5 tools to help you never miss a trade

Here are 5 tools that can help retail investors trade like the pros.

As any investor can tell you, finding the right opportunity isn't easy. It takes time to understand a business, its total addressable market, a fair trading price for the asset and it has to align with the rest of your portfolio.

As such, when you find the right opportunity it is vital that you don't miss it.

This is especially true when it comes to trading contracts for difference (CFDs) in a post COVID world.

In a volatile market, opportunities constantly pop up. But they just as quickly disappear, meaning now more than ever investors need to be on top of their game.

Understanding CFDs

CFDs offer investors the opportunity to earn profits on price changes on various assets including commodities, shares, cryptocurrency and forex trading.

But instead of buying the asset you buy the contract.

For example, share trading. If you buy shares in a company you're a part owner in the business and can benefit from either a rising share price or dividend payments.

When it comes to CFDs, you buy the contract, instead of the share itself. You can also choose which way you think the business is going. If you think the business's share price will rise, you can buy CFDs for that but you can also bet against a company if you think the share price is likely to fall.

1. The platform itself: Fast execution

Perhaps often overlooked, broker speed is essential for quality trading.

When it comes to trading CFDs and forex, Benjamin Franklin's old "time is money" quote remains incredibly important, even if he was talking about a tradesman a couple of hundred years before CFDs were even a thing.

Investors often mistakenly think they are simply trading with the broker.

But, this is not the case.

The broker is more of a middleman connecting the investor to the wider market. When it comes to trading the next great opportunity it all comes down to latency which is the amount of time it takes for a data packet to go from one place to another. In other words the time it takes for an investor to confirm the trade, the broker to execute and the market to recognise the trade.

At no fault to the investor, latency can plague each step of the order-routing process.

And late order arrivals, especially for market orders, can see an investor pay more or sell for less.

As such, an investor would be wise to choose a fast acting broker like TMGM.

2. Alerts, market orders and stop losses help you sleep without stressing out

Another key attribute often overlooked by investors is the importance of psychology when trading. After all, getting emotional is likely to see an investor make a rash decision.

In order to help with this and never miss an opportunity in their portfolio, investors can do 1 of 3 things:

1. Market alerts. These are trading alerts that notify an investor when an asset they are trading reaches a certain price.
2. Market order. A market order is to buy or sell a share or CFD at the market's current best available price.
3. Stop losses. A stop loss is simply an order placed with a broker to buy or sell an asset when it reaches a certain price.

Regardless of the method chosen, an investor can stay in control through either of these methods.

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3. Tools like "expert adviser" algorithms available from several brokers, including TMGM.

Perhaps the most efficient way to never miss an opportunity is through expert advisers.

When it comes to trading with brokers who run the MetaTrader 4 program, including TMGM, investors are able to set up expert advisers.

This allows investors to expertly trade the Forex markets.

The program lets the investors set up parameters which will allow them to monitor and trade financial markets using algorithms.

These can be set to notify or open a position automatically, while also adding gate protection or stops and limits.

4. Have a trading plan and stick to it

This sounds obvious but as we've said earlier, emotions make people do funny things.

A key to never missing an opportunity is to simply remain in the investing game.

Before making any trade it's important to have a plan. This could be as simple as knowing what you believe the fair value of a share is and knowing what price you'd buy and sell it for.

Of course this plan needs to be updated as the business executes, but having a plan and sticking to it is an easy way to remain successful.

5. Stay up to date with the news via Finder and services like TMGM trading central, and economic calendars for seasonality

As simple as it sounds the more you read, the more likely you are to find the next opportunity. After all, if you don't know an event is happening, how can you take advantage of it?

Just ask legendary investor Warren Buffett.

His advice to a group of finance students: "Read 500 pages like this every day," while reaching toward a stack of papers. "That's how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it."

While most investors read less, they do stay on top of major events.

This is where tools like economic calendars are vital for investors.

But it is not enough to just know about an event, it is important for investors to understand its impact.

Take for example rising interest rates due to inflation. Businesses that can pass on their costs are unlikely to be impacted. But capital intensive businesses and those that are unlikely to be profitable for a number of years are likely to see their share price move, creating both a long and short opportunity for investors.

Deciding what is right for you

While these are some of the tools investors can use to get ahead, it's important to understand what works for you.

Just like the unique takes on the market, the tools that will help you trade best vary from investor to investor.

Luckily, many brokers, including TMGM, offer free demos to help investors get started.

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