Financial trading increased in popularity since the internet made it possible for anyone with a stable internet connection to access the financial markets. Since then, the online trading industry has evolved into one of the most challenging and fascinating places for investors to test their knowledge and abilities. Brokerage houses offer access to the interbank market by providing the means to buy and sell currencies and other financial products. They act as an intermediary between the investors and the market. The end-user, the investor, acts independently, based on their underlying method and approach to the market. Upon opening a trading account, the investor gains access to a trading platform. The trading platform is the bridge between the investor and the market. The broker supervises everything, ensures conditions are as promised and, that trading respects the requirements set by the financial authority.

Introducing MetaTrader4

Developed by MetaQuotes Software, the MetaTrader4 trading platform is considered, by far, the number one platform by investors. Released in 2005, it quickly became an alternative to software offered by brokers due to a growing number of third-party add-ons, indicators, advisors, etc.

It quickly became the most popular trading platform for the online trading industry. And, for good reason. It has fully customizable settings offering flexibility and control. Its default settings offer, among others;

• three types of chart: line chart, bar chart, and candlestick chart
• the most popular trend indicators: Bollinger Bands, Parabolic SAR, Moving Averages, etc.
• the most popular oscillators: RSI (Relative Strength Index), MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence), Stochastics, DeMarker, etc.
• Bill Williams indicators
• charting tools such as Pitchfork, Fibonacci, Gann, trendlines, channels, etc.
• nine different timeframes to analyze currency pairs or any other financial instrument
• a data window to monitor the exact price evolution of price on each timeframe
• an auto trading option, where investors can manage their own automated trading
• a strategy tester option to see how a certain strategy performed in the past and to adjust the parameters, if needed
• the possibility to save the work in templates and profiles, so that it is easy to transfer to other trading devices (different computer etc.)

These are only a few of the capabilities Metatrader4, or MT4 offers with their default settings.

On top of that, investors can customize the platform in any way they want. With the MetaQuotes Language Editor, investors can code different robots and indicators based on their strategies and then simply upload them to the trading platform. Charts are fully customizable too. From the color settings to the background and foreground, investors have the possibility to set them up the way they want, so that the trading environment suits even the most exigent conditions. MetaTrader4 also offers access to market news, account history, and even a performance tracker that shows the drawdown, if any, as well as the overall performance for a given period. Moreover, investors can engage in sophisticated money management techniques, like hedging for instance, without making any changes to the original settings.

To summarise, the MT4 platform is one of the most complete trading platforms available today and will most likely remain so in the near future. Since smartphones have become central in our lives, MT4’s mobile app allows you to trade on the go too.

Take-aways:

• MT4 is the most popular trading platform among investors.
• Investors can run automated trading algorithms.
• It is fully customizable.