If you are new to the world of trading, it’s pretty obvious to feel overwhelmed by the constant market fluctuations. However, You're not alone! Many beginners feel the same way when starting. But you will be pleasantly surprised to know that there are trading approaches that can help you make the trading journey easier.
One such approach is social trading. It is a concept that has transformed how traders approach the financial markets. It is essentially a form of online trading that harnesses the power of social networking to connect traders worldwide. One of the main subsets of social trading is known by the term ‘copy trading’, where traders copy the positions of expert traders to make profits. Copy trading is a strategy of copying trades of another trader in the hope of making profits. You don’t have to take the same lot size; you can choose the number of lots as per your trading capital using a lot size calculator. Similarly, profits or losses can be calculated, which you can measure in pips, and for this, you can use a pip calculator. With social trading, traders can share real-time information, strategies, and insights, creating a collaborative and dynamic trading environment.
In this beginner's guide to the Zulutrade social trading platform, we'll take you through the basics, including what it is, its features and the benefits it offers. We'll also walk you through the process of getting started. Stay tuned!
Meaning of Social Trading
Social trading is a broad trading category involving traders using social trading platforms to interact, share their trading strategies and ideas with each other, and copy the exact trades of other traders. The one who copies the trade from another trader is usually referred to as an “Investor or a Copier”, while the other trader from whom trades are being copied is preferably an experienced trader with a solid track record and called a “Trader, Master trader or a strategy provider”.
Simply put, social trading enables traders of different experience levels to come together on the same platform to share their knowledge and expertise.
Benefits of Social Trading
Some key benefits of trading are:
l Access to Collective Knowledge in Trading: One of the most significant benefits of social trading is that it allows traders to gain access to the collective knowledge and experience of a community of traders. This can be particularly beneficial for novice traders who may have less experience or knowledge than they can learn from more experienced traders.
l Ability to Copy Trade: Social trading also provides traders with the ability to automatically replicate the trades of more successful traders in their own account, which can be an excellent way for traders to diversify their portfolio and potentially achieve better returns without having to spend hours researching and analysing the markets themselves. Additionally, experienced traders can benefit from social trading by sharing their own strategies and insights, which can help to validate their own trading methods and attract new followers.
l Diversification: Another benefit of social trading is that it allows you to diversify your portfolio by following a variety of different traders. This can help you spread your risk across multiple traders and reduce your overall exposure to any one particular trader or market.
l Becoming a Part of the Community: Social trading can provide traders with a sense of community and support, which can benefit both mental and financial well-being. Trading can be a lonely and stressful endeavour, but social trading allows traders to connect with others who share their passion for the markets. This can help to reduce stress and improve overall trading performance.
Copy Trading Vs Social Trading
Copy trading and social trading have been used interchangeably on many platforms, but it should be noted that there’s a distinction between the two.
Social trading is more of an umbrella term that includes elements of copy trading. So you can say that copy trading is a part of social trading, but they are different.
Copy trading is a form of automated trading where you can copy-trade the trades of other experienced traders. It is ideal for those who want a hand-off experience and are fine with other traders doing the “work”. With copy trading, you need to click the “follow” button, and your account will literally be bound with theirs. From that point onwards, all their trading actions will be emulated on your account and you’ll be copying the forex trades of experienced traders.
Social trading, on the other hand, gives you more control over your trading account. You can decide if you want to copy the trading position as it is or want to make changes per your trading style. Moreover, Social trading platforms allow you to connect with other traders and typically include features such as forums and social and news feeds that allow traders to share information and discuss trading strategies and market conditions. This can help beginners learn from pro traders and stay up-to-date on market trends and developments.
Features of Zulutrade Social Trading Software
- Auto-Trading: ZuluTrade offers an automatic trading feature that allows traders to follow the trading strategy of other successful traders in real time.
- Social Networking: ZuluTrade offers a social networking feature that allows traders to connect with each other. The social trading features include a forum to discuss trading, a social feed to post anything about the market or a strategy and a trade wall representing traders’ activity and market sentiment.
- Risk Management: ZuluTrade offers a range of tools to calculate various aspects of the trade, including risk management. These advanced tools allow traders to control their risk and limit their exposure to any particular trader or market. This includes features such as Automator, which allows you to place your trade automatically. It will set stop-loss orders, close profitable trades and adjust trade sizes based on your account balance. Another risk management tool on Zulutrade is Zuluguard which automatically unfollows a trader when they deviate from their trading strategy and start making losses.
- Wide Range of Supported Assets: ZuluTrade supports a wide range of assets, including forex, stocks, commodities, indices, and more. This allows traders to diversify their portfolios and trade various markets.
- Demo account: Traders can also offer a demo account on ZuluTrade. This is quite useful in analysing the trader’s performance and whether they are suitable for copying.
How to Get Started on Zulutrade
Starting on Zulutrade is a simple and straightforward process that involves the following steps:
a. Opening an Account: The first step is to open an account. This can be done by visiting the Zulutrade website and clicking the "Sign Up" button. You will be prompted to enter your personal information, such as your name, email address and password. Once you've registered, you can log in to your account and explore the copy trade software.
b. Scanning Profiles: This is the next crucial step, as it allows you to find traders whose investment strategies align with your own. You can filter through traders based on various criteria, such as their performance history, risk profile, and the markets they trade-in.
c. Assessing Risk Profile: Assessing a trader's risk profile is also an important step in the process. This will help you understand the level of risk you take when you copy a trader's trades. You can find a trader's risk profile by checking their statistics on Zulutrade. This will give you an idea of their overall performance and the risk level they take in their trades.
d. Funding: Finally, you'll need to fund your account before you can start copying trades. You can use trading tools like margin and position size calculators to determine the funds you need to open a certain position. There are other forex tools that you can use to track your trading performance. Ultimately, you need to deposit money into your account via available funding methods.
Zulu Social Feed
The Zulu social feed is a valuable feature of the ZuluTrade copy trading software that allows traders to share their thoughts with other traders on the copy trading platforms. This can include updates on their current trades, market analysis, and trading strategies.
In addition, ZuluTrade's social feed also includes a commenting system where traders can discuss and share their opinions on the market, the performance of different signal providers, and other traders' insights. This allows traders to actively dialogue with other traders and gain valuable insights from other traders' perspectives.
Moreover, the social feed is a news feed that displays real-time updates and information from other traders on the platform. It can help traders to stay informed about the latest market trends and developments and to learn from more experienced traders.
Trader’s Profile
A trader's profile is a feature that allows traders to showcase their trading performance and strategies to other traders on the copy trade platform. The profile includes various information about the trader, including their trading history, performance statistics, and any other relevant information they choose to share. Trader’s profile is the best place to look into if you want traders to copy.
A trader's profile on ZuluTrade typically includes the following information:
l Trading History: This includes a record of the trader's past trades, including the assets they traded, the trade size, and the trade outcome.
l Performance statistics include information such as the trader's overall profit and loss, number of winning trades and average profit. For this, you can take the help of a profit calculator, which helps you accurately determine return on investments.
l Strategy Description: This includes information about the trader's trading style, including the types of assets they trade, their risk management strategies, and any other relevant information about their approach to trading.
l Risk Management Information: Information like the maximum drawdown percentage, the risk per trade, and the risk per trade percentage.
l Followers: The number of followers the trader has, as well as the number of copiers.
l Trading Activity: The trader's activity on the platform is also visible on their profile; this includes the number of trades made, the average duration of trades, and the number of open trades.
l A Profile Picture And Personal Information: A trader can also upload a profile picture and share personal information such as their name, location, and brief bio.
Safety Features On Zulutrade
Investors can use several safety features to protect themselves from risk and loss on Zulutrade. Some of these include:
- Setting Stop Loss Orders: This allows you to limit the amount you are willing to lose on a trade. Once the trade reaches this limit, the position will automatically be closed to prevent further losses.
- Setting a Risk Management Strategy: This involves setting a percentage of your account balance that you are willing to risk on each trade. This can help you to control your overall risk exposure and prevent large losses.
- Diversifying Your Portfolio: By copying trades from multiple traders with different strategies and risk profiles, you can spread your risk across different markets and asset classes.
Conclusion
Social trading offers a unique opportunity for traders to come together and collaborate in an informative and empowering way. It's a powerful tool that allows traders to leverage the collective knowledge and experience of a community of traders, potentially leading to more informed and profitable trading decisions.