WebIRESS is a popular browser based trading platform, which is available from several CFD providers including Comsec in Australia. The WebIRESS Trading Platform is designed by Iress Market Technology and currently facilitates trading for shares, DMA CFDs, ASX CFDS, Warrants and exchange traded options. WebIRESS is based on the same system as the IRESS platform but rather than being a downloadable software application, WebIRESS is java based so is accessible from everywhere using an Internet browser. It is very well regarded, but is usually offered with a subscription fee rather than being free. It has recently been upgraded to WebIRESS Plus, but only one provider, International Capital Markets, is offering the upgrade in Australia at the moment.
The trading platform is web based, uncomplicated and fast in execution, and provides direct market access (DMA) to the ASX and to other markets around the world. Most CFD providers who offer WebIRESS will allow a free demonstration for you to trial the software and see if you like it.
Because it offers DMA, you will always have updated real-time quotes available. The software allows you to view the markets depth, and by using the Level II information screen you can place orders that may improve on your broker’s current pricing. Of course, there may be a delay before these orders are filled as you need a taker on the other side.
You also get access to 20 years of pricing history in the software, which will help with developing your trading strategies and perform detailed back testing. If you’re looking for news, it is available from several different providers such as Reuters, AAP and Dow Jones. In addition, WebIRESS also provides detailed share data including dividends information, historical corporate actions, company profiles and charting tools for technical analysis.
Amongst the more popular features, WebIRESS provides you access to real time live and dynamic pricing updates for:
- ASX Stocks
- Interest rate securities
- Warrants
- Global market indices (i.e. access to live international markets)
One of the interesting things with DMA, as opposed to the market maker system, is that your broker will offset your CFD trades directly onto the market whenever you place a trade. This is not necessarily true with the market maker system, where the broker may take a view on the incoming orders, and offset buyers and sellers in the house. Thus when you trade using DMA, you are having a direct impact on the supply and demand on the market because the shares will be actually bought and sold. This is not the case when using a market maker model. WebIRESS provides you with the market depth including a list of all current bids and offers and the last 20 trades for the current day for all of the exchanges listed above.
If you are interested in day trading, then it is certainly worth looking at the WebIRESS platform. It is significantly faster than many others, as it has been optimized for speed. You can also customise the WebIRESS workspace layout to suit your own preferences or create custom keys for frequently repeated tasks and save all personal settings for future use. The facilities offered are comprehensive, even though they may not include all the technical indicators of more sophisticated charting packages. But you do have all types of moving averages, Bollinger bands, and stochastic oscillators available, so you can implement most trading plans directly from the trading platform.
Using WebIRESS to trade CFDs
CFD trading on webIRESS needs to be enabled by your CFD provider. Assuming that your broker has an IRESS order routing system, this should be relatively simple to setup to allow DMA CFD trading.
The platform offers a full range of orders including advanced orders variations. You can place contingent orders, which allow you to pre-program your trade from entry to exit. There are also trailing stop orders which allow you to lock in your profits, together with more common orders such as stop losses.
The problem with WebIRESS is not a functional one. It functions well, and some traders would not use anything else. What you have to work out for yourself is whether using WebIRESS to trade contracts for difference will give you any advantage over trading with another broker who offers a free trading platform. You may find that the monthly subscription does not buy you any improvement in practical terms – especially when there are other trading platforms available that can offer you comparable and even better features for free. In any case most brokers also offer a WebIRESS demo for prospective clients so make sure to trial the platform and test it’s functionality. In fact it is always a good idea to trial out demo versions of the different software packages available on the market, so that you can make a more reasoned decision.
