With all the advances in technology over the past number of years online trading has become one of the most popular ways to trade. Now you can trade from home, from work, and even while on the road.

It is truly convenient to have all of your brokerage information at your fingertips. Stock traders can tell at a glance exactly where their account stands. Being able access all this information from virtually anywhere in the world is the ultimate in flexibility.

You can see your trades profit or looks in real time and see instantly see the value of your entire portfolio at a glance. Grab quotes, pull up your favorite stock charts, or even see the latest news on your favorite stock. Having all this information at your fingertips really allows you to have your finger on the pulse of the market.

Parked Orders – This is another feature that you’ll fall in love with. With many online trading platforms you are able to “park” orders. This simply means that you can store orders within your online trading platform for future use.

Simulated trading is another one of my favorite features. This is an important part of learning about your online trading software. In simulation mode you can easily sharpen your skills without using real capital. It’s a good idea to make sure that each of the features works as you think they should before using real money. Simulated trading can help you eliminate any order placement mistakes you might have made before you became familiar with the trading software.

One thing to keep in mind while doing your simulated trading is to make it as realistic as possible in order to get a feel for real trading. In other words don’t overtrade just because you can’t lose money at this stage. Trade as if the money in the simulated account were real.