The Future of Trading – Part 1

With so many technological advancements, predicting the future of trading can’t really be that difficult. Computers can break down currency transactions to search for good stock prices just as any normal trader would. However, the only major difference between human traders and machines is that machines don’t employ the use of chat rooms, which, if you can remember, have attracted a high degree of scrutiny from trading regulators who attempted to disclose all evidence leading to manipulative practices in the market.

And because of this high frequency trading is seen as a solution to the Forex market and has now become a benchmark in case of trading complications and a crisis in the markets. So, what are human traders to do then just babysit the algorithm trading systems? ICAP’s Justyn Trenner stated,

“To the extent the future is machines, its humans babysitting machines, it’s like the U.S. Air flight that landed on the Hudson River. The pilot had to control the angle of descent manually and used the autopilot to keep the plane level; Captain Sullenberger could only do this because he knew how to use the machine”.

And it is true when you think about it, because can you ever go to sleep behind the wheel after putting your car on cruise control? However, if you look at the algorithm and high frequency trading from a broader perspective, you will realize the machines can significantly aid traders in choosing the most perfect trade condition and help execute decisions fairly rapidly.

The chief execute of C-View, Paul Chappell said,

“[Algorithms] seem the most appropriate way to execute a trade. We have implemented a tool to take profit and stop losses on each currency. This program automatically puts a risk wrap around our trades, saving us the manual effort of introducing the same controls manually.”

Over the last couple of years, you may have witnessed a great deal of change in the financial community, more specifically in trading and the investment markets. There have been some cutting edge advancements made pertaining to how trading data and information is transferred and how traders use this information to conduct fast trades. Not to mention the significant progress which has been made in regards to how traders communicate with each other.

>The technology has made a great impact on the financial industry and has helped democratize entire equity markets. In simple words, traders are now seeing an end to trading floors where trades in stocks, commodities and foreign exchange. This is how technology impacted trading:

Simultaneous Access and Information Gathering

For a majority of traders and investors, the technological trends shifts in trading have provided a beneficial window of opportunity. And traders and investors these days and for the days to come will not have to lead a central position at an important hedge fund and neither would they have to work hard to make important connections with the brokerage community over at Wall Street.

This is mainly because of the fact that all vital information and updates pertaining to the stock and Forex markets are now made available instantly to all traders via news sources like CNBC and Bloomberg as well as on websites like Forbes.com and Seeking Alpha and social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. This automation and the free flow of financial notifications give a strong chance to every trader to make his trading decisions and implement his strategies. Information is now accessible to anyone and not just the top dogs in trading.

Individual traders can now eliminate the time limit and delays that over the years have accompanied trading reports pertaining to government inflation and corporate earnings and data. Traders of today and tomorrow will use different stock and Forex trading and investment platforms designed to help you trade via your smartphone, tablet, PC, and laptop from virtually anywhere in the world which means you will never be detached from the financial world. Plus, traders will also get financial notifications on the go using various trading applications.

Moreover, all this innovation has also allowed traders to come up with various types of strategic trading methods they implement in order to establish their positions in the financial markets for assets. Algorithm trading or high frequency trading have been established as the most popular form of trading traders from different financial firms have started to use. In fact, there are many recognized and well-known traders in the market who firmly believe that algorithms, along with complex charting and analysis of trades, can make traditional approaches to analysis and evaluation redundant.

Although this is disconcerting to some traders but you cannot undermine the fast developing trends technology is bringing, especially at this stage. It has therefore become increasingly apparent that electronic trading has taken over a considerable portion of both stock and Forex markets.

Increased Trader Competition

Ryan Jordan who is a market analyst at Prime Trade said that,

“It is now relatively easy for individual traders to gain access to a wide variety of asset classes, and to trade them high efficiency execution. This is why there is such a high level of competition from broker to broker to carve out larger sections of the market.”

 

If you look at it from a broader perspective, competition can be a good element here. And this competition has resulted in various brokerage firms drastically altering their approach in order for the financial communities to take notice. For example, most brokerages firms have guaranteed, that’s right, they have guaranteed stock and Forex traders a ‘trading execution’, which means they ensure traders their stock orders will be executed at exactly the price levels they want. But, as you may know, guaranteeing this is impossible when market volatility sets in, making price execution impossible.

Secondly, a majority of modern-day brokerage companies have explained price slippage can be devastating, especially when you’re talking about a highly volatile market. And this is where trading platforms come in and many platforms have undergone several improvements to guarantee efficiency in trading.

The future of trading is bright although it is too soon to be predicting any trends changes. When you talk about trading, marketing specialists have predicted that three or four year down the line even non-professional traders will also be able to establish themselves in the market for assets and the Forex market, which is a good thing.