Forex Trading Comes to the iPhone

Written by Hugh, on January 6th, 2010

Although there already were a couple of third party apps for trading forex on the iPhone, the trouble was you had to pay for them and they weren’t very good. Of course, with the popularity of the iPhone, the brokers had to come out with apps eventually, so I just waited.

The day has finally arrived and GFT and FXCM have both come out with apps. There are probably other brokers that have iPhone apps but I already have accounts with these two brokers, so these are the only ones I care about right now.

GFT is actually a really good broker, their customer service is top notch and they have good execution and decent spreads. However,

their original online trading platforms are terrible, very hard to use. It is definitely a case of programmers being in charge of creating the software, not traders. The iPhone app is much easier to use than their regular software so I decided to put some money back into my account there. I did a quick scalp in the EURUSD when my iPhone was on WiFi and it worked well.

I have shied away from FXCM from the beginning for one reason or another but with the new NFA rules, I have given FXCM a second look. What is great about them is that they are allowing US customers to shift their accounts to FXCM UK, which is NOT under the jurisdiction of the NFA. I love it! Therefore, you can still get 400:1 leverage and hedge trades in the same account. I don’t understand why the NFA wants to make forex look more like futures, doesn’t make sense to me.

Anyway, the FXCM iPhone app is also a pleasure to use, simple and fast. The good thing about creating apps for phones is that the programmers really have to get down to the essentials and eliminate the BS. Don’t get me wrong, FXCM has great online trading platforms but I am all about simplicity…and portability.

So there you have it. Broker created iPhone apps took a little while to come to fruition, but they are finally here and they kick ass.

This is yet another case of the gap between laptops and phones getting smaller. One day your phone will be your fully functioning mobile computer.

What do you think? Are there any other brokers that have iPhone apps and what do you think of them? How much do you trade on your mobile phone? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Happy (iPhone) Trading!!

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