How can I do trading online?

In this day and age doing trading online is a simple proposition as long as you have stable internet access and a bank account or other way to fund your trading account. You’ll find that there are many online brokers offering access to trade on stocks, commodities, forex, indices, bonds, and even cryptocurrencies. And they make it quite easy to open and fund a trading account. Of course, you’re already here on the south african AvaTrade website, so why not simply get started trading with us. Just click the button above on the right to Register Now.

What skills do I need to trade online?

You might be surprised to learn that you really don’t need any skills to get started online. Instead what you need is the desire to trade and the drive to learn how to trade better. As you begin trading, you’ll need to read a lot, but that’s ok because there are loads of great books available that can teach you about trading the markets. As you become more experienced, you’ll want to focus more on the various types of market analysis, like technical chart reading, and fundamental economic analysis. Finally, you’ll add risk management and money management techniques to your arsenal of trading skills.

Is trading online safe?

In general online trading is quite safe. Online brokers spend plenty of time, money, and other resources to ensure that their trading platforms remain safe and secure. In addition to the steps being taken by the brokers you should also do your own part to keep your online trading account secure. As long as you’re using common sense and avoiding potentially sketchy websites and brokers, you’re almost certain to be safe when trading online. And when you think about the profit potential any threats are more than offset by the potential benefits to be gained from online trading.

Online trading in South Africa | How to trade online

Top 5 Things to Consider When Trading Online

As a new day trader, you’re likely excited about the market’s prospects. It is true; there are plenty of opportunities available in the online trading with CFDs, stocks, forex, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrency, provided you make the right trades. Pricing is but one component to consider when picking financial instruments to trade. It equally important to select financial instruments based on volume. The greater the volume of trading activity, the more significant the impact on pricing. At this juncture, it’s important to differentiate between trading and investing.

Trading can be thought of as a short-term buy/sell decision with the goal of generating rapid returns. Investing is a long-term proposition where price appreciation is the ultimate objective. Whether you trade for price appreciation, or to short sell an asset, careful and methodical planning needs to take place. South African traders at AvaTrade are privy to a wide range of trading tools, resources, and platforms to facilitate professional trading practices. It’s incumbent upon you as the trader to conduct the necessary legwork before executing buy/sell decisions with your chosen assets.

Let’s take a look at the 5 things to consider when trading online:

1. What Is Your Risk Preference?

As a trader, you naturally lean towards risk-seeking behaviour. It’s impossible not to have an appetite for risk if you trade financial instruments on a daily basis. Investing by contrast is considered more risk averse, since it is a long-term proposition. However, a propensity towards risk should not be without due diligence. Once you have identified your financial instruments (based on your risk profile), you can begin your preparations in earnest. The riskiest financial instruments include cryptocurrency and forex. Stocks, ETFs, commodities, indices, CFDs and bonds follow on from there.

2. Build a Balanced Portfolio

Every trader or investor needs to assess the constituent components of a financial portfolio. Tech stocks may be the flavour of the day, but their volatility should give you pause. A balanced portfolio is one of many useful strategies you can implement to mitigate against downside risk. The precise allotment of capital to different financial instruments is a personal decision, but ultimately an important one. Take time to consider how best to divide up your portfolio so that you may benefit from pricing, volatility, and volume, while simultaneously guarding against market reversals.

3. Always Set Price Limits on Rapidly Moving Stocks

Markets can move against you in the blink of an eye. This is an important lesson to learn early on in your trading exploits. Luckily, brokers such as AvaTrade South Africa make it easy for you to set limit orders as opposed to market orders with powerful trading platforms like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Limit orders are buy orders, or sell orders up until specific prices (limits). Market orders by contrast signify a buy or sell decision at the prevailing market price, whatever that may be. Naturally, it’s best to exercise control over pricing by using these powerful trading tools to your advantage. Keep a trading journal. Learn from your mistakes, and build upon your strengths.

4. Choose the Right Trading Platform

Trading platforms are not homogenous. Some are definitely better than others. Consider all the pitfalls you might face if you select a trading platform with limited assets to trade, or a platform with insufficient data (charts, graphs, financial reports, market data), or one which does not execute at the prices you wish to buy/sell. AvaTrade SA offers world-class trading platforms such as MetaTrader 4, ZuluTrade, and AvaOptions for user-friendly, up-to-the-minute pricing, and rapid executions of trades.

5. Build an Appetite For Market-Related News

The process of learning about the financial markets never ends. No matter how experienced you may be, there is always something that the markets will teach you. A comprehensive plan of action is needed to master the macroeconomic variables which interact with one another on a daily basis. Pricing of stocks, commodities, indices, currencies, and cryptocurrencies is difficult to gauge from one day to the next. That’s why it’s important to stay abreast of the latest news, economic analysis, technical and fundamental factors that may influence market behaviour.

Online trading in South Africa

If you are just starting out in 2020 the online trading world it may seem daunting, AvaTrade South Africa has all the basics covered to put your mind at rest. We will teach you that trading online is all about controlling your own destiny, you decide how much you want to invest, when and which trades to open and when to close them. The very root of trading for a beginner starts with a clear understanding, that basic factors influencing market behavior and the prices are supply and demand. When supply and demand are not in sync this is when a price move is going to happen, if there are more willing buyers than there are sellers in the market then a price will go up and vice versa. This logic is simple and applies to the principles of trading currencies, trading CFDs online, etc.

With AvaTrade ZA when you register for a live or trading demo account you will find many articles, videos, webinars and other educational tools that not only introduce you to the basics of forex trading, but teach you how to build strategies, learn market analysis etc. We will get you to start compiling a trading plan, seek out what you want as a trader, what you can absorb in terms of risk, establish your profit goals and the time you can devote to your trading. Another element of trading online is to learn how to lose small but win big, managing your risk to reward ratio of 3:1 per trade placed.

Why would you trade online?

As forex trading online is now known as the world’s largest market, with 24-hour operations and over 3.2 trillion traded in US dollars on a daily volume. There are a few differences between the forex and the equities markets and where AvaTrade South Africa is your broker:

There is no commission charged for trades with AvaTrade South Africa you only pay the bid/ask spreads
24 hour 5 days a week trading, so you manage and control when and how you trade
AvaTrade ZA offers up to leverage to magnify any potential gains
Over 250 instruments to trade on which include Forex, CFDs for stocks, commodities & indices
You can get started with only and gain all the training and customer support in your language

How to trade forex online?

On the simple side, a currency exchange rate is the rate at which the basic currency can be exchanged for the quote currency. These currencies are quoted in pairs, such as the widely traded pair EUR/USD that is the Euro and the US Dollar. Economic factors such as industrial production, inflation, political events, etc. influence these exchange rates. These factors are the main market influencers for whether you buy or sell a currency pair.

A more practical example of a forex trade is illustrated as follows: In this example of the EUR/USD the EURO is represented as the base currency and the USD as the quote currency, and it represents the number of US dollars that one euro can purchase. The quotation of EUR/USD 1.2000 in numbers means: That one euro is exchanged for 1.2000 US dollars.

If you believe that the euro will increase in value against the US dollar over the next 48 hours, you will BUY the euro. Should the exchange rate rise in your favor you would sell the euros back at a profit. Basically, this is how profits are made when you trade online.

How to perform a trade online

Choosing the right broker to trade with is the most essential of all your choices when it comes to online trading. We offer you starter bonus of up to 100%, a free demo account and many forms of educational information alongside direct interaction from any of our customer support agents should you require further services.

Open your online real account, provide your banking and personal information that is totally secure, and without any commissions and fees. Now that that is covered let’s execute your first trade.
After you have conducted your research and, in case of need, consulted with our team, head over to the trading platform where you can open a position on the chosen instrument. You will also be able to see the spread, and how many units you wish to buy on an implemented leverage (of your choice). Remember to start small and build up when you get the hang of trading. It is important to use stop loss orders each time you open a trade.
Once your trade is opened you will need to monitor your investment and keep abreast of their performances. Should you see a decrease in the activity and the markets are trading against you, you should consider a sell, or wait for the stop loss to kick in to limit the damage on your account.
Making changes to your portfolio from time to time is advised, you are constantly exposed to emerging markets and you can decide to diversify your trades. Whatever the case, follow your strategy, and do not over trade.
Should your trade make a profit covering your goal, close it and take the profit. Executing a withdrawal request is simple and easy and can be done via the platform.

Learn how to trade online with AvaTrade South Africa

Want to learn how to trade online forex? Potentially increase your gains on the financial markets? AvaTrade ZA will teach you how to master forex trading online. Start now! With all the tools of the trade at your fingertips there is no reason for a delay.

How to trade online main FAQs

How can I do trading online?
In this day and age doing trading online is a simple proposition as long as you have stable internet access and a bank account or other way to fund your trading account. You’ll find that there are many online brokers offering access to trade on stocks, commodities, forex, indices, bonds, and even cryptocurrencies. And they make it quite easy to open and fund a trading account. Of course, you’re already here on the south african AvaTrade website, so why not simply get started trading with us. Just click the button above on the right to Register Now.
What skills do I need to trade online?
You might be surprised to learn that you really don’t need any skills to get started online. Instead what you need is the desire to trade and the drive to learn how to trade better. As you begin trading, you’ll need to read a lot, but that’s ok because there are loads of great books available that can teach you about trading the markets. As you become more experienced, you’ll want to focus more on the various types of market analysis, like technical chart reading, and fundamental economic analysis. Finally, you’ll add risk management and money management techniques to your arsenal of trading skills.
Is trading online safe?
In general online trading is quite safe. Online brokers spend plenty of time, money, and other resources to ensure that their trading platforms remain safe and secure. In addition to the steps being taken by the brokers you should also do your own part to keep your online trading account secure. As long as you’re using common sense and avoiding potentially sketchy websites and brokers, you’re almost certain to be safe when trading online. And when you think about the profit potential any threats are more than offset by the potential benefits to be gained from online trading.