Every Januray 1st, Forex traders make the same resolutions for the coming year: I will not use high leverage, I will not take profit before the set stop order, I will not buy USD just because Ben Bernanke told me so. But what about forex platforms, what are their do they foresee for the new year? Here at eToro we’ve made a few resolutionsabout where we want the forex industry to go in 2012 and as you may have guessed, 2012 is already announcing itself to be the year of social trading.

In 2012 we will maximize benefits from social trading tools
Although by the end of 2011 social trading has already taken the forex industry by storm, we believe that the current stage of social trading technology has chipped off just about the very tip of the iceberg that is the potential of social trading. What we hope to see in 2012 is a real blossoming of the social trading concept, and we challenge the rest of the industry to come up with as many ideas as possible for how social trading can improve the investment experience. Our own eToro OpenBook network is looking forward to the introduction of the first of our innovations for 2012, which is the Guru Finder tool. This feature will enable traders to easily find successful traders that suit their particular trading style, so they can then start copying these traders automatically using the eToro CopyTrader.

In 2012 we will promote responsible trading
Responsible trading is a challenge that FX service providers and traders have to take on together. No decent forex trading platform wants to see its traders lose money (if it does, you should probably look for a different platform), just as we assume that no trader wants to lose money either. The answer to the problem is simple, and it is responsible trading. The current problem is that although every fx guide will tell you to minimize risk, use low leverage and safe money management, forex trading providers do little to encourage traders to do so in their everyday trading activity. At eToro we have already launched a Responsible Trading program that serves to remind traders of reasonable risk limits, and it is already yielding significant results. We hope that other trading providers will do the same in the course of this year.

In 2012 we will learn to trade better together
Social trading makes it possible to profit from the experience of others not just financially, by copying their profitable trades, but educationally. Never before have beginner traders had such access to the expertise of professional traders, and it is up to fx trading providers to figure out ways in which novices can learn from experts through the social trading medium, so that they themselves can become Gurus instead of remaining copiers forever. Whether it is by giving detailed analyses of expert trader behavior, such as can be found on the eToro Blog, or by conducting Guru trader seminars, the educational promise of social trading networks must not be overlooked for yet another year.