As a Trade Systems Analyst at Tripeak I am often asked a variety of questions related to the Metatrader 4 (MT4) platform. MT4 is a powerful program with many features that are often not noticeable at first glance. In this article I’d like to share some of the most common questions we receive from our clients so that anybody working with MT4 can gain a greater understanding of the software.
Q: I can’t seem to place a buy limit order. What gives?
A: Buy limit orders are placed when a trader wishes to buy, or go long below the current market rate. When the market dips and touches the requested price, the buy limit order is executed. On the same token, an order to sell above the current market rate would be considered a sell limit. When placing a pending order you’ll also notice you can place a sell or buy stop. In the case of these orders you would be doing the opposite of what I’ve described above: buying above the current market rate for a buy stop; below the current market rate for a sell stop.
Q: How do I rescan for servers?
A: Rescanning for servers will refresh your connection to the trading server. At the bottom right corner of your terminal you’ll notice both red and green bars. Simply click on those bars and select “rescan for servers.”
Q: Why can’t I see all of the currency pairs available for trading in my “Market Watch” window?
A: Simply navigate to the market watch window, click with the right mouse button and select “Show All.”
Q: Why do I see the “Waiting For Update” message on my chart, but no data?
A: A simple refresh of the chart is needed. You can either right click on the chart and select “Refresh” or close the chart and create a new one. Finally, if you’ve logged into the terminal for the first time, simply drag a currency pair from the “Market Watch” window onto the chart to see live data.
Q: How do I apply my EA to a chart?
A: Look for the “Expert Advisors” section of the Navigator window and drag the desired EA onto the chart. A window will appear once this is done. Before clicking “OK” make sure “Allow Live Trading” has been selected. Once you’ve clicked on “OK” check that the “Enable Expert Advisors” button is pressed at the top of the terminal. There should be a smiley face in the top right corner of the chart if it’s applied correctly.
Q: What does the message “Off Quotes” mean?
A: There are a variety of reasons why this error might occur. It is best to contact your broker whenever this message is seen.
Q: What does “Trade Context is Busy” mean?
A: Sometimes a trade will be sent to the broker but doesn’t execute immediately. This could occur due to a delay with the trader’s connection or the broker’s. In either case, if the client closes the trade and tries to place another, the error message “Trade Context is Busy” will appear. This happens because the MT4 terminal is still waiting for a response from the broker for the first trade that was placed.
Q: Why do I have to set my chart up when I log in every time?
A: You actually don’t have to. After a chart is created with your desired settings, simply right click on the chart and select “Template.” When you log back in you can then go back to the templates section and load the saved template.
Q: How can I set alarms in the MT4 platform?
A: On the bottom of the terminal there is a tab titled “Alerts.” Right click in the field and select “Create.” Simply enter the desired parameters and press “OK”.
Q: How do I get history for a symbol?
A: Go to the top menu bar and select “Tools,” then navigate to the “History Center.” When the window pops up you will see the categories you have to choose from. Select the category you want and then the list of symbols will expand below it. Double click on the symbol and then select your desired time frame and double click on it. To the right you will see the data appear. From here you can export it or search through what you have pulled up to see the data point you are looking for.