9 Best Forex Trading Blogs To Follow

Hi friends, today I am here to share with you 9 best forex trading blogs to be followed by every trader to be a successful trader in the Forex market. These blogs can be of greater help in your trading journey as such, it has helped us do far.

XM

We much prefer showcasing all of our Forex trading website visitors to a range of Forex Brokers that have been in business for many years. As by doing so we are able to check the history of each Broker we are thinking of reviewing to ensure they have always operated to the very highest of standards.

XM Group is a group of regulated brokers and it is owned by Trading Point Holdings Ltd. Entities under XM Group have significant experience as financial services providers worldwide. Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd was established in 2009 with headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd was established in 2015 with headquarters in Sydney, Australia and Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Ltd was established in 2016 with headquarters in London, UK. XM Group is regulated by the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) – Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd, FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) – Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Ltd and the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) – Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd

Should you be in the market for a new Forex Broker at which to sign up to and trade at please read on for bale we have listed all of the many stand out features that have made this Forex Broker one of the most popular ones with traders.

Trading Platform and Features

You will possibly be wondering just what type of trading platforms you are going to be able to access and make use of at XM Group and will that in mind below we have an overview of each of their trading platforms which can be accessed at any time of the day of night.

MT4/MT5 Terminal – You are probably very well versed with the most popular and most used Forex trading platform in the world that being the MT4/MT5 trading platform. If so, then you will be pleased to learn that you will be able to use that trading platform as soon as you sign up and become a trader at XM Group. You can use it as a no risk trader via a demo trading account or as a real money trader.

Mac MT4 – Mac users are often overlooks by many Forex Brokers. However, you will never be overlooked at XM Group as they have available a Mac compatible trading platform which is aptly known as their Mac MT4 trading platform. This platform comes with all of the exact same features as the standard MT4 trading platform so you will never have to make any compromises when using it!

MT4 Multi Terminal – You should also take a look over the MT4 Multi Terminal trading platform offered at XM Group as many traders prefer using this trading platform as they can access and use it on several different devices they own or have access to.

WebTrader 4 – Being able to access a trading platform no matter where you are when you wish to place one or more currencies pairings is something that you will be able to do at XM Group and the way to place those trades is to utilize the Web Trader 4 platform, the full details of which can be found on the XM Group website.

iPad Trader – If you have an iPad and wish to start trading currency pairing son that device them make use you test out the iPad Trader Platform which you will find very easy to use and one which comes with a whole host of option settings which you can utilize to tailor your own trading sessions.

iPhone Trader – The iPhone trading platform on offer at XM Group is a state of the art piece of kit which you download directly onto your iPhone. You will find it comes packed with option setting so you can tailor your own trading session any time you wish to place a trade from anywhere you are.

Droid Trader – One of the most used mobile trading platforms offered by XM Group is of course their Droid Trader platform, as the name does imply this trading platform is fully compatible with absolutely any mobile device which has the Android trading platform attached to it.

Mobile Trader – If you own any type of kind of mobile device which has the windows operating system on it the this is the platform you should use, it is highly configurable and is very easy to use.

Banking Options

No matter how you wish to make a deposit into your real money Forex trading account at XM Group we just know you are going to find a convenient method to do so. XM Group accepts the most common Local Payments methods like Credit/Debit card, Neteller, Skrill, Bank-Wire etc

Why Trade at XM.com?

Being a Forex Brokers offering traders from all over the world access to their trading opportunities and trading platforms it does go without saying that XM Group have plenty of unique qualities.

You will find that they offer a comprehensive customer support service which is available 5 days a week and 24 hours a day and that customer support service is available in over 20 different languages too!

Mobile Trading

1. Dukascopy - 4 Stars
2. Saxo Bank - 4 Stars
3. TD Ameritrade - 4 Stars
4. IG - 4 Stars
5. CMC Markets - 4 Stars
6. Interactive Brokers - 4 Stars
7. GAIN Capital (FOREX.com) - 4 Stars

While nearly all forex brokers have offered mobile apps for years, the competition continues to increase as clients demand many of the same features in mobile that are normally found on desktop and web platforms. 

The global use of mobile devices to access online services, ranging from email to social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, has continued to grow exponentially in recent years.

To determine the best forex brokers for mobile trading in 2018 we focused on identifying mobile experiences that were bug-free, cleanly designed, and provided a wide range of features.

To determine the best forex brokers for mobile trading in 2018 we focused on identifying mobile experiences that were bug-free, cleanly designed, and provided a wide range of features. Additionally, we looked for brokers who have been able to create a seamless experience between their mobile apps and their desktop and/or web-based platforms.

First place goes to Dukascopy Bank, whose SWFX Trader app comes with more research and pattern recognition tools than any other broker we reviewed. The app also includes an impressive array of charting capabilities, complex order types, and other advanced features such as depth of book, all packed into a clean user design.

Saxo Bank took second place with its SaxoTrader GO mobile app. SaxoTrader GO is highly responsive and provides traders a unified experience with its web-based platform, offering unique features such as syncing trend lines, indicators, and watch lists. In addition, the broker’s native integration of trading signals and pattern recognition, powered by Auto Chartist, are also automatically synced with its web-platform.

Like Saxo Bank, TD Ameritrade also provides a feature-rich, unified platform experience. Advanced order visualizations, syncing watch lists, and charts that support over 300 indicators are just a sampling of the functionality available to clients.

Meanwhile, IG took fourth place for its mobile app which integrates pattern recognition and comes with robust charting that stays neatly organized even when loaded with numerous concurrent indicators.

CMC Markets followed in fifth place as its mobile app offers unique features such as the ability to subscribe to future news events. Charting in the app comes packed with technical indicators and drawing tools available in landscape mode.

Interactive Brokers and FOREX.com finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Both brokers boast robust mobile offerings that will impress the vast majority of fx traders.

Best Offering of Currency Pairs, CFDs

1. IG - 4 Stars
2. Saxo Bank - 4 Stars
3. Interactive Brokers - 4 Stars
4. GAIN Capital (FOREX.com) - 4 Stars
5. CMC Markets - 4 Stars
6. Swissquote Bank - 3.5 Stars
7. eToro - 3.5 Stars

Foreign exchange markets are open 24 hours a day, five days a week, which means investors can constantly scan international markets for opportunities to invest. Having access to multiple asset classes from within a single platform is important to many investors, as financial markets, including forex and even cryptocurrencies, are highly interconnected. The ability to react quickly to geopolitical and economic news events in real time is key.

In the early 2000s, a fine line used to exist: brokers were most often concentrated on offering just one asset, for example forex, to their customers. However, today trading platforms are no longer just for trading forex, stocks, or futures; instead, multi-asset offerings are now industry standards among all the largest online brokers. That said, the range of products and markets you can trade still varies considerably across firms.

IG placed first with 15,000 tradeable instruments available including 95 forex pairs and boasts the most regulatory licenses among all brokers, including from top-tier jurisdictions such as the US, UK, and Switzerland, among others. IG placed first with 15,000 tradeable instruments available including 95 forex pairs and boasts the most regulatory licenses, including from top-tier jurisdictions such as the US, UK, and Switzerland, among others. IG also significantly expanded its range of cryptocurrency CFDs on a year-over-year basis and provides access to global stock exchanges through its share-dealing account offering (for more information about IG’s share-dealing offering, read our IG Group UK share dealing review on our sister site, StockBrokers.com).

Saxo Bank held second with 9,000 CFDs available and 139 currency pairs, including off-exchange forex options trading supported on key major pairs and crosses. Saxo Bank’s offering of wealth advisory solutions to investors further complements its position, including its offering of Bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds.

Interactive Brokers took third place with a wide range of top-tier regulatory licenses. Interactive Brokers provides traders access to 6,200 CFDs (up from 4,217), 85 forex pairs, global exchange-traded products, US-traded Bitcoin futures, and much more.

FOREX.com took fourth place with a wide array of top-tier regulatory licenses, as well as 84 forex pairs.

CMC Markets placed fifth with 9,959 instruments, including 330 forex pairs (including two-way quotes, such as EUR/USD and USD/EUR), which is the most number of forex pairs of all the broker’s we’ve tested in 2018. CMC Markets also has regulatory licenses in major jurisdictions such as Australia, Singapore, and Canada.

Swissquote bank followed with top-tier licenses, and although the broker only lists 38 CFDs alongside 78 forex pairs, in a separate trading platform, which requires a different account, it offers nearly two million tradeable products. The broker also was the first bank to offer bitcoin as an underlying (non-CFD), in addition to creating an exchange-traded note tied to Bitcoin’s price on the SIX Swiss stock exchange.

Lastly, eToro finished seventh for its wide range of products and respectable list of licenses.

Best Forex Trading Platform

1. Dukascopy - 4.5 Stars
2. Saxo Bank - 4.5 Stars
3. IG - 4.5 Stars
4. GAIN Capital (FOREX.com) - 4.5 Stars
5. TD Ameritrade - 4.5 Stars
6. Interactive Brokers - 4.0 Stars
7. FXCM - 4.0 Stars

Forex trading platforms are the modern gateway to investing in international currency markets. Regardless of your trading style, or preferred multi-asset instrument, the platform technology you use can affect nearly all aspects of your trading experience.  From accessing research to analyzing news events or performing technical analysis on charts, forex trading platforms share the common goal of making it easy to help you trade and discover trading opportunities, while managing your personal investments.

Over the past decade, forex trading platform technology has continued to evolve steadily across devices, with a shift from desktop to web and then to mobile. With ongoing enhancements to the user experience throughout the year, forex brokers compete for market share amid shifting regulations and the evolving needs of traders.

After more than doubling the number of international forex brokers we tested this year to 43, it was clear that the best forex platforms managed to pack a slew of features and tools into a simplified user experience, while keeping the technology up to date with the latest supported standards.

After more than doubling the number of international forex brokers we tested this year to 43, it was clear that the best forex platforms managed to pack a slew of features and tools into a simplified user experience, while keeping the technology up to date with the latest supported standards. All in all, these platforms provide customers a rich and pleasurable experience in all critical areas of forex trading. 

For the Best Forex Trading Platform category, Dukascopy Bank took the top podium spot this year for its highly innovative JForex 3 platform, which comes available for desktop, web, and mobile, and is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Charting in JForex 3 comes packed with 313 technical indicators and the platform supports automated trading strategies, helping it compete with popular third-party software, such as the MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform and cTrader platform.

Saxo Bank followed closely in second after the broker added additional tools into its highly innovative and responsive web-based platform, SaxoTrader GO. For example, Saxo Bank fully integrated AutoChartist, giving it a native feel within the platform. Also, Saxo Bank provides a seamless experience on mobile, including watch lists and charts that sync across desktop, web, and mobile.

Third place goes to IG for its innovative web platform, which comes packed with versatile charting, automated pattern recognition tools, and its premium ProRealTime charts. For more advanced traders, IG’s L2 Dealer desktop-based platform provides an array of advanced features for experienced forex traders who need the extra tools usually found on desktop platforms.

Lowest Trading Costs

1. CMC Markets - 5 Stars
2. Saxo Bank - 4.5 Stars
3. IG - 4.5 Stars
4. Dukascopy - 4.5 Stars
5. GAIN Capital (FOREX.com) - 4.5 Stars
6. TD Ameritrade - 4 Stars
7. City Index - 4 Stars

Forex trading costs are not easy to break down. Reasons why trading costs can be impacted: bid/ask spreads can vary across venues (because forex is decentralized), forex spreads may be either fixed or variable (floating), and variable spreads may widen or narrow (vary) at different rates across brokers.

Furthermore, execution policies vary across firms in terms of how orders are handled (slippage/rejections), even when all else is equal. Brokers may be acting as market makers (dealers) to execute your trades and/or may be acting as agents for execution (relying on other dealers to execute). Forex spreads may include a round-turn commission.

While the all-in cost to trade can be critical for many traders, it is important to look at the whole picture in terms of how a broker’s overall offering could best suit your needs.

To assess brokers, we took into consideration how much beginners, average traders, and even more seasoned traders would pay, looking at average spreads for standard forex contracts (100,000 units) as well as mini accounts (10,000 units) and micro accounts (1,000 units), where applicable. We then calculated the all-in cost by including any round-turn commission that was added to prevailing spreads.

When it comes to competitive all around pricing, CMC Markets took first place as the best broker in the commissions and fees category. With an average spread of just 0.772 pips on its EUR/USD using November 2017 data, CMC Markets offered the most competitive all-in cost to trade. Also, the broker lowered the barrier for entry into its active trader rebate program, helping to boost its ranking.

In second place was Saxo Bank. The broker revamped its commission structure with the roll-out of additional tiers for both entry-level and active traders from its Asia offices. Previously, entry level traders only had the commission-free options where spreads were wider, yet with Saxo Bank’s new volume-based structure, even entry-level traders with low volumes now enjoy competitive commissions. A 0.5 pip equivalent added to low average spreads of 0.4 pips (using spread data from February 2018), results in an all-in cost of 0.9 pips on the EUR/USD. More significant discounts are available for higher-volume traders.

Rounding out the top three on the podium in 2018 was IG. The broker averaged spreads of 0.74 pips on the EUR/USD for the 12 weeks ending February 24th 2017, and offers Forex Direct as part of its commission-based active trader offering.

Dukascopy Bank maintained its fourth-place position, with a default commission tier of $7 per round-turn ($3.5 per side) and low underlying average spreads of 0.24 pips on the EUR/USD using spread data provided by the broker for the US Session during December 2017. Dukascopy Bank’s all-in cost on the EUR/USD of 0.94 pips (0.24+ 0.7 commission) for its entry-level offering, combined with higher discounts for active traders, helped the broker again finish Best in Class.

Choosing the Best Forex Brokerage

Here are some of the most important factors to keep in mind when choosing the best online forex brokerage for currency trading.

• Regulation: Not all regulatory jurisdictions and licenses are created equal for international forex and CFD Brokers. Investors should know which country their broker is based in and which country’s laws apply to their account. To avoid fraud, it is critical to use a broker that is well-known and well-regulated. To quickly identify brokers you can trust, reference the Trust Score we provide on each broker’s review page.
• Company Policies and History: As part of every investors due diligence process, steps to help ensure account security should include verifying a firm’s regulatory licenses and its legal obligations in safeguarding client monies. It's also important to review the customer agreements, read up on the company's history, and make sure their primary offices are located in a well-respected country, if not your own.
• Range of Markets Offered: It’s always important to determine which markets or individual trading products (currency pair or stock symbol) you want to trade, then check to make sure they are offered. Also check to make sure the products you want to trade are available in your region. See section, “Best offering of Currency Pairs, CFDs” below.
• FX Trading Tools & Platforms:  Which platforms and trading tools are available for the products you are considering? Are compatible with your web browser, computer operating system, or mobile smartphone, or any other devices you are planning to use for trading? See section, “Best Forex Trading Platform” below.
• FX Analysis and Global Market Research: Available research tools for scanning, analyzing, and overall conducting technical and fundamental analysis will vary from broker to broker. See section, “FX Research” below.
• Forex spreads, commissions, and overall trading costs: For forex trading, spreads and any round-turn commissions will make up the all-in cost to complete (open/close) each trade. The same generally applies to CFDs, in terms of bid/ask spreads plus any per trade commission. See section, “Lowest Trading Costs” below.
• Order Execution: Available execution methods can depend on whether the broker is a principal dealer acting as a market-maker, and/or if they are an agency-only broker relying on third-party dealers (liquidity providers). Other execution methods, policies, conditions, or available order types can vary (including premium or free trade protection tools such as guaranteed stop-loss orders, fill-or-kill or fill with within a maximum deviation range) can vary from broker to broker.
• Order Type and Execution: Some execution methods or order-types may incur negative or positive slippage. This means orders will fill but the fill price could be better or worse than requested. Since each broker is different, some firms may re-quote an order with a new price for you to accept (or reject) in the case the price has changed.
• Customer Service: Customer service is important. The scope and quality of support can be a major differentiator across online FX brokerages, ranging from the speed and overall quality of assistance to the availability across global trading hours and international markets. See section, “Customer Service” below.
• Education: Currency trading can be complex. Even seasoned investors are constantly learning to expand their breadth of currency markets. The disparity between currency brokers that provide thorough, high quality education, and those who do not is vast.  See section, “Education” below.