The basics of trading on Fondex cTrader
Choosing your broker and your trading platform isn’t an easy decision, and you may want to consider several aspects before you open a live trading account.
In this article, we hope we can help you understand Fondex cTrader’s benefits over other platforms, but most importantly show you how it can serve your individual trading needs.
Fondex cTrader is the cTrader’s version we use at Fondex, a multi-asset CFD brokerage that offers trading across Forex, Shares, Indices, Metals, Energies and other CFDs.
Fondex cTrader can be divided into 4 sections. On your left, you have the side menu and on your right, the Active Symbol Panel. The top middle section shows you charts of any instruments you choose to trade and last, the bottom-middle section is the Tradewatch.
Fondex cTrader’s User Interface
Section 1: The side menu
The new version of cTrader offers 3-way trading on one platform; you can trade manually, copy top strategies or use trading robots (cBots). All trading methods can be accessed from the same interface as shown in the screenshot below.
- “Trade” is Fondex cTrader’s manual trading function which opens by default when you log in. Here you can choose your preferred instruments and open or close positions as you decide. You can also see the Watchlists, where you can add and remove your preferred instruments and create as many new watchlists as you want.
- The “Copy” tab opens the platform’s copy trading screen. Here you can copy tested strategies from other traders on Fondex cTrader or share your own and become a Strategy Provider.
- The “Automate” tab opens Fondex cTrader’s screen where you can trade using pre-installed cBots or create your own robot and get it to trade on your behalf, based on your bespoke strategy.
Other items in your side menu
- Analyze: here you can view your account’s information regarding your trades, your profit, balance and overall performance. This information is presented in tables and graphs, making it easier for you to understand your account’s progress and analyse your performance.
- Messages: clicking the Messages tab allows you to communicate with our support team and ask for help or guidance.
- Partner Center: Here you can register as a Fondex Partner and gain access to our partners’ portal where you can view your clients’ trading activity and your commissions.
- Activate Account: The account activation is a very important process that needs to be completed as soon as you open your account. Clicking this button will display the “Activate Account” window where you must fill in your details, complete a small questionnaire, upload your verification documents and you are set to go.
- Deposit: By clicking here, you can deposit funds into your live account using one of our trusted payment methods. Please note that Fondex doesn’t require a minimum deposit for you to start trading.
- Withdrawal: This is the function that allows you to withdraw funds from your account. Once you click on it, you will be redirected to the Withdrawals form, where you will fill in your desired amount and enter your withdrawal request. Please note that, as instructed by our regulator, you can only withdraw your funds using the same method you used to deposit. For more information on Deposits and Withdrawals, please watch our dedicated tutorial.
- Settings: at the Settings section you can customise the platform according to your preferences. You can change your password and set up your notifications. You can also change certain features of the platform, such as the language, how you prefer the position size to be displayed (in lots or units), enable or disable the QuickTrade feature, set up your Stop Loss and Take Profit figures etc.
Section 2: The Active Symbol Panel
The primary aim of the Active Symbol Panel is to provide traders with detailed information on specific symbols. You can find it on the right side of your screen and it consists of two tabs, the “Order” tab and the “DoM” tab.
Let’s see how you can practically use the Active Symbol Panel to trade.
Firstly, you can choose the symbol that you want to trade by clicking the downward arrow of the expandable Symbol menu. You can either type it, select it by expanding the asset classes tabs or choose one from your Watchlists.
For this example, we have chosen EURGBP.
The white box with the red diagonal line can be configured to 8 different colour codes that you can use to link your charts. This feature is especially useful if you do multiple time frame analysis for many instruments at the same time. “Linked Charts” is a unique feature of cTrader, and we will cover it in detail in future posts.
At the top right, we have the daily change in pips and percentage.
Daily change indicates the change of the currency rate compared to the previous day’s close price. As you may see, EUR had a +27.4 pips change against the GBP or 0.32 %.
Below the daily change figures, there are four order tabs: the Market, Limit, Stop and Stop Limit order tab.
Starting from the Market order tab, you may view the Sell price and the Buy price, the spread, and the daily high and low. At this moment of time, the spread (that’s the difference between Bid and Ask Price) is 0.6 pips, the daily high 0.86704 and the daily low 0.86707.
If you believe that the price of the EUR will keep rising against the GBP then you may want to choose to BUY the EUR. If you believe that the price will drop, then you may choose to SELL.
Define the amount of currency units or lots that you’d like to take on your trade by clicking the arrow up or down in the “Quantity” field. Alternatively, you can just type the amount.
Once you set your position size, your estimated Buy and Sell margin for this order will be shown. The estimated margin denotes the amount of funds you have to lock away in order to open the trade and gives you a good idea if your chosen size is good enough for your account equity before you place the order.
You can also set a Market range or leave this field blank. Market range is the maximum price deviation that you accept your order to be filled from the quoted price that you see currently in the platform.
Last, define your Stop Loss and Take Profit targets and click “Place order” to instruct the platform to execute your order.
The Active Symbol Panel also provides you with information on the specific symbol you have chosen to view. For example, you may access Live Sentiment data, market details, the inverted rate of the symbol, market hours, trade statistics, and useful links to financial websites.
The DoM tab
DoM stands for Depth of Market and it’s an indication of the liquidity and depth for a specific instrument. It is displayed as a list of buy and sell orders, organised by price level. If you are trading large position sizes, you may find Fondex cTrader’s transparent display of market depth very useful.
Clicking the main DoM tab will display three sub-tabs: Standard DoM, Price DoM, and Volume Weighted Average Price DoM.
Section 3: The TradeWatch
Right below your Charts, you can see Tradewatch. This section allows you to view your open Positions, your Orders, your trading History and the Transactions that you have made in and out of your account. After your order is executed, your position will be displayed under TradeWatch. The TradeWatch shows you all the basic information you need about your position such as:
- The date when you created the position
- The Symbol
- Your traded quantity
- The direction you are trading (Buy/Sell)
- The Entry price
- Your Take Profit and Stop Loss and your gross profit in the account’s currency
Section 4: Your Charts
The chart section is located in the middle of your screen. You can display a chart by right-clicking on an instrument in Market Watch and selecting the “New Chart” option. Fondex cTrader offers you the unique ability to trade straight from the chart. At the top middle, there is the QuickTrade panel where you can select your trading volume and click either Sell or Buy.
At the left of the QuickTrade panel, we have the magnifying lens icon that zooms in and out of your chart, the “default template” icon that you can use to save templates of your analysis, the “timeframes” icon where you may choose your desired timeframe and the “chart type” icon where you can choose among different chart types such as candlesticks or bar charts. At the top right, you will find a New Order button that you can use to place an order and a Layout tab which allows you to hide the TradeWatch and Active Symbol Panel if you want to display a bigger chart.
Chart trading and technical analysis indicators will be covered in future posts.
We hope that this educational article on Fondex cTrader has helped you to understand our platform better. Follow us for more articles on copy and automated trading!
Disclaimer: This material is considered a marketing communication and does not contain, and should not be construed as containing, investment advice or an investment recommendation or, an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments.
72.03% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
