Really Rookie question about Expert Advisors

I've been reading about Expert Advisors EA's. I've learnt that these are computer programmes that can open and close trades for you based to the criteria that you set.

For example:
You can tell the trade to close if the candle high reaches a certain price.

You can get more complex: You can can the EA to close the trade if the say, a 5 day moving average crosses the 10 day moving average and the currency pair has reached a certain price and the candle has crossed the bollinger.

Am I correct?



I was thinking about installing Meta trader 4 and I believe that EAs can be used on this system.

Various EA programes are available to purchase from the net and some are posted here on this site - am I correct ?. Do I simply cut and paste the EA programme that is written into a specific tab in the the MT4 display?

How easy is it to modify the EA programmes if the settings are not exactly what you want .... if you have no knowledge in computer programming?

MT4 I believe is just a trading platform. Do I have to have an account with a broker that uses MT4 too? Or can I simply use MT4 to plan my trades and then trade with a non-MT4 compatible broker?


Thanks for your help ..... in advance.



You may suggest that I should simply a demo MT4. Ok ... I will soon. I've see some sites offering free demos of MT4 for 1 month. But I'm a little busy right now so don't want to down load if I won't have the time to use it for that demo month.

So I'm just doing a little background research.

I would like to learn about this too, I know there is a huge range of settings you can use but you have to be a good programmer/coder. I would always test it on a demo before installing on a live account. I am still wary of EA's, they all lose but which ones win more than losing.

hey there... i'm a newbie too.. really super noob newbie.. but i really wanna learn. that's why i am here.

well anyways i myself is slowly picking up mt4, having just installed it last week.

quick question to all.

i don't have a trading strategy. what i do is study the past few days highs and lows. and buy or sell accordingly.
lets say when after studying the the chart.. i sell when its at the low point and then sell at the estimate high point.

what kinda of trading style is this? is it risky?
i have been making a few quick bucks on this.

"No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! " ~ Ralphie
"You'll shoot your eye out, kid." ~ Santa Claus

Hi, i'm new on this forum and no expert at all. But the way to go if you want to test an expert advisor in the mt4 client would be: get yourself a mt4 demo account from a provider, then download a free EA, or buy one that you find interesting.
Then place the EA file in the Experts folder in your mt4 client directory. After you've done this, restart your client and the EA should appear in the navigator field in your mt4 client.
Drag the EA to the chart you have chosen. You might have to go into the tools menu of the mt4 client and adjust some settings if the EA doesn't start. You can also adjust the properties of the EA by right-clicking it in the chart and selecting expert advisors and then properties. There is a way to make bigger modifications to EA's and such via the Metaquotes language editor in your mt4 client, but that requires some knowledge of programming. I hope this gave you some understanding of the basics on how to get started with Expert advisors.

Regards

David

If you're really interested in eas,though not required, learning how to program will be infinitely advantageous for you. If you really want to, i suggest that you first study C or C++ (i would go for C). There are a lot of basic tutorials in the web that is designed with an assumption that the reader has no previous knowledge like cprogramming.com. Just study the basic stuffs. after grasping the language, you may start in the tutorials regarding ea.

I Suggest just getting a Demo mt4. Alpari has a limitless mt4.
About EA's? For sale? LOL no!!! If It did really work don't you think they would just use it there self?? Good luck Its a very long road..............

Yes the ones for sale is probably not a good option
Try some free ones and then learn some basic programming and then you can make one that you believe in.

Regards

David

EAs will loose in range bound markets.

Some of the loosing trades EAs take, a discretionary trader will never take.

I use to dabble in EAs a long time ago, but I have no faith in them now. However, if you're really interested in EAs, your best bet is to head over to Forex-tsd.com Those guys are pretty hardcore about programming and sharing EAs and EA trading concepts. Good luck with that.