How do Forex Robots Work on MetaTrader

by forexrobotacademy | Feb 27, 2020

 

The forex market is very versatile in nature mainly because of the varied trading styles and techniques that can be employed. The market consists of traders of different levels of expertise with different techniques of navigating its waters. A major feature of the forex market is the distinction between traders who still rely on the old, manual trading techniques and those who are employing automated trading techniques for making profits. This article will focus on how do forex robots work on MetaTrader platform.

 

How Forex Robots Work

forex robot or an expert advisor refers to a piece of software coded with a set of instructions for automatically making trade decisions without the direct intervention of the trader.

After identifying a strategy, you simply program it into an expert advisor or use a forex EA generator to create the expert advisor.

The good thing about EA builders is that they do not require programming skills or other technical skills.

Most expert advisors are based on technical analysis of the behavior of the forex market and often work in a similar manner, irrespective of the type of EA a trader has programmed or bought.

The expert advisor will produce buy and sell signals whenever the market conditions align with the programmed rules and parameters.

Usually, a trader can adjust the technical parameters to suit the prevailing market conditions, which could maximize the robot’s profitability.

So, a trading robot works by generating signals whenever the stipulated market factors and other trading conditions are met.

Whereas most trading robots come with already set default settings, these settings can be altered to suit a trader’s risk appetite, capital outlay, as well as other individual preferences.

To better understand how do forex robots work on MetaTrader 4 or 5, let’s look at the following EUR/USD 1-hour chart with Bollinger bands applied to it.


Bollinger Bands Applied to EUR/USD

As can be seen on the chart, price broke out of the Bollinger Bands, indicating a nice buy opportunity.

If you are a manual trader, you will glue yourself in front of your computer screen looking for such opportunities.

On the other hand, if the Bollinger Bands trading strategy were programmed into a robot, it could save you from such hassles, as trades will be automatically initiated without your direct intervention.

This way, you can spend your time completing other tasks or strolling along the beaches of California. Nice?

Once the robot has determined that the criteria for entering the trade using the Bollinger Bands strategy have been met, it will initiate a buy order at the price outlined by its trading parameters.

The robot will have a predetermined level for taking profits. And, once the level is reached, it will automatically exit the trade and book the profits.

Similarly, the robot will have a predetermined stop-loss level, which limits losses in case the trade goes contrary to the initial expectations. The robot will also automatically exit the trade and book the losses if the stop-loss level is reached.

How To Develop A Forex Robot

If you want to learn how to create expert advisor in MT4, you will need to learn either the MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4) or the MetaQuotes Language 5 (MQL5).

After you’ve mastered any of the programming languages, you can identify a trading strategy and embed it on an expert advisor.

Learning the programming languages is not easy and you require lots of time and resources to be competent.

After inputting the trading algorithm in the robot, it will automatically be making trade decisions continuously without your direct intervention, something you cannot achieve with manual trading.

For example, if you have a strategy that generates sell signals whenever a currency pair breaks below a major support level, you can program it in a robot, and forget about having to watch the charts the whole day for such market movements.

Support Level Broken for GBP/USD

If lines of code make your head to swing, you can hire a programmer to develop a forex robot for you. You’ll just need to provide the programmer with your preferred trading criteria, and he or she will complete the rest.

Currently, with the advancements in technology, it’s possible to use Forex EA generators or EA builders to develop profit-making robots without mastering programming or possessing other technical skills.

For example, with the Forex Robot Factory, an Expert Advisor generator and builder from the Forex Robot Academy, you just need to provide your preferred trading strategy preferences and an EA will be automatically developed for you—without any worries of writing complicated lines of code or spending lots of money hiring a programmer.

The forex EA generator is online-based and will allow you to create amazing trading robots within a few minutes from any computer in the world.

Which Forex Robot Is The Best

Arguably, there is no such thing as the best forex robot. In fact, to get which expert advisor is the best for your use, you should try a number of them under simulated forex trading conditions.

A robot that works well for you may not work well for another trader—maybe based on the settings applied.

If a robot does not work for you, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad and others should throw it away.

Maybe if another trader sets it properly, it could work well for him or her, against your expectations. Remember that “One man’s meat, could be another man’s poison”.

Just like the term “best car”, “most beautiful woman”, or “best job” could mean different things to different people, the same applies to forex robots.

Therefore, the best forex robot is the one that is capable of generating consistent profits according to your expectations.

Good trading results of a Forex robot that work

Good trading robots will follow the programmed strategies to make profits and limit losses, especially during unstable market conditions.

Besides testing the performance of an expert advisor for MetaTrader 4 in simulated forex trading conditions, you can check online for user reviews and testimonials.

If a robot does not have convincing positive feedback, it probably means that it’s not the best to trust with your trading decisions.

So, the best expert advisor is the one that can consistently generate profits from the market, even if the profits are small.

It does not make sense going for a robot that makes profits, but then these profits are all wiped out in one negative trade.

Forex Robots that Work

Usually, most forex robots work and can generate consistent profits. However, if a forex robot doesn’t work, it could be due to the following reasons:

  • Poorly programmed strategies by an inexperienced programmer
  • Using ineffective EA builders that are incapable of creating profit-making robots
  • Failing to thoroughly test the performance of the EA under demo trading conditions
  • Improperly applying the EA’s settings
  • Poor internet connection during Forex robot trading operations

Therefore, you should pay extra attention when creating or purchasing an EA; otherwise, you could just be using a money-eating machine.

Presently, the Internet is littered with all sorts of robots promising quick returns to traders.

However, the truth about these flamboyantly advertised EAs is that most of them do not work, and cannot generate the marketed profits.

So, is there a forex robot that works?

Yes, there is.

Specifically, trading robots created using the Forex Robot Factory work well in all market conditions (assuming you create them the right way following the techniques of Forex Robot Academy).

The robot creation tool was developed by professionals with decades of experience in the forex market. So, if you are looking for forex robots that work, you better try out the tool.

If a robot is not making money, the problem usually does not lie with the machine, but with the person who created it.

Waking up one day and deciding you want to program an expert advisor without equipping yourself with the right skills and materials can do you more harm than good.

Before creating a robot, you need to have a thorough understanding of how the forex market works so that the machine you are going to create can aptly represent your trading strategy.

Because of this reason, Forex Robot Academy has created a comprehensive video course to equip traders with the right skills in developing reliable money-making automated trading systems.

Expert Advisor Not Working

In case of forex robots don’t work issues, there are some things you can do to fix the problems.

In most cases, the robot or the MT4 platform is not the problem, but the problem lies in the lack of knowledge on how to fix these issues easily.

Here is a quick checklist you can use to try to find the solution to expert advisor not working issues.

  • Ensure the “Autotrading” feature is activated. You can find the option on the top toolbar of the MT4 platform.

Autotrading enabled on MT4

  • Ensure the “Allow automated trading” feature is activated. You can find the option under the “EA Options” window.

MT4 Options -> Expert Advisor settings

  • For the optimal performance of the robot, ensure the “Long & Short” feature is activated.

MT4 Expert Advisor Common Settings

  • Depending on the type of robot you are using, ensure the “Allow DLL imports” feature, as well as the “Allow import of external experts” feature, are activated.
  • Correct any error messages appearing under the “Experts” tab or the “Journal” tab at the bottom of the trading platform.

Tabs for Checking Errors

  • Ensure your Internet connection is working well and your platform is connected to the broker’s server
  • Re-start the trading platform to ensure the latest improvements made are captured on the next launch.

If the robot’s problem is not due to any of the above issues, you can re-read the instruction manual and double check that you didn’t miss anything during the installation process.

If the EA is installed properly, you’ll see a smiling face at the top right corner of the platform.


An Example of EA with Smiley Face

If you are still unable to find the solution for your expert advisor that is not working or you are unable to understand how expert advisor works in MT4, you can contact the vendor’s technical support or the programmer you hired.

For an expedited response, remember to provide a good description of the issue you are experiencing.

How to Buy Forex Robots

You can purchase an already programmed EA and use it for trading. There are numerous websites offering programming hiring services and EA purchasing services.

Importantly, before spending your hard-earned cash on any site, ensure you do a thorough background check to ascertain the authenticity of the offered services.

For example, a good place you can find forex robot for sale is the MQL5 Market.

The site has hundreds of experts advisors and technical indicators you can buy for automating your trading strategies on MT4 and MT5.


The MQL5 website full of apps for MT4 and MT5

Importantly, before buying any forex robot, you should do a background check to ascertain its performance.

If the robot has numerous negative reviews and unconvincing testimonials, then it could not be worth your money.

A good place you can look for reviews is the Forex Peace Army website.


Forex Peace Army Website

Better still, instead of buying an already programmed EA, which may not sufficiently represent your trading strategy, you can create one for yourself using the simple online tool offered by the Forex Robot Academy.

The expert advisor builder is easy to follow and doesn’t require programming knowledge or other technical skills.

You just input your preferred trading parameters and the rest will be automatically completed for you.

Furthermore, the tool will also generate the backtested results for your strategy, enabling you to ascertain the profitability of your robot before deploying it for live trading.

Conclusion

To this end, we hope you’ve understood how expert advisor works.

The MetaTrader trading platform is very versatile and its popularity is largely driven by the ability to allow for robots to be used for making trading decisions.

If you’ve not started using robots, then you’re missing on a huge opportunity to take your trading career to the next level.