Forex has grown considerably in popularity over the last 5 years, resulting in many new and popular online Forex trading platforms hitting the global marketplace.

One of the most popular online Forex trading platforms that have been around since 2005 is MetaTrader 4, developed by MetaQuotes Software.

Why is MT4 considered one of the world’s top online Forex trading platforms?

Whether MT4 is the best trading package available or very much open to public opinion, but no-one can deny how popular it has become for Forex brokers all around the world. It is still the most widely used trading platform offered by brokers and globally there would be millions of traders using the software.

Here are the top 9 reasons why MT4 is so popular

1. Real time charting

In today’s day and age this is absolutely critical and brokers continue to fight for the best price feeds for their clients. One of the advantages for many MT4 brokers is their price feed, with the prime of prime broker space opening up considerably after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) fiasco back in January 2015. This puts the advantage back in the hands of the trader as more and more brokers are aligning with the best prime of prime brokers for excellent price feeds across all markets.

2. One-click dealing

Forex markets move fast, especially around news events like non-farm payrolls. Traders need the ability to react quickly and execute orders swiftly into the market. One Click Dealing is available in MT4 simply by right clicking on any chart and selecting ‘One click trading’. Now you can click buy or sell and have your trade executed straight into the market.

3. Ability to adjust stop loss and profit taking orders live on the chart

Gone are the days when you had a stop loss in place and to move it meant opening up the order ticket, manually entering the new stop loss figure and then hitting submit. Now your stop loss is visibly drawn across your MT4 chart and to change it, simply click and drag the stop loss line to the new level.
Trading from the chart is brilliant, especially if you trade with support/resistance lines and support lives. Now you can drag your stop loss or profit taking order to the level you wish quickly and easily.
4. Ability to automate your trading with Expert Advisors
One of the best features of MT4 is the ability to code your own mechanical trading system directly into MT4. You set the trading parameters and MT4 will execute your system as directed by your coding.
For those who trade in Australia, often the most active and opportunistic times to trade are from midnight onwards. This makes it difficult to keep up and make sensible trading decisions when you are falling asleep. Creating your own EA is a great solution to this issue.
5. Access to a wide range of currency pairs

MT4 can import data for any trading instrument and of course the leading MT4 Forex Brokers have a wide range of currency pairs for you to choose from. Of course this should include the Forex majors, Forex minors and the exotic pairs as well.

6. Easy to understand programming language

Another reason MT4 has proven incredibly popular over the years is the ease with which people can code their own trading systems. Fortunately, you don’t need to be an expert coder or even know how to do it, as you have a number of helpful tools to get you on your way. The language used to code your trading systems in MT4 is known as MQL4.

7. Lots of third party development tools & huge community

This is a huge one. The MT4 community is outstanding with coders developing tools and resources for pretty much everything. No matter what style of system you want or are thinking of developing, this community has probably coded it and are trading it right now.

In addition, if you need help or support with anything, someone will be there on the popular MT4 forum to help you out.

8. MT4 VPS

Complementing the ability to trade around the clock means you need to be able to have your copy of MT4 running 24/5 (whilst the markets are open), in order to execute your trades in the market. As a result, a whole market opened up to be able to host your MT4 on a server, allowing you to execute your automated forex trading systems into the market. (November 2018 update: with our formal launch of MetaTrader 5 we also offer MT5 VPS.)

9. Account statements and record keeping statistics

Your accountant is going to love you. Downloading your complete trading history including full profit or loss and pretty much every other statistic is right there for you with a few mouse clicks. Every trade you have ever done plus the most important statistics to help you identify where your strengths and weaknesses are as a trader.

Written by the GO Markets team

Please note that trading Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk, including the risk of losing substantially more than your initial investment. Also, you do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets. You should only trade if you can afford to carry these risks. Our offer is not designed to alter or modify any individual’s risk preference or encourage individuals to trade in a manner inconsistent with their own trading strategies. For more on trading Forex check out our Forex Trading Education Centre, MetaTrader 4 Tutorials, or open a free MetaTrader 4 demo account.

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