Metatrader Education | Learn Metatrader 4

What is MetaTrader 4?

MetaTrader 4 is what is known as a "Trading Platform".  It connects you to the foreign exchange market, lets you see the prices of all the currencies, and allows you to trade the Forex market.  A huge benefit of this platform is that it allows you to trade a demo first (fake money) for practice, until you get good enough to invest your actual money.  To trade forex you need to select a broker to place your orders with (we'll walk you through this later!).  Almost all Forex brokers in the world offer the MetaTrader 4 platform and most of them offer the software for free.  All you need to do to get started is visit a forex broker's website, the following link is a good place to get started https://my.alpari-us.com/en/mtdemo/.  Just like that, you will have a free forex trading platform and a free demo account for practice. Below is an image of the main Metatrader screen.  Each primary section of the Metatrader platform is labeled with a number. 

Below the image is a key describing each section of the platform.  Each section also has a video associated with it.

1. Market Watch- This window holds a list of all the currencies available in your platform.  There are three columns within the Market watch window.  Symbol is the currency pairing (EUR/USD = Euro versus the U.S. Dollar).  The Ask price is the current price in which sellers are willing to sell (or the price that buyers have to pay, if you bought the currency pair, you'd pay the ask price).  The Bid price is the current price in which buyers are willing to pay (or the price that sellers have to pay, if you sold the currency pair, you would sell at this price).  Right clicking within the market watch window and clicking "Show All" will give you a complete list of currency pairs.  If the Market watch window isn't visible on your platform, go to view, and click Market watch.
   

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2. Navigator- This window is a centralized location for many of Metatraders features.  Within the Navigator window you have Accounts, Indicators, Expert Advisors, Custom Indicators, and Scripts.
   1. Accounts - Shows all Live and Demo accounts associated with that particular Metatrader platform.  Green icons represent demo accounts while gold icons represent live accounts.  To create a new demo account, go to file and click open an account.
   2. Indicators- Indicators (commonly known as Technical Indicators) can be attached to forex charts to assist with trading.  There are several types of technical indicators, all serving a different function.  To use an indicator, simply maximize the indicator tab, find the indicator you'd like to use, and drag it on to the chart you would like the indicator on.
   3. Expert Advisors- Expert Advisors are automated trading robots designed to trade the foreign exchange market based on its internal parameters.  For more information on Expert Advisors, see the section of our website entitled "Expert Advisors".
   4. Custom Indicators- Custom Indicators are technical indicators that have been assembled by individuals or corporations to meet a specific trading purpose.  All technical indicators will serve their own specific function.  Just like default technical indicators, to use a custom indicator, simply drag it onto the chart you would like to see the indicator on.
   5. Scripts- Scripts are an advanced feature of Metatrader and are dragged onto the chart to perform a certain action one time (for example, closing a trade).  When you drag an indicator onto a chart, the indicator remains there until it is removed.  Scripts execute an action one time, and are then disabled.
      

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3. Terminal- The Terminal displays information about your current and previous trading profitability.  The terminal has 7 tabs, they are; Trade, Account History, News, Alerts, Mailbox, Experts, Journal.  These tabs are summarized below:
   1. Trade - This tab displays information about the trades in your account that are currently open.  By default, this tab also displays the account balance, equity, and free margin.  For more information on what these values mean, please investigate the trading education portion of our website.
   2. Account History - This tab displays all trades that have been closed for the current account. If you believe that some of your account history is missing, you can right click in the account history and select "All history".
   3. News - The news tab displays complimentary news updates provided from your broker.  The frequency and quality of news will vary from broker to broker.
   4. Alerts- The alerts tab is designed to alert the user when certain market conditions are met.  To create a new alert, click the alerts tab, right click in the alerts field, and select "Create".  Here you can build your own custom alerts.
   5. Mailbox - Mailbox is another feature that will vary from broker to broker.  Your mailbox may have registration details, account details, or even some brokerage updates.  Again, the information in this tab will vary from broker to broker.
   6. Experts- Note: The experts tab will only be visible if you have Expert Advisors activated, for more information about activating Expert Advisors, see the section of our website "Automated Trading".  The Experts tab delivers information about the Expert Advisor you are using.  It will tell you if your Expert Advisor is activated, if it made a trade, if it closed a trade, and if it has become disabled.
   7. Journal- The journal provides a running list of all events occurring within the platform. Everything from your trading activity to your Expert Advisor is registered.
      

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4. Activity/Status- This display will show your platforms connection speed with the internet.  If you see red bars with a reading of "No Connection", that means your platform is not connected to the internet.  If you see a status of "Invalid Account" that means you have invalid account details.  If this is a demo account, you may need to go to file and select "Open an account" to open a new demo account.  If this is a live account, you may need to contact your broker to confirm your account information.
5. Chart Tools- The Chart tools are used to manipulate the appearance of charts.  On the chart tools menu, you have; Bar Chart, Candlestick Chart, line chart, magnify, minimize, autoscroll, chart shift, add indicator, periods, and templates.  These parameters are discussed below:
   1. 1. Bar Chart- Bar chart is the method the platform uses to display the prices of the currency pair.  The highest point on the Bar Chart represents the high price, the lowest point on the bar represents the lowest price, the left extending bar represents the open price, and the right extending bar represents the closing price.  See the image below for a description of bar chart:

      

      2. Candle stick charts are a modified version of bar charts.  Candlestick charting tends to be the most preferred way to view charts.  See the image below to look at a candlestick chart.

      

      3. Line Chart- a line chart is the most primitive form of charting and is simply a line connecting all the closing prices for the time frame specified.
      4. Maximize- The maximize button simply zooms in on the current portion of the chart you have selected
      5. Minimize- The minimize button zooms out of the chart that is currently selected.
      6. Auto Scroll- Auto Scroll automatically keeps the chart on the most recent price.  There are times where you may want to scroll back in the chart to check previous prices.  With the autoscroll turned on, the chart will jump to the most recent prices with every incoming tick.
      7. Chart shift- Chart Shift provides area between the most recent prices and the Y-axis.  This can make viewing charts more comfortable and easier.
      8. Add Indicators button- Click this button to add technical indicators to a chart of your choice.  There are several technical indicators, all with their own function and purpose.
      9. Periods Button- Clicking this button provides a list of different time frames you can change your chart to.  For example, with chart type candlesticks selected, clicking the 1H button will have the candlestick chart put 1 hour of data into each candlestick.
      10. Templates Button- The templates button can be used to load or save a template.  You may have your charts formatted just the way you like regarding color, time frame, and indicators.  To save these settings, click templates and select save template.  Give your template a name, click save, the next time you want to apply this template to another chart, you can go back to the templates button and load your template.
          

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   6. New Order Button- Clicking on the new order button brings up a new order window.  This is the main button you use for placing orders within the Metatrader platform. See the image below for a preview of the order window:

   
   
   7. New Chart Button- The new chart button opens up a new chart of the currency pair of your choice. Simply press this button and pick the currency you wish from the drop down menu.

   
   Periodicity Display - Here is where you can change the time frame of the charts on your platform.  The timeframe can range anywhere from 1 minute, to 1 month.

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   Trading with Metatrader videos (MORE)

Placing a market order	Placing a Limit Order	Placing a Stop Order	Expert Advisors
Placing a Stop Order	Placing a Trailing Stop	Strategy Tester