The role machines have to play in trading has evolved drastically throughout time.
Watching old-school floor traders in documentaries such as “Floored” on Youtube surprises many a modern trader with how different trading was prior to the popularization of computers. To a certain extent, traders would develop an edge simply by having superior social skills. The trader closest to the broker, with the loudest voice and largest gesticulations, could have their order enacted quicker than their smaller, less-visible counterparts.
Today, trading consists of far more sophisticated operations. Tools like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, high-frequency trading bots and algorithms have brought the importance of social skills down to the point of being almost negligible and have made markets that much more efficient. With some of the brightest minds constantly recruited into finance, it seems technological advancements within the field are on an upward trajectory.
A report by Refinitiv and Greenwich Associates surveyed 107 market professionals globally to find out what they think about technology’s role in the markets. The results are unanimous: Despite its already momentous impact, technological innovation is likely to continue unabated within finance.
Technological Trends Within Trading
According to the report, technological innovations encompass several bigger technological trends including AI, cloud computing, alternative data and big data.
Specifically, broad long-term defensive solutions, like cybersecurity and risk management, top the list of impactful tools for the trading desk. For example, technology within cybersecurity, trade performance analytics, real-time risk management and execution management systems (EMS) are the four highest-rank technologies in terms of impact on institutional financial markets in the next 3 to 5 years.
With the release of projects like ChatGPT, sophisticated AI is becoming increasingly available for public use. Since some of the brightest minds exist within finance, it’s reasonably safe to assume that whatever the public is receiving has likely already been trialed within the largest corporation institutions in the world. The report confirms this assumption: Of the 107 market participants, 61% say they’re either using artificial intelligence today or plan to in the next 12-24 months.
Trading will continue to evolve in sophistication and automation. For retail traders, this means the competition is getting better, and finding an edge will be harder. Still, it’s possible to not only survive but thrive in the financial markets, and success begins with the right tools.
T4Trade: A Broker For The Retail Trader
As a broker specializing in retail investing, T4Trade is making sure traders have the right tools to compete with the world’s largest corporations. The broker specializes in contracts for differences (CFDs), allowing traders to buy and sell as many as 300 financial instruments across six asset classes using CFDs.
Aside from the accessibility to a variety of markets, T4Trade reportedly offers some of the best trading platforms in MetaTrader 4 and MT4 Webtrader. Across the two platforms, retail traders can engage with the markets via their phones, broker applications and even the website domain (no app download needed).
Additionally, T4Trade knows that traders with varying levels of experience and knowledge will approach them, and they want to make sure everyone has a place. To achieve this, the broker offers up to 4 different account types, each with differing specifications. The Cent account, for example, breaks down a trader’s capital into cents. In the Cents account, $100 of capital is shown as 10,000 cents. As a result, traders can risk very little as they learn more about the markets.
The remaining three account types are Standard, Premium and Privilege. All three, including the Cents account, have up to 1:1000 leverage, a minimum lot size of 0.01, zero commission fees and instant execution. Where they differ is the average spread, which is the distance between the bid and ask price in a commodity.
As the picture above shows, the spread tightens as the account type moves from standard to premium to privilege. Tighter spreads allow for better control over risk – this usually favours experienced, short-term traders but could encompass longer-term traders, too.
T4Trade offers a suite of trading platforms, account types and tradable markets to retail investors, allowing them to compete with their larger counterparts and take a share of the prize.
Start trading with T4Trade by clicking here.
Read more about T4Trade here.
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