If you’re serious about buying and selling shares for profit, you must find a broker with an online trading platform that fits your needs. You want access to multiple markets, clear pricing and chart data, analytical tools – and an app for monitoring your portfolio and trading on the go.
Benefits of a Trading App
If you wanted to purchase some shares in the old days, you would telephone or visit your broker, pay your money, and walk away with new a shareholding. While that was all well and good, it was hardly convenient and certainly not fast.
It also relied on you, whether you were a serious investor or someone who dabbled in the markets for fun, understanding what you wanted to buy or sell, and probably from within a limited market like the London Stock Exchange FTSE 100.
Nowadays, things could not be any more different. You can trade in markets around the world, from anywhere, and at any time of day or night. If, for example, you are working or living in South Africa, you would look for the best trading app there, just as much as if you were in the UK, America or Australia.
Today’s modern trading allows you to trade not just in shares but in all sorts of markets, such as:
- Commodities – you can trade on the price movements of commodities like gold, silver and crude oil.
- Currencies – trade on the price movements between paired currencies, like GBP/USD. This is called Forex trading
- Index movements – you don’t just have to buy and sell individual shares; you can trade on the movement of indices like the FTSE 100, Nasdaq, German DAX or Johannesburg Stock Exchange
All of your trading requirements work effortlessly on a decent app, available from the best brokers. Here are some of the top reasons to use a trading app:
Markets and speed
As we have already mentioned, you want access to lots of markets so that you can make use of tips and research anywhere in the world or take advantage of price movements. For example, if shares worldwide are tumbling or currencies are taking a hit, it’s usually the case that the gold price will rise. You can sell your long shares positions and buy into gold instead while using the same trading app. Speed is important so that you can execute a trade within seconds.
Mobile access
Good trading apps don’t just look good on your desktop devices. The apps for tablets and mobile devices are exceptional. This means you can monitor your open positions any time, anywhere. And, if you need to sell off, edit a position, perhaps by moving your stop-loss point, or launch a new trading position, you can do so fast whenever you wish – even if you’re out on a walk!
Analytical tools
If you have some experience in trading, you will no doubt like the analytical tools you can use on most trading apps. These overlay onto price charts, be it individual shares, indices, or forex movements, allowing you to spot patterns more easily. It’s not just overlaying lines to simplify movement trends; you can use tools like the moving average to help your decision making.
Advice and educational content
Not everyone can expect to be a trading wizard. Most traders like you, perhaps trying to build a fund to contribute towards retirement planning, welcome access to expert analysis, tips and educational content on trading apps. This makes your experience more engaging and should help to improve your profits.
Fast and varied payment methods
It’s no good having the convenience of a good trading app if it’s hard to deposit your money or withdraw it when you want. The best apps offer almost instant deposits and withdrawals, which can be really important if you want to get on a trade fast. Most people also enjoy a broad choice of payment methods, over and above the usual debit card. So look for e-wallet options like PayPal that is super swift and convenient.
Try for Free
There is more good news for those who are inexperienced and reluctant to invest money in trading apps, fearing they will soon lose. Most trading apps let beginners set up a “play money” account, where they can practice buying and selling in various markets.
While this is excellent for seeing how an app and trading works in general, it cannot prepare you for one of the ultimate tests of real-money trading – psychology. How you deal with losses, your attitude to risk, and much more can be just as important as picking the right side of a price movement.
Finally, the most important thing to remember about trading and using apps is to always invest what you can afford to lose. Don’t spend more than you are comfortable with, as this will affect your decision making.
