Important Indicator Differences Between Metatrader And Oanda Platforms

Hello:

I'm adding this new topic because I found IMPORTANT differences in the behavior of some indicators using same parameters in OANDA and METATRADER platforms. Such differences can seriously affect trading decisions, giving sometimes completely different signals from one platform to another.

I tested OANDA platform and METATRADER (with 2 different brokers: X-TRADE BROKERS and ACTIVTRADES)

I tested the following indicators the 2008-23-06 between 02:00 AM and 08:00 AM (New York Time):

ADX (14)
MACD (5,13,9)
STOCHASTIC (8,3,3)
PARABOLIC SAR (0.02 , 0.2)

I found big differences with ADX (14) and PARABOLIC SAR (0.02, 0.2) in both platforms.
The behavior of ADX is more sensitive in metatrader platform and PARABOLIC SAR more sensitive in OANDA. ADX (14) is rising from 44 at 4:45 AM to 51 at 7:45 AM in OANDA platform while it's decreasing from 58 to 37 during the same time in METATRADER. ADX (14) is crossing the 20 level from below at 02:00 AM in OANDA platform and at the same time ADX (14) value is 30 in METATRADER and it crossed 20 level from below 4 hours before.

PARABOLIC SAR (0.02, 0.2) reversed from long position to short at 7:30 AM in OANDA platform and at 08:15 in METATRADER platform. Sometimes PARABOLIC SAR is reversing from short to long and short position again in OANDA platform while it`s maintaining a short position without any reverse in Metatrader.
MACD and STOCHASTIC seems to have the same behavior on both platforms. I could find some little but not important differences in their values but both indicators are reversing an crossing levels at the same time in both platforms.
I could also find some differences on Moving Averages.

I know that forex quotations are not exactly the same from a broker to another. But such a big difference in the behavior of ADX (14), or PARABOLIC SAR (0.02, 0.2) should not exist.
Anybody knows why the behavior of some indicators using the same parameters and timeframes it's so different from OANDA to METATRADER platform ? Which platform it's the most reliable ?

Were you comparing brokers with the same number of trading days in a week?

I tested Activtrades (Metatrader) and OANDA. They have both the same trading days by week. Activtrades closes from Friday 23:00 GMT+1 to Sunday 23:00 GMT+1 and OANDA from Friday 23:00 GMT+1 to 21:00 GMT+1.
But (look to attached charts) comparing the behavior of ADX (14) in both platforms from 2008-05-20 and 2008-06-23 we can see a big difference. OANDA ADX (14) is all time below 21 and METATRADER ADX (14) reaches a top value of 43 the 2008-06-04.

Honestly, the differneces dont matter AT ALL. if you are trading on Oanda, then use the oanda indicators, if you are using MT4, use the MT4 indicators. for online brokers, the only indicators that work are the broker's own. this is because most major brokers are market makers and therefore give different prices. if the prices are different, the indicators will be also.

Not to mention their spread, and maybe other behind-the-scene things which we don't know about.

I know that prices are not the same from one broker to another and that indicators and prices charts can differ. But normally the differences are not so rough. For instance, I tested different brokers using metatrader platform with the result that indicators and prices charts are pretty much the same. Testing Oanda platform (look at graph above) you can see that prices charts are the same in metatrader and oanda platform, but ADX (14) chart is completely different.

you need to find out the adx formula and compare it to both platforms. Metatrader is known to have a bad macd indicator so who is to say that others aren't wrong.

one thing i noticed, is that the oanda ADX looks smoothed out, its a lot less jumpy than the MT4 one. there is a custom indicator somewhere on this site that smooths out the metatrader ADX. if you use this one, it might look more like the oanda. search for smoothed ADX and youll find it

oh, and another thing to think about is historical data. if the data from three years ago on oanda is different then the data from MT4, it will slightly throw off the indicators that are based on periods. the current charts might be the same, but try looking at three years ago or so and see if there are any differences.

Hi Blacksun1:

Definitely I think that standard Metatrader ADX is not the same than OANDA one. I found a custom indicator called ADX_WildersDMI_V1m for metatrader that it´s exactly the same of OANDA ADX. You can make your test. OANDA ADX and ADX_WildersDMI seems me to be better than standard ADX. I will test other platforms and try to find out which ADX is the real one.
I use a strategy based on ADX and I never enter a trade if ADX is below 20. So such a difference of ADX behavior from one platform to another can affect seriously my stategy results.

yeah, i totally get that. try looking at investopedia or something like that and try and find the most common ADX formula, then research all the platforms ADX formulas and see which ones line up. i think this would be the best way to find what youre looking for.

I just started learning about ADX and wanted to ask you ;Is adx blue line and what other 2 lines..red/green represent?

On what time frames is ADX most reliable?

Thanks