Auto trading

Auto trading or algorithmic trading is when a trader, rather than taking orders manually, uses a computer program that acts on his or her behalf.

Traders and investors can turn precise entry point (The price at which an investor buys an investment), exit and money management rules into automated trading systems that allow computers to execute and monitor the trades.

The entry point is usually a component of a predetermined strategy for minimizing investment risk and removing the emotion from trading decisions. Recognizing a good entry point is the first step in achieving a successful trade.

One of the biggest attractions of strategy automation is that it can take some of the emotion out of trading since trades are automatically placed once certain criteria are met.

With eToro, we allow users to determine an automated strategy very easily. In order to do this you have to pass an order and to not buy at the Market Price. Then, you will be able to choose a Stop Loss and a Take Profit so orders will also close automatically.

Mirror trading

Mirror trading is an evolution of automated trading.

With Mirror Trading, you use Autotrading strategies, but these are not installed on the investor’s platform—instead, they are hosted and run on the servers of the Mirror Trading Company.

Mirror Trading has been developed in the late 2000s. It allows investors to copy the forex trading behavior of experienced and successful forex investors from around the world. Mirror trading was initially only available to institutional clients but was later made available to retail investors.

The trader then chooses a trading strategy from the available options based on his or her investment goals, risk tolerance, investment capital and desired currencies. When the strategy sends a signal (execute their trades) to perform a transaction, the same signal is sent and replicated on the user’s trading account, which replicates (like a mirror) the operational orders of the strategy.

Copy Trading

Copy trading enables traders in the financial markets to automatically copy positions opened and managed by a selected investor, usually in the context of a social trading network.

Copy Trading is very similar to Mirror Trading, but with one major difference. The trader who decides to share his or her signals does not have to submit an automatic program to the Copy Trading Company; instead, he simply needs to connect his personal account.

Unlike mirror trading, a method that allows traders to copy specific strategies, copy trading links a portion of the copying trader's funds to the account of the copied investor.

Copy trading has led to the development of a new type of investment portfolio, which some industry insiders call "people-based" portfolios. People-based portfolios differs from traditional investment portfolios in that the investment funds are invested in other investors, rather than traditional market-based instruments.

Social Trading

Social trading is the newest, most exciting and most rewarding way for you to get access to the financial markets. eToro want to revolutionize the way people access the financial markets and make their trading experience more social, simple, enjoyable and transparent.

The difference with Copy Trading is that Social Trading usually includes the ability to connect with other investors using the platform in social ways (comments, likes, link sharing etc.) as well as find potential copy trading candidates by viewing investors' performance statistics. Social Trading has led to a new kind of investment called crowd-sourced investing. You can now become a smarter investor thanks to through crowd-intelligence also called the wisdom of the crowd.

eToro General Copy Trader considerations:

The minimum amount to invest in a trader is $100.

The maximum amount of traders you can copy simultaneously is 100.

The maximum amount you can start investing in a trader is $500,000.

The minimum amount for a copied trade is $1; trades below this amount will not be opened.

If you close a copied trade manually the funds from this position will be credited back to the Copy Trader balance.