The MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform is probably the most popular electronic trading platform used by most retail Forex traders and fund managers. Most traders have an elementary understanding of using the MT4 trading platform, such as opening and closing trades, placing top losses, and loading indicators on charts.
Most brokerage houses dealing with retail trading offer the MT4 platform. Those who do not offer MT4 are the giant brokerage firms with substantial investments on their proprietary platforms and money to cater to maintenance and support.
Such brokerage houses have stringent conditions before you open an account with them. As a result, the MT4 comes in as a handy platform that brokerages offer, and it is popular with traders for its ease of use and simplicity.
1. Download MT4 from Different Sites
Most brokerage firms offer different MT4 platforms by customizing the offer, depending on the trader’s operating system. A version is available for each operating system as well as a web-based solution.
While on the broker’s web page, you get a prompt to download the MT4 on your PC. Some traders operate on different approaches, use the platform for other purposes, and have varying trading accounts such as CFDs and Forex MetaTrader (MT4). Some of the accounts are in different currencies, or the owners run on different strategies and thus the need for various MT4 platforms on the same PC.
You can download the platform several times and from other sites, but choosing a different folder for it, or storing it in the same folder but under a separate subfolder. With each download, you see a new shortcut on your desktop and showing how many MT4 platforms you have on your PC.
2. Import Custom Indicators
The basic version that Forex brokers offer has many indicators that help traders, although sometimes there is a need for customization. The MT4 platform has a built-in option for trading algorithms or programming new indicators. If you have some coding experience, you can program your program for use on the MetaTrader platform. Some traders may import on MT4 customized indicators they have bought on the internet.
3. Adjust the length of the Trendline
Traders use the MT4 for useful trading and its excellent charting. Technical analysis is the ability to forecast prices based on current prices. Technical analysis, coupled with good money management rules, can be an excellent source of success in trading. Trendlines and trends are the easiest way for a trader to profit from a market’s ascension or descent. You have to edit the Trendline in the MT4 platform so you can use it.
After you download the MT4, you need to draw a Trendline. The platform projects it on the chart’s right side. This means the ‘Ray’ option is active, and you need to eliminate it by:
- Drawing Trendline on a chart via the “Draw Trendline” option on the shortcut menu
- Highlight it with mouse and right-click on it
- Open Parameters
- Un-check Ray
4. Select Objects with One Click
When you have many objects on your chart such as Trendlines, indicators, letters, numbers, texts, etc., you can select items via one click of the mouse. The default setting needs two mouse clicks, and for a professional trader who spends copious amounts of time in front of PC screens, the fewer clicks, the better for saving both effort and time.
The MT4 platform allows you to select objects with one click by:
- Following the Tools/Options/Objects path
- Finding the “select object by single mouse click” option
5. Using Hotkeys
When you switch the chart templates in MT4, you will lose the current analysis on the charts. To deter this:
- Leave the price charts open and change your indicators.
- Assign a hotkey to place indicators on the charts instead of altering the whole template.
- On the navigator window, right-click on the indicator and choose “Hotkeys.”
Conclusion
The MT4 platform is a popular trading platform that has few rivals. Use some of these tips to maximize your experience with the MT4 and help you save time and effort.
