Economy
Important Qualities and Features to Look for When Choosing an Online Trading Broker
A large number of people turn to market investments to multiply their fortune, and why not? After all, haven’t we all heard stories of the fortunate few who have raked in millions while tossing in their beds?
It is hard to not get swayed away by prospects like that. But market investments, be it stocks, cryptocurrencies, or forex, come with their fair share of risks.
But as they say, risk comes from not knowing what you are doing. The investment business can be extremely rewarding, yet at the same time, very unforgiving as well.
Play your cards right and you could very well plan an early retirement, but put the wrong foot forward and you are bound to lose your balance.
Given the high risk that accompanies investment in online trading, it is important to arm yourself with the best tools possible. To be profitable in the online trading market, the first thing that you need to have is an online trading broker that is reliable, easy, and intuitive to use and aligns with your investment goals and style. There are various online trading brokers for you to choose from.
But you must be careful while making the decision. While not many, there are some brokers that tend to make a profit at the expense of clients. You just need to do a little research and you will find an ideal broker for you; one that serves your interests. Here are some important qualities and features to look for when choosing an online trading broker.
Availability of Investment Research
If you are new to the world of investments, this is one feature you can really benefit from. Truth be told, this feature is essential not just for beginners, but also for veterans. An investment broker that offers research papers for free can help reduce your trading expenses and at the same time help you make more informed decisions. While stock and mutual fund research can also be purchased, it can be quite expensive.
Quality of Customer Service
When it comes to online broker services, the quality of customer service is something that is often overlooked. Depending on what kind of asset you are trading on, your trading hours could be spread across the day and not just be limited to the opening bell and the closing bell of the stock market. While selecting an investment broker, it is important that you opt for one that offers excellent customer service round the clock. The customer services should be competent, efficient, and well trained
Regulations
The best way of judging the credibility and reliability of a broker is to look at the regulations and requirements that the broker adheres to. For instance, when it comes to cryptocurrency, the investment business remains largely unregulated. However, when it comes to forex, the brokers must be members of the National Futures Association and must strictly abide by its rules. The same applies to other investment platforms as well.
Website Interface
While using an online broker, the website of the broker is amongst the most important aspects that one must consider. Given that all your trade would be made via the website, it is important that the interface and the navigation of the website are intuitive and easy to understand.
You might end up selecting a broker with a lower cost per trade, but if the website of the broker is poorly designed, it would take longer to complete a trade and the extra effort required may not be worth the few bucks that you saved on the cost of a trade.
The experienced investors at https://www.trusted-broker-reviews.com/ic-markets/ suggest taking a free trial of the brokerage services before making a commitment. Various brokerage services offer such free demo accounts and these can go a long way in experiencing the broker first hand.
Types of Investment Options Available
To cement your position in the investment market, you need to diversify your investments. You should invest in different kinds of assets, from stocks to mutual funds, cryptocurrencies to forex. This helps you stay afloat even when the prices go down or the market hits a perigee. The ability to invest in different investment options is a great feature to have in online trading brokers.
Costs Involved
While selecting an online investment broker you must be careful of the various costs that you incur beyond the initial application fee. These costs are often difficult to identify while registering and you could be in for a rude awakening further down the line.
Cost Per Trade
Cost per trade is often used as a standard benchmark to compare the cost incurred while using different trading brokers. This is one aspect that can be easily quantified, which makes it a good way of comparing different brokers. While this might be a straightforward way of comparing brokers, there are various other costs that also must be considered and a low cost per trade may not exactly translate into a lower overall expenditure. For instance, if you invest exclusively in mutual funds, a low cost per trade would be pointless for you.
Initial Investment Required
More often than not, brokers require you to make a minimum initial investment, which can be thousands of dollars. If you are a newbie, investing such a large amount on the get-go doesn’t make sense and carries a huge risk. As a beginner, you should try and opt for a broker that either does not require any initial investment or at least limits it to a reasonable amount.
Making the right investments can help you make a notable profit, but at the same time, it can also be equally disastrous. The unpredictable nature of the value of such assets makes it important to make the right decisions at the right time. As such, choosing the best broker is important for your success as an investor.
There are various factors that must be considered while selecting the right broker for you; all the way from website layout and cost per trade to the investment options available and the statutes and regulations. Keep an eye out for these features and qualities, and you will be able to select a broker that suits you.
By Dipo Olowookere
The decision of investors to book profit after the previous session’s gains pulled back Customs Street by 0.09 per cent on Thursday.
The selling pressure was mainly on BUA Cement, which put the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited off-balance during the session.
Analysis of the trading data showed that the industrial goods sector was the sole decliner, losing 2.85 per cent, as a result of the poor performance of BUA Cement at the market yesterday.
The other key sectors of the bourse were bullish, with the banking space up by 2.87 per cent. The consumer goods index appreciated by 0.30 per cent, the insurance counter improved by 0.16 per cent, and the energy segment rose by 0.08 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 221.14 points to 242,145.61 points from 242,366.75 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N32 billion to N156.207 trillion from N156.239 trillion.
Eunisell crashed by 10.00 per cent to N189.00, BUA Cement lost 9.99 per cent to quote at N275.60, CAP declined by 9.61 per cent to N142.45, Royal Exchange slipped by 9.55 per cent to N1.42, and Guinea Insurance tumbled by 5.38 per cent to 88 Kobo.
Conversely, First Holdco soared by 9.96 per cent to N87.25, McNichols gained 8.00 per cent to trade at N5.40, UBA appreciated by 7.93 per cent to N44.25, Veritas Kapital jumped by 6.85 per cent to N1.56, and Jaiz Bank chalked up 4.07 per cent to settle at N8.95.
It was observed that the market breadth index was positive after the exchange closed the session with 22 price losers and 27 price gainers, representing strong investor sentiment.
A total of 498.5 million shares valued at N34.9 billion were traded in 39,484 deals on Thursday, in contrast to the 476.3 million shares worth N29.6 billion transacted in 40,992 deals on Wednesday. This indicated that the trading volume grew by 4.66 per cent, the trading value increased by 17.91 per cent, and the number of deals depreciated by 3.68 per cent.
Japaul ended the day as the busiest equity after trading 77.7 million units for N231.5 million, Access Holdings sold 41.2 million units valued at N1.0 billion, First Holdco exchanged 38.8 million units worth N3.4 billion, UBA transacted 31.5 million units for N1.4 billion, and Fidelity Bank traded 23.8 million units worth N495.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled about 1 per cent lower on Thursday even as the Iran war escalated, with the Middle East oil producer asking Yemen’s Houthi movement to be prepared to close the Red Sea oil export route.
Brent crude futures fell by 72 cents or about 0.9 per cent to trade at $84.23 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures depreciated by 65 cents or 0.8 per cent to close at $78.95 a barrel.
Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the vital gateway to the Red Sea, if the US follows through on threats to strike Iranian power infrastructure.
Market analysts warned that with the Strait of Hormuz already closed, the latest threat raises the serious risk of both of the Middle East’s primary oil export routes being disrupted at the same time.
About 7.4 million barrels of petroleum transited Bab el-Mandeb per day in June, about 7 per cent of global oil output, according to Kpler data, up from 4.2 million barrels per day last year.
This week, US President Donald Trump repeated oft-stated threats to strike Iranian power plants and bridges.
According to senior Iranian sources, the Islamic Republic’s leadership has discussed the idea with Iran’s Houthi allies, with the rebel forces now awaiting definitive orders to begin targeting maritime traffic.
In a sign of escalating tensions in the region, the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the kingdom and the group.
This comes as Saudi Arabia is currently evaluating a massive infrastructure expansion to permanently upgrade the capacity of its western pipeline and terminal networks.
Any additional disruptions could force international shipping firms to redirect vessels around Africa, inflating transit costs and worsening the global energy crisis.
On Wednesday, the US struck Iran’s coastal defences and missile sites after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while the two countries exchanged intensified fire on Thursday, which kept pressure on prices upward.
However, weighing on prices was Iran’s release of a US citizen, which could point toward a path to avert the resumption of all-out war.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a new digital platform to track every foreign exchange transaction involving Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, marking a major step in its efforts to improve transparency and strengthen oversight of the country’s retail forex market.
In an operational guidance issued on July 15 to authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs, the apex bank introduced the FX BDC Purchase Tracker (FXBT), a centralised electronic portal designed to monitor foreign exchange purchases by BDCs from the point of request through approval, settlement and eventual sale.
The CBN said the portal will require BDCs to upload real-time or same-day data on all FX purchases made through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), giving the regulator transaction-level visibility across the retail FX market.
According to the bank, the platform is designed to prevent abuse by making it easier to detect operators attempting to exceed the weekly purchase limit of $150,000, obtain allocations from multiple banks or divert foreign exchange outside approved channels.
The launch of the tracker builds on the CBN’s February policy that restored direct access for licensed BDCs to purchase foreign exchange from authorised dealer banks through the NFEM. While that policy improved access to official FX, the new platform provides the digital infrastructure to monitor how the funds are used.
Under the new framework, authorised dealer banks must conduct comprehensive Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and customer due diligence checks before selling foreign exchange to any BDC.
The new guideline also says banks must verify beneficial ownership information, retain incorporation documents and carry out enhanced due diligence for higher-risk operators. Any BDC that fails these checks will not be allowed to access official foreign exchange.
The guidance also requires banks to acknowledge BDC purchase requests submitted through the FXBT portal within two business hours and immediately notify operators whether their requests have been approved or rejected.
To discourage speculation, the CBN directed that any forex purchased through the NFEM but left unused must be sold back into the market within 24 hours after the expiration of the utilisation period. BDCs are also required to disclose any previously unused balances when submitting fresh requests.
In addition, all foreign exchange transactions between banks, BDCs and customers must be settled through registered accounts with licensed financial institutions. Third-party transactions are prohibited, and any transfer outside a BDC’s registered settlement account will be treated as a regulatory violation.
The apex bank also said all authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs are expected to comply with the new regulatory guidance and operational procedures with immediate effect.
