Online trading in Kenya

What is online trading? 

Online trading is the purchase and sale of assets across an exchange or brokerage on the internet. 

In some cases, you are directly exchanging the stocks and assets with other investors, other times you are trading with derivatives and not actually the assets themselves. 

How to trade online? 

To get going with trading online, you only require internet access and a reliable broker. 

This is the system that will be your gateway into the world of trading and teach you how online trading works. From here you can carry out trades, learn how to engage with the market and ultimately earn profits through successful interactions. 

Online trading platform 

Since it is such a fundamental part of the process, finding and choosing the correct trading platform is critical to trading in Kenya. The main requirements from a trading platform is that they provide the type of trading that you want and that they do so in a safe and secure environment you can trust. 

What is an online trading platform? 

For those looking for online trading in Kenya, there are many available to them through the internet. These systems work exclusively through the internet and cater to many countries around the world. 

The brokers offer all the resources necessary to start trading, all you have to do is provide the capital you want to invest.

How to start trading online? 

 Online trading begins when you register an account on one of the platforms available to you. 

Traders have access to the best online trading in Kenya, with a range of investing opportunities across each of them. In order to effectively pick the platform for you, you must review as many of them as possible and get a clear understanding of what each of them offer. 

How to register? 

Once you have found the best online trading platform in Kenya, it is time to begin the process of registering an account. Fortunately, most of the platforms you will use are designed to be as user friendly as possible. This means that signing up and registering your account will be an easy and intuitive thing to do. 

Within minutes you will be set up and ready to go. 

How to open a demo account? 

 One of the greatest tools available to beginners and professionals traders alike, is the demo account. 

This is a free online trading room that most top brokerages offer their clients. It is a free way to start trading, experimenting with the platform itself and the market actions you can make. For practice and to develop new strategies, this is a very useful tool to keep in mind. 

How to open a real account? 

While the demo is great to start off with, eventually you will want to start trading with real money. To gain access to the real trading on your chosen platform, you must make an initial deposit into your trading account. 

This will activate your account and provide the funds you require to make your trades. 

How to fund a deposit? 

A deposit is made using your personal funds. 

This requires you to manage your available finances and make the necessary calculation for what you are willing to trade with. The important thing is to measure your risk and what you are willing to put on the line. Trading can be a volatile experience, with big wins or losses. 

Minimum deposit amount 

When you make a deposit, you are putting funds into your trading account to use later. This is done through a payment service available on your platform. There are different payments methods available but they all roughly do the same thing, facilitate movement of funds from one account to another. 

Some platforms will have a minimum that you can deposit at any one time. This will affect the amount you can start trading with so it is good to be aware of these limitations.

How to withdraw money? 

Withdrawals through online brokers and exchanges happen in much the same way as deposits. When you want to withdraw funds from your trading account you must use one of the various payment services the platform provides. This will allow you to move the balance into your personal account.  Ensure you trust the payment services you use to move around your finances. 

Trading markets 

Within the trading domain, there are many different markets you can experience. 

These range in the assets they encompass and the methods of trading involved. If you are unfamiliar with the type of trading you want to do, it is worthwhile exploring some of the options to see which appeals to you the most. 

How to trade on Stock Market? 

The stock exchange is one of the most popular forms of trading available. As perhaps the most recognisable form of trading, stocks are relatively easy to understand and engage with. A stock represents the ownership of a fraction of a company. The more shares you hold in a company’s equity, the greater your cut of potential profits and dividends. 

Not all stocks operate the same way. Understanding the stock you are trading and how it could potentially shift in value is central to this form of trading. 

As one of the most popular forms of investment, there are many platforms that provide this type of trading. 

How to trade indices? 

Indices are performance indicators for specific segments of the market. They can include entire exchanges or simply small portfolios of specific sectors. They are generally used to track and analyse the condition of the market in question. Trading indices works well to boost your portfolio as they generally include a range of different assets. 

Indices trading is popular in the form of derivatives. In this case you are working through the price movements without involving an exchange of assets. 

How to trade stocks? 

To trade stocks online in Kenya, you must find a platform that will present you with the necessary markets. 

These are generally big ticket markets that see a lot of interest and therefore a lot of support from the top trading apps. 

Once you have access through your platform, you can start analysing the various assets available through online market trading. When you find the ones that you are most excited about, you can begin share trading. These will then be used to accrue capital gains if the values rise or pay out dividends if the stock offers it. 

Forex trading 

This is the online currency trading market. If you believe that a particular currency will grow, while another may fall, you can trade on the appropriate pair that will profit from this combination. If one rises while the other falls then the corresponding currency pair will increase in value. 

Like with international stock trading online, there are a lot of options for trading here. Many of the top platforms will have some form of Forex to play around with. 

How to trade currencies? 

Trading a currency pair involves understanding both sides of the coin. You are not just trying to find the currency that will be increasing but rather one that will grow relative to its connected pair. Everything here is dependent on the corresponding value. Like with any market, there are certain assets that are more popular than others for their ability to regularly earn returns for investors. 

Major pairs 

The major currency pairs in the Forex market involve the most popular and valuable currencies from around the world. These are the ones that not only see the most movements in price but also have the most information available to study and understand the factors involved. These pairs include the famous giants like USD, EUR and GBP. 

Cross courses 

Cross courses are currency pairs made without the USD involved. These typically include other top currencies like the Euro and the Japanese Yen. With the unpredictability of the marketplace, there is definite benefit in finding assets that are spread out across the globe, able to generate profits regardless of the global climate. 

Cryptocurrencies trading 

Cryptocurrency trading is a very hot topic at the moment. With some of the more popular cryptos now becoming household names, there is more trading than ever around these digital assets. As a purely digital asset, this makes investing an exciting and volatile pursuit. 

There are lots of profits available in this sector but it comes at the cost of a good deal of uncertainty. 

How to trade bitcoin? 

Bitcoin has seen a meteoric rise in the last year and it does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. 

Trading around this particular currency has grown rapidly with all the success stories surfacing. While it is still hard to tell the exact scope of these digital assets, they are generating a lot of traction and interest in the marketplace. 

Trading Bitcoin is also more and more feasible for those around the world. Kenya has access to many top brokers that provide some form of crypto trading to their clients. 

How to trade ethereum? 

Ethereum is another crypto that has stuck around since its inception about a decade ago. Not nearly as popular as Bitcoin is right now, there is still renewed interest in this particular digital asset. Based on the speed of the market, there is a potential to jump on board a very exciting and valuable investment opportunity here. 

Commodity trading 

Commodities are the essential goods that companies require to operate and can be traded much the same way shares are in the stock market. 

The tendency with commodity trading is to go through futures contracts, which trade on the potential price of the asset in a specific time frame. This makes them better suited for short term trading. 

How to trade metals? 

Metals refers to the most popular precious metals that are traded on the market. These include the likes of gold, silver and copper but can include the lesser known metals as well. These are commonplace assets on any commodity trading section of an online broker. They will be listed amongst the other available commodities and tend to be traded as futures. 

How to trade gold? 

Gold is easily the most popular of the precious metals. While we are no longer operating on the gold standard, this metal holds its value very well. As a part of an investment portfolio it can serve to hedge your investments against inflation and other losses over time. Like with other precious metals, this can be found on many platforms under commodity trading. 

How to trade silver? 

Silver is another one of the popular precious metals and works like a slightly smaller investing avenue than that of the more popular gold. Still very much involved in the commodity market, you can find silver trading on any broker that provides commodities. 

How to trade crude oil? 

Finally taking a leave from precious metals, crude oil is another often traded commodity. Again, the value of this asset is based on the asset itself and moves slower than many other values in the market. This makes it a great addition to a portfolio since it adds increased reliability to the investment. 

Like with other commodities, there is trading available across many of the top brokers. 

How to trade assets? 

Assets are the standard form that securities on the market will take. 

These tend to operate in the same way as the standard financial markets. In this case, you will buy and sell the assets between other investors and even the broker itself. You are generally owning the asset itself but this can also be done through derivative trading in which case it is the underlying price that is involved, not the asset directly. 

How to trade cfds? 

CFDs stand for contracts for difference and involve an agreement between the trader and the CFD broker. With a CFD, you are trading on the differing prices of a specific underlying asset, within a time frame. At the expiration point, the prices are compared and the pay out is determined. 

CFD trading is growing in popularity and many brokers are offering this to their clients. 

How to trade etfs? 

ETFs, or exchange traded funds, are portfolios of assets. They are a basket of different securities all bundled together and traded as a whole. The benefit of these is that they can be more stable investments than the individual assets within them. ETF trading is available on many top brokers, with a selection of different ones to engage with. 

How to trade binary options? 

Binary online trading utilises simple trades that involve only two possible outcomes. They are traditionally done as derivatives, whereby the asset involved is used for the price value and not directly traded. A binary option has a specific time frame, usually very short, making them ideal for day traders. 

There are a growing number of binary options traders surfacing online, making this one of the easier markets to find and experience. 

Safety of Internet trading 

While the internet can be a scary place, the safety of online trading is of the highest calibre. 

Brokers are fully aware that traders want to keep their finances as safe as possible so they ensure that is very much the case by employing top of the line trading software. Top brokers will make their security measures well known and operate in a transparent and clear way, providing ample customer service along the way. 

How safe is it to trade online? 

Trading in general has some risks involved. However, there are no more risks around offline trading experiences than there are around the different types of online trading. With the high levels of security and transparency that the top brokers must operate on, there is a lot of protection out there for online traders. 

My online trading is protected

If you select a reliable online broker and use payment services you can trust, then you will be able to trust that your finances will be protected. 

Trading involves high stakes and the platforms that support it put in all the effort to make sure that your trades are secure at all times. This includes steadfast customer support. 

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