Blog for Building Expert Advisors for Metatrader 4

TOOLS TO BUILD EXPERT ADVISORS

 

 

Many traders have adopted Expert Advisors (EAs) in recent years. EAs help remove the emotion from trading and enable trading strategies to be automated so that the buy and sell signals can be executed automatically without manual intervention.

The Metatrader 4 Trading platform. The MT4 platform can be provided by a brokerage, as an enticement to use the broker's services. The latter usually connect to a variety of data sources and brokerages. The key features of MT4 besides order entry and charting, is to offer capabilities more aligned with systematic traders, such as the scripting language (MQL) and strategy back-testing. The instruments used on this platform include CFDs (contracts for difference) and Forex (foreign exchange), which provide a wide array of markets to trade.

The MQL4 Scripting language. Expert Advisors are essentially software programs and, as such, are based on the MQL programming language. The MQL4 language is tailored to market trading and it is available together with the MT4 application. The MQL4 is a general purpose trading system that allows the MT4 Programmer editing, code testing, and some historical simulation.

Portfolio analysis and simulation tools. MT4 includes simulation capabilities; however, third-party tools often go beyond the features available. Tools in this category enable advanced analyses, including position sizing, portfolio optimization, Monte Carlo analysis, and robustness testing. The specific applications mentioned above are generally geared towards individual and so-called semi-professional traders. While many professional traders also use these tools, software tools specifically designed for professional and/or academic use in the finance area include MatLab, Mathematica, and the S and R statistical analysis languages.

For more information on tools to build EAs:

"18 Trading Champions Share Their Keys To Top Trading Profits by FWN
"Forex Trading" by Freeforexbook
"Financial Toolbox" by Mathworks

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