All traders need to access the markets online somehow. This is done with the help of a trading platform, i.e. a software that connects you to the market that you want. MetaTrader 4 or simply MT4 is the most popular and widely applied trading platform among all traders for numerous financial markets.
Although MT4 is mostly famous among forex traders and used to trade in the foreign exchange market, it is also used to execute trades in markets such as commodities, indices, stocks, etc. In this article we are going to take a comprehensive look at this trading platform.
What Are the Most Significant Features of MetaTrader 4?
MetaTrader 4 has been able to establish itself as the most used and widely applied trading platform across almost all financial markets and financial instruments. But this hasn’t been so for no reason. That is why here we will discuss the most significant feature of MT4:
- Easy to use interface: perhaps the first and foremost reason as to why MT4 is so popular among traders has to do with the fact that this platform is quite easy to use. This is evident through the many user-friendly features that are embedded in this platform, which include various indicators, orders, and the use of automated trading.
- Various indicators: the bread and butter of any trader are the technical indicators that are used to analyze and assess price movements in order to find patterns in them. MetaTrader 4 comes in with 30 built-in indicators that help traders carry out the technical analysis aspect of the trading process. These indicators include the relative strength index or RSI, the Bollinger Bands, and also various moving averages.
- Charting tools: aside from all the calculation and analysis that ought to be carried out to better understand the market and the prices, the way such data are presented cannot be overlooked. The charting tools that are embedded in MetaTrader 4 will help you visualize the market in the best way possible. These charting tools include various time frames and also chart types such as bar charts, candlestick charts, and line charts.
- Automated trading feature: one of the biggest strengths of MT4 is its capability to implement automated trading tools. This is manifested in the way expert advisors or EAs are installed and used to trade with this platform. A great example of an expert advisor would be the XAUBOT expert advisor, which is an intelligent automated trading tool compatible with all trading pairs in the forex market including the gold pair XAU/USD to deliver on sustained profitability in this market through automated trading.
- Backtesting: one last quite substantial feature of MetaTrader 4 is the feature for backtesting which can be easily accessed by users to test out their trading strategies and also expert advisors. With the help of the backtesting feature you can optimize your expert advisor and any other automated trading tool in the best way possible by testing it against historical market data and then adjusting the tool according to the results of the test.
How Can You Begin Using MetaTrader 4?
With all the amazing features of MetaTrader 4, you may have decided to begin trading with this trading platform. This is especially the case if there is compatibility between an automated trading tool that you want to use and this trading platform. This is the case with the expert advisor XAUBOT and MT4.
- In order to begin using this trading platform, you first need to download it from its from your broker’s website, as it is offered to users for free. This trading platform is available for various platforms, including desktop devices and mobile devices. There is even the web based version of this trading platform available.
- After you have downloaded this trading platform you need to install it whether on your personal computer or, more ideally, on a virtual private server or VPS. Using a VPS is a much better idea and also highly recommended as it is much safer and more reliable than using your own personal computer.
- Then you need to set up an account in MT4. Remember that at this stage you can create two different types of account. First, there is the live account that you can create, which is obviously the standard account type that you need to create in order to trade in the real market. Second, there is the demo account that you can create in order to begin demo trading, which can help you hone your trading skills in a controlled and simulated environment before you can transfer them to the real market.
- Trade Manually: one route you can take with trading is manual trading. Naturally, in manual trading you as the trader are fully in charge of the entire trading process, which as the name suggests has to be carried out manually on your own.
In order to begin trading in this way, you need to open a trade first. To open a trade, you need to right click on the asset that you want in the window of the platform known as Market Watch. Then you need to choose the option “new order.” After that you need to adjust certain settings about the trade, including the trade size or volume, its top loss or take profit levels, and then whether you are going long or short, you need to pick buy or sell.
- Trade Automatically: another route is to opt for automated trading. In this form of trading you can delegate the process of trading to an algorithm or software. These tools are called expert advisors which can be installed on MetaTrader. Depending on the tool that you choose, this form of trading can vary significantly. We already mentioned XauBot, which is an expert advisor that is compatible with all trading pairs in the forex market and also able to trade 5 pairs at the same time simultaneously. Add to that advanced risk management to control drawdown and also smart trading methods that include scalping and multi-level trading.
Conclusion
MetaTrader 4, the trading platform developed by the company MetaQuotes, is the most popular trading platform in the world. Given its many different and useful features, MT4 is implemented by beginners and also highly advanced traders.
This trading platform offers users features such as technical indicators, charting tools, backtesting features, and the possibility to use automated trading through the use of expert advisors, among many other features.
