Many articles have been written on the subject of FOREX trading. The vast majority of them have detailed analysis advice as well as investing tips. What just few of them found interesting enough is the subject of selecting the right real-time data provider. Simply stated, this is the software platform used to deliver quotes and charts, together with various technical indicators for each currency pair.
While real time FOREX quotes are available free of charge from many sources, as Bloomberg and Reuters, and various FOREX brokerage houses, the real need is for a comprehensive charting package.
As FOREX trading is essentially an intensive short-term speculation, the Technical Analysis approach is what a professional operator needs. This must be delivered through a stable and reliable real-time charting platform.
Even if the advertisements may be appealing for most of them, some key characteristics must be checked, in order to make sure you get the best price/content ratio. Ranging from free to several hundred dollars a month, they offer various levels of proficiency, regarding the number of currencies pairs, frequency of their updates, number of contributors and technical analysis capabilities.
There is a huge difference between a provider that offers updates from just one stream every minute and another one feeding your platform 10 times a second from 50 interbank players.
With the first one, you will obtain a valid quote but you will not feel markets rhythms, which are of utmost importance in gauging various games people play when speculating. This is particularly important immediately following news announcements, as key players implement their trading strategies.
While simple platforms will exhibit a jump in the price from one minute to the next, the professional ones will clearly show the tension and fight for each PIP in the arena.
Usually, brokerage houses offer some basic packages free of charge and use their own data feed to update the programs, but you will have just limited understanding on what is really going on.
Thanks to more than 10 years in the market, I believe you will be better off with a subscription to an independent real-time
data provider. Even if the cost is higher, the performance is far superior.
As this is their primary business, they tend to allocate important resources to you as a customer and of course, they update and improve their platform on a regular basis.
Because I will avoid advertising any company names on this article, I will just invite you to consider asking the following questions before deciding.
Web-based or desktop-based platform. While the first one is more mobile, the second one tends to have more features.
Number of regularly updated currencies pairs. The key is to have at least the majors regularly updated (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF), but of course, the more pairs the better.
Number of real-time data contributors. The bigger the better, as this will offer larger exposure to the trading community.
Number of updates per minute. The bigger the better (strongly influenced by your internet connection), as this will help you feel the market.
Number of technical indicators and analysis instruments (trend lines, time intervals, Fibonacci Levels, printing, colours, etc). The bigger the better, as your analysis potential is increased.
Technical support available at least during market hours. It is of paramount importance to make sure you have a comprehensive technical support, in case something goes wrong during your trading activity. Also, ask if the service is free of charge or fee based.
While there can be more to look for, if you follow the above rules, chances are you will end up with a better, more reliable and finally highly competitive real-time FOREX data provider.
While real time FOREX quotes are available free of charge from many sources, as Bloomberg and Reuters, and various FOREX brokerage houses, the real need is for a comprehensive charting package.
As FOREX trading is essentially an intensive short-term speculation, the Technical Analysis approach is what a professional operator needs. This must be delivered through a stable and reliable real-time charting platform.
Even if the advertisements may be appealing for most of them, some key characteristics must be checked, in order to make sure you get the best price/content ratio. Ranging from free to several hundred dollars a month, they offer various levels of proficiency, regarding the number of currencies pairs, frequency of their updates, number of contributors and technical analysis capabilities.
There is a huge difference between a provider that offers updates from just one stream every minute and another one feeding your platform 10 times a second from 50 interbank players.
With the first one, you will obtain a valid quote but you will not feel markets rhythms, which are of utmost importance in gauging various games people play when speculating. This is particularly important immediately following news announcements, as key players implement their trading strategies.
While simple platforms will exhibit a jump in the price from one minute to the next, the professional ones will clearly show the tension and fight for each PIP in the arena.
Usually, brokerage houses offer some basic packages free of charge and use their own data feed to update the programs, but you will have just limited understanding on what is really going on.
Thanks to more than 10 years in the market, I believe you will be better off with a subscription to an independent real-time
data provider. Even if the cost is higher, the performance is far superior.
As this is their primary business, they tend to allocate important resources to you as a customer and of course, they update and improve their platform on a regular basis.
Because I will avoid advertising any company names on this article, I will just invite you to consider asking the following questions before deciding.
Web-based or desktop-based platform. While the first one is more mobile, the second one tends to have more features.
Number of regularly updated currencies pairs. The key is to have at least the majors regularly updated (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF), but of course, the more pairs the better.
Number of real-time data contributors. The bigger the better, as this will offer larger exposure to the trading community.
Number of updates per minute. The bigger the better (strongly influenced by your internet connection), as this will help you feel the market.
Number of technical indicators and analysis instruments (trend lines, time intervals, Fibonacci Levels, printing, colours, etc). The bigger the better, as your analysis potential is increased.
Technical support available at least during market hours. It is of paramount importance to make sure you have a comprehensive technical support, in case something goes wrong during your trading activity. Also, ask if the service is free of charge or fee based.
While there can be more to look for, if you follow the above rules, chances are you will end up with a better, more reliable and finally highly competitive real-time FOREX data provider.
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