New to the world of online trading and the numerous opportunities it presents? Welcome aboard! You might think that investing in shares, commodities, currencies and indices in the form of CFDs requires a degree in economics, but the truth is that the basics of online trading are quite simple to understand. There are millions of people all over the world who invest in CFDs online and take part in trading the world’s largest financial markets. Are you ready to learn how? Let’s take a closer look at this remarkable industry.
Which CFD instruments can you trade online?
We’re happy you asked. There are many CFD instruments you can invest in online, and here are just four of the main CFD categories.
Shares
Thanks to online trading sites like iFOREX, you can invest in a variety of brands like Google, Facebook, Apple, BMW, Coca-Cola, Disney, Ferrari, L'Oreal – and we’re just getting started. By trading share CFDs, you can try to take advantage of these companies’ success. Want to hear more about the share CFDs we offer and how to trade them? Visit our CFD trading page.
Commodities
This category includes products we all use daily such as crude oil and natural gas, as well as precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum. Under this category you will also find CFDs of agricultural commodities: coffee, corn, sugar, wheat and many others. You can stop by our commodity trading page for more information.
Currencies
This category is also known as ‘forex’, ‘foreign exchange’ or ‘currency trading’. It includes currency pairs which are traded, as CFDs, against each other. At iFOREX you can trade over 200 currency pairs such as EUR/USD, JPY/USD and GBP/USD. Confused? Don’t worry – it just sounds complicated at first. Visit our forex trading page and learn more about currency trading.
Indices
Index trading is perhaps the trickiest concept for new traders to grasp, but it’s actually quite simple. When you invest in an index CFD such as the US 500 (which follows the price of the S&P 500 Future Index) or Germany 40 (which follows the price of the DAX Future Index), you invest in the price of a group of shares that reflect a specific economy.
Is this it? Of course not! We also offer CFD trading on a variety of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple as well as many ETFs.
For a full list of our tradable instruments, visit our trading conditions page.
Need another explanation?
Take a look at this short video.
Staying informed: CFD and forex news
It’s easy to understand why information is so important for traders. After all, it’s what helps you make decisions regarding various instruments. Should you buy or should you sell, should you close your deal or wait a bit longer, should you buy Google share CFDs or gold CFDs – it’s all about the information.
But how do you find the information you need in order to trade? Actually, it’s easily accessible and FREE. What do we mean? Primarily we mean the news. Politics and economic events impact the market. Even the weather can impact the market! A serious storm or a drought can quickly affect the price of various agricultural commodities, just like a political crisis can impact the price of a currency.
Want an example? Here you go…
On June 23rd 2016, Britain went to the polls in a referendum that ended with a surprising British decision to leave the EU, popularly known as ‘Brexit’. Look at the chart below and note what happened to the pound (when traded against the Dollar) between June 23rd and June 24th. You don’t have to be an experienced trader to see the substantial drop in price.
This is a great example of how a political event can have an instant impact on the market.
Online traders rely on news that could be relevant to the financial markets to gather information about different economies and use it to make decisions. At iFOREX we provide you both news and analysis for free, and you can use our updates to stay informed, as well as numerous other freely-available online resources.
Forex Analysis Introduction
There are many methods used by traders to analyze data and make decisions, but there are two popular types of analysis called ‘Fundamental Analysis and ‘Technical Analysis’. What are these strategies and how do they differ? Here’s a quick explanation of each.
Fundamental analysis
Fundamental analysis is about analyzing the characteristics of a specific instrument and trying to estimate its actual financial value. For example, in the case of a share, such analysis will include examining numerous factors – from industry conditions to a change in management. You can get a better understanding of this type of analysis on our Fundamental Analysis page.
Technical analysis
Technical analysis focuses on the price movements in the market, not minding any external factors or the general condition of the economy. It looks at supply and demand, using past market data and attempts to assess the direction a specific instrument will move next. You can learn more about this type of analysis and how to use it on our Technical Analysis page.
Don’t be intimidated by the long names and seemingly complex concepts. As we said before, there are many types of analysis and trading strategies that traders use. The best way to learn is to start slowly, take advantage of the variety of educational resources available at iFOREX and use your demo account to practice until you’re ready to trade for real. What’s a demo account? We’re just getting to it...
Learn and train with a demo trading account
One of the most useful trading tools you’ll receive at iFOREX is your own personal demo account. This is a practice account that allows you to sharpen your trading skills and improve with no risk. When you combine the demo account with the free 1-on-1 training and education resources, you get a complete training package that covers the basics of online trading as well as information about the iFOREX platforms, trading tools and how to open your first deal.
Online trading tools
Speaking of trading tools, at iFOREX we have quite a few. We’re not going to discuss all of them here (you will understand them better once you start your personal training), but here are a few examples of our most popular tools.
- Trading charts – Help traders make informed decisions with market analysis.
- Market news – Offers information regarding recent market events.
- Daily analysis – Provides insight regarding a variety of tradable instruments.
- Advanced market orders (take profit / stop loss) – Allow you to better manage multiple deals.
- Market signals – Display market trends, provided by an independent resource.
- Video tutorials – Feature clear explanations on different aspects of trading.
- PDF Guides – Cover a variety of topics that are relevant for online investors.
Further rates »
The Economic Calendar
Another trading tool that deserves a special mention is our constantly updated Economic Calendar. It’s a very effective device, allowing busy traders to plan ahead. Just imagine yourself having to locate and follow numerous announcements and statements on your own. Sound like a lot of hassle, right? Thanks to the iFOREX Economic Calendar you can just look for the major events that apply to a specific day, or week, and even use filters to limit your results to specific markets.
For more go to the Economic Calendar »
Trade with advanced platforms
Trading platforms are extremely important for online traders. A convenient and efficient platform that understands traders’ needs can make the difference between a good and a great trading experience. iFOREX has two trading platforms for you to choose from, although many traders choose to use them side-by-side.
Mobile
You can trade on the go with the iFOREX trading platform and enhance your experience by downloading the free iFOREX App, available both on the App Store and on Google Play.Web
If you like to access your account from several computers, the web-based platform is your ideal choice. It requires no download and is very user-friendly.
