The devil is in the detail when it comes to Forex trading, and this applies when it comes to the spread that brokers charge for each trade made. True, choosing the direction is the most important factor when currency trading, but if you are copytrading, that’s in someone else’s hands and so finding a platform that offers low spreads as well as the ability to copy other traders automatically becomes more of a priority.
ZuluTrade is fully integrable with many Forex broker platforms, allowing you link your account with their copy trading web interface. This may sound a bit high tech, but if you are new to copytrading, don’t worry about it, it’s not as complex as it sounds. However, if you do not like a bit of a challenge, then perhaps you should click the ‘Back Button’ right now, because although copy-trading is not rocket science, you do need to ‘apply yourself’ and, if you think there is any ‘get rich quick scheme with no effort involved’ out there, then you are definitely on the wrong website. However, if you are prepared to give a bit of your time to potentially making some good money, please read on…
If you are thinking about copytrading, one broker, AAAFX offer very competitive spreads on the currency pairs that they offer (and offer demo-trading via the Zulu website). Spreads are currently 1.5 pips on EUR/USD, and GBP/USD currency pairs which is pretty much unbeatable. And, there is no charge for copying the trades of signal providers. The website can be linked to from many other Forex brokers, but there is a small ‘one pip’ charge applied per trade copied. So, how come you don’t have to pay the 1 pip commission for copying signal providers (other traders) when linking an AAAFX account to ZuluTrade? The answer is simple, the owners of both the copy trading website, and the broker are the same! (Which also makes the sign up/integration process easier).
Not exactly an industry secret. But, the whole point is that they offer excellent spreads, and ‘low slippage’. They offer mini accounts, (as well as standard accounts), which can equate to a dollar per pip (but you can reduce the lot sizes to 0.01 which mean 10 cents per pip, and therefore lower risk). The minimum deposit is $300 (or equivalent in several other accepted currencies). However, you do not need to part with any cash if you sign up using a demo account to test the system.
It must be noted however, that there can be a psychological barrier to overcome when moving from a demo account to a live account, as people behave differently when real money comes into play. Some traders even suggest that because of this demo accounts should be avoided, and that new traders should open a live account, but trade initially with absolute minimum amounts. Hmm, obviously it’s up to you, but, others would argue that you should at least have a free ‘feel around’ the platform before depositing any cash. Click here to try the demo account, or if you want to try a live account, but, using minimal amounts*, click here.
* To trade with minimal amounts, sign up for a mini account. When you add ‘signal providers’ (traders to copy) to you account, make sure you go into the advanced settings, and alter the lot sizes to 0.01 (which equates to $0.10 per pip – also known as a ‘micro lot’). And, make sure that you look at the Drawdown statistics of any trader before adding them to your ‘copy account’.
Open a Live Account. Open a Demo Account.
There is no commission. They make their money on the spread. When you are dealing with a forex firm, they are not brokers taking your order to the market, like with stocks. They are dealers; they are the market. They quote prices at a level where half their customers will buy at the ask and half their customers will sell at the bid. They take the pips in the middle of each deal. OK. It never works out exactly half and half, so there is some risk and if there is a sudden move, they do get stuck with some exposure, but they get it close enough to keep profitable.
Hi Clement, thanks for pointing that out. The point that I was trying to get across was that when you copytrade with Zulu using a broker other than AAAFX, their is a one pip spread added by zulu on top of the brokers spread (which can be seen as a ‘commission’). But, what you have said clarifies how the Forex brokers work. Thanks, G.