Markets.com is opening up global currency markets to a sophisticated new breed of retail investor. Recognising the unique requirements of today’s forex trader, the web and mobile portal offers instantaneous access to global currency markets, 24 hours a day, five days a week. The broker – which has clients in more than 100 countries and operates in 25 different languages – has become one of the world’s fastest growing forex and Contracts for Difference (CFDs) providers. The broker enables traders to exploit currency movements in a market with daily volumes in excess of £3.5 trillion. Here, Bestforexbroker.info takes an in-depth look at Markets.com’s offering.
Sign up Today and Get Your free account
New customers that sign up to trade currencies obtain a free demo account without a requirement to put down a deposit. A new customer account can be opened immediately at the Markets.com website. New sign-ups must verify their telephone number in order to obtain the new account. The registration form can then be completed. New users receive a mobile text message with a four-digit verification code that has to be inputted on the website.
If you want to dip your toe into the water trading forex without risking huge losses, a live mini-account can be opened with a deposit of just £100. Mini-account holders obtain free market reviews and analysis. A standard account can be opened with a deposit of £2,500. This account comes with the additional benefit of offering users a forex news service that alerts users to new trends and developments in the market. Those opening an account with a sum of £20,000 obtain a variety of additional ‘VIP benefits’, including full access to a mobile news service and SMS updates of new developments across forex markets.
Open a Demo Account and Make Your First Trade
An account with Markets.com can be opened in seconds. New clients input their e-mail address and select a password before being seamlessly directed to the trading portal. Here a new client will see markets moving on the forex broker’s trading screen. Those eager to place a bet right away on euro/dollar or other currency pairs will have to first make a cash deposit. You will need to be able to provide proof of identity and proof of residence. A new client receives an automated e-mail requesting that he or she confirms their e-mail address to obtain full access to the platform’s range of forex trading services.
New users without trading experience may want to take some time to eyeball the flickering green and red prices on the screen in front of them. Beginners should take advantage of the platform’s demo account. Access to the demo account can be obtained by choosing the ‘Switch to Demo’ option in the bottom left corner of the screen. The demo account is identical to the platform’s ‘Real Money Account’, enabling new users to practice making a trade before any of their money is put at risk. Once funds have been deposited a trade can be made in seconds. Simply click on the currency pair that you want to trade. A chart on the right side of the screen displays past performance. A trader can adjust the historical chart from just one or five minutes to an hour or up to a previous week before.
The size of the trade can be adjusted with the required margin automatically. You can also add a stop loss or take profit level. However, be mindful that Markets.com can’t guarantee a stop loss. There are also options that enable users to have an entry limit or entry stop on the trade. A trade can be monitored by clicking on the open positions tab of the trading screen. This will display the profit or loss made along with an option to close the trade with a click of a button.
Global Markets at Your Fingertips
Within seconds of looking over the portal’s trading screen, investors obtain a snapshot of the current state of play in global financial markets. The forex broker offers trading in more than 300 different assets, including major, minor and exotic currencies. The benchmark Euro/dollar and Pound/Yen contracts are displayed prominently on the front page along with other popular investment plays such as crude oil. As a leading CFD provider, Markets.com provides traders with a sophisticated portal to obtain exposure to global financial markets. You can make a play on euro/US dollar while also speculating on bonds or a host of major US and European stocks. Traders that want to widen their portfolio to other asset classes can short Apple or go long on Facebook.
Elegance and Simplicity in Forex Trading
When trading you’ll find that the functionality is intuitive and easy to use. The forex broker offers forex investors access to MetaTrader 4, a low-latency trading platform with immediate order execution capabilities. The platform’s Sirix WebTrader is available as a browser based platform on both Mac and PC. In addition to a live analysis feature and analytical charts, the platform has a social trading function that enables users to monitor the progress of other traders and benefit from word-of-mouth noise in the markets.
Tight Spreads, No Fees
Traders obtain live access to dozens of currency pairs without having to pay a commission or trading fee. The trading cost that you incur is the spread on each trade i.e. the difference between the bid price (selling price) and the ask price (buying price). If you want to see the size of the spread before you make a trade you can practice with the demo account first. For example, when I logged on the size of the spread on a pound/yen trade was about 4 pips – the bid price was 155.58 and the ask price was 155.62. The size of a spread on a pound/US dollar pairs trade was about 2 pips, with the bid at 1.4416 and the ask at 1.4418. Remember that spreads are always variable and can change sporadically as markets fluctuate. As a major broker, Markets.com is able to obtain a competitive bid and ask price for clients by working closely with major banks and financial institutions in the forex industry.
Making a Leveraged Play
When trading forex investors can benefit from leverage, whereby the amount of money that can be won or lost far exceeds the size of an initial stake. In essence, leverage magnifies the gains – and losses – that you can make on a trade. If you deposit £10,000 into your account and it is set to a 50:1 leverage – the highest amount of leverage available . The broker offers leverage of up to 20:1 on stocks and 50:1 on commodities and indices, respectively. If a trade goes against you, and you can’t meet the minimum margin requirement – i.e. you don’t have enough cash to pay into your account – the position will be closed. Leverage can be a valuable tool for making a quick profit from fluctuating markets. But trading with leverage is only for experienced investors as you risk huge losses that can be in excess of your initial stake, should markets turn against your positions.
Taking an Educated View on the Markets
Investors that open a standard account are encouraged to make use of Trading Signals, a service provided by Trading Central, offering speedy notification of emerging trends in forex markets. In addition to forex, the service covers indices and commodities. Users can filter the service to get updates on their favourite currency markets. The signals can provide valuable notifications of when to buy and sell and are delivered on a daily basis to subscribers via e-mail.
Those looking to trade currency markets with insight from analysis of historical trends can use Markets.com’s Autochartist service, which is available to those with a VIP account. Autochartist informs users of trading opportunities taken from chart patterns extracted from monitoring the daily gyrations of thousands of financial instruments. Noise surrounding news events, spikes in volatility and indicators of moving prices all fall under the scrutiny of Austochartist’s trading tools. The broker also has its own forex news and analysis portal, providing its clients with market moving news across currency markets. The forex broker has a comprehensive economic calendar, enabling users to guide their trading strategy in anticipation of future market moving events such as US employment data or central bank meetings.
Trading on the Move
In recognition of the growing demand among retail investors to trade forex on the move, Markets.com has a native app that is available on Android and iOS smartphones. The app can be downloaded from the App store or Google Play to your hand-held device. The app requires iOS 7.1 or later for iPhone and iPad users. Android users must have the 4.0 operating system or above to install the app.
The forex broker’s mobile app, Markets Mobile Trader, has an intuitive interface allowing users to search for a currency pair or security by scrolling through the different markets displayed on screen or using a search function. The app offers real-time quotes and charting tools for each instrument that can be traded. You can make a list of the favourite currency pairs that you like to trade on the home screen of the app and receive alerts on big price swings. A trade can be made in seconds and the app is equipped with stop loss and take profit functionality to provide users with the ability to protect their capital and close out trades automatically when on the move. Markets.com offers users webinars to educate them on the full functionality of the Markets web trader and mobile app.
Putting Cash into Your Account
If you haven’t traded forex before, you can ask for help if you get stuck. The forex broker offers a LiveChat service enabling visitors to the website to obtain instant customer support. A customer service representative will speedily pick up your chat request, wait patiently for your query and answer any question that you may have. Alternatively, you can call the helpdesk number on +4420-3150-0380 or call the trading desk on +357-2-203-0583. Makets.com offers telephone customer support in 30 different countries. If you need to make a complaint a form can be completed online or alternatively you can call the trading desk number. The customer service team are available 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Should a user want to make a complaint, a complaints form can also be completed at the website.
Customer Support
If you haven’t traded forex before, you can ask for help if you get stuck. The forex broker offers a LiveChat service enabling visitors to the website to obtain instant customer support. A customer service representative will speedily pick up your chat request, wait patiently for your query and answer any question that you may have. Alternatively, you can call the helpdesk number on +4420-3150-0380 or call the trading desk on +357-2-203-0583. Makets.com offers telephone customer support in 30 different countries. If you need to make a complaint a form can be completed online or alternatively you can call the trading desk number. The customer service team are available 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Should a user want to make a complaint, a complaints form can also be completed at the website.
Regulation and Supervision
The forex broker is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchanges Commission (CySEC) with its operations also falling under the European Union Financial Services law known as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). The portal is also regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company is owned by Playtech Plc, a FTSE 250 software and services company, that is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Playtech has more than 4,500 employees in 14 countries and a market capitalization of about £2.8 billion.
A Trading Hub for Beginners – and Professionals – alike
If you’ve been contemplating taking a punt on movements in currency markets or are interested in widening your portfolio to include forex, the broker offers an accessible place to open a live account and start trading. The broker’s trading platform has a functionality that is intuitive and easy to use. The tools available on the platform can be deployed effectively by novices and sophisticated traders alike. For those still not ready to take the plunge in forex, the demo account offers a place to test trading idea and strategies before any capital is put at risk. The development of a first-class mobile trading app also shows that Markets.com is attuned to how increasing numbers of investors want to trade in the world’s biggest and most liquid market. Be sure to trade wisely and enjoy the ride.