Social trading – just another flavor of social networks

Are you familiar (or at least heard of) with social communities Facebook or Twitter?  In the same way you can share personal information with network of friends you can share financial information and analysis with other like minded traders which are members of a social trading community. The most social trading communities are trading Forex market as this is by far the most popular market – open around the clock, large volumes and many currency pairs to choose from.

Why Social Trading ?

Social trading  allows you to have access online to analysis and trading decisions made by other members of the community. You can trade with the help of talented traders by following their trades manually or automatically. You can make decisions based on discussions and analysis performed by members of your network.

For a ‘newbie’  in the complex Forex world, social trading can shorten the learning curve by giving them opportunity to interact with talented traders around the worlds, to watch them take trades, then copy their trades and to learn what prompted the top performer to take a trade in the first place. 

How to become involved in social trading communities

Anyone can be part of a social trading community and benefit from it. Here are the main steps you need to take:

 

  • To start with, you should register for free with ZuluTradeeToro, Currensee or any other social trading network. You can choose to have a DEMO account and/or a LIVE account.

  •  If  you have  a live account with a broker  then you should check to see if your broker is supported by social trading network
  • Link the accounts (assuming the your broker is supported) so you can start trading whenever you like  OR
  • Open a new account with your preferred Forex broker
    • Get yourself familiar with the charts and other tools available on the social trading Forex website
    • Use the simulation tools available
    • Follow one or many traders that have good performance
    • DO YOUR HOMEWORK – look at the trader’s strategy, the stats, follow them for a while in an DEMO account, read the forums for feedback.
    • Take action only when you are happy and comfortable with the results. You should choose the best approach matching with your personality:
      • If you want to be in control and monitor you traders then you should copy the trades manually
      • If you like to delegate and totally rely on the trading signal of one the traders in your network then it is good to automate the trades so they get ‘pushed’ and executed on your broker’s platform

    Make sure you continue to monitor your Forex account and the risk exposure very carefully.