Finding a Broker

What to look for in a brokerage you want to trade from?  

How frequently have you been bombarded with advertisements from brokers offering to lend you their services at a minimal cost and the chance to secure your financial destiny? 

The cheap catchphrases that appear alongside the phony photo of some unknown individual they claim to be a "flourishing"client whose hoarding away thousands of dollars daily just by operating his trading account through their brokerage are simply unavoidable and repugnant with the true realities of trading in the flesh.

There's nothing that fills me with so much annoyance having experienced the struggle of getting to grips with the difficulty of coping in trading whilst having adverts proclaiming the ease with which ANYONE. yes that's right ... A-N-Y-O-N-E can simply open an account and within a matter of weeks be earning a secondary income!!! 

So what do you need to look for when searching for a broker that's going to look after your interests first before their own? 

Are they regulated? 

Perhaps the most crucial element in selecting a broker mostly for the reasons that the internet has become a cesspool of unscrupulous people looking to find ways to extort money out of you in return for empty promises and a poorer bank balance. A proper brokerage is one that is licensed to do so and whose activities are overseen by a financial regulatory body . 

Signs that your broker is regulated will be risk disclaimers warning you that returns aren't guaranteed and past performance isn't indicative of future performance along with a display of the license number issued by the regulatory body. In addition it would be best verify this by contacting the relevant regulatory body to find out if the particular broker is licensed. 

How costs and leverage are related?

No trader can be blamed for attempting to find the best possible price to transact in financial markets given the significant importance brokerage costs play in sustaining a trading account especially that of a novice who may be using less than the optimal amount of capital as used by professionals, a partial explanation of the allure to cheap brokerage with high leverage. 

Needless to say the substitution of quality for quantity leaves countless traders high and dry after discovering that the added lift in leverage only serves to bleed their funds at a hastily rate so as to earn the broker better commissions while their account balance hits zero. 

The intricate balance needed to be found when assessing the costs of transacting is vital if you're going to succeed over the long term. A brokerage that holds the belief in leveraging products in a responsible manner has a clearer picture for your success as they do for their own.   

Is the platform user friendly? 

An important part when choosing the right brokerage involves being able to utilise the features provided to you by your broker as well as having an ease of understanding entailing the operational functions in placing a trade.

Does your broker allow you to place automated buy or sell orders? Can you easily find the security you want to trade?  How long does it take to execute a trade? Are you able to find value in the additional services your brokerage account offers?