As you probably know, I really like Oanda and they are the only broker I use at this point. The best things about Oanda is that they have excellent execution, good spreads and they are a solid company.
The downside is that sometimes their tech takes a little while to catch up to the rest of the industry. A recent example is their iPad app. My app kept on crashing and was totally unusable until only a couple of months ago.
Getting started with FXTrade
It also took them awhile to get on the Metatrader bandwagon and for awhile, the only option was their FXTrade platform that runs on Java. Metatrader is great for charting and indicators, but there are still some reasons to use the FXTrade platform:
- Faster execution – If you are a day trader or scalper
- Super customizeable lot size – You can still trade down to 1 currency unit on the FXTrade platform
- Available on all computers with Java – You don't have to worry about having Windows to trade. You could set it up on a Ubuntu (free operating system) computer and would be good to go.
But the FXTrade platform can be a little confusing when you are first starting out. It seems like they pick the worst settings and ugliest colors as the default.
So let's learn how to fix that and make the platform a joy to use, instead of a chore. Yes, it can be fun…
In this video, I go through all of the settings in the platform and how you can make it look and behave the way you want. I wish that I had something like this when I was first starting out.
Is there anything that you would add to this tutorial? What do you think about the FXTrade platform? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Hi! Hugh can you suggest me the link for down load Java Platform as your tuitoring on you tube on my computer for Forex trading
Hi Zak, the login is on their website: https://fxtrade.oanda.com/
The Java platform loads in your browser.
Hi Hugh –
Thanks for the tutorial. I too am with Oanda on my practice account. But, I use MT4 like many others and I really like it.
I’m just curious to know why you chose this over MT4? I like my set of indicators that I have on my MT4 template and I like to ‘play around’ with other indicators and ideas to see how well they map my overall trading strategy. I see you don’t use ANY (that’s brave – Im not ready for that yet)
Hi John,
I still use MT4 for charting, but I prefer the Java platform for execution. That’s why there are no indicators 🙂 Sometimes MT4 is slow in executing a trade and you cannot (last I checked) go down to 1 currency unit in MT4, like you can in the Java platform. That helps a lot with controlling risk, especially in a small account.
Hope your trading is going well.
Hugh