By CountingPips.com
Forex trading has come a long way, very fast. Once, fx was just an obscure trading market for the large international banks and well-heeled traders. In recent years, it has exploded into an industry that enables individuals on any continent to trade just about any currency in any amount they so wish. Websites, forums and, particularly in the past few years, forex-focused social networks have popped up at warp speed.
Among the newest additions to the online offerings for traders and investors looking to profit from the fx trading game is the availability and ease at which one can piggyback on other successful trader’s strategies. Trading signal providers and trade copying services have started to become commonplace these days. One of the larger entrants to this market, Trading Signals at the MQL5.com Community has recently created a simple and easy way to use a trade copying system. Here is our overview with pros and cons of this service.
What is the MQL5.com Community:
If you have tried your hand at forex trading or have signed up to a forex broker for real money or demo trading, you have probably come across brokers touting their offerings of the Metatrader Platforms. Metatrader platforms (either 4 or 5) are an almost universal staple at every major online brokerage as Metatrader is widely popular with traders for many reasons including ease of use, unlimited customizable features as well as the ability for automated trading execution.
The MQL5.com community is a site for all things specifically pertaining to the MetaTrader 5 platform which is the newest release by MetaQuotes Software Corporation. MQL5 is the name of the coding language that runs the Metatrader 5 platform. You will find forums, coding tips, strategy articles and automated trading resources at MQL5.com as well as their community trading signals.
What are Community Trading Signals:
Community trading signals are a feature for users to copy trades from successful traders and have these trades automatically executed on their accounts. With numerous signal providers within the system, traders can now can pick and choose what other successful traders do and directly apply that trader’s forex trades to their account.
This service is available for use within both the Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5 platforms. Trading signals can be compared on the MQL5 site by the usual trading performance metrics including percent profit per month, number of subscribers to the signals, average pips won, win percentage, expected payoff and maximum drawdown for the system.
Some trading systems you can choose from are free while others charge a monthly fee for access to their trades.
All trading signal providers have to provide verifiable account information and undergo a monthly trial basis before their trading signals are accepted and allowed to be available on the website.
Who are the Trading Signals for:
— Buyers of Signals:
Let’s face it, trading is a tough business. Fundamental news, numerous trading strategies, money management rules, continuous 24 hour markets and enough other variables to make your head spin. Some people just don’t have the time, interest or discipline to become a winning trader but want to have exposure to the fx market. Buyers of trading signals can search and find successful traders through the MQL5 community signals market. These traders may be hobbyists or full fledged professionals using a variety of different strategies.
— Sellers of Signals:
Traders can also sell signals and make an income from the buyers in the trading signals program. If you have a successful trading system within the MetaTrader platform you can apply to become a seller of your trades.
Understandably sellers will have to provide personal verification information as well as test the system for a trial run of a month before you can become a community Forex signal seller. Once approved, you can set your monthly rate for others to access your trades.
Pros: What are the Advantages of this program
— The biggest advantage to the MQL5 trading signals system is the ease of signup and how quickly one can subscribe to a new signal and implement it on their account. Once you signup for a free account at MQL5 community, navigate to the signals market and subscribe to a signals provider of your choice. Sync your account with your Metatrader platform and you will be ready to start receiving trades.
— Execution directly through the Metatrader platform is another advantage. Metaquotes built the platforms and runs the trading signals program without middlemen so one can reasonably expect a smooth operation. (Remember a Metatrader platform needs to be downloaded from an outside forex broker for real trading)
— The initial security screening system put in place to verify identities and put signal provides under a trial basis is another advantage that should help to weed out bad systems and individuals.
— Many free signals provided and the ability to practice the system on demo accounts.
Cons: Trading Signals Drawbacks:
— Lack of long track records among some of the signal providers. As can probably be expected with the newness of these types of services, many providers have less than a year of a trading track record. Some do have more than a year track record but the majority of signals are less than a year it seems.
— More detailed trading statistics would be better. One improvement could be enabling potential signal buyers to see a more detailed view of the signal providers trading statistics. Even a few more simple ones such as risk of ruin probabilities and average win in pips versus average loss in pips are suggested.
— Currently your Metatrader platform must be running to receive signals. Although a remedy is coming. Soon the service will have something called the system of Trusted Execution Token (TET) which will enable signal subscribers to not have to keep their Metatrader platform running to receive signals and make trades.
Conclusion:
Trading signals at the MQL5 community will most likely be a major destination for any of those looking for a trading signals and trade copying service. The ease at which the system operates and the simplicity to get started just about guarantees it. Add in the fact that this service creates one more major functionality to the most popular retail trading platform in forex and those in the market for trade copying would be wise to not overlook this MQL5 resource.
See and learn more about the Trading Signals at the MQL5.com Community
Risk Disclosure: Foreign Currency trading and trading on margin carries a high level of risk and can result in loss of part or all of your investment. Due to the level of risk and market volatility, Foreign Currency trading may not be suitable for all investors and you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Before deciding to invest in the foreign currency exchange market you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. You should be aware of all the risks associated with foreign currency exchange trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor should you have any doubts. All information and opinions on this website are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice.
Blog Disclosure: CountingPips.com is an independent forex website and all opinions expressed on our blog postings are purely our opinions. This was a sponsored post and the company who sponsored it compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value. We do accept forms of advertising, sponsorships and receive affiliate commission revenue. We do occasionally participate in paid reviews although our posts and opinions are not influenced by compensation and these posts are attributed as such. From time to time, we do recommend specific products or services for which we do receive compensation and in these cases, we do so on the belief that the product or service is worthy of an endorsement and will benefit our readers in their forex trading or in the furthering of their financial analysis. As always, we do our best to only recommend quality products and services but it is recommended to verify the accuracy of all products and services with their provider or manufacturer.
