Before you can begintrading in Forex, you will need a trading account with a Forextrading company or brokerage firm. The Forex trading company will bethe party that will execute all your trading orders. As compared tobrokers dealing with the stock market, Forex trading companies do notcharge commission for their services. How Forex trading companiesearn for their services is by charging a spread on the currencypair that you are purchasing. Today, with the mushrooming of onlineForex trading companies, one can easily be confused as to which Forextrading companies to sign up with.

Selecting the correctForex trading company will require some research and time into thebackground of the company in question. Although it may take someadditional effort on your part to find out about the services offeredand the range of spread charged by these Forex tradingcompanies, this effort will be worth it in the long term as you needto be fully satisfied with the party that you are closely workingwith in all your trading.

In order to give you somedirection as to what to look for in a Forex trading company, beloware some guidelines that you can follow to help you scrutinize theForex trading companies that you are interested in.

• Check if the Forextrading company is registered with a regulatory body

• The quality of theircustomer support

• Evaluate the onlinetrading platform that they provide

• The types of accountthat they have

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• The policies of thecompany

Regulatory Bodies

Said to be largelyunregulated market, investors who get swindled out of their money byunscrupulous Forex trading companies will not have much remedies fortheir losses. As such, it is important that you select reputableForex trading companies that are registered with an independentregulatory body. More information regarding regulated Forex tradingcompanies in the US can be obtained at the websitewww.nfa.futures.org/basicnet/.In Australia, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission(ASIC) is the regulatory body that is in charge of regulatingfinancial companies. Their website is at.

Customer Support

Because you are dealingwith a 24 hours trading environment, your have to ensure that theForex trading company that you are signing up with also provide youwith 24 hours technical support. Because it is your money that is atstake, you must not compromise on this prerequisite. Ensure that youare getting live support and not a recorded voicemail onthe helpline.

Evaluating the OnlineTrading Platform

The foundation of anyonline trading platform is its ordering system. Ensure that thesystem have real time viewing of the exchange rates. Also the systemmust provide a summary of your trading activities in order for you tobe able to get a snapshot view of all your investment positions.

Types of accountavailable

There are basically threekinds of account that a new trader can open with a Forex tradingcompany. They can be a Micro Account, Mini Account or aFull Account. Micro or Mini accounts are especially recommendedwhen you are just starting out in Forex trading as they allow you totrade on a smaller scale.

Company Policies

Before you sign up withany Forex trading company, you should also check their policies andwell as any terms and conditions they might have. This includeschecking:

• The currency pairsthat they deal in

• The transaction costlike the spread and rollover charges

• The marginrequirement

• Their working hours

• Interest rate theycharge for utilizing the margin facility

Finding the right Forextrading company to deal with is one of the first steps towardsventuring into the Forex market. As such, it very important that youtake your time to evaluate each and every one of the Forex tradingcompanies that you shortlisted.