Forex Brokers Offering MetaTrader 5

The MetaTrader5 platform is also known as the MT5 platform. Metaquotes Inc developed the MT4 as a successor to the MT4 platform in 2010. However, the massive popularity of the MetaTrader4 led to the slow adoption of the MetaTrader5 platform. It soon became apparent that replacing the MT4 with the MT5 would have been a colossal business mistake. In order not to lose its market share to other platform providers, Metaquotes Inc took a business decision to allow both platforms to run together. Metaquotes Inc added some new features to promote better market adoption of the MetaTrader5. Today, you will not see a forex broker that exclusively offers the MT5 platform without the MT4 also being listed as an alternative.

The essence of this article is to showcase the forex brokers offering the MetaTrader5 and bring some awareness to its new features. On this site, we believe that empowering traders with knowledge about a trading platform makes it easier for the trader to make informed choices about what platform to use and how to maximise the benefits contained therein. So before delving into the forex brokers offering the MetaTrader5 platform, let us talk about the MT5 platform itself.

The Metatrader5 Platform: What is so Special About It?

Metaquotes Inc did not do a thorough PR job for the MetaTrader 5 platform, which explains why its market adoption took so long. But there are features which the MT5 has that the MT4 does not. Certain aspects of the MT5 platform give it an edge over the MT4. Traders can exploit these features to enhance their trading experience. What are the areas in which the MT5 gives traders an edge?

Speed

The MetaTrader5 is a faster platform than the MetaTrader4, and it does not lead to cluttering the trading station or slowing down its function. This is due to the MetaTrader5 being a 64-bit, multi-threaded platform with expanded memory limits. This differentiates the MT5 from the MT4, a 32-bit, mono-threaded platform. So when trading with forex brokers offering MetaTrader5, you are assured of a speedy platform with price and other data that does not lag.

Server Architecture

The MetaTrader5 comes with four server engines, different from the MT4, which has only one. These four MT5 servers are the trade server, backup server, history server and access server. This server architecture ensures the effective distribution of tasks across the different server types without overburdening a single server. Therefore, using a forex broker offering the MetaTrader5 results in better resource optimisation, with the ability to deploy reports in HTML and Open XML formats.

Trading Interface and Tools

Look at the top navigator bar, where you will find the various tools for technical analysis. You will notice that the layout has changed. Included in the layout are line tools, channel tools and other tools. Unlike the MT4 where the line tool application produces lines that run from one end of the chart to the other, you can specifically mark the tool to start and end where you want them on the price candles/bars. This makes your trade analyses with these tools more precise. The new feature also makes the tools more manoeuvrable.

The Terminal Window has also witnessed some changes. First, it is now called the Toolbox. Secondly, the Toolbox now hosts four buttons: Market, Signals, VPS and Tester. Clicking these buttons takes the trader directly to the relevant section of the MQL market or opens the advanced Strategy Tester function.

How about if you want to see what assets are available for trading? There is now a one-click function to view the available assets. Rather than use the Ctrl + U button or the View->Symbols dropdown menu, you click the yellow button with the $ sign to save time. The Navigator Button on the left has also been expanded to include tabs for VPS (remote computer connection), Signals, the MQL Market and Services.

Chart Tools

The forex brokers for MetaTrader5 present a vital feature regarding charting: the ability to open multiple charts. Traders who monitor correlated assets will attest that switching from one chart to another can be time-consuming and painful to the eyes. The MT5 lets you open and monitor several asset charts at the same time.

Backtesting

You can only optimise or backtest strategies on one asset at a time on MT4. Forex brokers offering MetaTrader5 provide enhanced backtesting and optimisation. On MT5, you can perform multiple-asset backtesting and optimisation. This process also runs faster on MT5.

Hedging

You can hedge positions on the platforms of forex brokers offering the MetaTrader5 platform. Hedging allows you to hold counter positions on the same pair. There is no first in, first out (FIFO) rule.

Enhanced Order Management

MetaTrader 5 now has an enhanced order management system that provides up to 6 order types (only 4 types in the MT4) and allows the ability to manage these orders easily.

MetaTrader 5 also offers enhanced order management capabilities (e.g. filling orders using multiple deals, including partial fills). A new position is opened if a trader has an open position at a symbol and performs a new deal. That is the core idea behind the MetaTrader 5 hedging system. The trader can set Stop-Loss and Take-Profit levels and see the profit level for each position.

Here are some of the other features that the forex brokers for MT5 will offer you exclusively on their platforms.

Embedded Chat

It is now possible to use the embedded chat function within the MT5 platform to communicate with other members of the MT5 community website. This is a seamless function that operates in just the same way the trader can pay for items on the MQL Community website from the account balance in the platform.

An Economic Calendar

The forex brokers for MT5 have solved a significant problem confronting traders: that of shuffling between platform and webpages that carry the Economic Calendar. Now you can view the forex news calendar in one location; your MT5 platform. The economic calendar has been revised and now features the ability to select the current day, current week, previous or month, or any time schedule you want to view. You can also view data by country or currency.

Partial order filling

The forex brokers offering MetaTrader5 are brokers who allow for what is known as partial order filling. This means that a trader has the chance to adjust the trade size to cancel the unfilled volumes if there is a situation where the entire order is not filled. To do this, the trader selects "PARTIAL EDIT" to permit this function to be activated once unfilled volumes appear. You can also use this function to fill orders as institutional investors get fills for large orders. Large orders can move prices in an adverse direction, making them more expensive. Using the partial fill function, you can break up your order and have them filled at different prices so that the market price does not move so much as to make the trade entry more expensive. This feature is not found on the MT4 as this platform usually requires the entire order to be filled at the listed market/pending order price.

Features You Can Use on Forex Brokers for MT5

The MT5 platform has some other exciting features you will not find in the MT4.

A) Depth of Market

The Order Book/Depth of Market (DOM) tool is a feature of the MT5 that shows the volumes that buyers and sellers are holding on an asset. The Depth of Market tool shows how much buying and selling volume is held at various price levels. This guides traders to know when the asset has a bullish or bearish bias.

B) Increased Number of Charting Tools

The MT5 carries an increased number of charting tools. Therefore, using forex brokers offering MetaTrader5 will provide you with 38 inbuilt indicators, 44 analytical objects (only 31 on MT4) and 21 timeframes. There are also more graphical objects and new tabs, such as the economic calendar tab, with a dropdown menu containing all aspects of news events.

Log files on the MT5 are automatically compressed, and all files from the MQL marketplace are downloaded directly to the local drive on the computer.

C) Increased Number of Timeframes

There are more timeframes on the MT5 platform. Instead of the regular nine (9) time frames on the MT4, the forex brokers offering Metatrader5 offer you twenty-one (21) time frames.

D) Real Volume Data

For traders who like to do a lot of strategy testing, the MT5 enables traders to access real volume-traded data, not just tick volume data. The difference is that the real volume data shows how many contracts or lots have been traded with a particular tick move.

E) MT5 Supreme Edition Plugin

With the forex brokers offering the MT5, you get the MT5SE plugin. This is a form of mini platform terminal that gives you access to a snippet of your entire account with a single click. You can easily manage orders and trades and know what is happening on your account quicker than if you had to load the full platform.

Conclusion

The forex brokers offering the MetaTrader5 give you the potential to do much more with your trades than the MT4 offers. Several forex brokers offering MetaTrader5 are in the list below. Feel free to make your choice as you step up your trading experience.