The Brokers Day Traders Use to Perform at their Best

IG Group is a public company listed on the FTSE 250. The company has been building up a solid reputation in the UK for decades after being established in 1974. The company is regulated by the FCA in the UK and is also authorised by regulators in other areas where it provides its services. Access to a wide number of markets is provided by IG Group including cryptocurrencies.

IG Group has different tiers of account for both professionals and non-professionals. Professional accounts can apply greater degrees of leverage due to lower margin requirements. This can be particularly useful for day traders when they identify a good opportunity to capitalise on. There are also a number of different trading platforms available to users. Advanced day traders speculating in the forex market can use a platform which provides them with direct market access (DMA). DMA allows these traders to access the lowest spreads possible.

City Index is a broker owned by the publicly listed Gain Capital. Operating since 1983, the UK-headquartered broker provides access to CFDs, spread betting, and the forex markets. The broker is regulated by the FCA and has offices worldwide that provide services to customers in both Europe and Asia. Users in the United States and Canada will be redirected to forex.com, a broker which is also owned by Gain Capital. Traders using City Index as their broker have access to a wide variety of markets. There are over 12,000 markets in total offered which provide access to commodities, equities, forex, indices, and even cryptocurrency prices.

The markets are accessible through web, desktop, or mobile. The popular MT4 desktop trading platform is available to users who wish to trade through their desktop. City index also has their own desktop software which provides a lot of value to more advanced day traders. Their trading platform, AT Pro, allows traders to execute advanced orders which adds to the tools that day traders have at their disposal. This helps provide an extra advantage when analysing the market. A real-time news feed from Reuters is also integrated with this desktop client enabling traders to factor news developments into their decision making.

Interactive Brokers is a service which competes intensely on fees. The company heavily markets its vast discounts against major United States brokerage firms such as Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E-Trade. While the fees go a long way in helping day traders remain profitable, there are also many other factors playing into why Interactive Brokers is a top choice among day traders. The company has a long operating history, founded in 1977. It has built up a trustworthy reputation over this time and is regulated by several regulatory bodies which include the SEC, CFTC, and FINRA.

Interactive Brokers provide access to a wide variety of markets including equities, derivatives, forex, precious metals, and ETFs. Traders can access these markets through platforms which are supported on desktop, mobile, or web. Interactive Brokers also provide access to some markets which are not typically offered by online brokerages. These other options include both hedge fund investing and the ability to access asset management portfolios. Both of these options are only available to accredited investors.

AvaTrade is a more recently established brokerage service than the previously mentioned companies. After being established in 2006, the company quickly grew its user base to over registered trading accounts worldwide. The broker enables users to trade CFD products, cryptocurrencies, and forex. The CFD products provide traders with access to the stock markets, bond markets, and indices. These markets can be accessed through a number of different trading platforms. The trading platforms are supported on mobile, desktop, or web. The MT4 desktop platform is one of the options available to traders. The other options are provided through AvaTrade’s own software. For day traders interested in designing and running automated trading strategies, there are two platforms provided by AvaTrade to assist in doing this. These two platforms allow users to follow and act on the positions of other expert traders using the platforms.

Axitrader is another recently established online brokerage service, founded in 2007. Axitrader enables users to speculate on price movements by providing CFDs, spread betting, and forex market access. Two account types are offered,. Although the professional account has higher fees, many professional day traders will find it useful due to lower market spreads. In terms of trading platforms, users of Axitrader are limited to MT4. However, their MT4 software is supported on multiple types of devices including computer, mobile, and tablet. For day traders who are considering Axitrader, they need to be satisfied that they will be offered MT4. MT4 is an extremely popular trading platform but some more experienced day traders require advanced order types that may not be provided by MT4.

Another recently established but reputable broker is Go Markets. Founded in 2006, Go Markets provides CFDs to track the price of approximately 250 markets. This includes access to forex, commodities, precious metals, and equities. Go Markets provide a number of different platforms that day traders can make use of. This includes MT4 as well as the less widely used MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Day traders can also access Go Markets services through the web or mobile devices.

One service Go Markets provides which is not offered by many brokers is social trading. Social trading allows day traders to analyse the performance of other traders who are performing well and factor their positions into their own decision making.