Level-up your trading advantage by utilizing the right tools. We look at 5 easily-accessible options you may have overlooked before. 

It’s hard to imagine a successful forex trader without forex trading tools, as they have such a huge impact on trading strategies. Platforms like MetaTrader5 have contributed so much to modern day trading. However, that’s not to say specific tools work for everyone. So with that in mind, here are five forex trading tools you should consider using.

Forex Tool #1. Financial Newswire

With a financial newswire, you can track economic and political situations across different countries and monitor updated currency values. It helps you become more aware of international interest rates that play a crucial role in the valuation of currencies. News from each country’s central bank and their monetary policymakers can also have a huge influence on the valuation of a nation’s currency. Plus, reports regarding key speeches, official press conferences, and policy statements released by different sources are published in real time on financial newswires. The best sources to consider are The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Financial Times, and MarketWatch. It’s recommended to connect to their RSS feeds, so you can be notified about all the important news as it is going on.

Forex Tool #2. Economic Calendar

Forex traders use an economic calendar to learn about upcoming news events that can influence their trading decisions. It’s an important resource for the latest economic information relevant in forex trading, such as news on GDP and consumer price indices. The calendar will show every economic news item on major economies, so the information overload can be quite overwhelming. But you have the option to customise your view. First, adjust the time zone to whichever you may prefer, then filter the currencies and level of importance with only those you want to appear. Once you have a simpler calendar, you can click on an item to learn about the details of a certain event, including any news and analysis. There are many economic calendars available online, and EarnForex’s list of top forex calendars is a good place to start looking to see what will work best for your specific needs.

Forex Tool #3. Currency Heat Map

Forex traders use currency heat maps to visualise the performance of currencies in real-time, whether they’re performing strongly or not. FXCM’s Trading Heat Map tool highlights the biggest movers in the market relative to other currencies. The USD might be rising, but how does it fare against other currencies? A heat map can help you see the patterns more clearly. It helps determine what pair to buy or sell, and when, across 28 currency pairs and 8 different currencies. It can be used to guide trade entries into trending pairs, and spot the current market momentum whether or not a pair is clearly trending or not.

Forex Tool #4. Time Zone Converter

Trading hours can make a crucial difference for traders regardless of their level. The major FX centres are located in different cities across the globe — London, New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt, and Sydney — so you need to pay attention to the session overlaps when trading certain currency pairs like, say, London’s GBP and Tokyo’s JPY. A time zone converter lets you know when trading sessions are opening or closing. The tool is necessary even for technical traders who are keen to know the exact release time. The Forex Market Hours converter is a simple tool you can bookmark for easy access to session times.

Forex Tool #5. Calculators

To make the trading process simpler, beginners tend to use several calculators for different purposes. A pip calculator displays the pip value of a chosen currency pair you want to trade. A volatility calculator, meanwhile, gives historical interest rate movement to help in trading decisions, helping traders manage risk. A profit calculator helps beginners define their potential profit or loss on a specific trading position. Moreover, a margin calculator determines the margin required, percentage, and amount of currency needed to hold a trading position. Lastly, you will also need a currency converter to convert one currency to another and check its corresponding value

 

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