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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

How to choose a reliable online broker

Without a reliable broker, even the best traders may have a limited chance of success. Every trader I know has at least one horror story about his/her broker. What happens if you try to sell your position because the value is quickly depreciating only to find out that your broker's server is down. By the time they fix the problem you may be out of 100's even 1000's of dollars. This is especially true when trading E-minis.

When choosing your broker, you'll need to take into account several factors. You also need to understand that while one broker may be an excellent choice for one form of trading it may be a terrible choice for another form of trading. If you are not happy with service and performance that you receive from your broker you should look for another one. It is not worth your time or money to be loyal to someone whose service isn't working for you. While it is not in the interest of your broker to cause you to lose your money you need to remember that your broker makes a profit whether you win or lose.

More trades you make, more money your broker makes in commissions. This is why many brokers that cater to day traders give advice or even hold courses on scalping. Scalping is a form of day trading in which a trader makes up to a hundred trades in one day. Scalpers are closely monitoring 1-minute chart and are attempting to catch small movements in the price and as soon as the trade turns against them they get out of the trade.

Although this approach has worked out for some traders who were trading high flying Nasdaq stocks in the late 90's for an e-mini futures trader it is a sure way to slowly lose all of his money. For most traders, scalping is a slow death while at the same time for your broker it is the most profitable way of trading. How much would an average scalper pay in commissions while trading e-minis? If he trades 50 times a day, two contracts at a time and his commission is $3 per contract each side, such trader would pay approximately $600 per day or $12,000 per month in commissions.

There are literally hundreds of brokers that you can choose from. When it is time to choose your broker, take the time to get informed about several prospective brokers. Although you can always change your broker later it is often a frustrating experience, so try to do everything in your power to make sure that you do it right the first time. By choosing your broker carefully you will save valuable time and money.

“Learn How To Trade S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 E-mini Contracts.”

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