SincetheUnitedStatesdroppedthegoldstandardin1971,internationalcurrenciesstartedtofree-floatagainsteachother.Theirvolatilitywasquicklyspottedbytradersreadytospeculateontheirmovement.
Butthesetraderswereeitherhighnet-worthindividualsorworkedforbiginvestmenthousesandbanksthatcouldcoverthehighcostsofoperatingontheinterbankmarket.
TheInternetquicklylevelledthefield.Suddenly,anyonewithasecureInternetconnectioncouldparticipateinthebuyingandsellingofcurrenciesintheinternationalarena.
Onlineretailbrokeragehousesstartedtoinvestmoreandmoretoimproveexecutionconditionsandattractnewclients.
Naturally,thetradingplatformbecamethecentrepoint.Atfirstrudimentary,tradingplatformsprovedtobecostlyforretailbrokers.
ThatisuntiltheMetaTrader4cameup.
Tothesurpriseofmany,theMetaTrader4isathird-partyplatform.ItislicensedtoForexbrokers,branded,andhasthebigadvantageofsignificantlyreducingtheoperatingcosts.
ThemostsignificantadvantageoftheMetaTrader4platformisthatithas,onitsown,plentyofthird-partyintegrations(e.g.,customindicators,strategies,expertadvisors).
Thatiswhatmakesitsoversatile,whichnoothercompetitormanagedtooutpaceit.
Developedbythesamecompany,thenewversionappearedmainlyduetoregulationinsomepartsoftheworldthatrestrictedtheuseoftheMT4platform.
I’msurethatmanyofyoualreadyknowtheMT4platformandarefamiliarandaretradingwithit.However,thisarticleintendstogobeyondasimplelookattheplatform.
Indoingthat,IwillcoverthemostcriticalMetatrader4tipsandtrickstomakeyourlifeasatradereasier.
NomatterhowadvancedyouarewiththeMT4platform,I’msureyou’llfindatleastacoupleofhelpfulfeaturesinsidethisarticle.
Braceup!
Let’sstart!
TherearevirtuallyveryfewbrokeragehousesdealingwithretailtradingthatdonotoffertheMT4platform.Theonesthatdon’taretypicallybighouses,withconsiderableinvestmentsintheirdedicatedtradingplatformsandplentyofadditionalcostsforsupportandmaintenance.
TheMT4,therefore,comesasahandytradingplatformforabrokeragehousetoofferandtradersloveitforitssimplicityandeaseofuse.Theoptionsareliterallyunlimited,andprobablynotwotradersareusingthesamefeaturesonce.
OurMetaTrader4tipslistbeginswith,whatelse,butthedownloadingoftheplatform.
BrokersofferallpossibleversionsfortheMT4platform.Theycustomtheofferbasedontheoperatingsystematraderhas.Therefore,there’saversionforeveryoperatingsystem,andaweb-basedoption,aswell.
Whenonthebroker’swebpage,thetraderispromptedtodownloadtheplatformonhis/herdesktop.Likeanydownload,tradersmustchoosethelocationonthedrive.Nothingunusualsofar!
However,sometradersoperatedifferentstrategiesandusetheMetaTrader4platformforvariouspurposesandwithdifferenttradingaccountstoo.
Someofthemaredenominatedindifferentcurrencies,orsimplytradersrunmultiplestrategies,sothere’stheneedofhavingmultipleMT4platformsonthesamecomputer.
Ifthat’sthecase,thetripistodownloadthetradingplatformmultipletypes.But,everytimeyoudothat,chooseadifferentfolderforitslocation.Or,ifyouwanttokeepitunderthesamefolder,onlychangethenameofthesubfolder.
Witheverydownload,anewshortcutappearsonthedesktop,highlightingthenumberofMT4platformsonthecomputer.
Remember:YoucanhavemultipleMT4platformsfromthesamebrokerthathavethesametradingaccount.Howcoolisthat!
ThestandardversionofferedbyForexbrokershasplentyofindicatorstohelptechnicaltraders.However,sometimes,there’stheneedtocustomiseit.
TheMetaTrader4(MT4)platformhastheinbuiltoptionofprogrammingnewindicatorsoreventradingalgorithms.Fortheoneswithabitofcodingexperience,itmaycomehandytoprogramtheirownprogramstouseontheMT4.
Followingthesesmallstepsisenoughtouploadtheindicatoronthetradingplatform.
Important:However,touseit,moreactionisneeded.
Thenextthingistoclosethetradingplatform.OneoftheessentialMetaTrader4tipsistoalwaysclosetheplatformaftermakinganychanges.Itistheonlywaytosavework(progress).
Atreopening,thenewindicatorappearsundertheCustomIndicatorstab,whichcanbefoundintwoways:
BesideseffectivelytradingwiththeMT4platform,tradersuseitforitschartingcapabilities.Technicalanalysisismorethan“wizardry,”-itisforecastingfuturepricesbasedoncurrentones.
And,itworks.
AfterdownloadingtheMT4,whenyoudrawatrendline,theplatformwillprojectitinfinitelyontherightsideofthechart.Itmeansithasthe“Ray”optionactivated,andyou’llneedtogetridofitasap.
Todothat:
Fromthismomenton,thetrendlinewillhavetheexactlengthyouwantittohave.Justclickanddragitfromandtoanypointonthechart.
ThefollowingtipisofgreatvalueforanyoneusingtheMT4platformfortechnicalanalysispurposes.Whenhavingmanyobjectsonachart,likeindicators,trendlines,numbers,letters,texts,andsoon,itcomesinhandytoselectobjectswithasinglemouseclick.
Theissuehereisthatthedefaultsettingrequirestwomouseclickstoselectanobject(e.g.,atrendline).Well,notthatissomethingwrongwiththat,buttheprofessionalretailtradersspendalotoftimeinfrontofthescreens,andeachclicksparedsavestimeandeffort.
Luckily,theMT4platformgivesthepossibilitytoselecttheobjectswithasinglemouseclick,whichisanimprovementfromtheoriginalsettings.Here’show:
Fromthismomenton,tradersspareoneclickforeveryobjectselection.Itmayseemlikenothing,butoverthelong-term,itwillsaveyoualotoftime,effortsandstress!
Thereareovertwentycurrencypairsontopofalltheothermarketsonemaytradefromthesameaccount(e.g.,oil,gold,indices,individualstocks,etc.).Usingtemplatesandprofilessimplifiestheworkloadandmakesatrader’slifeeasier.
AllyouhavetodoistoapplytheRSIonacurrencypair.
Onlyonce!
However,thisisjustacurrencypairandonetimeframe.IfyoumultiplythecurrencypairsinanMT4platformwiththenumberoftimeframesforeachpair,theresultisstaggering.
Addingtheoscillatorandsettingupthechart(candlestickcoloursandgeneralsettings)foreverysinglecurrencypairandtimeframeistime-consuming.
Templates,therefore,comeinhandyandsaveyoualotoftime!
Justclickonthechart,whereveryouliketo,andchoosetheTemplateoption.Byclickingonit,youhavetheopportunitytosaveatemplateandgiveitanynameyouwant.
Nexttimeyouopenachartandwanttousethesametemplate,dothesamething.
However,insteadofselectingthesaveoption,choose“load,”toloadthetemplate.Justlikethat,withafewclicksofamouse,thechartisready,havingallthedesiredcharacteristics.
Essentially,itmeansplacingabunchofnumbersandlettersoncharts,tocountimpulsiveorcorrectivewaves.Followingaprecisesetofrules,traderscanforecastthenextmarketmove.
Butthenumbersandlettersarethesame:1-2-3-4-5anda-b-c.Sometimes,aninterveningx-waveappearstoo.However,that’sprettymuchit.
Itmeansthatthecopyandpastefunctionisusefulagain.Touseit,followthesesteps:
Followingthesefourstepsinthissequenceisimportant.Bythetimeyouclicktheobjectagain,havingtheCTRLtabpushed,theMT4platformprojectsanew,identicalobjectrightontopoftheexistingone.
Inotherwords,itisnotvisible,asitsitsontopoftheinitialone.Hence,whatyouhavetodoistodragitsomewhereelseonthescreen.
Withtextsitiseasy,butwithtrendlinesisabitmorecomplicated.Forinstance,ifyouwanttobuildachannel,youwanttokeeptheoriginaltrendline’scharacteristicsintact(e.g.,theangle).
Hence,aftercopyingthetrendline,dragitfromthepointinthemiddle,sothatyouhavetwoparalleltrendlinestobuildyourchannel.
UsingthesameElliottWavesTheoryasanexample,therearetwooptionsintheMT4tradingplatformthatlooksimilar.Yet,fortheElliotttrader,theyarecompletelydifferent.
Calledthe“DrawText”and“DrawTextLabel,”theyhaveaspecialplaceontheshortcutmenusothattradersfindthemquickly.
Naturally,tradersusethetwooptionstorightonthecharts,tomakeapointtorememberinthefuture.Forthetraderthatcountswaves,though,onlyonefeaturemakessense:theText.
WhenusingtheTextoption,thelettersandnumbersremainonthecurrencypair,regardlessofthetimeframe.Inotherwords,youcanseetheElliottcountonallthetimeframes,zoominginandoutofthetop/downanalysis.
Maybethenameofthisparagraphisn’tcorrect.Itshouldbe“howtomakesureyourMT4expertadvisorisrunning.”
Apparently,traders’mainconcernistopushdowntheAutoTradingtabonthemainmenu.That’sasimpleandstraightforwardtask.
Onesimplethingtocheckistoright-clickonthescreenandgoundertheexpertadvisorproperties.
PerhapsthesimplestMetaTrader(MT4)tipsaretheobviousones.Aschartsarethebreadandbutterofeverytechnicalanalyst,knowinghowtousethemisessential.
Toopenachart,multiplepossibilitiesexist:
The1histhedefaulttimeframe,butthatcanbeeasilychangedfromtheshortcutmenuontheMT4platform.
WhathappensifyoudecidetochangethebrokerWhatwillhappentoallthehardworkyou’veputintobuildingyourtradingsetupsWilleverythingdisappear
Nope!
ThisisoneofthemajorreasonswhybothretailtradersandbrokeragehousesliketheMT4platform.TraderscaneasilypackuptheiranalysisandleavetoanewMT4tradingaccountandbroker.
ThereisnoothertradingplatformtorivaltherobustnessoftheMT4platform.Intime,otherthird-partyplatformsappeared,buttheydidn’tenjoythesamesuccessasMT4andquicklydisappeared.
Forthefuture,MT4seemstocontinuetobethedesignatedchoicefortheretailtrader.ThisarticlepointedoutsomeofthemajorMetaTrader(MT4)tipsandtricksthatshowedwhyitissomuchappreciatedintheretailtradingcommunity.
HappyTrading,
ColibriTrader
p.s.
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