Expert Advisors

What are Expert Advisors?

Expert Advisors (EA) are programmes or pieces of code, which when uploaded into the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 enable you to engage in forex trading via automated trading. Each Expert Advisor is unique and built to the individual user’s taste preferences. Using robots with analytical abilities in order to trade is a unique feature of the MT4 platform and explains why so many people prefer it.

There are two options for getting started with Expert Advisors; you can purchase one on the MetaTrader4 market, or you can choose to create your own. To build your own trading robot, you will develop, programme and compile it on the MQL MetaEditor using the MQL4 coding language. Using your past trading experience, you can define which market conditions, based on various indicators and technical analysis elements, will result in trade opening, or will close positions.

You aren’t expected to be a master programmer or an experienced trader to use EAs when trading. Free and paid Expert Advisors are available on the Internet as well as in the MetaTrader Market, where you can also download a demo version of the desired EA and try it before buying or renting it.

MetaTrader Market

The MetaTrader Market presents the largest collection of paid and free Expert Advisors for MT4 and MT5. Here you can access indicators, as well as trading and financial magazines and books. The Market enables various search options according to category, offering lots of information regarding the products, including screenshots and user reviews.

It is possible to test all products on demo versions and preview the first pages of all books and magazines before you buy them. Products can be bought or rented for a period of up to one year, and each product can be activated on at least four devices, giving you the freedom to trade your own way.

When viewing the EAs list on the MT4 market, it is important to select carefully and not choose based solely on price, rental period or other factors. Many indicators may seem promising, but when they get tested, they may fail. Therefore, once you choose an EA to review, you can check the parameters that need to be defined – risk percent, market orders, spreads, hedging, define pips, target profit and many more by testing it out.

Some advisors will have many categories and details, while others will only have a few. While occasionally it might be easier to use a “simple” one, it is important to test it out first where possible. To optimise the use of EAs, comparing a few is always better than simply selecting one at random.

How to Upload Your Expert Advisors?

Once you have chosen and purchased your Expert Advisor or developed your own, it is time to upload it to the trading platform and start enjoying its benefits. However, in order to avoid any mistakes, it is important to make sure the EA is correctly installed.

Step 1: Create folders

1. After downloading or creating the Expert Advisor, remember the location of the saved files.
2. Highlight the specific files to install and copy them.
3. Paste the selected files into the MetaTrader4 folder, usually located in C.

Step 2: Upload the EA to MT4

1. Login to MetaTrader4.
2. Go to “Navigation” and select “Expert Advisors”. Your EA can be found under the “+” sign.
3. Drag the selected EA to the charts on the platform.

Step 3: Define EA’s settings

1. Adjust the EA’s settings on the pop-up box as you wish.
2. Once making sure all the settings are correct – click “Ok” and start trading.

Often traders choose to upload the EA onto a virtual private server (VPS), which allows more fluid trading.

Expert Advisors with AvaTrade

Along with letting the EAs trade automatically, it is still crucial to know and understand the financial market yourself. Therefore, keep focusing on your own education and learning curve and feel free to make the most of all of our education materials as you go along. As a leading broker, AvaTrade offers a large selection of educational materials, webinars, account managers to guide you and other services that will help you grasp a better knowledge of the market, hopefully allowing you to trade side-by-side smoothly with your Expert Advisor.

Expert Advisors FAQ

• Do Expert Advisors really work?

  Many traders do report that Expert Advisors work for them, although with the caveat that you must choose the proper Expert Advisor. There are many Expert Advisors available and some are inferior, while others do exactly what they are supposed to do. One of the great benefits of using these programmed tools is they will take all the emotion out of your trading. One of the downsides is that changing market conditions can break an Expert Advisor, changing it from a profitable tool to a money draining liability.

   
• What is the best Expert Advisor to use?

  There are many different Expert Advisors available and each is designed to do something different. There are also free and paid Expert Advisors available. So, the best Expert Advisor will depend on your own needs and expectations. We could probably look at free and paid tools separately too because let’s face it, we all expect more from a tool that we pay for versus one that’s free. And yet there are some very valuable free Expert Advisors available from the MetaTrader 4 community.

   
• Do all Expert Advisors run 24/7?

  While there are some Expert Advisors that are designed to run 24/7 and always remain in the market, others are not so pervasive and aggressive. For example, there are a number of Expert Advisors that were developed specifically to work around news releases such as central bank monetary policy releases, GDP and CPI releases, or unemployment data releases. These Expert Advisors might only run for 10 days out of the entire year. Other Expert Advisors have a broader perspective on the markets and these do run 24/7 for as long as they remain relevant in their given market.

   

Open a demo account or register for a trading account at AvaTrade to test your EAs!