Top 10 Best Online Trading Platforms 2018

Advertiser Disclosure	Features We Like	Rating	Risk Warning
1 Excellent	The pioneer of Social Trading is now offering an exclusive opportunity for investors who want exposure to the most popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum and more. Trade crypto 24/7 at eToro! World's Leading Social Trading Platform Proven Track Record of Security Unlimited Daily Withdrawals Min. Deposit of $200 to Get Started Instant Trade Execution	9.9 Our Score Read Review	VISIT SITE 68% of retail CFD accounts lose money
2 Very Good	Ally Invest has some of the industry's lowest trading fees with no minimum to open an account and no hidden fees. Ally offers a wide range of platforms for both self-directed investors, as well as traders who want more guidance Low Commissions Low Fees on Options & Bonds No Downloads Required Auto-Balancing of Managed Portfolios	9.5 Our Score Read Review	Visit Site
3 Good	Fidelity is a broker that knows what its clients want, providing a sophisticated, sharp, and innovative trading experience across a range of markets. From investing to financial planning, Fidelity gives you everything you need. Low Minimums & No Annual Account Fees Straightforward Competitive Pricing Expert Insights & Investing Tools Available	8.9 Our Score Read Review	Visit Site

T&C's apply to each of the offers above, click "Visit Site" for more details.

Risk Warning: Users should be aware that all investment markets carry inherent risks, and past performance does not assure future results. Trading of any kind is a high-risk activity, and you could lose more than you initially deposited. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 73-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. Please be sure you thoroughly understand the risks involved and do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Your capital is at risk. Advertiser Disclosure: TopBrokers.Trade is an independent professional comparison site funded by referral fees. The compensation TopBrokers.Trade receives is derived from the companies and advertisements featured on the site. Due to this compensation, we can provide our users with a free comparison tool. Unfortunately we are unable to list every broker or exchange available, however, we do our best to review as many as possible.

Our Top Recommended Brokers

The pioneer of Social Trading is now offering an exclusive opportunity for investors who want exposure to the most popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum and more. Trade crypto 24/7 at eToro!	9.9 Brokers Rating Read Review Excellent	Demo Account: Yes Accepts PayPal: Yes Min Deposit: {currency}200	VISIT SITE 68% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Ally Invest has some of the industry's lowest trading fees with no minimum to open an account and no hidden fees. Ally offers a wide range of platforms for both self-directed investors, as well as traders who want more guidance	9.5 Brokers Rating Read Review Very Good	Demo Account: No Accepts PayPal: No Min Deposit: None	Visit Site
Fidelity is a broker that knows what its clients want, providing a sophisticated, sharp, and innovative trading experience across a range of markets. From investing to financial planning, Fidelity gives you everything you need.	8.9 Brokers Rating Read Review Good	Demo Account: No Accepts PayPal: No Min Deposit: None	Visit Site

A Beginner’s Guide to Online Trading Platforms

What an online trading platform is, in essence, is trading via the Internet with the help of trading software that a broker provides. For some, online trading platforms can be quite confusing. However, it’s important to thoroughly understand how to use a trading platform as it gives you all the essential tools that you need to do technical analysis and to take your trading to a new level.

There are some advantages to using online trading platforms, such as:

A trading process that is fully automated and is broker independent
Investors have direct access and control over their trading portfolio
Access to advanced trading tools for performing technical analysis
Ability for trading multiple markets and/or products (you can trade in BSE/NSE)
Faster trade execution (crucial if you’re a trader)
Real-time market data
Accounts are easy to operate and manage
No geographical limits (if you are in Dubai or New Zealand, you can invest in the Indian share market with online trading platforms)

It is important that you check the speed and quality of the trading software that your broker provides.

Login ID and Password

Your online trading platform needs to be protected by a login id that you receive from your broker and a password of your choice. You should change the password frequently. There is some software that prompts you to change your password every 15 days. Additionally, there is an extra security feature to ‘lock’ the trading software to one computer. With this feature, you’ll only be able to log in from one specific personal computer.

The Market Screen

For a newcomer to online trading, the market screen may seem like a jungle of all different numbers. But, it is nothing to be confused about.

The market screen is an essential window that will help you to trade. This window gives you a tabular representation of the current market position of selected shares. Each share makes up a row of data, containing the script name, last traded quantity, its last traded price, best offer rate, best bid rate, total volume, etc. The Market Watch window is extremely configurable, meaning that you can decide which columns you want to view and which you don’t want to view, whether you require column or row separators, adjust the size of all rows or each column, the colour for displaying data, etc. There is a range of options that are available on a pop-up menu that is accessible by right-clicking on the Market Watch window. The windows will all be updated dynamically in real time, and you don’t need to ‘pull’ or refresh any information. It’s all updated in real time. In fact, you are in a live market.

It takes just one day to understand the market screen. The Market Watch window is the main controlling window from where you can launch all your trading actions. You can buy or sell a share just by clicking on the particular share on the market screen.

Indices Display

The trading screen should have indices that are shown on the screen in a convenient location.

It should display all popular Indices like Nifty and Sensex. The indices display should be capable of being customized to show the other indices which you are following. An investor needs to keep track of the market indices so that they can get an overall picture of what the market sentiment is and where it is standing.

Reports

With online trading, the reports comprise of Order Book, Trade Book, Margin, Net Positions, Exercise Book and Holdings. In any trading terminal, all of these reports get updated dynamically without you needing to refresh or pull the information. From the Reports window, you can ‘Modify’, ‘Square Off’, ‘Cancel’, or ‘Exercise’. The appropriate buttons will be enabled/disabled, all depending on which action is taken based on the row that is currently selected. You can save these reports either in a text or a CSV format.

Charts

Any good trading software will provide you with the following facilities to chart:

Streaming of intraday tick-by-tick charts and historical data
Ability to simultaneously chart multiple companies and to open unlimited charts
Unique draw tools, including Fibonacci tools and trend line customization
Different options of chart types, such as Line, Bar and Candlestick
Many analysis options, including indicators like RSI, MACD, Williams % R, etc. for volume and price panels. There are, at least, 14 useful indicators for traders
Ability to save charts as JPEG file

Market Analyser

The market analyser feature provides top traded, top gainers and top losers with the percentage change, value and total quantity. Also, it provides the list of shares that have reached their 52 week high or 52 week low. The market analyser helps with analysing all the quotes and extracts the quotes where quantity that is traded exceeds a given figure, or a transaction value exceeds a given value. This feature helps to you identify which are the large trades and it can give you vital indications and clues as to where or in which scrip there is an activity that’s currently happening.

How To Find The Best Online Trading Platforms

For beginners, selecting an online trading platform can be confusing. A trading platform is a tool one uses for communicating trade data between trader and broker. There are many different options available, and you should determine which platform is best for you depending on your needs. These tips will help you refine your choices and assist you in making the best possible decision:

Fees

While some online trading platforms offer traders free usage of their services, others have a one-off sign-up fee or a monthly fee. Depending on your budget or on your needs, you will want to keep a lookout for any fees that you may incur.

Regulation

You will want to be sure that your personal information is secure while you are trading. Each country has its regulatory body, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. You will want to make sure and check the credibility that the broker and online trading platform you choose is properly regulated so that all your information is secured.

Customer Service

Online trading often happens up to 24 hours a day; you will want to be sure that you can reach the customer service departments if the need should arise. Checking out the different customer support options that each fx trading platform offers and the wait time to receive help, could be valuable and save you much stress in the long run.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Each online trading platform offers different methods for making deposits and withdrawals. Some methods can be more time consuming than others. Try to check out the various options for deposits and withdrawals and the time each one takes can help prevent any frustrations when you are using the platform.

Platform Options

There are different platform options such as desktop, and mobile. Depending on if you are doing most of your trading at home or on the go, you will want to find the trading platform best suits your needs.

Tradeable Assets

When selecting a brokerage, most people have stocks in mind. However, there are also many investment alternatives that are not offered by every company. These include Cryptocurrency, Forex (FX), CFDs, ETFs, futures, options as well as gold/silver certificates.

Additional Features

Some online trading platforms come with different features, such as advanced charting tools, live updates, and risk management tools. Having extra features can help make your trading experience the best it can be.

For more information on CFD, Cryptocurrency and Forex trading please see our tutorials.

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