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Choosing the Right Forex Broker

Before choosing a broker, we hope you have you studied the previous articles in our forex school and concluded that you’re qualified to trade forex on a preliminary basis? Do you possess the determination and moral courage necessary to recognize and overcome emotional problems inherent in forex trading? Do you possess the drive and the intelligent focus necessary to concentrate all your energies on the one goal of success in whatever endeavor you take?

If you possess the drive, focus, and perseverance necessary for concluding any activity successfully, forex is your ground. Armed with the necessary knowledge, and almost immune to the tricks and lies of fraudsters through the information that we provide in this website, you are ready to step to the next phase of your trading activity. After acquiring the background information, the first step of trading forex must be the opening of an account with an online broker.

There are a large number of forex brokers in the retail forex market these days, each touting its services as the best in the entire market. It can be a daunting task to sort out between them seeking those that are best suited to your needs, however, as usual; we have worked to simplify your task by reviewing some of the most reliable brokers in the market. You can find those in the forex broker section of this website. Here we would like to explain the importance of the various criteria according to which you can screen the brokers we have reviewed, and make your choices. Due to the vast diversity of options, it is not possible to speak of a broker who is perfect for all kinds of traders. Instead, you should carefully consider your own expectations from trading, and compare that with what is offered by the broker, and choose the one that is best suited to your needs.

Here we’ll examine the criteria in order of importance.

Security

What is the point of opening a forex account if the funds we deposit will be unsafe with the broker, or worse yet, will be stolen and misappropriated? What is the logic of studying analysis and currency fundamentals if the profits that we make are pilfered by shameless crooks, or squandered by irresponsible individuals who cannot even manage themselves decently?

Thus, the first necessity for the right broker must be the safe and reliable track record of the firm. On the other hand, it is clear that the retail trader possesses neither the tools, the time, nor the expertise for determining which of the brokers are reliable, and which are not. Fortunately, the regulatory authorities in this country and in other financial centers of the world do their best for screening and weeding out the unreliable ones among the many decent firms. Our best course is to ensure that the broker we choose is a member of NFA, and is registered with CFTC in the US, and with other relevant authorities in other parts of the world.

And last but not least, to make the task even easier for you, we have reviewed some of what we believe to be the best and most reliable firms in the market. All that you need to do is to go and check out the relevant section.

Initial Deposit

Unavoidably, the second most important variable in our equation for comparing brokers is the initial deposit requirement. Many traders prefer to begin their careers by risking very small amounts which leads them to seek the broker offering the lowest initial deposit requirement naturally. This reasoning certainly has its merits; however, the initial deposit requirement should in fact be one of the last considerations in choosing the best broker for you, unless you really have a very small amount of capital that you want to risk for forex trading.

A serious broker offering excellent services may choose to keep the initial deposit requirement relatively high (around $500, for example) in order to ensure that the clients are serious about their trading practices. In addition, forex is usually so volatile that a less than optimally capitalized account is highly likely to be wiped out during the ordinary fluctuations in the market. We have already discussed the difficulties associated with undercapitalization, and those who have read that article should have little trouble in understanding the reasons behind our deemphasizing the importance of initial deposit requirements.

It is self-evident that a beginning trader should only risk the amount that he can comfortably afford to lose. In that sense, the initial deposit requirement of the broker should never be more than what we can afford. On the other hand, beginning our career with a pittance like $10-50, and trading at 10:1 leverage cannot be considered a wise choice. Trading with such small sums is similar to trading in a demo account, and the emotional lessons gained will probably be of little value.

Spreads

Spreads are extremely important for forex traders, seasoned, or novice. Since the broker usually receives the compensation for its services by widening the bid-ask spread beyond the quoted values in the wholesale interbank market, a wide bid-ask spread represents a larger amount of money leaving your pockets, and entering those of the broker’s. You pay this fee regardless of the profit or loss you make with your trade: so there’s always good sense in ensuring that you choose the broker which offers one of the more competitive spreads in the market. Sometimes it may be advisable to open an account with a broker that charges slightly higher spreads in exchange for the safety offered by its long history and track record. But even in that case, a spread beyond three for the EURUSD pair, for example, is not a very good idea.

Deposits and Withdrawals

It is not a good idea to trade forex if you cannot withdraw your earnings with ease. Conversely, the broker must facilitate your termination of the account in case that you’re not entirely satisfied with the services offered, regardless of the reasons. This should be non-negotiable: since the broker is only the custodian of your funds, there’s no justification for any unreasonable delays or excuses when you make the request to withdraw your funds.

Similarly, you, as the client, should have no headaches at all when depositing funds with the broker. Come to think of it: if the broker is not even capable of ensuring that your deposit process is smooth, how likely is he to guarantee a painless and satisfactory trading experience for you?

Margin Requirement

Margin requirement and leverage ratios are the second most important aspect that must be considered during the choice of the broker. For the beginner, the lower the leverage the better. Since higher leverage is only advisable for traders with a proven track record of profits and success, the beginner should be uninterested in the maximum leverage offered by a broker. Instead, since he must be allowed to get used to leverage on a step-by-step basis, the minimum leverage available is far more useful as a criterion.

For an experienced trader, evaluating the value of a high leverage options can be a bit more different. Since, by definition, successful traders use highly divergent techniques in their trades, there is no general rule for determining the optimal leverage ratio for a seasoned trader. However, for traders who plan to hold a position for long term, 10-to-1 may well be the highest sensible value.

In short, beginners should choose brokers that offer the lowest minimum leverage option, and the greatest customizability. With such a setup, it is possible to increase leverage gradually, in tandem with our improving and developing skills.

Trading Platform

In online forex trading, almost all activity is conducted through the trading software. Indeed, for a safe trading experience, this is also a must: in order to ensure that the broker doesn’t temper with your trades, and misquote currency prices to you, you should always seek those offers which allow the greatest automation, and reduce human interference to the lowest level possible. This is only possible with a successfully implemented trading platform.

What should you look for when choosing the trading platform? Does it offer a wide array of charting tools and technical indicators for evaluating the price action? What about financial news? Is the interface clean and uncluttered? Since you may spend a long time looking at the graphics and examining charts, is the appearance of the platform physically pleasing and relaxing?

Are the servers of the broker reliable? Do you have connection problems in the middle of something important while using the demo account? How wide are the spreads during market volatility and news releases? Is slippage and misquoting a problem? Can you customize the platform to suit your trading needs and language requirements? Does the platform receive frequent updates and bug fixes?

These are the most basic issues related to the trading platform. Needless to say, an advanced, easy-to-use, and uncomplicated trading platform can make the task of the beginner a lot easier. But even the seasoned traders will find that using a well-crafted, well-maintained forex software can greatly reduce the element of stress during trading.

Customer Service

Software is prone to generating errors. This has always been the case, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. When there are problems with the trading software, or delays, or issues with deposits and withdrawals, you will need to seek the aid of the customer service.

A friendly, patient, and helpful customer service can be profit multiplier if used correctly. In those cases where the customer service is run by individuals with trading experience and understanding of economics and analysis, you can even hasten the learning process by asking questions.

Before opening your account, it is perhaps a good idea to read our reviews on customer service of various brokers to receive a preliminary impression of how competent the people are. While we cannot just pick a broker because its customer service department is professional, success in this department is certainly a promising sign for overall competence.

Account Types

Some brokers offer a large number of account packages. Others choose to offer one package with many customization options. In general, the number of account packages is not very important, provided that the broker offers a highly customizable main offer with adjustable leverage and margin requirements suitable to the needs of clients from different backgrounds and experience levels.

Currencies Offered

Finally, it is a good idea to choose a broker that offers the widest array of tradable currencies. In evaluating the currency pairs offered, you should try to make sure that different currency pairs of different classifications are available, instead of concentrating on just the number of the total offers. For example, if a broker offers three pairs of major economic powers, three pairs of emerging nations with floating currencies, three of fixed or pegged currencies, and three rare pairs (like the Saudi Riyal, or the Chinese Yuan), the offer is much better than that of a firm which offers 12 pairs all of which belong to major, developed economies.

Such details are especially important for the experienced trader, but the beginner can focus on the more important, basic aspects of the broker’s package before worrying about the intricacies of the various currency pairs on offer.

Conclusion

In our broker reviews section, you’ll find a number of the safest brokers in the market analyzed according to each of the categories established in this section. We have made every effort to make sure that you find the most realistic assessment of each firm’s offerings, so that you can form your independent judgment on their suitability your purposes. Regardless of your decision, we wish you the best luck in your new career.