Millions of individuals worldwide have adopted a more hands-on approach with their financial investments for over a decade. The days of pouring money into a 401K or IRA and trusting a fund manager to protect your investment are gone. Every year, more individuals are transitioning from standing on the sidelines watching someone else handle their money to directly investing and trading their funds themselves. This trend has caused hundreds of new trading platforms to become available for these individuals to choose from.
Before selecting a trading platform, new traders must first gain fundamental knowledge about trading in general and educate themselves on the financial markets before putting any money at risk.
Five Things That New Traders Should Know
- Basic terms and concepts. Every new trader should have a firm understanding of the basics. That includes understanding the difference between trading and investing, going short on a trade versus going long, and all the different assets available to trade. These include stocks, forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrency, and financial derivatives.
- Understanding charts and technical analysis. One of the essential skills new traders must develop is looking at a chart and quickly understanding what has and could happen to the price of that particular asset. Understanding the difference between support and resistance, basic technical analysis principles, and trend analysis are essential skills for new traders to learn.
- Learn basic economics. Understanding the fundamentals of economics is also essential for new traders. These principles will give them useful knowledge of how prices are determined and what outside factors can influence them.
- Learn how to manage risk. New traders will need to learn basic percentages to help decide how much to place on each trade. This is a crucial factor in risk management. Also, basic knowledge of statistics and probabilities will aid in understanding specific trading strategies.
- The psychology of trading. A trader needs to develop self-awareness and tell when they are in the right state of mind to trade. For example, if you are tired or emotionally distracted, you may not have the necessary focus to be effective in your trading. Knowing when not to trade can have a positive impact on your success.
New traders have several options at their disposal to learn the basic skills necessary to start trading. There are live and online courses available, along with hundreds of books and magazines to provide you with the knowledge you need to get started. Once these essential initial steps have been completed, the task of selecting a trading platform can begin.
What Makes a Trading Platform Good for Beginners?
There are so many trading platforms available that narrowing it down to one can be daunting. This is especially true for someone who is just getting started. New traders should consider platforms that stand out in three areas to simplify this process.
- Simple to use platform. This is very important for new traders. The trading platform should be intuitive yet powerful with intelligent features that save time, thereby increasing a traders’ probability for success.
- A variety of learning resources are available. Easy access to educational resources is essential to traders at all levels, especially those just starting. It allows them to improve their skills and knowledge faster by having valuable information available in one location.
- Excellent market research. The ability to set up personalized stock scanners and screeners is critical for traders of all levels. Other research tools include watchlists, top gainers and losers, and newsfeeds. Having this information on your platform keeps you in tune with whatever market you are trading.
NinjaTrader: A Platform Designed for New Traders
NinjaTrader checks all the boxes mentioned above and more when it comes to providing new traders with a platform that will help take their trading to the next level. Here are a few other benefits and features that make NinjaTrader the best choice for new traders.
- NinjaTrader has an excellent web and mobile trading platform.
- Low fees associated with trading.
- Great customer service.
- Low minimum deposit requirements.
- A simple process for opening an account.
Let’s go into more detail about some of these features and benefits.
- Low minimum deposits and transaction fees. Most traders, especially those just getting started, don’t have a lot of extra money lying around to open up a trading account. They also prefer not to see their balance depleted disproportionately with high fees every time a trade is made. We have no relationship with NinjaTrader Brokerage! Please reach out to their team for more details on minimum deposits when opening an account. NinjaTrader also has a quick withdrawal process that takes one business day or less.
- Excellent education materials. The NinjaTrader platform features high-quality educational videos and helps guides. New traders have access to a demo account to practice and hone their skills before going to live trading. Once you learn the basics of technical analysis, you will find NinjaTrader quite intuitive and easy to use.
Why NinjaTrader Stands Out as the Best Choice for New Traders
- As a new trader, it is important to build up your confidence, knowledge, and skill before trading real money. That is why NinjaTrader lets you sign up and use the software for free while you take advantage of their learning material while performing simulated trades. Once you are comfortable with your ability to trade successfully, you can sign up and go live.
- NinjaTrader’s platform is straightforward for new traders to learn, customizable, and can be set up to utilize more complex features and indicators as you grow and learn. This means you will never outgrow the NinjaTrader platform in the future.
NinjaTrader provides new traders with opportunities that few other platforms can claim. They provide free access to their tools, allowing new traders to perform simulated trades and review all of the material in the educational resource center to understand better how the financial markets work before putting any money at risk. NinjaTrader provides this option because they are sure that you will become a regular customer once you’ve learned all the benefits and features that their platform offers.