Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

What to Look For In a Forex Trading Platform

Let’s dedicate this article to speaking about Forex trading platforms. In the market, there are thousands of brokers and platforms, and all promise to be the best. Each may be different in different ways, but what really interests you? What do you ask a trading program to do? Let’s discuss…

What is a Trading Platform?

I know you know what it is, a trading tool. Let’s go a step further, in the market, there are different types of platforms according to their function broadly:

To chart: if you know me a little you will know that I am not in favor of making decisions by looking at charts. Decisions as a result of emotions, there is no objective plan. Is not what is intended of this article so will not give you the ember with this. Some of the best known for their graphics are Pro Real-Time, Visual Chart, Ninja Trader.

To create strategies: there are also tools to develop trading strategies, most of them already automated. For example, MetaTrader allows you to create these types of trading strategies called EAs (Expert Advisors).

To do trading: Platforms to buy and sell through them. Some of the previous ones allow buying directly.

Don’t get bogged down by seeing many platforms, some offering everything (graphics, automation, and execution). This ranking is just so that you understand that a trading program can be anyone who fulfills one of these functions.

How Does a Trading Platform Work?

What this type of software tries to do is make life easier for you in your work as a trader. For example, if you like a guy’s e graphics and presentations you’re going to prefer a platform that can give it to you. If instead you develop and execute automatic trading systems as is my case you will prefer another type or you will prioritize based on it. They all try to give service in exchange for commissions through the purchases and sales you make in that same program or by paying a fee in some cases.

Which Trading Platform is Best?

The usual question. The most optimal will be the one that meets your needs. As I said previously there are different types of traders, so there are also different types of platforms based on it. It’s like we’re trying to agree on the best bank. It depends on the type of customer.

In my case to implement systems and for the operational issue, I do it with Metatrader because it is very versatile and has a great community behind it. Besides, it’s free of charge.

Which Platform Costs Less?

If it is for development and graphics I would not pay for it except some point case, but in reality today there are so many that it seems to be an unnecessary expense. As for brokers, a commission set as low as possible and reduced forks with DMA execution. If you trade in OTC markets like Forex, keep this in mind.

The Best Platforms

The best trading platforms don’t advertise aggressively or offer bonuses for two reasons. First, they don’t need one. Second, the conditions are usually good and tight, they focus on giving good service to the trader and can’t afford all this money in marketing.

The good ones are those who want you to do well and take care of you because their business is that you trade for a long time and you do well. Build long-term relationships with aligned interests and you’ll have a lot going for you.

Forex Trading Platforms

Depending on whether you trade in futures, stocks, cryptocurrencies. you may be interested in one platform or another, especially when trading. Most brokers are specialized and competitive in some of them and very few are in all or most of them. I’ll tell you in case you do Forex trading.

In the currency market for its features, tools like indicators, scripts. the queen is Metatrader. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you it’s the best, but it’s the most used. That is why you will find a multitude of resources and this coupled with the fact that it is free in the vast majority of brokers makes it have a great community behind it. This is very important because you will find solutions faster with software that thousands of people use than just a few.

Like the vast majority, it has defects and many things to improve. The positive thing is that there are many people every day working for it.

Free Trading Platforms

The vast majority of brokers offer various associated trading programs. This is because it is convenient for traders to have the tools to be able to trade through competent software, an attractive interface, speed. It is simple. If the trader feels comfortable makes trades and the broker wins. In addition, if you offer good alternatives at the platform level is attractive so you can open up count on it and start working. Would you open an account with a broker who has trading tools that are not up to the task? It wouldn’t make sense. They know it well and therefore try to offer them.

Most trading platforms are free, especially on Forex. Others instead charge you a monthly, quarterly fee or a payment to acquire the lifetime license as is the case with Ninja Trader for futures. They also offer you a free platform in exchange for a minimum of trades. You’ll finally pay for doing business.

Especially if you’re starting my advice is don’t spend money on software unless you’re looking for something very concrete. Check out, if you have a not very large account at the end of the year this cost can be important. If you don’t know where to start, many brokers offer free Metatrader. Choose a good one based on your conditions.

Demo Trading Programs

I know you may be thinking that you don’t know how to choose a trading platform or how these types of tools work. Don’t worry, most have a demo version so you can practice with virtual money. You won’t have to make any kind of deposit. Don’t pay for something you don’t know or are sure you will contribute.

Download different software and try them, they are free. Take some time to see how they work and stay with the one who feels more how or suits you. From here, choose the one you choose to get to know it well and make sure you know it before starting with real money.

Something important, invest time to let go and not commit than in real failure fools that make you lose money but do not assume that everything that happens in a simulated account will happen in a real. Of course not, brokers will not execute orders so precisely and emotions come into play.

Comparison of Platforms

Are you looking for a listing of major to minor brokers with first and last names? What if that listing was conditioned by what a broker pays me for it? This is very common in this industry and it’s not bad as long as you recommend what you think is best. I will not list you because I do not want to condition you and for this, I have prepared the previous video with some conditions and requirements that will allow you to differentiate between what is a serious trading platform and what is not.

Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

New Trader’s Guide to MetaTrader5

MetaTrader 5 was released back in 2010 as the successor to the hugely popular MetaTrader 4, it has gradually been gaining popularity and is not one of the most used trading platforms available. MetaTrader 5 is slowly being picked up by more and more trading brokers, the majority of which have a white-label version which basically means it is a licensed version from MEtaQuotes which is designed to only work with their own broker, this would need to be downloaded from the broker directly.

MetaTrader 5 was built on the foundation that was created by MT4, it manages to retain a lot of the same features while building on top of them with some additional functionality. While most brokers have their own version of it, you can still download the standard version which is good for testing out as it allows you to pen up a free demo account to test out new strategies and trading features. So we are going to take a little tour around the platform to get to understand exactly what it offers and how some of the features work.

When we load up the platform, we will be presented with a screen with a number of different sections. At the very top will be the control bar as well as a number of different options on the toolbar. In the centre is the main graph, there may be one large graph or multiple smaller ones. At the bottom of the screen is a blank section which has your balance written as well as equity and margin, at the bottom of this there are a number of different tabs that we will look at later. To the right there are two sections, the top one will be the Market Watch which contains all the assets available to trade, and just below that is the navigator which will show you your accounts, expert advisors and more. As MetaTrader 5 was designed to be accessible and customisable, you can move these sections around making them larger, smaller or completely changing the overall positions of them, you are able to set up the user interface to look exactly how you desire it.

Charts

The largest section on the screen initially is the charts, and they will be the thing that you are using the most, they are there for you to analyse and to see the market movements. You can have the charts setup in three different views, on the toolbar at the top there are three little images of charts, they are the Bar chart, Candlestick chart, and Line chart, these will change the way that the charts look, but not their functions. Right-clicking on the charts will give you a number of different options, this includes things like making trades, auto-scrolling, removing any indicators or expert advisors active, adding trade volumes, and more, it is a way of adding a little customisation to the charts without actually changing their functionality. If you decide to make the charts full screen, then additional tabs will appear at the bottom of the charts which allow you to change between the open charts. There are also a lot of options available in regards to timeframes, an improvement over MT4 is that there are a lot more options available, they range from 1 minute all the way up to monthly.

Market Watch

The market watch window is there to show you very brief details on the assets that are available to trade, it will show you the asset available along with the Ask and Bid prices for it. If you right-click on the market watch window you will get a few options such as hiding or showing different assets. You can also check asset specifications from here. If you were to double click on an asset within the market watch it will then bring up the new trade window. Right-clicking on an asset will also then give you the option to open up a new chart for that specific asset.

New Trade / Order Window

The Order window is where you will place your trades, at the very top is the option to select the asset that you want to trade, if you right-clicked on an asset to bring this up then it should already be selecting the correct one, but it is good to double-check. You can select either instant execution or pending order depending on the type of execution that you wish to use. If you are using instant execution then simply fill in the volume of the trade, the stop loss, the take profit, and the comment for the trade. If you are using a pending order then you have the options for a buy limit, sell limit, sell stop, buy stop, buy stop limit, or sell stop limit. Once selected you are able to put in the volume, the price, the take profit level, the stop loss level, an expiration time for the order, and a comment. Once everything is set up, click on the place button, and the trader or order will be placed.

Navigator

The navigator window will simply show the files structures and the files that are available for you to use. It will have your accounts available for easy switching, it also shows any subscriptions that you have along with the available indicators, expert advisors, scripts, and other services. It allows you to simply drag them onto the charts in order to activate them. If you have recently added any indicators or EAs but they are not showing, be sure to right-click and then refresh the navigator, they should then turn up.

Data Folder

The data folder is where you will be placing any new Scripts, Indicators, or Expert Advisors that you wish to use so that they appear in the navigator window. In order to access it, simply go up to File on the main window and then Open Data Folder. Within this folder, click on MQL5, there will then be a number of different folders, simply drop your file into the appropriate one, so EAs into Experts, Indicators into Indicators, and so forth.

Bottom Tabs

You may have noticed that there are a lot of tabs at the bottom of the platform, these all offer slightly different functionalities, some ou may use a lot, some you may never actually use in your trading career, but we will briefly look at each one so you can have an understanding of what they each do.

The Trade tab simply shows you your active trades and pending orders, they will appear here, you are able to order them using any of the column titles including time and current profits. This page also gives an easy to read mention of your balance, equity, free margin, and margin percentage.

The next tab is Exposure, this will show you the currencies that you are currently buying or selling, the majority of people will never use this tab, but it can be relevant when trying to maintain margins.

The history tab does what it states, as it simply shows you all of your past trades and orders, just like the open trades tab, you can order it however you like, you may need to double click to change the settings if you want to see the entire history of your account.

The news section is also very straight forward, it will be letting you know any upcoming news events., It is often taken from a couple of different websites including MQL5, and will often take information from the Economic Calendar that can be found on the MQL5 website. 

There is a calendar section available, this outlines some of the upcoming news events that may have an effect on the markers, it is worth keeping an eye on this if you are not already using one on another site, as it can give a good insight into how the markets may move as time progresses, it can also be used as an indication as to which pairs to avoid trading during the high-risk news events.

The next two sections are Alerts and Mailbox, the alerts section will show you any alerts that you may have set up and when they have triggered, the Mailbox is where you will receive messages from both the platform itself and your own broker, these are often in relation to changes of trading times when there are bank holidays and things like that. Different brokers send out messages for different things, so it will be different for each one.

The Articles section simply lists articles that are available to read on the MQL5 website, the code base section allows you to download codebases for a number of different indicators and expert advisors, the Expert and Journal tabs offer different bits of information surrounding your account and any EAs that you are using, these sections can often be used to help debug any issues that may have occurred.

Two of the other tabs on the bottom section are the Market and Siglan sections. These are where you can purchase, rent, or try out various expert advisors, indicators, and signals. The market section allows you to browse through thousands of different bits of software that you can use to enhance your trading from automated trading to assistance in the analysis. Many of them cost money to use, clicking on them will bring up an overview of what they do and how they can be used.

The signal section does what it suggests, it allows you to view and browse the various signals that other MT4 users are providing, this is where you will be copying the trades that the others are making, the signals section gives you a basic overview as well as an insight into the current performance of the signals. 

There is a VPS tab which was not available in MT4, this is where you are able to rent a VPS server directly from MQL5, this will then host your platform so you do not need to keep your computer on all the time, this is perfect for those that are using expert advisors for things like automated trading.

Automated Trading

One of the key advantages to using MetaTrader 5 is the access that it has to thousands of expert advisors which allow you to perform automated trading, while other platforms also offer this, both MT4 and MT5 are way ahead of the game in regards to the number of software that is available to use. Automated trading needs to be enabled within the options menu, there is also a convenient button on the toolbar at the top of the screen to turn automated (also known as Algo) trading on.

Push Notifications

Something that a lot of people miss about the MT5 platform is the ability to set up push notifications for your phone, these will activate whenever you open or close a trade, as well as things like deposits. You will need to download the MT5 app for Android or iOS and then input the MetaQuotes ID from the app into the Notifications section of the Options menu within the desktop version. You can then toggle notifications on and off from this same menu.

Options

The options box offers you a number of different ways that you can change the functionality or look of the platform. The server section allows you to change your passwords as well as logging in and out of different accounts. The charts section can allow you to make small alterations such as showing objects or trade levels. There are basic settings for trade defaults, expert advisors (previously mentioned), sound effects for events notifications, email, FTP, your community account login, signal options, and storage.

Expert Advisors and Indicators

One of the things that brings a lot of people to MetaTrader 5 (and MT4) is the number of expert advisors and indicators that are available to use, there are thousands of them available on the MQL5 marketplace and thousands more available on various other websites. An EA allows for automated trading, while the indicators can add a lot of functionality and information to the charts, things like Bollinger Bands and Fibonacci levels can easily be added to the charts and they update automatically, meaning you do not need to do any of the work yourself.

Mobile and Web Versions

That is about it for the desktop version of MetaTrader 5, there is also a mobile version for Android and iOS as well as a WebTrader which can be used within your internet browser. The mobile version allows you to trade on the move, it offers a lot of the same functionality but without a lot of the bells and whistles, it allows you to check charts, make trades, unfortunately, it does not have the huge amount of EAs or Indicators available to it. The Web version allows you to trade from an internet browser, it is a very stripped-down version of the platform, good for quickly getting on to place a trade that you want, but it is not really sustainable as an independent platform as it is not compatible with the EAs and indicators that the desktop version is, it is nice to have, but certainly not a necessity.

Summary

MetaTrader 5 is certainly a powerful and easy to use trading platform, perfect for both those just starting out as well as people who are experienced and have been trading for years. It was built on the foundation of a great platform so it holds the same level of standards as its predecessor. It is packed full of features that will allow you to do whatever it is to do and to analyse pretty much any asset that is available. 

MetaTrader 5 is a fantastic platform and hopefully, now you will have a better understanding of exactly how it works and what it can offer.

Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

New Trader’s Guide to MetaTrader4

Many traders out there will be considering MetaTrader 4 as the go-to trading platform, one of the most reliable, flexible, and well-supported trading platforms available. If you have traded with a number of different brokers, you would have surely come across one supporting this platform. The platforms offered by brokers are often customized by the MT4 creator Metaquotes which is known as a white-label platform, there is a further reversion known as MetaTrader 5, but MT4 still remains the powerhouse within the retail trading market. MT4 was created by MetaQuotes and was released back in 2005, it is still going as strong as ever.

MetaTrader 4 was created to be intuitive and easy to use, once you have loaded up the platform you are easily able to create a new demo account within the MEtaQuotes server, or you are able to login to an existing account that you have with a broker, if you have downloaded an adapted version for a broker, you will only be able to log into accounts for that broker, and not another one. The demo account, should you decide to open one up will allow you to use fake money in order to test out the markets, a lot of the trading conditions will try to mimic those of a real account and they often have similar settings such as leverage to live accounts, it is a perfect way to test out the servers but also new strategies without having to risk things. It should be noted that the demo accounts on MT4, do not have things like slippage or commissions built into them.

So once the platform has fully loaded, you will be presented with the default page, this is made up of a few different elements. Like many programs, there is the menu bar at the top with things like File, View, Help, and other options being available. In the centre of the screen, you will see a chart, at the bottom, there are a number of different tabs including Trade, Exposure, Account History, News, Alerts, etc. We will have a look at those later. To the right of the platform, there will be two additional boxes, one title Market Watch and the other titles Navigator. It should be noted that you can move these windows around individually to have them positioned wherever you would prefer them to be, one of the many customisation options available from MT4.

Market Watch

We will start by looking at the market watch as this is the simplest of the section, the market watch simply shows you all of the available assets that are available to trade from your broker. If you right-click on a symbol you are able to hide it, you can also choose to “Show All ”, this will then display every asset available, most people will have it show all. Right-clicking also allows you to order the pairs in a different order or to open up a chart for that currency pair. If you decide to double click on a currency pair it will bring up the Order window.

Order Window

The order window is where you will be placing your orders. It can be opened up by double-clicking a pair in the Market Watch window or right-clicking anywhere in the trade window at the bottom of the screen. Once it has opened, you can select the pair that you wish to trade at the top, if you opened it from the market watch window then it will already have the pair you clicked on selected. You can select the volume of the trade, the stop loss level, and the take profit level. You are also able to add in any comments that you may want to attach to the trade.

You can also select the type of order execution that you wish to use, Market Execution will execute the trade as soon as you click on buy or sell. If you select Pending Order it will bring up an additional menu, here you can select a Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop or Sell Stop. You can put in the price and then hit the place button. You are also required to add an expiration date/time to the order where it will be removed when that time is met.

Navigator

This is a simple box that allows you to navigate through the various accounts that you have added, as well as any indicators, Expert Advisors, or Scripts. There is not a lot that you are able to do with them, you can simply drag any indicators, EAs, or scripts onto the charts and they will automatically activate. If you have added anything to your data folder, be sure to right-click anywhere within the navigator and then hit refresh, this will then cause it to appear in the list.

Data Folder

Something that a lot of people struggle to find is the Data Folder, this is where you will be placing any new Scripts, Indicators, or Expert Advisors that you wish to use so that they appear in the navigator window. In order to access it, simply go up to File on the main window and then Open Data Folder. Within this folder, click on MQL4, there will then be a number of different folders, simply drop your file into the appropriate one, so EAs into Experts, Indicators into Indicators, and so forth.

Charts

The charts are of course the thing that you will be looking at the most when using the platform. It takes up the largest part of the screen and when first loading up will simply look like a load of lines on a black grid. At the top of the screen within the toolbar, you are able to switch between bar charts (default), candlestick charts, and line charts, the majority of people prefer using candlestick charts, but it is up to you. You are also able to use that same toolbar to zoom in and out or to change the timeframe of the chart, the available time frames with MT4 are M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1, W1, and MN. Right-clicking on the chart enables you to toggle the grid as well as volume levels, you can also add indicators, trade from it, and save or load templates for the chart. If you decide to make the charts full screen, then tabs will appear at the bottom of the chart for each asset chart that is opened for ease of navigation.

Bottom Tabs

The bottom of the platform has a number of different tabs, they are all pretty much self-explanatory but we will briefly go through them the first is the Trade tab, this is simply where it shows all of your current trades, you can order them in regards to their order number, time opened, type, size, symbols, stop losses, take profits, commission, swaps and current profits. At the bottom, there is also an overview of your account stats and it will show you the account balance, current equity, margin, free margin, and margin level. This makes it easier to get a very quick overview of the state of the account.

The next tab is Exposure, this will show you the currencies that you are currently buying or selling, the majority of people will never use this tab, but it can be relevant when trying to maintain margins.

The account history tab should be self-explanatory, it simply shows you the history of the trades that you have made within the account, you can get a lot of information from them and can reorder them in any way that you wish.

The news section is also very straight forward, it will be letting you know any upcoming news events., It is often taken from a couple of different websites including MQL5, and will often take information from the Economic Calendar that can be found on the MQL5 website. 

The next two sections are Alerts and Mailbox, the alerts section will show you any alerts that you may have set up and when they have triggered, the Mailbox is where you will receive messages from both the platform itself and your own broker, these are often in relation to changes of trading times when there are bank holidays and things like that. Different brokers send out messages for different things, so it will be different for each one.

The Articles section simply lists articles that are available to read on the MQL5 website, the code base section allows you to download codebases for a number of different indicators and expert advisors, the Expert and Journal tabs offer different bits of information surrounding your account and any EAs that you are using, these sections can often be used to help debug any issues that may have occurred.

Market and Signals

The other two tabs on the bottom section are the Market and Siglan sections. These are where you can purchase, rent, or try out various expert advisors, indicators, and signals. The market section allows you to browse through thousands of different bits of software that you can use to enhance your trading from automated trading to assistance in the analysis. Many of them cost money to use, clicking on them will bring up an overview of what they do and how they can be used.

The signal section does what it suggests, it allows you to view and browse the various signals that other MT4 users are providing, this is where you will be copying the trades that the others are making, the signals section gives you a basic overview as well as an insight into the current performance of the signals. 

Automated Trading

With the help of Expert Advisors, MT4 makes it very easy to achieve automated trading, within the options menu, there is a tab titled Expert Advisors, within this menu you are able to activate automated trading, as well as a few other options. Once you have an expert advisor setup onto the charts, you can activate it either through this menu, or a conveniently placed AutoTrading button found at the centre of the toolbar at the top of the platform.

Push Notifications

Something that a lot of people miss about the MT4 platform is the ability to set up push notifications for your phone, these will activate whenever you open or close a trade, as well as things like deposits. You will need to download the MT4 app for Android or iOS and then input the MetaQuotes ID from the app into the Notifications section of the Options menu within the desktop version. You can then toggle notifications on and off from this same menu.

Options Menu

We won’t go over this in detail as it is all very self-explanatory, we have already touched on the Experts Advisor and Notification sections, the other ones available are the Server where you can alter your passwords and account settings, Charts, Objects, Trade options, Community, Signals, Events, Email, and FTP options. Plenty of ways to configure the platform to better suit your needs.

Expert Advisors and Indicators

We briefly mentioned this above, but one of the things that brings a lot of people to MetaTrader 4 is the sheer amount of expert advisors and indicators that are available, in fact, there are thousands of them available on the MQL5 marketplace and thousands more available elsewhere. The Expert Advisors allow for automated trading while the indicators can add a lot of functionality and information to the charts, things like Bollinger Bands and Fibonacci levels can easily be added to the charts and they update automatically, meaning you do not need to do any of the work yourself. If you are keen on using MT4, then you will certainly find indicators and expert advisors that allow you to do whatever it is that you need to do.

Mobile and Web Versions

We have looked over the desktop version which is, of course, the most popular version of the platform, it is worth noting that there is also a mobile version for Android and iOS as well as a WebTrader which can be used within your internet browser. The mobile version allows you to trade on the move, it offers a lot of the same functionality but without a lot of the bells and whistles, it allows you to check charts, make trades, unfortunately, it does not have the huge amount of EAs or Indicators available to it. The Web version allows you to trade from an internet browser, it is a very stripped-down version of the platform, good for quickly getting on to place a trade that you want, but it is not really sustainable as an independent platform as it is not compatible with the EAs and indicators that the desktop version is, it is nice to have, but certainly not a necessity.

Summary

MetaTrader 4 is one of the most versatile trading platforms around, it makes things incredibly simple to use, but also given enough features that can allow you to create extremely complex trading setups. With access to thousands of EAs and indicators, it can be extremely easy to get things exactly how you want it to function. It is easy to navigate, customisable, and very well supported by MetaQuotes. As it has been out for so long, there are very few bugs still included if any at all. 

If you are looking for an easy to use yet versatile trading platform, then you can’t go wrong with MetaTrader 4 from MetaQuotes.

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Beginners Forex Education Forex Trading Platforms

Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation Review

Trader Workstation (TWS) is the flagship trading platform offered by Interactive Brokers, a US-based online trading leviathan. It has a lot of features to recommend it and also some drawbacks in various elements of its functionality. Trader Workstation by Interactive Brokers is a beast in many ways, but are all of them good? Continue reading to find out.

Getting Started

If one thing is clear, it is that Interactive Brokers is not interested in paying anything more than the most superficial lip service to attracting casual traders. In short, they cater to the more serious retail traders and to professionals. There are a few knock-on effects from this and everybody who chooses IB as their broker and TWS as their trading platform will encounter them in one form or another as they go forward.

One of these knock-on effects is the fact that the Interactive Brokers website is a little cumbersome and finicky to navigate. Now, let’s not go overboard, this isn’t ultimately going to slow you down too much but it remains a bit of a mystery why one of the leading international brokerages specialising in online trading hasn’t devoted more effort to ensuring a user-friendly online experience for its prospective clients.

Another little hurdle is the number of hoops you will have to jump through when opening an account. It is obvious that any efforts Interactive Brokers have invested in this area have resulted in only the most minimal streamlining. You will have to provide more information and e-sign more forms than you might be used to with other brokers before your account is open and, if you encounter any hiccups along the way, you might find this process a little disheartening at first. The good news is that the customer service team is – surprisingly, given IB’s previous reputation for sluggish customer service – actually very responsive and will guide you through any difficulties you encounter and that the help functions provided are well-thought-out and user-friendly. They provide a 24-hour contact number and a call-back service, as well as a useful online chat function that is staffed by an actual person on the other end and we found that the staff is quick to reply and very helpful in resolving any problems. And it shouldn’t be forgotten, of course, that this initial hoop-jumping is there primarily to ensure a high-level of security, so in a sense, it does provide a modicum of peace of mind.

Once you have cleared all of the not-insignificant amounts of formalities, you will be able to open an account without actually loading any cash onto it. This is a useful feature as it means you can give both the broker and their platform a quick test run without committing all the way. But don’t get too cozy in this state of limbo – if you don’t fund your account within 90 days, it will be retired automatically.

Trader Workstation Introduction

When you open the Mosaic interface in TWS, it’s going to be a little overwhelming at first. And, until you adapt to using this platform regularly, this is a genuine drawback. Your workstation will seem cluttered and that’s because it is cluttered.  This is probably an unavoidable aspect of how the TWS platform has to look in order to provide all of the functionality it does. There are some small elements of the design that do seem like they could have been more carefully thought through. One example is the little arrows that open and close fields. They appear in all sorts of windows that you will find yourself using daily so they are an integral part of the design – which makes it all the more baffling that the designers chose to make them so small and so hard to see. You might find yourself looking for a parameter or function for much longer than you need to, simply because you missed one of these little field-opening arrows in a menu. The good news is that it doesn’t take too long for your brain to catch up with what’s going on to the point where you become accustomed to all of the quirks of the platform design. And, when you make it to this point, you will begin to appreciate the flexibility of the layout and how much information it can provide you with at any given time.

Flexibility is a key aspect here and it is worth highlighting. The layout is customisable, so you will be able to tailor it to show what you need to see. You can change the size of the windows, you can move them around and you can delete them and bring up other windows as and when you feel you need to. A very useful feature here is the Layout Library, which enables you to pick out any one of a number of predefined templates that will give you a basic workspace layout that you can then go on to customise further. What’s particularly important here is that you can save your customised layouts and go back to them in the future.

You will need to spend some time becoming proficient in using the platform and getting to know your way around. Because it is aimed at professional, experienced traders, the platform is not optimised for beginners. The good news is that any prior experience you have with Metatrader will drastically flatten out your learning curve.

The TWS desktop platform is where you will want to be, since it has all of the extensive tools and functions you will need and, in those terms, outstrips the functionality of the web platform and the mobile app – though you can integrate some features (such as watchlists) across these three. Ultimately, however, the mobile app and online platform will not offer all of the functionality you need for anything more than tracking market movements and keeping up-to-date on news events. While security across all three has been beefed up significantly – more on that later – security-conscious traders will probably want to confine actual trading actions to just the desktop platform. The mobile app further suffers from not giving you access to drawing tools for your charts, so that’s also something to take into account.

Now, IB’s are certainly aware that mobile trading is a growing market and something that gets some traders quite excited, so they have invested in making the mobile app as attractive as possible. One of these is making sure that the app updates regularly and tracks updates to your iPhone or Android phone or tablet – something that maybe we’ve all become accustomed to with all kinds of apps we use but also that is particularly if you’re using your mobile device to trade.

Demo Account

The demo account offered by Interactive Brokers is a fully live, fully functioning demo account working in real-time. Everything is set up to faithfully mimic the trading experience you will encounter when trading live.

The main advantage of the demo account – other than, of course, enabling you to test and work out your trading system – is that it looks precisely the same as your live account. This gives you an invaluable opportunity to familiarise yourself with the trading platform prior to getting settled into using the full, live trading account. You do not want to be trading on your live account while you’re still fumbling around with various functions, clicking around searching for the data you need, or making sloppy mistakes because you’re unfamiliar with where things are. The demo account makes it possible for you to iron out all of those little niggles early on and make sure that you know exactly what you’re doing when you start trading in the real world. 

Resetting your demo account is also made not only easy – simply head to the account tab, which will take you to the IB website where it is simply a case of following the steps to resetting your account as and when you see fit. The one thing you need to be aware of is that it pays to close out all your outstanding positions before you reset. The reason being that if you reset to a smaller demo account, you might find that you do not have sufficient funds to close them out subsequently. All the same, when you have finished closing out your existing positions, resetting your demo account is easy and, even though a message will pop up telling you that you may have to wait a day, it usually happens instantly. 

Sizing and Organising Windows

The fact that the layout of TWS is endlessly customisable is, without a doubt, one of the platform’s great strengths. However, that does not mean that it is also without some snags and niggles. One of these has got to be the layout lock and unlock button. You’ll find this in the top right corner of your screen and, while you’re setting up your layout, it will be both your best friend and your worst enemy. While you’re adjusting and resizing and organising the windows of your layout, you will want it to be in the unlocked position. Conversely, while you’re trading, you want your layout to be locked because you don’t want to accidentally drag a window out of place or to close a window you need access to when developing a setup or placing an order. The problem is that until you have your layout set up exactly how you want it, you will find yourself having to go back and forth between a locked and an unlocked layout, and that will definitely cause some frustration.

Beyond this, the initial period of layout customization will certainly be coloured by a level of frustration. Particularly if you have even an ounce of OCD in your character, you will find this process challenging until you have everything lined up as you need and want it. Part of the reason for this frustration comes with how easy it is to overlap windows or to leave annoying gaps between them. Now, this might be a result of the windows not snapping into place as crisply as the average user will want, in which case it can definitely be chalked up as a design drawback. However, this initial setup phase will always be kind of clunky on any platform and with any workstation. Ultimately, the good thing is that you can then lock a layout into place and save it for future use, so it’s not like you will have to drag the windows around every time you open up TWS. Still, you may find yourself making little adjustments from time to time, whenever you feel unhappy about how you set them up in the past. Again, the ability to save your new layout is worth its weight in gold here.

Adjusting Charts

Customising your chart is exactly as easy and user-friendly as you would expect from such a professional platform. All of the options are available to you, including a wide range of timeframes and parameters. At first glance, the sheer number of various options you are presented with when you click on Chart Settings might be bewildering to less experienced traders but you will quickly come to appreciate the functionality and flexibility of having so many parameters to choose from. The same settings menu is also your go-to place for a large range of indicators that are integral to the platform – simply click through the various drop-down menus under the Studies tab and pick out the indicators you need. You can also make a number of adjustments to your chart just by right-clicking on the chart itself, which opens up a menu that will reveal a number of handy tools. Simply as a result of the large number of options available, you are going to want to take some time to familiarise yourself with all of these functions and it may take you a while to find what you are looking for.

Creating Your Own Tabs

Another element of additional functionality and flexibility in the Mosaic interface is the option to create your own tabs in certain windows. As an example of that, in your Monitor window, you can simply click the little ‘+’ to add a tab. This is a great addition because it allows you to add multiple watchlists and portfolio view options that are then extremely easy to access. More importantly still, you can add additional tabs along the bottom of the interface that allow you to open up various layout options. This is endlessly useful as it means you can have layouts devoted just to charts on various timeframes, ones devoted to tracking your portfolio, or, indeed, any combination of layouts you need to make your trading as informed and structured as possible. The fact that you can design, adjust and save each one of these layouts means that you are able to customise your entire trading experience from top to bottom.

There are a couple of drawbacks, of course, since no platform is ever going to be completely perfect. One of these is that you will, especially initially, find yourself having to lock and unlock your layouts as you go back to them to make minor adjustments. This can get a little tiresome if you are determined to make each layout as neat and readable as possible. Another minor issue is that the tabs end up filling up pretty fast, which gives the screen a cluttered look and makes it a little harder to find what you’re looking for. But, since you are in control of the number of tabs and both the location and content of every tab, you will eventually come to think of the layout as your own creation – so if you can’t remember where you put the tab with the various timeframe charts, you only have yourself to blame. 

Of course, there are smart ways to set up your layouts and there are less-than-smart ways to do it. The added flexibility of TWS does kind of guide you to smarter ways for arranging your layout. One example of this is that some traders might be tempted to add tabs for each currency pair they’re trading but that would lead to the tabs quickly becoming completely overwhelming and ultimately unusable. The better way to switch between currency pairs is to go to have a window set up on your primary layout displaying all of your pairs in an overarching watchlist. A simple double click on any currency pair in your watchlist will switch over your main chart to display that currency combination – offering you a much easier and more elegant way to skip between currencies. You can also ungroup certain charts from this function so that they always display a given currency – to do this, simply click on the chain-link icon in the top right corner of your chart window. While it provides a useful function, the grouping system is not the best solution as it gets quite confusing keeping track of what groups are assigned to what functions of over multiple currencies. It might have been better had the platform designers simply provided a chart lock function that would exclude a locked chart from changing whenever the user selects a different currency pair in their watchlist. 

It is perhaps these minor shortcomings that are the platform’s real Achilles heel. If users are already presented with a myriad of customisation choices and options, hundreds of functions and parameters to set, then the last thing they want to be doing is also keeping track of which charts have been assigned to which group. That’s not to say that these functions are not useful – they very much are – it’s just that their execution often lacks a little elegance and refinement.

Order Entry on TWS

The mechanism for entering and placing orders is – in addition to the general ease of use, reliability, and indicators – perhaps the most important part of a trading platform. For TWS, this has been handled with a high degree of functionality and flexibility, which makes it possible for users to adopt a large number of trading styles. Orders, whether active or pending, are displayed in a number of locations across your layout, which is a useful feature allowing you to easily and quickly cross-reference your outstanding orders at a glance. Depending on how you have set up your layout, you will be able to see orders very easily in at least three locations: in the Activity window, as a tab; in your Monitor window, under your portfolio overview; and at the bottom of your chart in a collapsible window that you can access as needed. This window, called a ChartTrader, is a pretty useful way of quickly accessing information about the positions you have open on that particular currency pair, and also, it is rather neat that it can be retracted or recalled so easily.

Hot-buttons are available for entering a number of order types and you can access them through a couple of locations also: through your dedicated Orders window, if you have that added to your layout, or you can bring up the Orders tab through the View drop-down menu. These hotkeys can be almost endlessly modified in terms of the functions they perform, something day traders will find very useful. How they are programmed, however, is rather laborious and you will have to employ something akin to a trial and error approach to making sure they actually perform as you need them to. For those of us not engaged in day trading, one useful thing here is that you can hide the hot-buttons if you prefer not to use them. Another thing to watch out for is that orders generated through the hot-buttons do not immediately appear in your usual orders window – though they do appear in the orders tab of the ChartTrader. All the same, using hot-buttons is a little dangerous and if it makes you nervous, it is better simply to hide them through the View tab.

You can also set up orders through the primary window for the currency pair you’re looking at at the moment. This is most people’s go-to location for setting up an order because this is where all of the information and options are most clearly displayed. That this is the one location where all of the various types of orders are clearly shown and easily accessible is perhaps a slight drawback but then, there does have to be one primary location for setting up orders and it just so happens that this is it.

The layout for showing you where your order is, what parameters you’ve entered, including things like your take profit and stop/loss, is very clear and easy to follow. Moreover, the way it displays the order on your chart is also very helpful and clear – with the added bonus of some of the line colours being customisable so you can change them to suit your needs. What you will initially need to be careful about is that some bracket orders will have their defaults pre-set at unwieldy amounts, which can distort your chart until you resize them to more appropriate levels. 

Additionally, you can also modify your order directly on your chart by left-clicking and dragging the order entry line up or down – which is, frankly, a bit of a double-edged sword since you probably carefully worked out where you want to enter the trade and don’t want to be dragging it up and down haphazardly. The good thing is that if you do drag your order out of place on the chart, whether deliberately or by mistake somehow, you will need to click additionally to update your order – which makes for a useful safety measure and also a prudent way of double-checking that you actually wanted to make that change.

Overall, the order entry functions are, for the most part, both easy-to-use and sufficiently flexible to suit a variety of traders but there are some functions that suffer from small amounts of clumsiness so we’ll take a closer look at those here.

Adding Protection to Orders: Useful Functions

A useful tool that the TWS provides is the ability to quickly and easily add additional protection to orders that have already been placed retroactively. Unlike a number of functions available through the platform, this is quite intuitive to use and will automatically register whether the position you have set up is long or short and will generate the appropriate close for this position. Entering the stop order is just a couple of clicks away and setting the price is as easy and flexible as you would expect.

You can also relatively easily set up trailing stops. You will have to enter them individually but there is an option for trailing stop orders in your Orders window which is pretty easy to use. Simply click on the Trail button, rather than a usual bracket order, and select the “One cancels another” option. There you will have a drop-down box that allows you to select “trail”, which will give you the option to enter a trailing stop to the number of pips that you want it to trail by (although, somewhat annoyingly, you have to enter these in the decimal notation – so, 0.0035, instead of 35 pips. Don’t worry at this point because, once you’re ready to go, you will get an Order Confirmation window where everything is clearly displayed, giving you the option to double-check that you entered the trailing stop properly. 

Trailing stops are a useful function for a wide array of trades so it is a little frustrating that you cannot add them retrospectively to an order that you’ve already placed. The only real way to do this would be to cancel your existing order (before it gets filled) and start again from scratch but this time adding in a trailing stop, instead of a static stop order that goes with the standard bracket order. It would have been so much more useful if the platform allowed you to convert an existing stop order into a trailing stop but, alas, this function was not made available. This just goes to show, it continues to be true that trading platform designers are almost never traders themselves and some of those things you might need on a relatively regular basis have yet to make their way into the design of platforms themselves.

Another irritant, when it comes to trading stops, is that the trailing stop order function does not automatically default to the currency you are trading, which means that every time you are setting up a trailing stop you also have to double-check that you are telling it to set up a trailing stop for the currency pair you are working on at the time. This also seems an unnecessary additional complication given that it could lead to mistakes and/or stressful moments if you slip up.

A good thing about the trailing stop orders is that, once you’ve set one up, you can change the pip amount that it trails by. That’s a neat and useful tool that lets you adapt to changing situations. 

Legging In

Using a legging in strategy – where you stagger your entry into a position in order to mitigate risk – is catered for relatively neatly by TWS. The platform designers have understood that some traders make use of this approach and have factored that in when crafting how orders are entered. Let’s say, for example, that you are legging in with two orders total on a trending price movement. The system allows you to link those two orders in a very useful way. Simply enter both bracket orders as you normally would, allocating half of your total position to each order, entering your stops and targets where you have determined they need to be. Once these orders are live, you can go ahead and open up your Orders tab in your ChartTrader or the Orders tab in your Activity window and in either of these two places you can link these orders by merging your stops.

As a default, the stops will be set at half of the total amount you are committing to this position but you can just click on them and change them to equal your full position. But, and here’s the really useful part of this, you don’t have to make these new stops live (simply don’t hit the update button) until your second order has been filled. That allows you to hold off and play the waiting game to see how the price movement develops. If it develops as you predicted, your second order will be filled and you can update the stops with one easy click so that your whole position is protected. If, on the other hand, the price movement turns sour and your second order is left hanging, the quantity on your stop order will remain at the default amount (half of what you planned to commit to this position) and will kick in if things continue to go against you. There isn’t anything particularly difficult about making sure both of your legging in orders are appropriately covered but you will want to run through this technique in your demo account a couple of times – especially if you are still getting to grips with the platform and where various functions are located. Still, it does leave some traders wondering why there isn’t a more obviously signposted “Link stops” function for multiple orders of the same currency pair.

Min Max Limits Warning

A perfect example of just how awkward and clumsy the platform can sometimes be is illustrated by the default minimum and maximum currency amounts. What happens is that a warning window will pop up when the trader hits send on an order they’ve set up. Now, this can be a little disconcerting – it would make any of us think twice about the size of the order we’re entering if a warning pops up telling us that the amount is too high. Of course, that’s not what’s going on here. What’s actually happening is that default limits exist within the platform and you need to get into the settings to either remove them completely or to adjust them to the point where the warning will no longer appear for the trades you engage in.

These defaults are set not only for currency amounts but also lot sizes. Now, if you want to change these maximums (and minimums), you need to click on the wrench icon (that’s the universal settings button across all of the windows on your layout). That will open up a very bewildering looking configuration window where you need to look for the Presets sub-menu – in there you need to find something “Precautionary Settings”. This is where you can adjust the defaults but if you think it’s that simple, you’ve got another thing coming. First, you need to make sure you’ve removed or adjusted these limits for all of the currencies you trade (more clicking, more sub-menus, more chasing the right setting you need) – so you have to muddle through this for every currency. But, the platform won’t even let you get away as easily as that. It will probably have saved your previous settings in a short-term memory cache, so you’ll need to click away from the currency you want to trade and onto any other currency, before clicking back and hoping that this will have cleared the cache. Even then, it might not have saved your new limits so if you want to be rid of those little warnings for good, you’ll either have to go back and do it all again or you can use the warning message itself to adjust each time it pops up.

This level of fiddling around is not exactly conducive to smooth trading and – until you’ve really become fully familiar with the platform and where everything is located – it can be time-consuming and incredibly frustrating to deal with these little snags. To be clear, that’s exactly what they are, snags. None of this is truly game-changing – these aren’t major problems with the platform or the man-machine interface – they’re just annoying little bumps along the road to you becoming fully proficient at using TWS proficiently.

Canceling Orders

One saving grace of how orders work in TWS is the sheer simplicity and user-friendliness of how you can cancel an order. There are several ways to see existing and active orders – in the Orders tab under your chart, in your Portfolio tab in the Monitor window, in the Orders tab of the Activity window, etc. The great thing here is that you can cancel an order in any of these locations because they’re all interlinked. This makes it easy to cancel an order in a hurry if you need to. Another thing that makes it easier to cancel an existing order in haste – again, if that’s what you need to do and, let’s face it, we’ve all been there – is the window that pops up to make confirm what you’re doing. The box will only pop up if you’re closing an existing bracket order so if you don’t see it, you need to double-check that you’re canceling the right order. Remember, canceling a bracket order will also cancel your stop/loss and take profit orders, which is exactly what you want it to do if you’re bugging out of a position you feel unsure about.

The last check you need to have in place when you are closing an order is to make sure you follow through and click submit. It’s easy enough to go through the process but to forget the submit button – particularly if you’re in a bit of a panic because you want to get out of the order as soon as possible. This additional safety measure is clearly there for a reason but make sure you’re aware of it so you don’t think you’ve canceled an order fully but still have it in place just because you forgot the last step. A mean platform reviewer might say that this is a problem with how the various steps are designed and, more importantly still, worded. This certainly could have been done better to make it clearer to users that they still have to go through an additional step because the pop-up window asking you to confirm that you’re closing an order definitely does make it seem like it’s the last step in making sure you get out. On the other hand, everyone who uses this platform will get the hang of this in no time at all so this isn’t exactly a major flaw to get too obsessed with.

At the end of the day, when you get out of an order you were unhappy with, a smart trader will go through a mini-debrief of what went wrong and this will definitely include rechecking your portfolio tab to make sure everything is back to normal, so to speak. So, if you are trading in a smart way, you will still be making sure that the order you canceled completed how you wanted it to and that you are back to the starting line.

A Few Closing Thoughts on Trader Workstation

Interactive Brokers are clearly concerned with producing a high-end trading platform dedicated to proficient and experienced traders who demand a great degree of flexibility and functionality. Indeed, given how many excellent and genuinely useful tools this platform provides and the customisability it offers a testament to how successful IB has been in achieving this. That being said, there are some areas where the platform can be said to have some room for improvement. Now, it is important to highlight the fact that none of these shortcomings come in terms of the actual utilisation of the platform for trading. The failings are mostly in terms of user-friendliness, visual design and the fiddly or frustrating process you have to go through to achieve what you are trying to do. 

With all of that in mind, here are our principle takeaways for the TWS platform:

  • IB has designed and created a staggeringly flexible, adaptable, and functional trading platform aimed at professional, experienced traders.
  • The ability of the platform to be tailored to the individual trader’s needs means it is suitable for the broadest possible range of trading styles.
  • The sheer number of order types and combinations available mean that traders are free to experiment and develop their approach to trading as their knowledge grows, without having the need to progress to a more complex platform.
  • The platform is not suitable for beginners and even experienced traders that encounter it for the first time will face a steep uphill learning curve getting to grips with the myriad of functions, options, parameters, and indicators available in various iterations of the layout. This is simply a function of how much ground TWS covers and 
  • Some of the minor glitches and inconsistencies highlighted in our report above are sure to cause frustration and often the only way of overcoming them is to adapt and learn where they might crop up. Over time users will internalise these little problems and long-term users probably hardly ever notice them but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t there and one can only hope that updates to the platform will eventually iron them out.

Overall, this is a platform that is a serious tool for serious traders, which is ultimately why it takes a serious effort to come to grips with it. 

Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

Must-Have Forex Trading Platform Features

There are a lot of different trading platforms out there. Many brokers choose to work with popular options like MetaTrader 4 and/or 5, while several others provide their very own platforms. There are also paid commercial options out there that you can choose to use with certain brokers. Before choosing a forex broker, it is important to check out their supported trading platform(s) to make sure that they are suitable for your needs. Here are some of the must-have features you should look at:

Accessibility

The most accessible platforms can be accessed through the web browser, downloaded on mobile devices or tablets/iPads through the Google Play Store and App Store, and are also available in desktop versions. However, some platforms may not offer app versions or could offer limited access. Of course, if you never plan to trade from your phone, this wouldn’t matter, but chances are that you might need to access your trading account from another device in the future. Convenience is important here, so be sure to keep this in mind when looking at platforms. 

Features

One of the most important things to consider is the features that come with a trading platform. Here are some things to look for:

  • One-click trading
  • Roll-over and hedging
  • Number of pending order types
  • Number of order execution types
  • Technical indicators
  • Number of timeframes
  • Extra options (economic calendar, ability to transfer funds between accounts, etc.)
  • Accessibility
  • Support for automated trading
  • Strategy tester, demo account, etc.
  • Ability to create custom indicators or EAs
  • Special features offered through the specific platform

Of course, different traders will have different needs. If you don’t need more technical features, then you won’t notice if they are missing and you shouldn’t be paying extra for things you don’t need. As you move forward in your trading career, you might outgrow a platform, but you could consider switching to a more advanced option later.  

Cost

Many platforms are available for free through your broker. MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) are common examples of free to use platforms offered by forex brokers. If a broker offers its own trading platform, then this is usually free as well. Other third-party options often come with a cost for a lifetime license or might offer different payment plans that unlock specific features. 

If you’re a beginner with basic needs, your best option is to open an account with a broker that offers access to a good trading platform for free. If you have more complex needs, for example, if you create indicators or Expert Advisors, then you might want to consider paying for a platform that is more suited to those needs. NinjaTrader is a good example of a platform that offers multiple benefits and features for users that want to create indicators or other trading tools, although it does come with a lifetime license fee of $999. 

User-friendly Options

If you’re a beginner, you are likely to struggle with a more complicated trading platform. It could also be difficult to master a lesser-known platform if tutorials aren’t available. This is why it might be better to stick with more popular options like MT4 or MT5 because a ton of tutorials can be found online for free. Choosing an overly complicated platform, in the beginning, could lead to frustration once you start trying to learn how to navigate it. If you have more skill, you probably won’t have as much difficulty learning to use an advanced platform.

The Bottom Line

Every trader has different needs when it comes to their trading platform. Beginners are better off with a user-friendly option that offers some simplicity and easy navigation. More experienced traders might need a platform that will offer special tools that will help them to create custom content or to access more advanced tools. Once you figure out which features you need, you’ll need to check to be sure that your considered platform is accessible enough so that you can trade on the go if this is something you plan on doing. You also need to check for an extra price tag – are you comfortable paying a monthly fee or lifetime license fee for specific features, or could you do without them in favor of an option that is free through your broker? Before choosing a broker, always be sure to check out their supported trading platforms and to answer all of these questions before opening a trading account, otherwise, you might find yourself with a platform that does not fit with your needs.

Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

NinjaTrader Trading Platform Review

NinjaTrader is a forex, futures, CFD, and equities supporting a trading platform that has been around since 2003. That’s just a couple of years before the ever-popular MetaTrader 4 was released, and 7 years before MT5 came around. If you’ve already begun trading forex, then you’ve likely heard of MT4 and/or MT5. While the aforementioned platforms are popular for many reasons, NinjaTrader does offer some of its own unique features and might deserve more credit with traders. Stay with us to find out what sets this platform apart and whether we’d recommend trading with it. 

Features

NinjaTrader provides access to the forex and futures markets, as well as CFDs and equities through some of their partnering brokerages. This platform is a good option for those that are looking for technical analysis tools, advanced charting, customizable technical indicators, real-time analysis, and other 3rd party add-ons for apps and tools. Here are a few more features:

  • Partial & full strategy automation
  • One-click order entry
  • Platform guides, daily (free) webinars, and video library
  • The CQG mobile app is available for brokerage clients, however, no app is available if using another broker
  • Futures and forex trading are supported but a supporting broker is needed to trade equities
  • Settings can be changed easily and are highly customizable
  • Supports many different bar types
  • Includes ChartTrader tool, which allows one to place and manage trades directly from the chart
  • Supports usual order types (market, limit, stop market, stop-limit) in addition to OCO orders
  • Market Replay feature allows traders to play, pause, or rewind historical price data.
  • Supports simulated trading accounts for practice (with the paid version)

Cost

NinjaTrader is free to use for charting, market analysis, and live trading as long as you have a funded account through a brokerage. The requirement is only a $50 account balance for trading forex and $400 if you want to trade futures. Premium features are locked unless traders make a one-time payment of up to $1,099 or lease the platform for $60 a month. This is obviously a high cost, but it provides access to advanced order types, automated trading, and backtesting. This will be necessary for many traders, otherwise, you will likely notice everything that these features are missing.

Monthly data fees may also apply if you’re trading with the full depth option. Data fees depend on the brokerage you’re trading through. Options range from $7 to $21 or higher per month, depending on your brokerage. 

The Bottom Line

NinjaTrader offers several pros. It is excellent for charting, strategy automation, technical analysis, indicator customization, and so on. We are especially fond of their ChartTrader tool because it allows one to input trades directly from the chart (talk about convenience). This platform would likely draw in a lot more traders if it weren’t for the major downside – the price tag. For a successful investor with thousands of dollars, it might be easy to sink such an amount into a product like this, but many traders would have a hard time letting go of the one-thousand dollars needed for the lifetime license. Especially considering that options like MT4 or MT5 are available with all of their features unlocked for free through many brokerages. 

You can always use the free version of NinjaTrader, but your movement will be limited, and you will likely feel the restrictions without the ability to backtest, access advanced order types, and use automated trading. Still, NinjaTrader does offer several useful features that aren’t available with some of their most popular competitors, so this platform might be worthy of the monthly or lifetime price tag after all. Our opinion is that this platform is worth using if it offers things you need and is personally affordable. Otherwise, you should stick with another popular option that doesn’t come with such a high price and remember NinjaTrader in the future.

Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

What is MetaTrader 4?

MetaTrader 4, also known as MT4 for short, is one of the world’s leading and most popular electronic trading platforms. It was developed by MetaQuotes Software and first released to the public in 2005. The software is now licensed out to a large number of foreign exchange brokers who then, in turn, provide the software to their clients. The client that the user uses is a windows-based application that initially gained popularity due to its ability to allow users to create and write their own trading scripts and robots in order to automatically trade for them. MetaTrader 4 comes in various forms such as a desktop download, mobile application, or mobile application.

How to download MetaTrader 4

The MetaTrader 4 website offers the base and generic versions of MetaTrader 4 ready to download, this version is great to download if you are looking to simply try out the platform as it does not require any broker accounts and as a way to try out the expert advisor creation and scripting tools that it provides.

Many brokers have prevented their accounts from being accessed from the generic version of MetaTrader4, they have now created their own branded versions of MetaTrader 4, so if you are using EagleFX, you will need to use the EagleFX MetaTrader 4 trading platform, if you are using IC Markets, then you will need to use the one branded from IC Markets. These platforms are exclusive to the broker offering it, so you won’t be able to use an EagleFX account on the IC Markets branded MetaTrader 4 client and vice versa.

Whichever broker that you are using, there will be an option to download their platform, most likely from within the client area, but some brokers also offer it directly from the homepage or trading platform pages.

How to install MetaTrader 4 on Windows

MetaTrader 4 was designed as a windows based application which makes it fairly straight forward to install, the first thing you will need to do is download the installation file as outlined in the section above,m once this has been done we are ready to install the software.

Simply run the .exe file and the installation wizard should startup. The wizard is self-explanatory, so simply follow the steps that it presents, select the installation location, any additional software that is offered (some brokers add in further options with their installation files). Once the installation is done, just double click the shortcut on your desktop or run the terminal.exe file and the MetaTrader 4 platform should open up.

How to install MetaTrader 4 on a Mac?

It can be a little more complicated to install MetaTrader 4 onto a MAC computer, the complexity needed will depend on the broker that you are using as some offer additional software while others do not.

Hopefully, your broker will be one of the ones that offer a direct MAC compatible download, if this is the case then it is as simple as downloading the application and running through the installation process, just like with a windows installation. If however it does not, it can be a little more complicated to get installed.

In order to get it installed correctly, you will need to download some additional software that will let you install it and run windows programs. Initially you will need to download and install a program called “Wine”, this is a free bit of software that allows Unix-based systems to run applications that were developed for Windows systems, there is a version specifically for the Mac OS. Once downloaded, you will then also need to download a program called “PlayOnMac”, download the software, and then run through the installation, following the prompts and downloading any necessary additional software (through the installation process).

Once everything has been installed, make sure that the latest version of Wine is installed, this can be updated through its menu system. You can then download the MetaTrader 4 Windows installation file, running this file will automatically open it with PlayOnMac, follow the onscreen prompts, and once finished, you should be able to launch MetaTrader 4 from within the PlayOnMac interface, or from a created a shortcut on the Mac desktop.

How to install MetaTrader 4 on a Linux system

If you are running a Linus based system, then you will have a few additional hoops to jump through before you can start using MetaTrader 4, just like we did on the Mac OS installations. This little guide will be based on the popular Ubuntu version of the Linus operating systems.

We will start out the same way as with the Mac installation, you will first need to download an application called “Wine”, this application makes it possible to run Windows applications on a Unix-based operating system. Wine is already included within the Ubuntu system, so in order to get it installed you will need to execute a single command line within the terminal, this command line is:

sudo apt-get install wine-stable

If your Ubuntu version did not have the repository available, then you can obtain it by running the following commands one by one:

wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/Release.key
sudo apt-key add Release.key
sudo apt-add-repository https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/

You will then need to update the software with the following command:

sudo apt-get update

Then finally you will need to install it:

sudo apt-get install –install-recommends winehq-stable

Once this has been completed, you can download the MetaTrader 4 windows installation file, be sure to choose to open it using Wine, the MT4 installation wizard will then start up and you can just follow the prompts available to install to your preferred location and any other settings that may be available. Once it has been installed, simply run the terminal.exe file, Wine will automatically load up the windows based program and you should be good to go.

How to install multiple MetaTrader 4 platforms

If you have accounts with different brokers then this is nice and straight forward, you can simply install the MT4 client from each respective broker, as long as they have their own branded version they will both install without any issues.

If you, however, have multiple accounts with the same broker that you wish to trade at the same time, it can be a little trickier. You can install the first platform following the normal routine, simply follow the onscreen instructions. When you want to install the second platform when the option to change the location of the installation is available, you must use this to install the platform onto a separate folder to the original one, this can simply have a number at the end or name it whatever you like. Once this has completed, you should be able to open up the two platforms separately without any issues.

How to download the MetaTrader 4 Mobile App

The mobile app that is available for MetaTrader 4 is a universal application, unlike the desktop version, it does not matter which broker you are using, you will be able to access your account from the standard application. In order to download it, you will need to load up the app store that is relevant to your device. It is available on both the Android Play Store and the iOS Apple Store.

Simply put in a search for MetaTrader 4 and it should pop up. Click to download and you will be all set to input your broker, server, username, and password.

How to use the MetaTrader 4 WebTrader

The WebTrade is a feature that comes with many brokers that allows you to trade using your MetaTrader 4 account without having to download and install any software or applications. All that you will need is a compatible web browser (any modern browser will work) and your account number and password. If your broker supports it, there should be a link to their version of the WebtTrader somewhere on the site.

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Beginners Forex Education Forex Trading Platforms

Overview of MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 is an online electronic trading platform, it is often referred to as MT5 for short. Designed as an institutional multi-asset platform, it offers the user a wide range of trading possibilities and technical analysis tools, it also enables the use of automated trading systems (known as robots or expert advisors) as well as copy trading from signals. The MT5 platform was released to the public in 2010 and has been steadily growing in popularity ever since, it now stands as one of the major trading platforms along with its older counterpart, Metatrader 4.

MetaTrader 5 was designed as a Windows-based platform and so comes in the form of a windows application, there are ways to get it to work on other operating systems such as Mac OS or Linux, but it is not natively supporting on those operating systems. The platform is also available as an application on both iOS and Android devices, as well as a WebTrader that can be accessed from any modern web browser.

MetaTrader 5 Features

Overview: The MetaTrader 5 platform comes with a whole host of available features, as a brief overview these include things like partial order filling, multiple fill policies, six different order types, depth of market view, 38 built-in technical indicators, 44 built-in graphical objects, 21 different timeframes, a built-in the economic calendar, as email system (with attachments), the ability to transfer funds between accounts, MQL%.community chat, a strategy tester, multilingual code, supports netting accounts, hedging is ok, an unlimited number of symbols supports Forex, Futures, Options, Stocks, and Bonds, and it also supports exchange trading.

The MetaTrader Market: The MetaTrader Market offers thousands of different expert advisors, indicators, and trading signals to users of MT5. The market can be accessed directly within the MT5 platform, making it quick and easy to get anything purchased up and running quickly, it will also ensure that things are compatible with the platform. You are able to purchase items outright, rent them for a certain time period, or download them absolutely free.

Trading Signals: MT5 has a built-in signal service, you can view and purchase a number of different signals and your MT5 platform will copy them directly into your account, you can view the detailed stats and history of each available signal, so you know exactly what you will be getting. All signals are constantly monitored and any that are not showing satisfactory results, will not be shown to the public for rental or purchase.

Mobile Trading: Trading on the go could not be easier, it is made possible through the use of iOS and Android devices which can easily be purchased and downloaded within the respected platforms application store. The mobile platform supports two position accounting systems (netting and hedging), features Market Depth, and all types of trade orders. The mobile application enables professional technical analysis through the built-in set of indicators and analytical objects. You can also control your account, monitor the history of your trades, buy and sell currencies, and exchange securities with just a single click.

WebTrader: MetaTrader 5 also comes with the popular WebTrader platform. You can load it up within your compatible web browser (any modern one will work) and then trade on your live or demo account. There are some limitations such as the number of indicators and you cannot use automated trading with it, but it is a good tool to check your accounts and trades should you be away from your usual place of trading.

Automated Trading: The MT5 platform offers a host of features that allow you to trade automatically, these are mostly performed by Expert Advisors that use technical indicators to look a the markets and will then enter and exit the markets based on the set parameters. The MetaEditor which is built into the software allows you to design and develop your own trading robots as well as test their compilation and performance.

Indicators: MetaTrader 4 has been designed to work with many different indicators and there are new ones appearing every single day. The marketplace offers over 3,000 indicators that you can purchase, rent, or download for the platform. Technical indicators that incorporate things like Fibonacci Levels, RSI, Bollinger Bands, Moving Averages and more are available, whatever you are looking for, it should be available to download.

Categories
Beginners Forex Education Forex Trading Platforms

Overview of MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 which is also known as MT4, is one of the world’s most popular and most used electronic trading platforms that is hosted by a large number of online foreign exchange brokers. The platform contains both a client and a server component, the server component is run by the providing broker which the client version is provided to and run by the customers.

MT4 is a Microsoft Windows-based application that was released back in 2004 by the MetaQuotes Software company and first became popular due to its ability to allow its users to create their own trading scripts, algorithms, and robots in order to automatically trade for them. There is now a more recent product called MetaTrader 5, but the popularity of MetaTrader 4 still continues.

MetaTrader 4 Features

MetaTrader 4 comes with a huge array of different features that should enable it to suit your own style of trading.

Mobile Trading: If you are someone that is always on the move then the mobile solution from MetaQuotes is perfect for you. Downloadable as an application to both Android and iOS devices (iPhone, iPad), the application can be accessed from anywhere in the world. The functionality that is offered by the mobile version of the platform includes interactive quote charts, a full set of trading order types, similar to the desktop version, you are able to monitor the status of your account, track the history of trades, as well as buy and sell instruments in a single click, it also comes with push notifications.

Automated Trading: The MT4 platform offers a host of features that allow you to trade automatically, these are mostly performed by Expert Advisors that use technical indicators to look a the markets and will then enter and exit the markets based on the set parameters. The MetaEditor which is built into the software allows you to design and develop your own trading robots as well as test their compilation and performance.

Web Trading: Don’t want to download the desktop platform or a mobile app? No problem, you can simply use the online WebTrader that is offered by many MetaTrader 4 compatible brokers. You can load it up within your compatible web browser (any modern one will work) and then trade on your live or demo account. There are some limitations such as the number of indicators and you cannot use automated trading with it, but it is a good tool to check your accounts and trades should you be away from your usual setting.

MetaTrader Market: MetaTrader 4 comes with both a built-in and a web-based marketplace full of expert advisors, indicators and signals available to easy purchase and installation. The market currently provides a wide selection of trading applications, over 3,000 trading robots, and 4,000 indicators, both free and paid products, the ability to both purchase or rent the applications, secure purchases, and a wide range of payment options. The applications can be purchased outright or they can be rented for a shorter period of time giving you maximum flexibility.

Trading Signals: The MetaTrader 4 marketplace is full of signals that you can copy, offering an inbuilt marketplace, you can browse the available signals from within the trading platform itself. Take a look at their statistics and then decide whether to follow the signal, there are both free and monthly rental signals available to subscribe to.

Indicators: MetaTrader 4 has been designed to work with many different indicators and there are new ones appearing every single day. The marketplace offers over 4,000 indicators that you can purchase, rent, or download for the platform. Technical indicators that incorporate things like Fibonacci Levels, RSI, Bollinger Bands, Moving Averages and more are available, whatever you are looking for, it should be available to download.

Technical Details

The MetaTrader 4 platform comes with a number of technical components that perform different tasks.

MetaTrader 4 Client Terminal – the client part. Provided free by brokerages for real-time online trading and as Demo (practice trading) accounts. This provides trade operations, charts, and technical analysis in real-time. The internal C-like programming language allows users to program trading strategies, indicators, and signals. 50 basic indicators are included, each of which can be further customized. The software runs on Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/7. Some users have reported success using Wine on Linux for the client terminal and on Mac using WineBottler

MetaTrader 4 Mobile – controls a trading account via mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs. Runs on Windows Pocket PC 2002/Mobile 2003, iOS, and Android
MetaTrader 4 Server – the core of the system, the server part. Designed to handle user requests to perform trade operations, display, and execution of warrants. Also, it sends price quotes and news broadcasts, records, and maintains archives. Works as a service. It does not have a separate interface.

MetaTrader 4 Administrator – is designed to remotely manage the server settings.

MetaTrader 4 Manager – designed to handle trade inquiries and manage customer accounts.

MetaTrader 4 Data Center – a specialized proxy server and can be an intermediary between the server and client terminals. It reduces the price quote sending load on the main server.

Categories
Forex Trading Platforms

Overview of the TradeStation Forex Trading Platform

With many popular trading platform markets on the market, like MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), Trade Station brings its own creation to the mix, known as TradeStation. You can download the TradeStation platform on your desktop, use mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, or access the platform through your internet browser for the ultimate accessibility. Here are some of the platform’s most impressive features:

  • Work-optimized interface.
  • New update process that provides seamless updates.
  • 99.999% uptime.
  • Access to stocks, options, futures, and cryptocurrencies.
  • Advanced tools that allow one to customize and test trading strategies before entering them on a live account using Simulated Trading Mode.
  • Market-scanning tools.
  • Customizable charting tools.
  • More than 12 built-in apps + a TradingApp store that offers hundreds of options, including many free choices.
  • Scan for trading opportunities in real-time using the platform’s RadarScreen®, which continually monitors and ranks up to 1,000 symbols in real-time.
  • The Matrix trading tool combines market depth, advanced order-entry tool, and a precise order tracking system into one convenient window.
  • Visualize the market in a new way using the platform’s OptionStation Pro® tool.

If you don’t make a $2,000 deposit, then all of these options cannot be accessed for free. Any trade that is placed using the desktop application will be charged a $10 fee, or $1.40 surcharge per contract will apply for futures trades. Other fees may apply unless you use the broker’s TS Select package.

TradeStation Brokerage

The TradeStation platform was created by TradeStation, a powerful online broker that offers investment choices in stocks, options, futures, and even cryptocurrency options. Here are a few important facts about this broker:

  • $0 commissions on stocks & ETFs.
  • Different account options for no minimum entry deposit or $2,000 for the TS Select.
  • Charges extra fees on trades if the TS Select package isn’t being used.
  • Charges service fees, market data fees, premium service fees, and other fees.

Before deciding, you’ll want to check out the broker’s website for yourself to access all of the necessary information you’ll need to know before opening an account.

The Bottom Line

There’s no denying the fact that TradeStation has created an innovative trading platform with unique tools and features you won’t find elsewhere. This makes their creation stand out from the crowd, thanks to its resourcefulness and convenience. On the downside, this broker does tack on several extra charges, like service fees and market data fees, along with fees of $1.40 or $10 per trade if you aren’t using the TS Select package when trading. Before choosing this broker, you’ll want to break down all of the fees and seriously consider choosing the TS Select option with a $2,000 deposit to avoid extra unnecessary fees. The TradeStation platform is a solid option that only loses points with us under the shadow of its broker’s excessive hidden fees.

Categories
Forex MT4 Platform

MetaTrader 4 vs MetaTrader 5: An In-Depth Comparison

If you’re a forex trader, chances are that you’ve already heard about MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). These are the two most popular trading platforms on the market and are among the most common platforms offered by online brokers, especially with MT4. Do know that there are other trading platforms out there, but today we will focus on these two major options. Here’s what the platforms have in common:

-Both MT4 and MT5 can be accessed for free through your forex broker. Other platforms might ask for a lifetime licensing fee, which could force you to pay around $499 out of pocket.

-Both platforms were created by the Russian development company MetaQuotes Software Corporation, which is a leader in the financial market.

-Each platform offers a user-friendly interface that is easily navigable. Video tutorials for both platforms can be found online.

-Both platforms are compatible with Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android devices.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MT4 was created in 2005 and specifically built for forex traders. Compared to MT5, the older version might seem simpler, but it is probably the best option for anyone that simply wants to trade forex and it is a simpler choice for beginners. Here are some of its (best) features:

  • 9 timeframes
  • Four types of pending orders: buy stop, buy limit, sell limit, sell stop
  • Allows hedging
  • 30 built-in indicators
  • 3 order execution types
  • 31 graphical objects
  • Single-threaded strategy tester
  • Easy to use
  • Very Accessible (supports PC, Mac, Browser, iPhone/iPad, and Android devices)

MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

Five years after MT4 was created, MT5 was released. Contrary to popular belief, MT5 is not a newer upgraded version of MT4, instead, it was created to provide traders access to stocks, CFDs, and futures because MT4 was designed for trading forex. The programming language for MT5 is more complex and allows traders to perform more actions while offering more timeframes, pending order types, built-in tools, and so on. Here are some of MT5’s most notable features:

  • 21 timeframes
  • Six types of pending orders
  • Allows hedging and netting
  • 38 technical indicators
  • Economic calendar
  • 4 order execution types
  • Supports several transaction types
  • 44 graphical objects
  • Multi-threaded strategy tester
  • Fund transfer between accounts
  • Embedded MQL5 community chat
  • Very Accessible (supports PC, Mac, Browser, iPhone/iPad, and Android devices)

In addition to offering 2 more pending orders, order execution types, and other options, MT5 also comes with more built-in convenience options, including the ability to transfer funds between accounts through the platform and the embedded community char feature. These things aren’t necessary, but they do make trading more convenient.

The Bottom Line

Comparing MT4 and MT5 is a little more complex than comparing apples and oranges. Both platforms are user-friendly and designed for simple navigation, however, MT4 is more simplistic, making it a better option for beginners or those that don’t need MT5’s features. MT4 was created for forex trading, while MT5 was created to offer access to stocks, CFDs, and futures. MT5 also offers 12 more timeframes, 2 more pending order types, netting, one extra order execution type, more graphical objects, and a multi-threaded strategy tester. Still, many traders prefer MT4 because they may not need these extra features. In the end, it comes down to personal preference. Some traders are dead set on one platform or the other, while others are happy with either. If you’re unsure, consider testing out a demo account on both MT4 and MT5 to see which platform is best suited for your needs.