Starting from October 12th, 2009 the testing of MT5 platform has begun. It is expected to last for 5-6 month before the final product is released. Check out participating MT5 brokers.
– High performance and outstanding working speed;
– 3 chart-types, 21 timeframes and over 70 analytical tools;
– 5 order types and 4 execution modes available for trading;
– trading operations on different markets (Forex, options, futures and stocks, DOM – depth of market feature);
– Advanced built-in reports on all trading activities;
– Working with MQL5 will be easier: there will be more data types, structures, classes; it’ll be easier to transfer C++ source codes into MQL5, EA execution speed will increase.
Unfortunately, Metatrader4 Language (MQL4) will not be compatible with MetaTrader 5 (MQL5). The decision was made in favor of new opportunities in programming language and execution speed, which to some regret of existing MT4 clients means, their custom indicators and EAs (.mq4 and .ex4 files) won’t work with MT5 platform; and need to be rewritten.
Here is the official announcement about MQ4 and MQ5 compatibility:
“From the beginning of Metatrader 5 development we thought that we will be able to save the compatibility. And we said about it many times. But the numerous traders/developers requests made us change our mind. We`ve understood that just can’t make a new language compatible. At the same time we have made MQL5 more powerful and in this way we gave you, traders and developers , more abilities – that was our main goal in developing of MQL5 IDE. From one side, new language with the new abilities, and from the other side – MQL4 and MQL5 compatibility. Unfortunately, these two aims can’t be reached at the same time.”
The interview with the leading developer at Metaquotes.
Common sense suggests that there should probably be some thoughts on adding MT4/MT5 compatibility tool, after all not all Forex traders are experienced C++ or MQL programmers, but vast majority of them uses custom MT4 indicators nowadays. But this is just hopes…
To meet Forex industry standards, MT5 has changed the entire core of position handling. From now on MT5 traders will be able to keep only one position of any single trading instrument/currency pair.
Hedging at this point is eliminated and so is the separate management of two different in time orders on the same currency pair. For example, 8:00am Long EURUSD 1 lot @ 1.2000, and later added 12:00am Long EURUSD 2 lots @1.2500,
will be seen on Metatrader 5 account as one position “Long EURUSD 3 lots”.
This reflection of orders aligns with the new FIFO (first-in, first-out) rule implemented by NFA as an industry standard in summer 2009.
Closing the above mentioned orders will now look next way: The first order to close is always the order that was initiated first, so it’ll always be the 8:00am Long position to close in our example above.
Buying and Selling the same pair (hedging strategy) will result in zero positions being open.
Order handling: Metatrader 5 versus Metatrader 4
| Order | Buy 1.00 EURUSD | Buy 1.00 EURUSD | Sell 3.00 EURUSD |
|---|---|---|---|
| MT5 | Buy 1.00 EURUSD | Buy 2.00 EURUSD | Sell 1.00 EURUSD |
| MT4 | #1 Buy 1.00 EURUSD | #1 Buy 1.00 EURUSD #2 Buy 1.00 EURUSD | #1 Buy 1.00 EURUSD #2 Buy 1.00 EURUSD #3 Sell 3.00 EURUSD |
Definitely all NFA regulated Forex brokers in US will make the transfer, as they have to comply with new NFA rules. Regarding other Forex brokers, we believe they will be free to choose: stay with MT4 or upgrade to MT5. Retail clients are expected to influence the choice: while there is a large demand for MT4 platform base due to extensive use of MT4 custom indicators and reluctance to give up hedging and customary position management style, retail brokers should be able to provide the option.
If, however, there will be a tool to convert existing Expert advisors and indictors from MT4 to MT5, the process of introducing new MT5 platform to retail clients will be smoother.
Why forex brokers still hesitate to use bitcoinsHedging under new NFA rule: FIFO
Good stuff. I enjoy currency trading.