24 May, AtoZForex – It is a must that traders know how to customize their MT4 charts. Not only does it enable traders to read the market more effectively, it also reduces the subconscious triggers that influence the decision-making during Forex trading. The “How to personalize your MT4 chart” training is now available on video and it provides you the pro-traders’ insights to optimize MT4 chart for a better trading performance.
In most cases, the default chart starts with dark colours, which can be hard to read. For some traders, it is like trying to read a book written in a different language. Not to mention how the MT4 platform affects your trading psychology. Hence, you could misread the crucial information about the market. Avoid these pitfalls and learn from this training to optimize MT4 chart like a professional.
7 ways to optimize MT4 chart
1. Select the right chart type
Change the type of chart that you are viewing. In MT4 there are 3 types of charts available, namely bar charts, candlesticks and line charts. Select the candlestick chart, considering that this type of chart displays more information.
2. Set a suitable background colour
Adjust the background from black to another colour, except white. As the colour black subconsciously triggers negative thoughts. Naturally this affects your trading, and could influence you to place more sell orders which you may regret later on. Another background colour to avoid is white, as it can strain the eyes, especially in a room with insufficient light. Also, the colour white triggers positive emotions, which could influence you to place more buy orders.
No black or white as the background colour, then what should you chose? A tip is to opt for the colour grey, a neutral colour that reduces subconscious triggers by 10 to 15%. Hence, lots of traders prefer grey as the background colour.
3. Get rid of the “Show Grid” and Price level line
Remove the grid since it adds boundaries to price fluctuations, which will subconsciously trigger the urge to look for reversals instead of following the trend. To remove the grid, all you need to do is right-click on the chart and then deselect the ‘show grid’ box. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+G to toggle the grid on and off. Aside the grid, traders are also advised to remove the price level line, which can be done by going to properties and selecting none for the colour of the grid.
4. Avoid contrasting candlestick colours
Change the colours of the candles to avoid contrasting tones, like green and red. The colours green and red are similar to black and white since green represents positive whereas red represents negative. The colours chosen in the video training are forest green and black, as they help to ease the eyes and are not contrasting colours to one another.
5. Customize the 50 and 100 moving averages
The two most popular MA’s are the 50 and 100 moving averages. The 50 indicates the trend, so we will want to emphasis this moving averages with a bright colour, in order to follow it easily. The 100 is more likely to indicate the support/resistance, hence it is better to assign it a darker and more neutral colour. To change the colour, simply right click on the moving average and then select properties (or double click on the MA) to change its colour. In the training, we have chosen the colour midnight blue for the 100 and firebrick for the 50.
6. Create a neat and clean overview
Remove some of the tools that are at the top of the chart to create a less distracting overview. To do so, right click in the tool sections and then click customize. Now remove any tools that you do not need, as per example in the training we removed the auto scroll tool.
If you are not scalping then you will also want to remove other items from your screen like the navigation and terminal panels. This is a good idea because it gives you more space to view the charts, while reduces the subconscious triggers of watching the profit/loss constantly. The panels can be opened or closed by clicking the little cross on the panel (to close them).
7. Don’t forget to save the template as default
Last but not least, you will want to save your template so that you can access it again every time you trade. Therefore, it is useful to set your template as default to any new chart you create. To do this you will need to click on the chart icon in the tools and then select save template. Or right click on the chart, select template, then click the option to save template, which brings you to the option to save the template as ‘default’.
For a more elaborate instruction, you can watch the complete “How to personalize your MT4 chart” training in the video above. Just don’t forget to like and sign up for AtoZ Forex’s YouTube channel.
