Price differences between Market Watch and Chart
There seems very little info on this issue, although I noted from a google search, some others have observed different prices between charts and market watch, but not developed the thoughts to conclusions.
Any advice, info, on how to proceed when MT4 starts charting different prices to those in Market Watch and called by bid/ask in an EA?
You should use chart prices (close) for trading decisions, but use Market prices (bid/ask) to place the orders.
- 2015.01.14
- www.mql5.com
You should use chart prices (close) for trading decisions, but use Market prices (bid/ask) to place the orders.
Hmm, this is what I disagree with.
The chart activity, such as the close price you mention,(and any indicator that is using that close price) will be giving a false signal to trade, based on a price that may not be available from the broker.
I'd rather be basing my decision to trade, on the available broker price, than on an inaccurate chart one.
Basically, I'm going to be looking at how to draw a chart (and attach indicators), based on a change in Market Watch price (bid/ask), and not on a chart tick.
Hmm, this is what I disagree with.
The chart activity, such as the close price you mention,(and any indicator that is using that close price) will be giving a false signal to trade, based on a price that may not be available from the broker.
I'd rather be basing my decision to trade, on the available broker price, than on an inaccurate chart one.
Basically, I'm going to be looking at how to draw a chart (and attach indicators), based on a change in Market Watch price (bid/ask), and not on a chart tick.
All the other "levels" and prices you see on the charts are built from the close prices taken from the chart feed and not the market watch feed. So when you see a high on the chart it is "relative" to the current close price and not the broker bid price.
For instance, if you are taking a decision to sell when the daily high is reached you should wait for the current chart close price to match the daily high price taken from the MetaTrader chart history. You simply do not have access to any price history from the Market watch feed.
If you want to build prices based on your broker Bid prices you will have to capture every tick and build your own charts. This is the equivalent to writing an entire trading platform from scratch which is unlikely to be the most efficient use of your time.
However once you have made a decision to trade from the close prices vs it's chart feed you must then switch to using the Broker Bid/Ask price to actually open the trade. You should also adjust your SL and TP prices to be relative to the Broker Bid/Ask price and not the chart prices.
Some EA vendors may not be following these practices. You will have to ask them.
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My broker has just informed its clients that as of Monday:
"MT4 charts will show aggregated prices of Bank, Non-Bank, and ECN liquidity on all FX from Monday's market open. It is important to note that all orders will be triggered based on the published Bid/Ask price visible in your Market Watch and not chart prices".
In other words, what came to light, is that the prices on the chart (bid, ask, and subsequent spread), will be different from those shown in the market watch.
Clearly this creates conflict for indicators and EAs, that are responding to chart data (and chart ticks), when deciding to trade, and not on an actual broker available price.
There seems very little info on this issue, although I noted from a google search, some others have observed different prices between charts and market watch, but not developed the thoughts to conclusions.
Any advice, info, on how to proceed when MT4 starts charting different prices to those in Market Watch and called by bid/ask in an EA?