Connect with us

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

The MetaTrader 4 ( MT4) Platform

MetaTrader 4 platform is one of the most widely used Forex platforms in the world.

It is suitable both for novices and for experienced traders.

Metatrader 4 review considers the software as leading platform for automated trading. A simple and understandable interface provides comfortable usage and high opportunities of customization. MetaTrader works with most popular systems.

Download metatrader 4 version is possible for android, for ipad, for mac and even for linux. Mt4 review counts thousands users of this platform from different countries.

Best ECN Forex brokers mt4 use this platform to offer their clients a fast and comfortable trading. The api of this web platform allows traders to customize it and make their own trade platforms tuned just under their strategies.

MetaTrader platform also provides a possibility to try work with demo account before entering a real currency market. Every trader could try a simulator to make sure his strategy is really working.

The main advantage of MetaTrader is its friendly interface. Everyone who wants to know how to use metatrader 4 could learn to trade with it just in 1-2 days. The platform provides a lot of real-time data including signals and indicators.  It allows to trade more effectively being always aware of market news. A lot of useful tools including features for graphical and technical analysis, online news, currency quotes and so on allow to make trading process even more simple and profitable.

Finally, MetaTrader allows users to create their own unique indicators using built-in MQL language. A reliable encryption system keeps all of the data safe. User also could view his trade history from the program archive.

Metatrader 4: An Overview

The MT4 platform truly is a powerful online trading platform that has stood the test of time. The software was designed by MetaQuotes to provide brokerage facilities to customers in three main financial markets: Forex, CFD and Futures markets. Despite numerous trading platforms, some more superior, being developed in that time, Metatrader 4 is still one of the best forex trading platforms available currently. It is so popular that most Forex brokers continue to offer it to clients despite the more advanced Metatrader  5 now being available.

Many Forex brokerage businesses have been formed over the last ten years as a direct result of the Meta Trader 4 tool. One of the main reasons for this is that Metatrader 4 is a full cycle platform that combines both back office elements and front end terminals. This makes it incredibly affordable for brokerage businesses to offer traders exceptional service, as they are not required to invest in any other software or equipment.

Metatrader 4 Platform Architecture

This detailed image effectively explains how the MT4 platform works connecting the core server with managers, administrators, data centers, client and mobile terminals.

As depicted in the image above, the Metatrader 4 platform provides traders with access to Forex markets on multiple devices including PCs, tablets and smartphones.While certain functionalities might not be available on mobile devices, it fill traders with confidence know they can access the markets and their open trades even while away from their desks.

MT4 Instant And Market Execution Explained

>When placing an order in MetaTrader 4 you may have noticed the software states the execution type. The MetaTrader 4 platform supports both Instant and Market execution, but you will find that many brokerages will only offer one type of execution. What execution type the brokerage offers is dependent on what business model the brokerage is using.

Market Execution 

 

STP and ECN brokerages will use Market Execution. Market execution will involve the brokerage placing your trade with one of the firm’s liquidity providers. The fact that the trade is being placed with a liquidity provider means the trader will be unable to set stop loss and take profit levels before the order is placed. This is due to the fact that the price at which the position is opened is not yet known, so it is not possible to set a stop loss and take profit at a particular level. Traders however can easily modify the position after the order has been placed with a liquidity provider. While this can be slight a hassle, it is not the end of the world. Though there is a slight risk that the market could move significantly against you while you are setting the stop loss and take profit levels.

Instant Execution 

Brokerages operating a dealing desk will use Instant Execution. When a trader places an order using Instant execution the trade will be instantly executed at the price displayed on the screen.  With instant execution traders are able to set stop loss and take profit levels before the order has been placed. The brokerage may come back with a re-quote if they choose not to fill your order at the quoted price. With instant execution traders can be safe in the knowledge that there stop loss and take profit levels will have been set the instant the position is opened.

Instant Execution vs. Market Execution

While Instant execution allows a trader to set up stop losses and take profit levels only brokerages operating a dealing desk will offer such execution.  Those wanting to use MetaTrader 4 with an STP/ECN brokerage will have to deal with market execution. The only downside to Market execution with MetaTrader 4 is that traders will have to manually set their stop loss levels and take profit levels. Traders will simply have to be careful during periods of high volatility and to remember to set appropriate stops and take profit levels.

 


 

Metatrader 4 Bridge

With the specialist software developer primarily targeting market makers and not ECN/STP brokerages during the development of the MetaTrader 4 platform. This is due to the fact that vast majority of retail brokerages at the time operated dealing desks, with the ECN/STP brokerage model only coming to prominence in the past few years.

MT4 Bridging  Software & Execution

This means that the MetaTrader 4 platform is not capable of passing through client orders to a brokerages liquidity providers without a piece additional bridging software. A number of third party software companies, aggregated liquidity providers and prime brokerages have developed their own bridging software which allows for users of the MetaTrader 4 platform to access interbank liquidity via the trading platform and their retail brokerage.

The bridging solution used by a brokerage can have an impact on the quality of execution that a trader receives. The bridging solution sits on a brokerages MetaTrader 4 server and then passes on orders placed with the brokerage to the firm’s selected liquidity providers. Different bridging solutions have different capabilities, which can directly impact on execution quality. For instance, different solutions can handle different volumes of simultaneous trades, which can lead traders to experience delayed execution during periods where large numbers of orders are being placed. Additionally, some bridging solutions allow large trades to be placed across multiple liquidity providers while others do not. This means that the quality of the bridging solution used by an ECN/STP brokerage can be directly correlated with the quality of execution a trader receives.

MT4 to MT4 Bridging

MetaTrader 4 to MetaTrader 4 bridging solutions are also available and are used by a number of smaller retail Forex brokerages. An MT4 to MT4 solution, allows for a brokerage to submit orders to another brokerage also using the MetaTrader 4 platform. This means that smaller retail brokerages can access the liquidity of larger brokerages of their choice. Typically, MT4 to MT4 bridging software has the capability to allow brokerages to then mark-up their spreads and/or charge commission. Such bridging solutions has allowed a number of new smaller firms enter into the brokerage market simply sourcing their liquidity from one or more larger Forex brokerages.

 


Expert Advisory in MT4 For Beginners

Expert Advisors are programs which allow individuals to automatically trade the financial markets via the MetaTrader trading platform. There are a number of different ways to build Expert Advisor’s, and it is now possible to build your own custom Expert Advisor’s without having to code them yourself.

An Expert Advisor, often shortened to EA by those in the know, is a program which can be used in conjunction with the MetaTrader 4 platform to automatically trade the markets. The program will follow the instructions of the programmer exactly and trading through EA’s is extremely popular.

One clear advantage to using an Expert Advisor, is that if you already have a working trading system in place you can simply program an EA to undertake all your trading activity for you. If your brokerage offers a VPS service, it may be possible to run your Expert Advisor 24 hours a day meaning that you never miss a trading opportunity. It also allows you to easily trade multiple currency pairings at the same time, which can otherwise be quite demanding.

Traders should be warned that there are many unscrupulous individuals selling EA’s that don’t perform as advertised. It is recommended that traders program their own Expert Advisors, to ensure that they fully understand their own trading system. That is not to say their aren’t some good EA’s available for purchase, but finding a good affordable Expert Advisor can be a real challenge. It is possible to create an Expert Advisor yourself though this not particularly easy, though a number of tools have made creating an Expert Advisor much easier.

Transferring the File(s) 

 

  1. Either create or download an Expert Advisor. Make sure you make note of where you saved the relevant files.
  2. Select and Copy the files you need for installing your Expert Advisor.
  3. Find out where your version of MetaTrader 4 is installed. The standard location where MT4 is installed is the C:\Program Files folder. Look for your installation of MetaTrader 4.
  4. Within the MetaTrader 4 folder, look for the Experts sub-folder. Open this up and paste your Expert Advisor into the folder. If an Expert Advisor uses .dll files these will likely need to be placed in the libraries folder.
  5. If the computer asks for permission just click: Continue.

Installing onto MetaTrader 4  

  1. Launch your version of the MetaTrader 4 platform.
  2. On the left hand side navigator, look for the Expert Advisors tab. Clicking on the plus sign will open up a menu of all the available Expert Advisors.
  3. Click on the EA you want to use and drag it onto the relevant tab.
    Adjusting your EA’s settings 
  1. Once you have dragged your Expert Advisor onto a chart, a pop-box will appear showing your settings.

 

  • Make sure all your settings are how you want them before clicking Ok.
  • Once you have followed the above steps you will be ready go. It is strongly recommended that you undertake trial trading using a demo account or alternatively you undertake back-testing to get an idea of how the Expert Advisor is likely to perform. To stop an Expert Advisor from running simply Click the Expert Advisor button found above the charting screen.

 

 


 

Expert Advisor Set Up In MT4 / 5

Expert Advisor’s are written in the MetaQuotes Language, with the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms using different versions of the MetaQuotes Language. This means that Expert Advisor’s written in MQL4 will only work on MetaTrader 4, with the two languages not being compatible. For those with no coding experience writing an Expert Advisor will likely be quite challenging, with the MetaQuotes language being based on object-orientated C++ language.

The official MetaQuotes Language 4 site does include complete documentation explaining all the features of the language and how they can be used. This documentation is squarely aimed at those who have previously programming experience. Those who have programmed in a language based on C should be able to pick the MQL4/5 in a relatively short space of time. There is not however any particularly accessible tutorials which would allow a complete newcomer to programming to learn the language, this likely due to the strong similarities between MQL and C++.

Use An Expert Advisor Builder

There are a number of different tools which allow traders to build Expert Advisors without having to write any code themselves. These tools make it much easier to build an Expert Advisor (EA), but generally these tools are unable to build some more sophisticated Expert Advisors which traders may want to build.

Expert Advisor Builder for MetaTrader 4

The Expert Advisor Builder for MetaTrader 4 is free to use and allows traders to build custom EA’s which use MetaTrader’s built in indicators. The tool is relatively easy to use, with traders simply adding in the indicators they want which are then combined to create a program which will place trades based on the users input. Out of the Expert Advisor builders I have used this is by far my favourite and will allow you to create relatively sophisticated EA’s without having to write any code yourself. As long as you have a good grasp of logical operators, building an Expert Advisor using this free tool should be a breeze.

Strategy Tune

Strategy Tune is a free visual Expert Advisor builder which allows you to create EA’s for the MetaTrader 4 platform. The Visual platform is meant to make building an Expert Advisor much easier, allowing you to build an EA by dropping various indicators and operators onto the interface of the free app. This is good as it allows you to see the logic behind the Expert Advisor and can help you build some quite sophisticated automated trading programs. I found the learning curve with Strategy Tune to be greater than with the other option mentioned in this article, though Strategy Tune has more flexibility and is superior should you want to build a sophisticated EA.

Paying A Programmer

There exist a number of companies and programmers who specialise in writing Expert Advisor’s for the MetaTrader platform. These programmers will write you a custom Expert Advisor based on your specification, allowing you to concentrate on working out a successful trading strategy, leaving the behind the scenes work to a developer who is fluent in the MetaQuotes language. The cost of such an option varies greatly and the quality of the final product many differ depending on the quality of the programmer hired. Before pursuing this option, traders should make sure they have worked out a successful trading strategy and properly research the programmer/company to complete their task.

Reading and additional Resources

Our Best Forex Demo Broker Reviews

Best Forex Demo Resources and usefull Links

Trading Forex, Stocks and CFDs carries risk and could result in the loss of your deposit, please trade wisely.