Broker to Trading

Pepperstone Australia offers fast order processing on a range of markets from Forex to Stocks CFDs. It uses ECN trading technology to enable a wide range of trading styles supporting traders who execute their own trades, use robots to trade on their behalf and who wish to copy other traders.

Pepperstone has three main platforms: MetaTrader 4 (MT4), its successor MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader and TradingView. MT4 is a widely used platform, MT5 has upgrades on MT4 and cTrader is a user friendly platform with powerful automated trading features, like MT4 and MT5.

Is Pepperstone an ECN broker ?

Pepperstone does not consider itself a market marker broker as it does not operate a dealing desk and create its own prices. Rather it sources its prices from external liquidity providers via its electronic communications network (ECN) and there is no dealing desk intervention, so in this sense it can be considered an ECN broker.

What is Pepperstone's minimum deposit ?

Pepperstone's minimum deposit is $200. However Pepperstone says that it does not actively enforce this minimum and traders may deposit less than this.

Pepperstone Premium Client Service

If the trader can meet one or more of these conditions for two consecutive calendar quarters, they can qualify as a Premium Client. The conditions are: $15 million notional volume of Forex per month or Commodities per month or CFDs per month. These clients receive advanced market insights, exclusive invitations to VIP premium Forex events, private dining experiences, workshops and seminars and sporting events. Additionally they can receive daily cash rebates, T&Cs apply, if they also quality for the Active Trader Program.

Pepperstone's Active Trader Program

This is for higher volume traders, who trade at least 200 lots per month and maintain this volume over three consecutive months. For 200-500 lots there is a 15% rebate per lot on Razor accounts, T&Cs apply. As well as daily cash rebates paid into the trader's account, there is priority client support, complimentary VPS hosting and advanced insights and reports from Pepperstone's analysts.

What are Pepperstone's potential advantages ?

Pepperstone is a regulated broker. It provides a range of markets to trade including Stocks and Cryptocurrency CFDs. One of its key features is that it is an ECN broker. It uses technology to route orders rapidly, resulting in most orders being processed in around 30 milliseconds at Pepperstone Australia. Pepperstone allows a wide range of trading styles which may not be supported at other brokers, including scalping. Pepperstone explicitly allows news trading.

Pepperstone offers three main platforms and allows the trader to use the features of these platforms from charting analysis for the trader who executes their own trades to trading robots executing algorithms on behalf of the trader. Pepperstone also has extensive support for copy and social trading, offering ZuluTrade, Myfxbook, Mirror Trader, RoboX, MetaTrader Signals and DupliTrade.

What types of traders may wish to consider Pepperstone ?

While Pepperstone has extensive support for automated trading with robots, via MT4, MT5 and cTrader and ECN accounts, it can also be used by traders who execute their own trades. While there is a Razor account, which offers low spreads plus a competitive commission charge (suitable for automated traders) there is also a Standard account, which traders who do not wish to trade with a commission charge may use (however spreads can be higher but are still tight).

Pepperstone in its earlier days had the bulk of its offering as Forex Pairs (though this has changed with Stocks CFDs now adding bulk) and its infrastructure can be seen as supporting Forex trading. This is a market which is open continuously 24/5. Forex is a complex market evidencing changing patterns and volatility and can be hard to trade. Thus traders use a wide range of methods, from non-automated to automated. Forex strategies can be long term, medium term or short term, sometimes very short term. Pepperstone allows all these styles, and its ECN order processing lets the trader trade with shorter term trades if they wish.

While robots will not necessarily perform better than a human trader and indeed can rapidly produce losses, they can have a potential advantage in terms of speed and accuracy and the capacity to be always on (especially if the trader is using a VPS, which is possible at Pepperstone). This allows the trader to trade at times they may not be available or to use strategies which the trader may find hard or impossible to implement (for example rapidly executing trades).

Traders may want to analyse markets themselves and the platforms have a wide range of tools to do so. However traders may wish to use information about other traders and Pepperstone also has considerable support for social trading. Traders may want to go a step further and copy the trades of other traders and this functionality is also available.

Which platform should the trader use ?

This depends on a wide range of factors, including ones of personal preference. The trader can test all platforms at Pepperstone Australia by creating demo accounts, Create Demo Accounts. Though the trader can create demo accounts from their live account as well.

cTrader - A powerful platform with a clear interface

While all trading platforms can be considered as user friendly when the trader becomes familiar with them, to the extent they may prefer to stick with the platform, cTrader although it is used for automated trading has an interface which is both powerful and clear to use. Thus traders who execute their own trades including beginner traders may find they wish to try out this platform and to trade and develop their styles.

When and if they want to try automated strategies or to automate their own strategies, the trader can use cTrader's automated trading features, called cTrader Automate and available on their platform. The trader can use or build cBots online trading robots. cTrader has an extensive online support community which the trader is connected with when they create their account.

MT4 and MT5 - A major Forex trading platform and its successor

MetaTrader 4 is a popular platform associated with both Forex trading and automated trading. It offers Expert Advisors (EAs) which are online trading robots. These can be downloaded and even built by the trader, in the MQL4 language. However MT4 has a full complement of trading tools, including graphical objects and technical indicators and like MT5 may be used by all traders.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the successor, but not currently the replacement to MT4. It has a number of upgrades, including more inbuilt technical indicators (though with the caveat for MetaTrader that indicators can be downloaded or even built by the trader), graphical objects, time frames and order execution types and an economic calendar. An economic calendar can be a vital tool for traders as it shows when economic data is being released which can help indicate when news affecting markets may happen, not simply for news traders but for all traders whose trades may be affected.

While it is possible for MT4 to support markets like Stocks CFDs, these tend to be on MT5, while can have an extended range of markets, and this is the case currently at Pepperstone. Like MT4, MT5 offers EAs, but built in the MQL5 language. There is also an extensive online support community for MetaTrader (where the trader can download EAs, for example).

What markets can be traded at Pepperstone ?

Pepperstone provides Forex, Indices, Metals, Soft Commodities, Cryptocurrencies and Stocks, offered as CFDs. A CFD references a market, allowing the trader to trade the market without owning it. The total is 1000+, which is available on MT5. MT4 and cTrader have less and neither offers Stocks CFDs.

What Stocks CFDs are offered ?

On MT5, Pepperstone provides 1000+ Stocks CFDs. When trading a Stocks CFD the trader does not own any Stock, can go long or short and use leverage up to 20:1 (increasing leverage increases risk). Pepperstone lets the trader trade US Stocks in extended hours. What this means is that the trader may be able to trade when earnings are released and before market open, allowing the trader to trade on the news with Stocks CFDs. Extended hours trading is also available on popular Stock Indices CFDs (which reference a Stock Index rather than a particular Stock).

Which Cryptocurrency CFDs are available ?

Pepperstone offers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Ripple, Cardano, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Binance Coin, EOS, Polkadot, Stellar, Uniswap, Tezos, Solana, Polygon, Avalanche and Terra CFDs on its platforms. A CFD lets the trader trade the market without owning it. Thus the trader does not need a wallet to trade a Cryptocurrency. Leverage is offered up to 5:1, though Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and increasing leverage increases risk. Cryptocurrency CFD Trading.

Forex Pairs

Pepperstone offers 60+ Forex Pairs, with its highest leverage which is . On the Razor ECN account spreads can be as low as 0.0 pips, plus a commission charge. The commission charge is $7 per lot round turn on MT5 and $7.53 per lot round turn on MT4 and 7 units per lot round turn on cTrader.

Regulation

Pepperstone Group Limited's address is Level 16, Tower One, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3008, Australia and is licensed and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) with AFSL No. 414530.

Why Pepperstone Australia ?

Traders can use Pepperstone's online trading platform to trade a wide range of markets in a wide range of ways. MT4 and MT5 can be used by traders who execute their own trades but additionally have powerful automated trading features. The same is true for cTrader, but cTrader has a user friendly interface which all traders may find helpful. Pepperstone uses ECN order processing technology to provide no dealing desk intervention fast order processing, supporting a wide range of trading styles including news trading and scalping. Continuing with its support for a wide range of trading styles, Pepperstone supports a varied range of social and copy trading platforms and tools.