For those who started trading on desktop computers and laptops before smartphones, mobile trading when it appeared seemed finicky and more like a way to monitor trades. However, as smartphones have advanced, mobile trading has become more than a way to check trades on the go. So, is mobile trading now suitable or advantageous for some styles of trading, or is it still more a way to way to check trades?
The most important thing for trading, and the central part of a platform, is the chart. This is where the problem was, at least partly, and where it is being solved. Modern smartphones have high-definition screens, powerful processors and wide screens that can effectively present a chart as a smaller version of the type of chart used on desktop, at least in terms of the chart price representation, like candlestick charts. Modern smartphones can also help stretch the area for the chart with curved edges.
Mobile phones do not typically support automated trading. However, mobile phones do support discretionary trading, but this covers a wide field of types of trading. Arguably, mobile trading is not ideal for day trading, as the trader may want extra space and processing power to effectively perform technical analysis and access fundamental information (hence the classic multi-screen trader's setup). But is all this space necessary for self-directed (non-automated trading) or is it just there to give a gaming setup feel of raw power?
Modern smartphones can be extremely powerful, comparable in some respects to laptops 5-10 years ago. The tech that does not scale in this way is the GPU, hence why there is an argument for a desktop or a gaming laptop for tasks requiring multitasking on visual tasks, such as charting analysis, perhaps on multiple desktop screens. But the space is there to an extent as well as the visual clarity and detail, from advanced high-definition screens (e.g. OLED and AMOLED).
So, what kind of trading is suited to the tech, let's reverse engineer it. Looking at the strengths of mobile, we see that it is good for charts, but space limitations make for multiple overlays of indicators and tools potentially problematic, and more suited to a larger screen. So we are looking at trading that seeks to capitalize on very clear charts but without too much extra detail.
This leaves as possible candidates candlestick analysis and analysis based on visual support and resistance layers, as well as, but to a lesser extent, due to lack of space, trading based on value levels. However, the experienced trader may be familiar enough with support/resistance level behavior, including how the market tends to trace out patterns around significant value levels, so that they can overcome representational issues from the smaller screen.
Let's unpack the advantages of mobile trading further. It allows the trader to use multi-time frame analysis. A nice clear screen and a good platform allow the trader to check the chart at multiple time frames, thus allowing the trader to get a sense of competing and complementing resistance levels as well as changes in direction and momentum.
Multi-time frame analysis is a way to screen trades and thus help make decisions based on entry, management, and exit. Thus a mobile can give a heads-up to the trader, but one that may need further consideration on a laptop or desktop. However, this may be the one true strength of a mobile in terms of facilitating trading. It can be helpful that the chart flips to landscape to make use of the extra space this view provides.
Can a mobile provide a way to help focus on trades as well? It is the nature of a mobile that commands focus in a way that a laptop or desktop does not. Indeed, the very nature of a larger screen is to allow for multi-tasking distractions. However, the effort needed to take in a smaller screen as well as the need to hold it (typically) allows for a depth of focus on the screen. So when looking at the chart, the user's focus is required. This may help create a more detailed approach to analyzing a chart, even though the chart itself may not be as expansive as the laptop or desktop equivalent. While mobile might be criticized for being too commanding of focus, in the case of trading, this might be an advantage.
