What’s the best way to stay warm this winter, faced with the chilly outlook for both the weather and the global economy? Why not cuddle up with a few millions of your closest trader friends. Yes, that’s right, while outside sleet and snow are busy keeping people apart, millions of traders from all over the world are connecting through online social trading networks, such as eToro Open Book, from the warmth and comfort of their homes.

So why are social trading networks the big trend this winter season? Simply put, social trading is less risky, more profitable, and best of all, it’s more fun. As much as you may be attached to your technical charts, there’s no denying that this relationship is pretty unilateral. A social trading network, on the other hand, opens the door to an arena where ideas are exchanged and where you can be an active participant, as opposed to a passive slave of the financial markets.

Just looking at the OpenBook network lets you know that financial trading will never be the same. A quick glance at the live trading activity feed and you find out that “Hschinner” from Germany has gained 8.5% on a short EUR/USD position, “unniml1” from India has started copying “Hschinner”, and “unniml1” has then made 7.9% profit on the next trade that he copied from “Hschinner”. Doesn’t that just sum it up? A novice trader has the opportunity to trade as well as the best trader on the network with one click of the button.

In any other field we are told that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Social trading turns this assumption upside down, and instead the chain that is the network is as strong as its strongest link. The thought of running as fast as UsainBolt, or being as smart as Albert Einstein by virtue of belonging to the same species as them is ridiculous. And yet, this is precisely what social trading does: it makes you as good as the best.

And the result? Social trading networks are popping up like mushrooms after the rain and quickly becoming the industry standard. By the end of the winter of 2012, tens of millions of traders will be sharing trading information, following each other, copying expert traders, and wondering how they ever traded before social trading came along.