UPDATE: MT4 Floating Charts is no longer in business. I now recommend using TradingView for charting instead of MT4 because it provides this functionality without additional plugins.
I have to admit that the first time that I used Metatrader was kind of a big event for me. Up until that time, I had been using the free Java charts that brokers were offering.
If you have been trading Forex for long enough, you know the ones I mean. They were really clunky to use, you couldn't store any settings and they would crash ALL the damn time. Setting up your charts at the beginning of the trading day could take 15 minutes.
It was like going to the best barber shop in town, that only plays Ice Ice Baby on the stereo. You had to sit still in the chair, no matter how irritating the rest of the experience was.
But it did start to get to me. On some days, did almost didn't feel like trading. Of course, there were other paid solutions out there, but why would I do that?
If you do not know what I am talking about, consider yourself lucky.
Metatrader had it's bugs too, but being able to save chart settings, having trendlines that actually worked and being able to add custom indicators was nothing short of amazing. The desktop version of Metatrader is still my favorite charting program.
They have done a really good job of improving it over the years. I can't say the same for the iPhone version though.
How It Could Be Better
Just like anything else, it could be better.
Their backtesting functionality is sketchy, at best. Sometimes indicators don't load correctly. The program doesn't uninstall cleanly. But these are minor points, in my opinion.
However, there is one thing that Metatrader does not do natively that I wish it did…multi monitor charts. What is the use in having all your fancy monitors, if you only have one Metatrader window?
There is a solution out that that may solve the problem. I'll tell you what that solution is and give you my opinion on it in this video:
Multi Monitor Metatrader On A Mac
As you probably know, ever since my first experiments with a pseudo-Mac, I have been a huge fan of the OS X operating system. The only trouble is that brokers and forex programmers don't share my sentiments.
The fact is that most forex trading programs are only for Windows and I don't see a big shift happening any time soon. Hopefully with the invention of that hideous monster called Windows 8, programmers will start to see the light.
But I digress…
Here is how to get a multi monitor setup to work with a Mac:
Resources
Here are the links to the products mentioned above:
- MT4 Floating Charts homepage
- VMWare Fusion
- Windows XP might be hard to get, try Windows 7 instead
- I use a MacBook Pro
- I love Viewsonic Monitors
Don't want to mess with this crazy setup? Get TradingView and get multi-monitor trading in a regular browser on Windows, Mac and Linux. Simply open a new browser window and drag it your other screen. This is one of the many reasons that I switched to TradingView.
Conclusion
But if you are looking for a way to finally use Metatrader 4 to it's full potential, that is how you do it. I have to thank Colin Jessup for turning me on to this program. He tweeted about it one day and it has been one of the best trading tech discoveries that I have found in awhile.
Would you need a multi monitor setup with Metatrader or not? Leave a comment and let us know…
Disclosure: Some of the links above might be affiliate links where I receive a commission if you purchase through those links. But the money made goes towards my Heroic List goal of going Shark Diving (#12) and a portion gets donated to my charity partner.