However, if i were to ever set up a desktop for trading only, it wouldn't make sense to get a Mac. If you intend to trade on your mac, you need to think about putting windows on it. Trading platforms for mac are very limited. MetaTrader 4 is a platform for trading Forex, analyzing financial markets and using Expert Advisors. Mobile trading, Trading Signals and the Market are the integral parts of MetaTrader 4 that enhance your Forex trading experience.
Day trading FAQs
How do I learn how to day trade?
We’d recommend starting with our guide for how to day trade — it covers a lot of the day trading basics you need to know. But then, practice makes perfect — or as close to it as you can get, as you’ll quickly learn there is no perfect in day trading, and even the pros lose money sometimes.
The best way to practice: With a stock market simulator or paper-trading account. Many brokers offer these virtual trading platforms, and they essentially allow you to play the stock market with Monopoly money. Not only do you get to familiarize yourself with trading platforms and how they work, but you also get to test various trading strategies without losing real money. The link above has a list of brokers that offer these play platforms.
What are the risks of day trading?
In short: You could lose money, potentially lots of it.
Day trading is exactly what it sounds like: Buying and selling — trading — a stock, or many stocks, inside of a day. It’s all about making predictions and timing the market, with the goal of making a small profit on each trade. In an ideal world, those small profits add up to a big return.
But research has shown that only 1% of day traders consistently earn money; many, many lose it. It’s essentially a full-time job, because you need to constantly be watching — and timing — the market, waiting for your next move. It isn’t for beginner, or casual, investors.
If you’re interested in day trading, our recommendation is to allocate a small portion of your overall portfolio to the strategy – no more than 5% or 10%, tops. That way, if you lose money — as you are likely to do, at least at first — those losses are at least capped. The rest of your portfolio should be invested in long-term, diversified investments like low-cost index funds.
Is day trading illegal?
Day trading is risky, but it isn’t illegal. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposes specific regulations on pattern day traders.
The SEC defines day trading as buying and selling or short-selling and buying the same security — often a stock — on the same day. A pattern day trader, according to the SEC, is a trader who:
- Day-trades four or more times within five business days and
- Those day trades represent more than 6% of their total trading activity during that five-day period
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If you fall into that category, you’re required to maintain at least $25,000 in equity in your account. That equity can be in cash or securities.
Note that once a broker has identified you as a pattern day trader due to the above activity, your account will likely be considered a pattern day trading account going forward, even if you don’t continue to meet the definition. If you decide to stop day trading, you’ll want to contact your brokerage and ask that they remove the minimum equity requirement from your account.
How much money do you need for day trading?
This is a loaded question. The SEC requires that you maintain a minimum of $25,000 in equity to engage in pattern day trading, but that equity can be in cash and eligible securities. That’s the minimum amount you need to maintain in your account; on top of that, you also need the money you’ll use to day trade.
But just as important is setting a limit for how much money you dedicate to day trading. Our recommendation is that those dipping into this kind of active trading should risk only a small portion of their account balance — 5% to 10% of your investable assets, at most.
What is margin?
Margin is essentially a loan from your broker. When you open a brokerage account, you’ll be asked if you want a cash account or a margin account.
A margin account allows you to place trades on borrowed money. Often called leverage, trading on margin can magnify your gains — and, in the worst-case scenario, your losses. To read more about margin, how to use it and the risks involved, read our guide to margin trading.
What should I look for in an online trading system?
A few things are non-negotiable in day-trading software:
- Low commissions. You might’ve gathered by now that day traders place a lot of trades. You’ll pay a commission each time you buy and sell; that cost can quickly eat into your returns. Pay close attention to a broker or day trading platform’s fees and commissions. Many brokers will offer volume pricing, which is ideal for day traders.
- Research and strategy tools. Day traders use data to make decisions: You want not only the latest market data, but you also need a platform that lets you quickly create charts, identify price trends and analyze potential trade opportunities.
- Speed. Time is literally money with day trading, so you want a broker and online trading system that is reliable and offers the fastest order execution. Many platforms will publish information about their execution speeds and how they route orders.
Another feature we’d recommend is a broker or trading platform that offers paper, or virtual, trading, so you can practice with simulated trades before the real thing.
What are the best day-trading stocks?
If we knew, we’d be very rich. This is the bit of information that every day trader is after.
That said, we can give you some general guidance. There are a few things that make a stock at least a good candidate for a day trader to consider:
- Highly liquid, with large trade volume.
- Relatively volatile. You want frequent price changes, which allows you to make a profit quickly.
- Known to you. An understanding of the stock’s price history, and how it reacts to various events — earnings reports, economic shifts — is key. Many day traders trade only a few specific stocks, developing expertise in those companies and narrowing their focus. (Here’s some detailed guidance on how to research stocks.)
- Newsworthy. Coverage of a stock will trigger people to buy or sell it. As a day trader, you’ll want to follow the news to find trade ideas.
You can use your online broker or trading software’s stock screener to look for stocks that seem ripe for day trading.
If you want to get into Forex trading on your Mac or just want to be a better trader, we’ve taken a closer look at the best Forex platforms of 2018.
When it comes to the cut and thrust of foreign exchange trading and the FX market, you need a Forex focused platform and technical analysis software to trade successfully.
Nowadays powerful but accessible “social trading” style platforms like TradingView are free and easy enough for anyone to use.
Although the market for Mac Forex software is still quite limited, there are some platforms out there which are better suited to macOS than others.
Here then are our picks of the best Forex trading platforms on Mac in order of ranking.
1. TradingView
TradingView is an incredibly popular community driven web-based stock charting software that offers an easy to use way of tracking Forex currency markets.
TradingView combines social networking with complex technical analysis tools making it good for both experienced traders and beginners to Forex trading on Mac.
TradingView has rapidly risen from just a few thousand users in 2012 to around seven million users today, mainly thanks to its wide array of charts and community driven content.
TradingView is so good that many other major stock trading resources such Investopedia are integrated with TradingView for Forex trading analysis on Mac and PC.
The amazing thing about TradingView is that most of its features are completely free to use. You can start using it immediately for free in your browser.
The TradingView Forex page provides a clear overview of the most important global developments in the currency markets with the real-time value of major currencies such as USD, Euro, JPY and GBP immediately visible. There’s also a convenient Economic Calendar of important events and news feed for the latest currency news.
You will also see commentary from top traders giving advice and tips on currency movements and potential trades.
Although it’s free to sign-up for TradingView with most features included there are also Pro, Pro+ and Premium plans starting at $9.95 per month.
However, you can currently get 50% off TradingView if you pay with Bitcoin.
The main advantage of the plans is they provide faster real time data, a wider range of real-time stats, more intraday reports and you can have more charts per tab open. The paid plans also remove all ads and feeds for NASDAQ, NYSE and NYMEX are also included. Basically the faster you have information and the more of it you have, the more your chances of making money so the Pro plans are definitely worth it if you’re planning to trade Forex seriously.
You can try a 30 day fully functional free trial of all TradingView Professional and Premium versions with no credit card required.
If you want to harness the knowledge and experience of thousands of other Forex traders, TradingView is a remarkably effective tool to keep ahead of Forex market trends and developments.
2. MotiveWave
MotiveWave is one of the few Forex trading platforms that has a native Mac desktop client and it’s easily one of the most professional and powerful trading software out there.
MotiveWave is well integrated with external brokers and can be linked to multiple brokers including Oanda, Ameritrade and Forex.com.
MotiveWave is very powerful and can analyze huge amounts of data for complex patters and has some nifty advanced features like Replay Mode, Advanced Alerts and Multiple Monitor Mode (including for 4K displays).
MotiveWave is definitely aimed at professional Forex traders rather than beginners but if you’re not initimidated by complex technical analysis tools, you can get a lot out of it.
You can try MotiveWave for free and prices start at $99 for the basic charting version.
You can also check out our full review of MotiveWave.
3. eToro
eToro is one of the biggest stock trading platforms out there with an estimated 5 million users and covers just about every major trading asset including Forex. What makes eToro different to most Forex trading platforms is that it focuses on connecting traders in order to harness collective experiences and knowledge in stock trading. eToro could be described as a “social network stock trading tool” which aims to pool the experience of traders so that everyone wins. If you imagine what would happen if you mixed Facebook with a stock trading platform, then you get a good idea of what eToro is like.
The main way it does this is through the eToro OpenBook application which employs a “CopyTrader” system that copies the trades of expert traders. This is not only potentially very profitable for you, but also an excellent way for beginners to learn the ropes of Forex trading. You can even copy the entire portfolio of the most successful traders, or just their Forex portfolio if they have one. Note that you can only use a maximum of 40% of your capital on copy trades but you can set limits on when to stop copying if losses exceed a certain amount.
Be very careful when selecting a trader to copy however as some may appear more successful than they actually are or are using very little capital in the hope that others will copy them and they’ll earn commission off it. Many of the traders on eToro appear to be quite high risk traders which carries with it high potential returns but obvious risks too. Also look for “verified traders” as those traders use their real identities ad verified by eToro and therefore you reduce the risk of following “fake” profiles.
If you’re a successful Forex trader, you can even earn commission on traders that copy you through the Popular Investor Program. Apart from Forex, you can also trade Indices and Commodities (CFDs) using eToro and traders on eToro tend to be focused on one particular asset. Since most Forex platforms for Mac are based in the US, eToro may also be a more appealing option for European users too as it is based in Cyprus and is regulated under European law with all funds kept in European banks.
eToro is certainly one of the best Forex trading options for beginners on Mac and the social trading element is ideal for trading novices. eToro is also very fast being completely based on HTML5 with no laggy Flash or Java to slow it down. Trading fees for eToro vary on a daily basis and you can check the latest Spreads and Fees here although in general, you may get better spread rates from other brokers as eToro is generally on the top side of spread rates. You can open an account with as little as $50 although this can vary from region to region.
Unfortunately, at the moment not all of eToro is available to US based users but it does now allow cryptocurrency trading on Mac for clients in the USA.
You can open an eToro account for free and see for yourself.
For a more detailed look at eToro, we recommend reading our full eToro review.
4. XM
XM is a multi-asset platform but its Forex trading software is one of the best out there. XM is one of the few platforms that allows you to use the Windows only Metatrader software by adapting it to work on Mac. XM allows you to use both MT4 and MT5 on Mac and enables you to seamlessly continue trading on MT4 or MT5 on a mobile device too. XM has very tight spreads (as low as 0 pips in some cases) and there are no hidden commissions or charges.
XM is regulated by the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia and CySEC in Cyprus so it’s also one of the most highly regulated trading platforms you can use. Apart from Forex, XM allows you to trade most other financial instruments including CFDs on Stock Indices, Commodities, Stocks, Metals, Energies and Cryptocurrencies.
XM offers 3 types of account: Micro, Standard and Zero accounts which vary in cost based on the amount of trading you want to do. It’s always a good idea to paper trade before trading for real and you can sign-up for an XM demo account with $100,000 virtual currency. If you decide to sign-up for a real account, you also get a $30 trading bonus to set you on your way.
5. AvaTrade
AvaTrade specializes in Forex and has got it down to a tee. It’s easily the most well balanced Forex trading for Mac users in terms of ease of use for beginners and professional tools and analysis for seasoned Forex and CFD traders. AvaTrade feels slick and professional but never intimidating or overwhelming when it comes to Forex.
It’s also one of the best when it comes to cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin and Ethereum trading included but also up and coming cryptos such as Litecoin and Dash. For Mac users, AvaTrade is also integrated with the web version of MT4 which looks great on Mac in any browser and is also available as an iOS app.
You need a minimum deposit of $100 to sign-up for AvaTrade but you can try AvaTrade for free to judge for yourself.
6. NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader used to be one of the most popular Forex platforms out there due to its algorithmic trading and ease of use but increased competition and monthly subscription model have seen it fall behind somewhat.
NinjaTrader is now less user-friendly than many Forex trading platforms and also does not support trading of binary options. Although you can use the platform for free with a Direct Education license, you need to pay a subscription to trade with it.
It does however offer very powerful algorithmic trading and charting and accounts starting at $55 per month. If you don’t like to use NinjaTrader’s own broker services, you can integrate it with other brokers too.
Although you pay a subscription to use NinjaTrader’s own broker services promises no hidden, unspecified markups to spreads and no delayed Dealing Desk Executions.
NinjaTrader is definitely the most customizable Forex trading platforms for Mac with thousands of different third-party apps and add ons although note that most of these cost extra. NinjaTrader also has some useful straight talking information on how Forex trading works for beginners.
7. FXCM Trading Station
FXCM Trading Station is a user-friendly but powerful dedicated Forex trading platform that offers lower commissions the more you trade.
FXCM Trading Station also guarantees do Dealing Desks – all trades are executed instantly. FXCM Trading Station also offers a handy Smart Margin Watcher which monitors your positions and alerts you if your account equity drops below a certain limit or if the market moves against you.
You can open a basic FXCM account with just $50 and you can also open a practice account first to get familiar with it.
FXCM Trading Station also offers it’s own emulated version of MetaTrader and NinjaTrader both with $50,000 practice accounts and there’s also a native FXCM app for iPhone and iPad. In the absence of a native MetaTrader client for Mac, FXCM is therefore a great way to effectively get MetaTrader for Mac.
FXCM Trading Station is straight talking, with clear and easy to understand advice on Forex trading. If you’re looking for something powerful but user-friendly, FXCM Trading Station is a great choice.
8. Sirix
Sirix is a fast, web-based HTML5 optimized trading platform that’s for Forex and CFD brokers. Sirix isn’t one of the most popular trading platforms out there but it looks great on Mac and features a simplified eToro style community driven model of Forex trading. You can copy trades of the most successful traders and receive alerts when they open a new position. Although the Forex trading community is smaller on Sirix than eToro, the actual interface looks great on OS X and is cleaner and less complicated than other community driven trading platforms. Although there are no apps for Sirix yet, it plans to introduce them soon.
9. MahiFX
MahiFX is one of the few Oceania based trading platforms which supports Forex trading. MahiFX is based in New Zealand and provides a trading platform to Forex traders based mainly in New Zealand and Australia. However, users from other countries can sign-up and use it but must ensure that all trading follows the rules and regulation of their residence. What’s interesting for Mac users is that MahiFX probably has the most OS X style interface of any Forex trading platform out there. MahiFX is entirely web-based but the interface is one of the slickest we’ve seen. It also offers a few other enticing features such as no minimum deposit, no commissions and generous leverage of 100:1. You can open a practice account with MahiFX to judge for yourself.
10. Trading 212
Trading 212 is another very slick UK-based trading platform that looks great on Mac and is very user-friendly. If you’re just starting out in Forex trading, Trading 212 provides a clear and a non-intimidating Forex platform on your Mac desktop. Trading 212 also has a native iOS app for iPhone and iPad that allows you to trade on the move without needing a browser. Trading 212 is accessible for newbies to Forex trading with some useful video tutorials which show you how to take advantage of the latest Forex trading news and how to get the best out of Trading 212. If you’re looking for an accessible, professional looking, non-community driven Forex trading platform then Trading 212 is an excellent starting point.
11. Oanda FX Trading
Oanda (formerly known as Currensee) is an award-winning currency trading platform with no minimum trade size and no minimum deposit. You can trade on over 100 different instruments including currency pairs (Forex), indices, commodities, bonds and metals. Oanda is also one of the few Forex trading platforms to offer a Mac desktop app, although all it effectively does is retrieve the web version without using the browser.
One of the ways Oanda sells itself on its pricing transparency meaning there are no added commissions on your trades and unlike many Forex trading platforms, no minimum trading amounts. There are some useful tools in Oanda such as the Currency Strength Heatmap and Historical Forex Position Ratios. Oanda doesn’t offer much in the way of advice when it comes to Forex trading but it does have a some very good free Forex training tutorials via the Oanda Academy.
Oanda puts a strong emphasis on being transparent with customers and adhering to regulations specific to each global area. We recommend trying a few paper trades first via an Oanda demo account to get a feel for it.
12. Forex on the Go
Forex on the Go also offers a Forex app for Mac, although it only delivers an adapted version of MetaTrader to your Mac. Forex on the Go looks uncluttered on OS X although that’s party because the number of tools available is quite limited. There’s no customized data when you open the app as you don’t even need to sign-up to use it – you can start viewing market data immediately. However if you want to trade using MetaTrader (MT4), you need to sign up for a Forex on the Go account. There’s also an iPad app and even extensions for Chrome and Safari although you don’t need these if you use the Mac app.
13. MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
No review of Forex trading software on Mac would be complete without looking at MetaTrader 4, more commonly known as MT4 although the most recent version is MT5. MetaTrader is not a trading broker, it’s a technical analysis software that’s incredibly popular with Forex traders. However, although MT4 is probably the most popular trading software for Windows and PC users, there’s no version for Mac, it can be adapted for use on macOS. Some forex platforms like XM have adapted MetaTrader to work on Mac so that you can use it too.
There are however various ways of running MT4 and MT5 on Mac and we recommend you read our guide on how to run MetaTrader on Mac to see how. Then most common method is to use Wine emulation software but we don’t recommend this because it can be tricky to setup and it doesn’t offer the full functionality of MetaTrader anyway. All of the things that make it so popular on Windows, such as the native client, stability and access to extra features via the Market, simply don’t apply if you use Wine or another type of emulator on Mac. You’re far better to install Windows on your Mac using Parallels so that you can enjoy the fully featured Windows version on your Mac.
It’s well worth it as MetaTrader is a very powerful Forex trading platform featuring tools such as instant execution from charts, stop orders and trailing stops, tick charts, trading history and more. The analytical tools in MetaTrader are particularly detailed with 9 different time-frames, 30 technical indicators and 23 analytical objects to drill deep down into data. For those new to Forex trading, MT4 also allows you to automatically copy other Traders trades based on the signals of your choice. You can even add trading platforms to MetaTrader or rent Expert Advisors through the MetaTrader Market but note that this doesn’t work on Mac using the Wine installation method which is another reason we recommend installing it using Parallels rather than Wine.
14. cTrader
cTrader has rapidly developed to become one of the major Forex trading rivals to MT4. cTrader only has a desktop client for Windows but Mac users can now use the cTrader web client which offers all the functionality of the desktop client. The cTrader platform looks and feels a bit slicker than MT4, it’s easier to navigate and it supports more order types. However, in terms of overall features, there’s not much to choose between them, especially for beginners. The same features such as charts, trade logging, account management tools, back testing and technical indicators are all available in both.
15. Trade Interceptor
Trade Interceptor is a professional currency trading app for Mac with advanced trading and technical analysis tools. You can use Trade Interceptor to trade with brokers FXCM, SWISSQUOTE, OANDA and 24Option. If you don’t like the platforms of these brokers, then using Trade Interceptor on Mac is an excellent option because it has its own desktop app for Mac. Using Trade Interceptor to trade with these brokers is free and all are fully integrated with the native platform of each broker. You can even trade with multiple accounts and multiple brokers in one window.
The Trade Interceptor app for Mac basically brings all the benefits of the Trade Interceptor web trading platform to your Mac desktop without having to use your browser. Trade Interceptor provides live quotes and charts of more than 60 Forex currencies as well as Gold, Oil and Silver. You can activate a useful News feed down the left hand margin to provide news in real-time for the Asian, European and American markets. There are lots of technical analysis indicators, trend alerts and graphical tools to help you make trading decisions. You can set alarms for price drops and spikes and choose from multiple chart layouts and templates.
There’s also a useful “Traders Gym” which allows you to simulate trades – also known as Paper Trading – in real-time without risking real currency. The smart thing about the Paper Trade feature is that you can pick any previous time frame or currency, and trade as if it were happening now in real-time which is a great way to learn now to trade better and see what works and what doesn’t in the currency markets.
Trade Interceptor is updated regularly, including with new features which is important for Mac users to ensure that the software continues to work with new releases of OS X. The Mac app syncs your trading with the web platform and Trade Interceptor iOS app so that you can continue trading on the move.
16. Latinum
Latinum is a new professional trading and technical analysis software for Mac and PC which is focused on trading Forex and CFDs (Contract for Difference). Latinum is designed for discretionary (non-automated) traders and quickly enables you to determine risk, make orders quickly via a Mini Order Ticket feature and more easily manage order and positions with a Mini Blotter.
Latinum supports a wide range of chart types including Candlestick, HLC (High-Low-Close), Heiken-Ashi, OHLC (Open-High-Low-Close), Step, Dot, Line, Histogram, Area, Candlestick Trend, Invisible, Hollow Candlestick, HL (High-Low), Colored Line and Real Body.
Latinum is also very good at helping you quickly ascertain risk, execute orders and manage your positions. You can quickly determine risk with useful indicators displayed on the ticket such as Risk/Reward, pip value, stop-loss distance in pips and price. There’s a Mini Order Ticket to enter orders faster with single click entry and essentials such as stop-loss and take-profit included. For quick order management, there’s a Mini Blotter which displays opened trades and pending orders. You can conveniently right-click on a trade to allow scaling of trades (such as partial close), two-click stop-loss and take profit editing. This makes it easier to manage, cancel or close orders and trades than on a lot of Mac Forex software.
Since it’s quite a new Forex trading app for Mac, Latinum only works with FXCM Trading Station/Marketscope accounts and OANDA fxTrade Practice accounts although this will probably be expanded in the future. There is also a Latinum trading simulator to practice trading on and get a feel for it.
You can download Latinum from the Mac App Store and connect directly to FXCM, OANDA or just use the Forex trading simulator to decide whether Latinum is for you before buying.
Overall, Latinum is a very promising professional Forex trading tool which doesn’t complicate things with unnecessary features or extra assets and focuses on making it easier to trade Forex quicker and more efficiently.
17. VPSForexTrader
Finally, if you want to trade Forex 24/7 then one solution is VPSForexTrader. VPSForexTrader offers VPS hosting or dedicated servers that allow you to trade throughout the day and night.
VPSForexTrader offers free bandwidth usage, is independent of brokers and offers dedicated servers or VPS servers in Lithuania and the Netherlands.
If you use a remote desktop client on your Mac, you can also run Metatrader 4 Expert Advisor. The number of MT4 platforms you can run depends on the plan you’re signed up for but the FX3 plan can run up to 10 MT4 instances. You can run even more by using dedicated servers with the FX4 plan able to handle up to 150 MT4 terminals.
VPSForexTrader is currently offering 30% off selected plans.
Tips On Choosing Forex Software & Platforms
The Forex (Foreign Exchange Market) is the most popular and liquid trading asset in the world with an estimated global trading volume of around $5.3 trillion daily. Unlike stock market trading, there is no central exchange so you can trade on it 24 hours a day which makes it ideal for traders at home. There are significant gains to be made from currency volatility but the demands of the fast-moving FX market mean you really need software that specializes in Forex trading to make intelligent trades.
The best Forex applications for beginners on Mac will differ from those with more experience in the Forex business. If you’re a beginner, many Forex trading platforms such as MetaTrader and cTrader will appear intimidating and overwhelm you with charts, data and technical analysis tools that won’t help you if you’re starting out. Don’t think that just because a Forex trading software is packed with hundreds of different charts and features, it’s necessarily the best. It can soon become counter productive to your trading efforts when you have several charts, indicators and analysis tools open at once. Especially if you’re new to trading, don’t be afraid to keep it simple.
Most Forex platforms assume a certain level of familiarity with trading but there are some that are designed with beginners in mind. In these reviews, we’ve covered a range of trading platforms for all abilities and indicated which are the best software for beginners on Mac.
Before making your decision however, it’s useful to understand the difference between Forex Platforms for Mac and Forex Software for Mac.
- Forex Platforms For Mac vs Forex Software For Mac
There’s an important difference between Forex Platforms on Mac and Forex Software For Mac although in the world of Forex trading, this can be very blurred. In a nutshell, you need to sign-up with a Forex Platform i.e. a Forex broker in order to buy and sell currencies. All major Forex brokers such as eToro, NinjaTrader and FXCM Trade Station also offer their own Forex trading platform. However, they aren’t always the best choice for Mac users since they often either don’t look good on macOS or don’t offer very advanced technical analysis tools for analyzing Forex stocks.
In some cases however, you can download a specific Forex trading software for Mac that’s integrated with a major broker. Forex software includes services such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) which do not actually allow you to trade on markets – they merely allow you to perform technical analysis of Forex markets. The good thing is that apps like MetaTrader allow you to integrate your broker account so you don’t have to constantly switch between your Forex broker and Forex trading software. Note however that MetaTrader isn’t available for Mac although there are ways to run MetaTrader on Mac (more on that later).
So for example the FXCM Trade Station looks great on Mac but its own trading platform isn’t very advanced. However, it can also integrate the powerful NinjaTrader or MetaTrader trading software within it if you choose instead so you get the best of both worlds – the Forex technical analysis power of NinjaTrader or MetaTrader and the Mac OS X style interface of FXCM Trade Station.
There are far more Forex brokers than there is Forex software so it usually makes sense to choose a broker you like first and then see whether it supports third-party Forex software for Mac. However, you could also choose to do this the other way round if a Mac client or desktop software is more important to you than the broker you trade with.
Choosing a good Forex broker however isn’t always straightforward though. There are literally hundreds of Forex platforms out there but there a few things you should always bear in mind to ensure you pick a good one.
- Instant Forex Trade Execution
One thing you should always check is how the Forex platform you’ve chosen executes Forex trades. Believe it or not, some brokers don’t actually execute Forex trades immediately the moment you buy or sell. Rather, once you’ve made your trade, it is sent to an Execution Desk or Dealing Desk (DD) for processing. This creates delays and therefore potential losses in the time between trade and execution which in the fast-moving world of currencies, can be significant. Fortunately, most brokers now offer instant trade execution but it’s always worth making sure before signing-up as there’s nothing worse than finding out your trades aren’t in real-time.
- Margin and Leverage
One of the good things about Forex is that most brokers don’t charge commission on trades like they do with stock market trading. Most Forex brokers make money by capturing part of the spread i.e. the difference between what you can buy and sell currency on each trade although some brokers have specific revenue models that differ from this. The attractive thing about Forex trading and the international currency market is that you can buy and sell with far more than you have in your account. This is called your Margin or Leverage and differs from broker to broker. So for example, with just a small deposit of $100 and a broker offering leverage of 1:100, you can make currency transactions up to $10,000 even if you don’t have that much in your account. However, it’s very important to be aware that the reverse is also true – your losses can also be equal to any potential gains and brokers require a deposit to cover any potential losses based on their leverage rate. Many Forex brokers offer a rate of leverage or margin which is typically 1:50 although it can be much more than this depending on the broker.
- Forex Demo Accounts on Mac
Most Forex platforms provide free demo accounts, usually with several thousand dollars worth of pretend currency. This is a great way to get familiar with Forex trading in general if you’re new to it. However, it’s very easy to get a false sense of security with demo Forex accounts and there’s a few things to be aware of when using them.
- Demo accounts operate in a simulated market environment and therefore don’t always reflect real-time market liquidity. Although they are based on current market conditions, in some demo accounts, there may be a delay between live and simulated pricing.
- In a real world trading environment, you may sometimes experience rejected orders and slippage with Forex trades. This usually doesn’t happen with demo accounts so be prepared for such things if you open a live account.
- The margin requirements may not be the same in demo accounts as they are in live accounts as brokers often update live margins but demo accounts may not always coincide with those of real accounts.
- Don’t underestimate the psychological difference between trading pretend currency and real currency. The pressure when trading large volumes of hard cash can be significant and a simulated environment can’t replicate this.
- Some products or features may not be available on demo accounts so you may not be getting the full platform experience.
Finally, a few other things to consider when choosing a Forex platform on Mac are:
- Customer Support: Does the broker respond quickly to questions, problems or issues with the trading platform? Does the broker offer a toll-free number in case of major issues or problems?
- Profit Withdrawal Speed: How long does it take to withdraw trade profits. This is usually a few business days but all brokers have their own policy on withdrawals.
- PAMM Services: PAMM (Percentage Allocation Money Management) is when traders pool money together to trade. You’re basically taking advantage of more experienced brokers to trade money for you. Not all Forex platforms offer this feature but eToro is the most notable as the entire service is based around PAMM.
- Avoid Java: The same applies for Forex software on Mac as for other types of stock trading programs on Mac – avoid any Forex trading platforms or software that use Java. Fortunately, there are very few in Forex trading that do although there are a few more when it comes to stock market trading on Mac. There are many reasons for avoiding Java on Mac, not least that it suffers from continual security issues and is impossible to completely uninstall Java from Mac once installed. It’s also slow, unresponsive and generally just a pain to use on OS X. Apple is increasingly distancing OS X from the Java platform due to the various problems that come with it and our advice is stay way.
- Trade With Caution: Finally, it should go without saying that you should trade with caution. Forex trading in particular is high risk due to leveraged trading which allows you to risk far more than you actually trade with. The most important rule in trading is you must only trade using your risk capital. Chasing losses or risking other capital is extremely risky and can end in financial ruin if left unchecked. Fortunately, all Forex brokers allow you to set a minimum margin requirement so that a margin closeout will occur if the market turns suddenly. For more on the risks of Forex Trading and some sound advice, check Oanda’s guide to Risks in Forex Trading.
Running Windows Forex Tools On Macs
Best Trading Platform For Mac
Finally, if you really want to use a Windows only Forex trading platform on Mac, your best bet is to install Windows on your Mac using Parallels. Parallels allows you to run Windows alongside OS X and is a very convenient solution if you can’t live without your Windows Forex trading platform.
Conclusion
To a certain extent, the best software for you really depends on your level of expertise when it comes to trading. Some of the apps featured here will be way too lightweight for experienced traders while others will get lost in the complexity of platforms.
That’s why we’ve chosen TradingView as our number one Forex software for Mac choice because it’s such a good blend of expert analysis but also accessible for beginners.
![Desktop Desktop](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126050391/357946095.jpg)
For beginners, eToro’s strong community driven Forex trading is an excellent way to get into Forex trading for those just starting out.
Few Forex trading platforms are as powerful as MotiveWave and the fact it has a very solid Mac desktop client is a big plus too.
XM is still a strong choice because of it’s superb support for Metatrader on Mac and the ability to handle almost any trading instrument.
AvaTrade meanwhile feels more professional though while remaining extremely easy to use with tons of useful tutorials for beginners and pros.
However, if you want something a little more professional, we like Oanda’s interface, ethical principles on transparency and lack of minimum trade size or deposit. The fact it’s one of the few platforms that has a dedicated Forex app for Mac is great too.
Best Trading Platforms For Mac Desktop
If you have any questions, issues or suggestions regarding Forex platforms on Mac, let us know in the comments below.