Content source: Wechat public account Huiclassroom
Sometimes the difference between us and the foreign exchange giants can be seen from the use of chart tools without looking at the account profit record.
MT4 is also used, the boss can make the best use of everything, and Xiaobai can only use its superficial functions.
Today, Hui Class will share with you 9 MT4 usage skills that you don't know.
MT4 is a third-party foreign exchange trading software, and most traders have authorized its use. Although this software has been born for 15 years, it is still the most popular trading tool. This stems from the fact that it can not only meet the lightweight functions of technical analysis and trading orders, but also perform a large number of third-party integration operations.
Many trading platforms will give MT4 usage guides, so today we will not mention the basic usage functions of MT4, let's take a look at MT4 tips that you may not know.
1. Custom indicators
This is the first function to be mentioned. There are many built-in various indicators on MT4, but with the improvement of trading skills, we need more technical indicators, so we need to add some external indicators, which may be purchased by yourself or developing.
How to insert external indicators in MT4?
You only need to find the storage source file of the MT4 indicator, and then save the external indicator to the indicator source file, and then call it. But this operation needs to be done on the computer, unless you can find the source file on the mobile phone.
The main operation steps are as follows:
Open the MT4 software, click on the file - open the data folder.
In the folder that opens, click on the MQL4 folder.
After opening the MQL4 file, find the Indicators folder and click it.
Put the downloaded indicators directly into the Indicators folder.
Note that you need to restart the MT4 software again when using it, click Insert - Technical Indicators - Customize, or find the external indicators you need in the indicator navigator.
2. Adjust the lines
The default lines of many indicators or tools on the computer side are rays. If there are too many tools added to the chart, it will appear cluttered and interfere with the line of sight. Therefore, these can be adjusted through property settings.
For example, the trend line, the default parameter is a ray, when using it, you can cancel the ray and change the line style according to your own needs.
3. Adjust the chart style
For visual beauty and clarity, many MT4 default charts have a black background, black and white candlesticks, and grids. If you feel that the visual effect is not very good, you can also modify it in the properties.
By modifying the colors of the background, foreground, white candle, black candle, etc., you can make your chart more intuitive and pleasing to the eye.
4. Select the tool object in the chart
There are too many auxiliary tools other than indicators in the MT4 chart, such as trend lines, horizontal lines, vertical lines, Fibonacci, etc., when you want to select one of the objects to modify, the default selection method of MT4 is to click the mouse twice. This can also be modified to 1 time, which is more convenient.
You can select Tools-Options-Object in the menu bar, and select "Click the mouse to select the object".
5. Save and load templates
When you have a relatively mature trading system, you can save it as a template and then apply it to different trading varieties. Instead of adding indicator setting parameters every time, this uses the technique of saving and loading templates. All templates will be saved in the templates folder of the data folder.
For example, in the USD/CHF chart, the adjusted zigzag indicator is good. If you want to apply it to the EUR/USD chart, you can save this set of indicators as a template and name it zigzag.
Open the EUR/USD chart and load the template directly.
Select the zigzag template to see the exact same trading strategy reflected in different trading varieties.
6. Changing traders can save all settings
Changing traders is a common thing, so all the things you set up on MT4 and transaction history are lost because of changing servers?
A knowledgeable person will pack everything up, and changing traders is not a hassle at all.
Remember to save your own data folder.
After selecting a new trading platform, just overwrite the data folder with the new source file location.
7. Multifunctional cross star
I don’t know if you have used the cross star function. It can not only display the corresponding time and price of the current K line, but also can be used to measure the space for profit and loss.
Especially when setting a fixed stop loss space, it is necessary to measure the distance. At this time, there is no need to calculate, and it can be done with the cross star function. After inserting the cross star function, click and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse to test the distance between different positions and the original position.
For example, as shown in the figure below, point A is the original position of the cross star, point B is the moved position, and a series of numbers (8/316/1.32354) after point B respectively indicate that the time interval between points A and B is 8 hours, and the point difference 316 points, the corresponding price at point B is 1.32354.
The point difference can be mainly used to measure the take profit and stop loss space.
8. MT4 free backtest function
Especially for part-time traders, there is no need to spend money to buy backtesting software. It can be realized by using the backtest function that comes with MT4.
The first simple backtest function, you can directly press and hold the F12 shortcut key, and you can watch the automatic playback of the candle chart. Move to the right one candle at a time.
The second is that you can download historical transaction data. If you want to see more data, you need to select all the cycle charts, and in the tool-option setting, enter the maximum number of bars in the historical data as the maximum value.
During backtesting, if you want to quickly find the K-line chart of a specific date, just double-click the MT4 date column and enter the date.
9. Commonly used shortcut keys in MT4
Shortcut keys can greatly improve your work efficiency at work, and the same goes for transactions. Mastering the common shortcut keys of MT4 can improve transaction efficiency and save time and effort.
Ctrl+N - Navigation
Ctrl+I - open indicator window
Ctrl+F-Crosshair
Ctrl+Y - Show date line on chart
Ctrl+W - close the current chart window
Ctrl+Z - undelete object
+ chart zoom
- Chart zoom out
Alt+1 - Histogram
Alt+2 - Candlestick
Alt+3 - Line Chart
F2 - Historical Data Center
F7 - trading system parameter settings
F8 - Chart main window properties
F9 - place an order
F10 - popup quote
The above is about the sharing of tips in the use of MT4. If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. I hope these tips can make your trading more convenient! Do you have any other MT4 usage skills, welcome to share with everyone in the comment area.