What Are Trading Platforms?
In finance, an electronic trading platform also known as an online trading platform, is a computer software program that can be used to place orders for financial products over a network with a financial intermediary. Various financial products can be traded by the trading platform, over a communication network with a financial intermediary, or directly between the participants or members of the trading platform. This includes products such as stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, derivatives, and others, with a financial intermediary, such as brokers, market makers, Investment banks, or stock exchanges. Such platforms allow electronic trading to be carried out by users from any location and are in contrast to traditional floor trading using open outcry and telephone-based trading. Sometimes the term trading platform is also used in reference to the trading software alone.
Electronic trading platforms typically stream live market prices on which users can trade and may provide additional trading tools, such as charting packages, news feeds, and account management functions. Some platforms have been specifically designed to allow individuals to gain access to financial markets that could formerly only be accessed by specialist trading firms using direct market access. They may also be designed to automatically trade specific strategies based on technical analysis or to do high-frequency trading.
Cheap Trading Platforms In South Africa?
The cheapest trading platform in South Africa will depend on the specific fees and commissions charged by each platform. Some options with low fees include FNB Securities, Standard Bank Online Share Trading, and EasyEquities.
What Do Trading Platforms Do?
Trading platforms provide software programs that allow investors to buy and sell shares, funds, and other investments directly, rather than indirectly through a financial adviser. Share trading has become increasingly popular among retail investors in recent years.
How Do You Choose A Trading Platform?
1. Research the broker that the tool belongs to. The more trustworthy the company, the greater the confidence you can have that transactions will run smoothly and on time. A professional broker should also have a good customer service system and a team of brokers working for them. A good broker will never leave you alone with your doubts – you’ll always have someone to turn to for both technical matters and matters of trading.
2. Verify the spreads and fees for the account and transactions. The lower they are, the better.
3. A good trading platform will provide you with all the financial instruments and as many markets as possible. If you know in advance what you need, this diversity does not have to be great. But if you are considering where to invest your capital wisely, search for a platform that will provide the most options to you.
4. A professional trading platform should have a demo – you should be able to test the tool. This is crucial in deciding whether it will meet your needs.
5. Pay attention to the interface – is it clear, intuitive, easy to use, and, vitally, written in your language? The interface should be designed in such a way that you can intuitively navigate through the information in various modules. The better the first impression, the greater the confidence in the trading platform meeting your needs.
6. Check the configuration options of the investment platform and its functionalities. The following solutions can be useful to try: browsing several charts simultaneously, changing chart types, scheduling and automatic execution of transactions, access to market analysis and breaking news, alerts informing on interesting investment opportunities, SMS/e-mail alarms about the investor’s position of interest, etc.
7. Ask whether the broker offering the plaform provides free training for their customers. Training is a good opportunity to get to know the markets and trading tools with the security blanket of the broker’s expertise.
How To Start Trading In South Africa?
With a brokerage account, you deposit funds with an investment firm (the brokerage). This is usually done by a transfer from your existing bank account. Once funds are added to your brokerage account, you can put the money to work using the brokerage’s trading platform to invest those funds in the market.