The foreign exchange (forex or FX) trading market has evolved over the years, and so have the tools and techniques contributing to traders’ successes. In the past, traders relied entirely on brokers to make market speculations and buy and sell decisions. Today’s reality is more dynamic, and we see investors making these decisions independently with indicators, charts, automated trading bots, and many other relevant tools. Retail traders are exploiting autonomous trading approaches, and you could be on this path today with the right set of instruments. Here is an in-depth overview to put you on the best possible path.
Charting Software
Charting software or applications are foreign exchange instruments that help traders visualize price data and relevant information in a chart. It helps them monitor changes and market activities, identify patterns and trends, and other necessities like support and resistance levels. Charting software takes in the raw information from the market and makes it easily interpretable. These interpretations also go a long way in helping investors analyze the market and find the right entry and exit points.
Forex Trading Platforms
One major enabler of the retail trading market is forex trading platforms. They are the bridge that connects traders to brokers, aiding them in trading in the live markets. Advanced trading platforms like the TradingView app also have many other perks, like a wide range of tools and indicators to help investors make better trading decisions. It also has some standard charting features with drawing tools, multiple timeframes, and custom scripts that can help with detailed market analysis. There is a lot to explore with forex trading platforms as they are mostly regarded as the go-to all-in-one instrument for every market participant,
Economic Calendar
Economic calendars exist for traders to keep tabs on market events, dates, and upcoming occurrences that could directly or indirectly affect their investments. These tools are derived for tracking releases that could be market-moving events in the long term. Economic calendars will mostly list data that includes inflation numbers, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and central bank meeting dates.
Pip Calculator
Using a pip calculator takes off the stress of manually calculating the value of one pip in any trader’s selected pair. It considers the size of your position, the currency pairs you’re working with, exchange and leverage, and gives you the accurate value of one pip in your currency.
Time Zone Converter
Considering that forex is a global business, you’ll be working with many other time zones besides the one in your country. The major trading centers are London, Tokyo, and New York, which do not cover a large percentage of investors in the market. Keeping these varying time factors in mind, some currencies are better traded because they could influence the asset’s liquidity, trading volume, or other specifics. The time zone converter is an essential tool that helps you know these times in your local time zone so you don’t miss out on important transactions.
Gain/Loss Percentage Calculator
If you’re wondering how good or bad your trade went, the gain and loss percentage calculator will help you answer that. This tool weighs your transactions and evaluates the rate of profit and Loss on your order. It allows you to weigh how much you have left in your account and how to proceed with other trades.
Pivot Point and Position Size Calculator
Expert traders use the pivot point calculator to know the varying support and resistance levels using pivot points, which could vary daily, weekly, and monthly. Position size calculator, on the other hand, helps traders evaluate the right lot sizes based on variables like account equity, risk percentages, and Stop Loss.
Financial News Wire
It’s common knowledge that news and economic events play a huge role in the performance of an asset. Financial news helps you keep tabs on such news and make informed trading decisions. It gives traders up-to-date and reliable information on economic news and market announcements.
Forex Volatility Calculator
Investors thrive and make the most gains in volatile assets because a less volatile currency will likely stagnate and not cause significant returns or losses. Hence, traders need information on volatile currency pairs and their active trading hours. The Forex volatility calculator is designed to help with that and can calculate the volatility of up to 30 currencies over an extended time. It’s able to achieve this through the use of relevant historical data.
Maximizing Investment Tools for Forex Trading
If, by chance, you’ve not heard of any of the tools above, now is the time to bookmark this article. If you’re unaware of how to access them, you can start with an investment app like TradingView. The software has many instruments, including some of those listed in this article, and it would be an excellent place to experiment with them. You can get others by exploring other software and platforms with advanced technology for the modern-day trader.
