broker worth using is one that makes deposits and withdrawals speedy and smooth.
Charges
Trading, whatever type, can be easily rendered uneconomical by brokerage fees. Those fees can easily grow into a huge financial burden on the neck of traders. Of course, some fees are legitimate. These are mainly commission and/or spread. However, also most brokers charge other fees that can be adjudged unnecessary such as:
- Withdrawal fee
- Inactivity fee
- Overnight financing fees
- Account maintenance fees.
It is very important to watch out for those fees like a hawk. Of course, you will always have to pay brokerage fees. But you would admit that the lower they are, the better for you. Also, a broker with a transparent fee schedule should be preferred.
Trading Platform and Conditions
Next, you should assess the broker’s trading platform and the trading conditions it provides for its clients. Since, as far as your trading is concerned, everything you will be doing will be on your trading account via your broker’s platform, you have to check for what the broker has to offer through its platform. For example, is the platform stable and user-friendly?
How about tools for technical analysis such as charts and indicators? How well laid are the functionalities integrated into it? How about the news feeds? Does it come with an economic calendar? Most importantly, you should confirm that the trading platform of any broker you will be using is updated in real-time.
Finally, check also for the conditions under which you will be trading. How much leverage does the broker provide? What is its margin requirement? What are its minimum and maximum order sizes? How many lot sizes can you trade? How fast does it execute trades? Does it also offer a demo account?
It is very important you know all these as they are very important determining factors of trading success.
Customer Support Service
In life, nothing is perfect. So, no matter how much your broker tries to be, there will be some imperfect linings on its day sky. However, how it handles those imperfections is very important. And one way to handle them well is to have a strong and easily accessible customer support service. Such a broker is the only broker that is worth using.
That is, the broker you use must have a customer support team that you can easily get in touch with whenever any problem arises. So, in addition to other factors, when you get such a broker, draft it into your shortlist. It is important you check how easy the access is, though. Normally, for a broker to be easily accessible, it must offer multiple customer support channels.
Those channels should at least include telephone, email, and live chat. If the broker also has social media pages via which you can get in contact with it, better. This provision alone can also help you allay some security concerns.
Conclusion
There you have it, a guide to put you through the process of choosing a Forex broker. Now that you are informed to choose one, how can you also ensure that your Forex trading venture will be profitable? We have got an answer: it is through the use of high-quality Forex trading signals. And in that regard, 1000pipBuilder can help and you should subscribe to their service here.
