Key qualities of a broker
To choose the right broker for Forex trading, you first need to know what qualities to pay attention to.
It should be taken into account that what is on a company’s website does not always correspond to reality.
Many important points can only be verified in practice, and sometimes it is too late to change anything.
Therefore, before making a final choice, you need to carefully weigh all the pros and cons, and only then make a decision and fund your trading account.
At the same time, one should always remember that the main quality of any broker is its reliability.
In my practice, I once encountered a company that positioned itself as a large dealing center. I was very surprised to discover that the company's website had only existed for three months, and its traffic was only 10 people a day.
For practical trading, the most important qualities of a forex broker are:
Order execution speed – there are two types: at the market and at the stated price (instantly). The effectiveness of your chosen strategy often depends on this parameter.
For example, for scalping it is better to choose only instant execution.
Market - your order is executed in any case, even if the current price changes during its execution. To reduce the number of requotes, a deviation size in points is set.
This option is more suitable for medium-term and long-term trading, as it practically does not result in requotes (refusals to execute).
Instant execution – it's more accurate to call this option "Exact execution." If the price changes, you'll receive a refusal and be prompted to open the trade at a new price. In the worst case, the order will open at a new price that's not always favorable to you.
Order execution – this is a broker quality that traders rarely pay attention to, despite its importance. Pending orders or stops can be triggered either by touching or by reaching the price level.
Touch – as soon as the price touches the set level, your order is triggered, the best execution option.
By level - the price must not just touch the set mark, but stay there for a certain time. In this case, most questions arise - "Why didn't my order work?"
Trading restrictions – these include limits on trading volumes and the maximum number of open orders per day. A minimum trade duration may also be regulated, and if the condition is violated, the trade is simply cancelled. This also includes a ban on trading using automated trading systems (expert advisors).
Minimum levels – refers to the minimum value in points for take-profit and stop-loss orders. This restriction is especially often applied to the last order; it cannot be placed closer than 10 points from the opening price, which is quite an unpleasant situation.
Available assets —that is, what is allowed to be traded with a given forex broker—are quite important, as one brokerage company may only allow trading in currencies, while another may allow trading in cryptocurrencies, securities, and futures. Sometimes, the number of assets available for trading can reach several hundred.
You can clarify these points with technical support before topping up your account.
Additionally, when researching the qualities of forex brokers, pay attention to the description of trading conditions. Their characteristics are publicly available on any company's website. These include spread size , minimum deposit, availability of cent accounts, forex swap commission size, and forced levels for closing losing trades.
It's important to always remember the main rule of any trader: what's written can only be trusted after verification. I've often encountered the fact that most trading conditions don't correspond to reality in practice.
