cTrader Reviews The Rules of the Game. Exploring Unique Features
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Many traders start exploring new software comparing it with MetaQuotes products. Indeed, MetaTrader 4/5 platforms have conquered a decent part of the market thanks to reliability, simplicity and availability of a rich choice of plugins for automated and hand trading. I have also started my trading career with MT4, even though I quickly realized the need of an alternative solution.
At some point, I opened MT4 for placing orders only, leaving the platform to conduct market research, work with charts and conduct the technical analysis in the other apps. The release of novice MetaTrader5 was widely anticipated, and developers have really added some new features to the software. Nevertheless, it was not good enough to tailor all of the traders’ needs.
When I stumbled on positive cTrader reviews, pointing out an entirely different approach, I started digging deeper about the platform. As a result, I have completely switched to cTrader as it is not only a reasonable alternative to widely used MT4/5 products, but also a genuine solution for traders with a wide range of useful functionality. Spotware’s trading app has multiple features that are unavailable in MetaTrader, and here are some of them.
Additional types of postponed orders
Many cTrader reviews underscore additional types of postponed orders. Besides traditional stop and limit postponed orders, cTrader developers added a so-called stop limit postponed order to operate with price ranges when planning the market entry.
They are really useful when I trade in a volatile environment, want to apply a breakthrough strategy or don’t want to miss a chance for a profitable position. The thing is that some market conditions with intense price action do not allow the software to open trades at an exact entry price.
When setting stop limit orders, I choose the entry price and a range (measured in pips) that is affordable for me. In this way, I can make sure that the platform will open my trade despite the high volatility. Besides, I can set an expiration time for this type of orders so that the platform will automatically delete them after some time if not executed. If-done stop-loss and take-profit orders are here as well.
Stop limit orders can be effectively used in the news trading technique when I forecast different scenarios of the price action in the very first minutes after an important report. Traditionally such events have a strong impact on quotes in first minutes after the release as market players seek direction, trying to reposition themselves.
It happens that macroeconomic news can reverse sustainable trends or cause retracements with a sharp and volatile price action. It’s not easy to jump in the market right after the news but placing a postponed order with a range for the entry price is an effective solution that can bring immediate results.
The fundamental analysis section
It’s not just about the news feed. I can filter the economic calendar by the symbol I’m watching as I see all of the upcoming events with previous readings and expected figures. Besides, there’s full information about the chosen asset including the lot size, broker’s commissions, swaps and leverage.
The market depth window reflects the trading volume with bids and asks near the current quote. This tool does not clarify the overall picture for the current market sentiment, but it shows periods of strong shifts between demand and supply, pointing out the power of bulls and bears, respectively.
I’m not the biggest fan of trading decisions based on the market depth nly, but this tool is worth attention when traders are keen on one side of the market. Standing against the crowd might be dangerous and costly.
History of trades shown on charts
Detachable charts, drawing tools and adjustable technical indicators can be a focus for a separate article about cTrader. Reviews of the past performance are important for the daily routine of any trader. Detachable charts show your trading performance filtered by the asset. You can see entry price, targets and stop-loss orders, close price and other details related to the trade. This is helpful not only for analysing your strategy but also getting information about the price action in certain historical ranges. Avoiding similar mistakes and maximising possible profits are among parts of the endless improving of a trader’s skills.
Informative pop-up window for choosing the trading volume.
The upper side of any chart has a box for opening a trade in one click. The issue is that some traders might be lazy to double check the details related to the cost of pip, required margin and free margin available in their accounts when choosing the trading volume. cTrader has a pop-up window showing all of the necessary details, so you can make sure not to put too much pressure on your account balance when selecting the lot size for every trade you open.
Reverse and double-up positions in one click.
The section of trades control has three buttons for managing deals in one click. Traders can reverse or double-up a position or close all of the current trades. In rapidly changing market conditions this feature can be handy.
Instead of conclusion.
Spotware — the developer of cTrader — reviews its approaches constantly. The recent update combined separate apps in one workspace. Traders can code strategies using cBots and create algorithms (technical indicators) simply switching to the Automate section of the same platform. The copy-trade solution can also be available in the same app. The Analyze section has an in-depth outlook of your past performance, highlighting the strong and weak points of your trading strategy, which is very useful for every trader regardless of the method he/she uses.
The overall impression of the platform suggests a conclusion that cTrader was designed by traders for traders as the feature-rich software gives access to many solutions for online trading.