Trading Software for beginners

Hey,
I was wondering if all you experts can point me in the right direction regarding trading software for beginners? Which platform is best suited for me?

mark_barnes33 said:

Hey,
I was wondering if all you experts can point me in the right direction regarding trading software for beginners? Which platform is best suited for me?

Click to expand...

I am a beginner too (less than 3months in trading) and I do all my chart analysis and paper money trades on tradingview.com

I am thinking of thinkorswim from TD ameritrade, watching videos of it to understand more. I might switch to that from etrade.

mark_barnes33 said:

Hey,
I was wondering if all you experts can point me in the right direction regarding trading software for beginners? Which platform is best suited for me?

Click to expand...

You can start from Нotforex Social account or Etoro, they offer something similar to trading social net where you find professional traders providing signals, a lot of other traders discuss them so you don't you will be informed before taking decision.

Try them out first

mark_barnes33 said:

Hey,
I was wondering if all you experts can point me in the right direction regarding trading software for beginners? Which platform is best suited for me?

Click to expand...

It depends upon what you intend to trade to some extent. You will find that many brokers will have their own trading platforms, available as desktop, web and mobile apps.

If you want trading software which is more generic and which includes some programming capability some popular choices are:

http://www.metatrader5.com/en

https://www.amibroker.com/

If you choose a generic product then ensure that it has an API (application programming interface) that works with your chosen broker. This allows the software to take data feeds from the broker to incorporate into charts etc, and to send orders to the broker.

For example amibroker has an API with broker Interactive Brokers:

https://www.amibroker.com/guide/h_ib.html

https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/index.php?f=5041

Also ensure that you are comfortable using the software. Does it facilitate or detract from your ability to obtain and analyse data and send orders. If it requires some programming how comfortable are you with that ? Also do you need the ability to program the software to extend the capability to manipulate data beyond more basic platforms'

So in summary once you have chosen the instrument you want to trade (stocks, futures, forex etc) and the style of trading (scalping, day trading, position trading etc), look at the choice of broker AND trading platform together so that they facilitate what you are trying to achieve.

Many brokers and many generic platforms have demonstration software that you can load and try out, even if it is with archived data. I recommend that you try them out first to see if you can create charts and orders as you expect. Also download any user guides, API guides etc from the broker or software platform site to see how good the documentation is. Finally look for any user community links on the sites to see the types of questions or complaints that the existing user communities are having , and how they are dealt with by the broker/software supplier.

Charlton said:

It depends upon what you intend to trade to some extent. You will find that many brokers will have their own trading platforms, available as desktop, web and mobile apps.

If you want trading software which is more generic and which includes some programming capability some popular choices are:

http://www.metatrader5.com/en

https://www.amibroker.com/

If you choose a generic product then ensure that it has an API (application programming interface) that works with your chosen broker. This allows the software to take data feeds from the broker to incorporate into charts etc, and to send orders to the broker.

For example amibroker has an API with broker Interactive Brokers:

https://www.amibroker.com/guide/h_ib.html

https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/index.php?f=5041

Also ensure that you are comfortable using the software. Does it facilitate or detract from your ability to obtain and analyse data and send orders. If it requires some programming how comfortable are you with that ? Also do you need the ability to program the software to extend the capability to manipulate data beyond more basic platforms'

So in summary once you have chosen the instrument you want to trade (stocks, futures, forex etc) and the style of trading (scalping, day trading, position trading etc), look at the choice of broker AND trading platform together so that they facilitate what you are trying to achieve.

Many brokers and many generic platforms have demonstration software that you can load and try out, even if it is with archived data. I recommend that you try them out first to see if you can create charts and orders as you expect. Also download any user guides, API guides etc from the broker or software platform site to see how good the documentation is. Finally look for any user community links on the sites to see the types of questions or complaints that the existing user communities are having , and how they are dealt with by the broker/software supplier.

Click to expand...

What he says....and the Spread betting Charting tools from CMC, ETX, IG, Intertrader having use them all, they are very complet


When your 'ready' move onto the Pro stuff its Cqg, Tradestation, Ninja and MT5.

wordens is not bad.

i just use stockcharts.com basic, and td ameritrade streaming for trading.

swinghigh said:

I am a beginner too (less than 3months in trading) and I do all my chart analysis and paper money trades on tradingview.com

I am thinking of thinkorswim from TD ameritrade, watching videos of it to understand more. I might switch to that from etrade.

Click to expand...

Yes I know about tradingview but is only a charting platform,not a trading platform.Why you will switch from etrade ?You are not satisfied?

gerryg said:

You can start from Нotforex Social account or Etoro, they offer something similar to trading social net where you find professional traders providing signals, a lot of other traders discuss them so you don't you will be informed before taking decision.

Click to expand...

I read that their (HF )execution speed is terribly slow.I have opened a demo account with Etoro.I've already noticed how sluggish the platform really is. I can't say that I have much faith in etoro in delivering a quality service.

Charlton said:

It depends upon what you intend to trade to some extent. You will find that many brokers will have their own trading platforms, available as desktop, web and mobile apps.

If you want trading software which is more generic and which includes some programming capability some popular choices are:

http://www.metatrader5.com/en

https://www.amibroker.com/

If you choose a generic product then ensure that it has an API (application programming interface) that works with your chosen broker. This allows the software to take data feeds from the broker to incorporate into charts etc, and to send orders to the broker.

For example amibroker has an API with broker Interactive Brokers:

https://www.amibroker.com/guide/h_ib.html

https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/index.php?f=5041

Also ensure that you are comfortable using the software. Does it facilitate or detract from your ability to obtain and analyse data and send orders. If it requires some programming how comfortable are you with that ? Also do you need the ability to program the software to extend the capability to manipulate data beyond more basic platforms'

So in summary once you have chosen the instrument you want to trade (stocks, futures, forex etc) and the style of trading (scalping, day trading, position trading etc), look at the choice of broker AND trading platform together so that they facilitate what you are trying to achieve.

Many brokers and many generic platforms have demonstration software that you can load and try out, even if it is with archived data. I recommend that you try them out first to see if you can create charts and orders as you expect. Also download any user guides, API guides etc from the broker or software platform site to see how good the documentation is. Finally look for any user community links on the sites to see the types of questions or complaints that the existing user communities are having , and how they are dealt with by the broker/software supplier.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply along with your constructive and helpful comments.Also, I would like to ask you,do you have any experience with cTrader?Many brokers and people suggesting ctrader .Your help would be much appreciated.

mark_barnes33 said:

Thank you for your reply along with your constructive and helpful comments.Also, I would like to ask you,do you have any experience with cTrader?Many brokers and people suggesting ctrader .Your help would be much appreciated.

Click to expand...

I do not have any experience with cTrader. I use Tradestation as broker and platform. I think it would help others answer if you state what broker you use, what instrument you trade, how comfortable you are with programming, what datafeed you have, style of trading eg length of time and rough capital and budget for trading eg monthly costs. I appreciate that you may not want to answer all these, but the more information you provide, the more you will home in your requirements and the more appropriate will be the responses.

For example, if you want to use a direct access broker sand daytrade US stocks, you will need an account minimum of around $30,000. In that case Tradestation might be suitable. If on the other hand you have a small account and trade in the UK, a spreadbetting broker and platform would be better.

Thanks Charlton!!
I am still trading in a demo account and still searching for a broker.When I will be ready for live account I am thinking to open a micro account to invest low capital.