Determine your own style
happyhappyhappy said:
Hi Didn't know where to put this post but felt it might be useful on here as people will be wanting to know which site to use if they are starting out. I currently use ADVFN for all my checking of share prices and charts etc. I find the free level ok but it does play me up sometimes.
Does anybody know of any other sites that give as many tools as ADVFN and offer the same easy user friendly facilities all for free?
They keep asking me to upgrade and pay but I am surprised at their monthly charges and find the free version really quite adequate most of the time, but I would be a little lost if they pulled their service because although I have seen other sites, I have not found any as comprehensive.
All help appreciated.
Hi
Most brokers will do some form of software/charting. Some will be web-based only - useful if you have to access the site at work or in an internet cafe. Others will be downloads that you need to install. The latter are often more functiionallly rich and can provide better charting.
You need to decide, first of all, what your requirements are:
- what instrument do you want to trade. The most suitable software for forex is not necessarily the same as equities. If you spreadbet then you will need to use the brokers interface, because the prices you see are not the same as the market in general
- you need to determine the priorities of your requirements. Thus you might choose a broker based on its spread, even though the user interface is hopeless. After all you may be able to link third pary software to your broker's feed. On some other threads I have been discussing Interactive Brokers's web offering and wheather linking it to Ameritrade is better
- again forex requires a different type of interface e.g. where currency pairs are displayed properly
So I think the best way to start is use all the demo accounts and free software you can
- it introduces you to the software and the different possibilities
- it allows you to practice with dummy accounts. Thus you can build up your stategy and plans, get used ot trading quickly with the broker soffware
- determine which broker you like based on commisions, spreads, software, user help, responsitveness to questions and issues
- determine if you need further functions that might only be available via software that is not free or feeds that are not free
If you search round these thread you will find plenty of suggestions about site that offer:
- alerts
- watch lists
- fundamental news
- assisted trading
- charts
- educations
etc
You just need to decide what is right for you. If you find that free sites are adequate at present for what you need then fine, don't change. Keep an open mind however. As you advance you may change strategies, instruments, requirements etc and begin to find that these free sites are indadequate. There is no right or wrong way, except that I assume you want to make money.
Don't chase magic formulae i.e. paying for a monthly subscription unless you can prove to yourself it signifcantly improves your performance
I've made no specific software/broker recommendations, but I hope this helps
Charlton
