FOREX BROKERS RECOMMENDED

#1: AVATrade

• Avatrade has  offices in New York, Dublin, Sydney, Milan and Tokyo (among others)
• AvaTrade is among the top Forex brokers in the world.
• AvaTrade is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and licensed by MiFID in the European Union.
• AvaTrade  also regulated by ASIC in Australia, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Japan, and has regulation pending in the British Virgin Islands.

And yet, while securing multiple regulations is always a critical factor in evaluating the trustworthiness of a given Forex broker, it is equally important to complete a full AvaTrade review to determine whether the broker’s range of services is as impressive as its regulations.

Trading Platform

AvaTrade offers traders a choice of trading platforms including the popular MetaTrader 4 platform and the company’s own proprietary software, appropriately called AvaTrader, which is a downloadable platform that offers trading of over 60 currency pairs as well as indices, equities and commodities including crude oil and gold. In addition, the company’s WebTrader offers a similarly user-friendly trading experience that can be accessed from nearly any computer, including public workstations.

We were not surprised to find during our AvaTrade review that the brokerage also offers mobile trading for most of today’s smart phones, as well as integration with some of the top automated trading services such as Mirror trader, Zulu Trader and API trading. It’s nice to see that AvaTrade offers a free demo account with a generous $100,000.

Features

In today’s competitive market, most Forex brokers try to compete with each other by offering a range of features, and AvaTrade is no exception. With free Forex learning tools including webinars and ebooks, as well as live market news integrated into their trading platforms, there’s no question that AvaTrade offers features that meet the industry standard. During our AvaTrade review, however, we found that the company’s features actually surpass those of most other brokerages, to include, among other things, an Ava debit card for all live account holders, access to Trading Central charting tools for depositors of over $1000 and free withdrawals. Though the company makes no effort to hide its 5 day withdrawal time for most accounts which we felt was rather long, all of the other features it offers can surely offset this small inconvenience.

AvaTrade also offers complete transparency as it pertains to their trading conditions, something we found extremely refreshing. The brokerage offers fixed spreads starting at 3 pips for EUR/USD, and going up to 120 pips for USD/ZAR.  With 60 currency pairs to choose from and the opportunity for hedging, it certainly seems as though most traders should be able to find an aspect of AvaTrade that works for them.

It is worth noting that AvaTrade offers attractive deposit bonuses including $125 bonus for a deposit of $250, up to $10,000 bonus for a deposit of $50,000. These bonuses are available on all AvaTrade accounts.

Customer Support

In keeping with the company’s inclination to provide a top notch service, we found that AvaTrade offers excellent customer support options, including email and chat support, as well as local phone support in 34 countries, making it possible for nearly every client to reach the brokerage affordably and in their native language.

Ease of Use

AvaTrade’s modern website and accessible top navigation makes it easy for traders to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. In some categories such as the order types section, the website also breaks down the information into smaller sections so that traders will not feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information provided. In cases like these, convenient tabs help compartmentalize different types of information so that traders can find what they need without getting distracted.

We found the AvaTrade platforms similarly easy to use. While proprietary Forex trading platforms generally take some adjustments, it was clear that a lot of thought was put into the company’s platforms. On the other hand, while MT4 trading is extremely common these days, many traders who aren’t entirely familiar with the system find it overwhelming, though we find that it’s always nice to have a choice of platforms.

Final Thoughts

After completing a full AvaTrade review, we found only two downsides to this service, but a world of advantages. Though we would have loved shorter withdrawal times (available only with AvaSelect accounts that require a deposit of $100,000) and higher spreads on some of the more popular currency pairs, we absolutely loved the flexibility allowed by AvaTrader, both in terms of currency pairs and in terms of platform options, as well as the multitude of financing options and the ability to receive an AvaTrade debit card. There’s no question that our experience with AvaTrade was positive, and we’d highly recommend it to traders at all skill levels.

 

General Information

Established in: 2006

Maximum leverage: 1:400

Minimum deposit: $100

Minimum deal size: 5,000/limited by margin

Languages available: English, French, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese

 

 

 

#2: Etoro 

eToro is a Cyprus based social trading network founded in 2007. Their headquarters is situated in Limassol, Cyprus. They are regulated by FSA, BaFin, CONSOB, CNMV, Banque de France, Finanstilsynet, FI, CMC, CSSF, AFM, ASIC, CFTC, NFA. This is a rapidly growing global marketplace where traders can trade in currencies, commodities, indices and stocks.

They have an enormous social trading community with 2.75 million users in more than 140 countries worldwide. They have introduced the world’s first social investment network named eToro OpenBook.

eToro OpenBook: 
eToro has web-based Open Book trading platform where traders can judge other successful traders and follow them. Here are some snap shot of this trading platform.

eToro Mobile Trading App:
eToro has mobile based trading platform app for iPhone, iPad, Androids and Windows mobile phones. Traders can trade from their mobile phones using these apps. This trading platform has all the features of other trading platforms of eToro.

Copy.me:
Experienced forex traders or Gurus can earn money from their followers using this platform. Traders earn spreads from their followers. This is the benefit of social trading for advanced traders.

Main Features:

eToro require a minimum initial deposit of $50 which is flexible and suitable for most of the beginner forex investors. They provide leverage ratio as high as 1:400 which is another attractive feature of this broker. eToro is a transparent broker with responsible trading policy.

Traders can find out successful traders and trading strategies as these are open information for eToro clients. Premium account holders can access to the e – signal. Stop losses and other trading orders get instant execution as there is minimum slippage. eToro Open Book is particularly useful for social trading. Here, traders can learn and follow trading and trading strategies of experienced traders

Types of Trading Accounts:

eToro offers different type of trading accounts for their clients. Traders can choose their suitable account type among these accounts. Types of trading accounts of eToro are,
• Bronze Trading Account ( suitable for Basic Level Forex Traders)
• Silver Trading Account (suitable for Intermediate Level Forex Traders)
• Gold Trading Account (suitable for Advance Level Forex Traders)
• VIP Trading Account (suitable for Professional Level Forex Traders)

Commissions and Spreads:

eToro does not charge any commission for trading in the forex market.  eToro charge tight spreads for their clients and their spread is as low as 2 pips. Another advantage of this platform is they do not charge rollover fees for holding an overnight position. They charge a very small amount for holding positions for a week.

Customer Service:

eToro provide 24 hours (Monday to Friday) customer support through live chat, email, telephone and fax. They have international phone number for many countries. Traders can contact their active and friendly customer support through these telephone numbers. Traders can also contact them in their offices situated in British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, USA and Australia.

What We Liked:

Social Guru Trader Program: This is a very good opportunity for expert forex investors & traders to earn extra money besides trading. They can earn money from their follower traders. They earn when their follower earns money by copying their trades. In this way, a trader can earn up to $10,000 per month.

eToro Trading Academy: The eToro Trading Academy is full of forex market and trading resources. This section has been developed to help traders to enrich their forex trading knowledge. This trading academy section consists of Live Webinars, course, eToropedia and Trading Videos.

What We Disliked:

No Desktop Trading platform: eToro is not providing any downloadable desktop trading platform. Desktop trading platforms like MetaTrader 4 is more stable and reliable trading platforms than web based trading platforms.

Scalping is not allowed: Scalping is not allowed in eToro broker. Scalping is a popular method of short term trading. Due to the absence of scalping opportunity, scalpers have to stay away from this broker.

The Bottom Line:

There is not perfect trading platform in the world. Different platforms meets different criteria. Thus, traders should look for their own requirements. Except some minor limitations, eToro has many advantages that attract more and more traders to their social trading platform eToro Openbook. eToro is a highly recommended forex trading network, especially for beginner forex investors.

Trading Platform:

eToro has built themselves as world’s best forex network for social trading, and their platforms are designed for this social forex trading. They provide three different trading platforms.

eToro Webtrader:
eToro has web-based trading platform where traders can access and trade instantly without downloading any platform. This web-based trading platform includes all the required features for forex trading. Here is a screen shot of this web-based trading platform.

Regulation : FSA, BaFin, CONSOB, CNMV, Banque de France, Finanstilsynet, FI, CMC, CSSF, AFM, ASIC, CFTC, NFA
Accepts US Clients: Yes
Min. Deposit: $50
Leverage: 1:400
Platforms: eToro Webtrader, eToro Open Book, eToro Mobile Trading App, Copy.me

 The Good :
Access to world’s largest social investment network (Openbook),
High leverage ratio 1:400,
Low min. deposit of $50,
Tight spread as low as 2 pips for major currency pairs,
Demo account to participate in real market environment,
Copying other forex trading experts with CopyTrader

 The Bad :
No desktop trading platform,
Scalping not allowed

The Verdict :
Traders can trade with this outstanding social investment network without risking much as they allow trading with a minimum deposit of $50 only. This is a very useful social tradingplatform for beginner forex traders  as they can learn and follow expert trader’s trading strategies. eToro is a highly recommended social trading network, especially for beginner forex traders and investors.