Forex Software — What You Need to Trade Forex

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Forex Software — What You Need to Trade Forex

Forex software is essential if you are trading in the forex currency market. The days of calling up your broker on the telephone are long gone. Everything is done online now, over the internet.
So to begin, you will need a computer of course. Most modern computers are fine (say, less than five years old) provided you do not have them so packed with other programs that they run very slow. For some software packages you will need Windows, or a Windows emulator if you have a Mac.
You will also need a broadband connection. Dialup will not do for forex trading. It is simply not fast enough. A slow dialup connection will result in missed trades and slipped prices due to the time delays, and sometimes you may not be able to trade at all. It would be very frustrating to try to trade on a dialup connection.
The forex software program that you actually use will be provided by your broker. This is the interface between you and the forex market via your broker. It will allow you to make your own trades based on the prices that you see on the screen. They usually give you a free demo account so that you can try everything out before you start risking your money on real trading. Most forex broker software platforms also provide free charts so that you can analyze price movements and identify trends to help you make profitable trades. The most popular is called Metatrader.
Broker forex software platforms may be either web based or desktop based. If they are web based, you log in and control your account from the broker's hosted platform. If they are desktop based, you download the software to your own computer and run it from there.
Some web based platforms have downloadable elements but the deciding question is whether the software will still run if you switch off your own computer. If it is web based, you can set up a trade or a stop loss, then switch off your computer and the trade will still be triggered. If the software is on your own computer, you have to leave it switched on and connected so that it can make the trade at the appropriate time.
Some people buy a new computer that they use only for their forex trading. There are several reasons why you might want to do this even if your present computer is fine. One is so that you can have a dedicated computer that you can leave on all the time. You do not have to share it with other family members and risk having someone else disconnect it when they are finished.
The other major reason is that you might want a backup. Computers are subject to crashes and registry errors that can take several days to fix. They can also be attacked by viruses and malware. You might want a second computer running a backup copy of your foreign exchange software so that you can still trade if your main machine is out of action.
To avoid problems with a personal computer, many experienced traders use a virtual server. Forex Hoster for example supports MetaTrader on Mac OSX, Windows and iPhone and they install the software. This way you can trade from anywhere in the world that you have an Internet connection.