What's a MetaTrader 4 crude oil trading platform? MT4 Introduction Tutorial
The following screen-shot below shows the main MT4 interface showing what is a MetaTrader 4 crude oil platform. As a beginner trader trying to learn how to execute oil orders in the online oil market, the main tool for trading the crude oil market is the MT4 crude oil trading platform software. This How to Use MT4 Review Tutorial for Oil Trading Beginners will explain how you can use this MetaTrader 4 oil trading software to connect to your MetaTrader 4 crude oil broker and execute oil transactions & monitor your oil trading account balance from this MetaTrader 4 crude oil trading platform which you will download from online MT4 brokers.
The MT4 Oil Trading Software is provided for free through the various oil broker web sites. This oil platform looks like the crude oil trading example explained below:
Introduction to MetaTrader 4 Platform Interface - MetaTrader 4 Introduction Guide
Main Areas of this MT4 crude oil software as shown above are:
- Navigation Menus
- Toolbars
- Chart Window
- Navigator
- Market Watch
- Terminal
- Connection Bars
For this MetaTrader 4 Introduction Lesson we shall look at a brief introduction for each of these:
1. Navigation Menus
The navigation menus are:
- File
- View
- Insert
- Charts
- Tools
- Window
- Help
These are main navigation menus that can be used to navigate the MT4 oil trading software. As a beginner trader you can start by just clicking any of these navigation menus to familiarize yourself with the various buttons that are arranged as sub menus within these navigation menus on the MT4 platform.
These MT4 navigation menus will be explained and discussed in details in the next MetaTrader 4 Introduction Guides about navigation menus.
2. Toolbars
The MT4 tool bars are used to manipulate oil charts, either by placing oil chart indicators, line studies, change oil chart timeframes and load a crude oil MetaTrader 4 template from a list of saved oil chart templates.
These MetaTrader 4 tool bars will be discussed on other MT4 Introduction Tutorials which will outline each button on this MetaTrader 4 tool bar and explain how to add MetaTrader 4 oil chart tool bars and how to customize MetaTrader 4 oil chart tool bars.
3. Chart Panel
This is the main area where crude oil charts are displayed & a trader can analyze the oil trend direction of a oil chart whether up or down, place oil chart indicators for technical analysis & even place oil orders from these crude oil price charts.
4. Navigator
Navigator panel will contain information about crude oil accounts, whether practice oil trading account or real account, this window will also have list of all the MetaTrader 4 indicators as well as Expert Advisors & scripts.
A trader can select which crude oil trading account to login by expanding the Accounts menu, choose an indicator by expanding the oil indicator menu or choose an Expert Advisor by expanding the crude oil trading Expert-Advisor menu.
5. Market Watch
Market watch is used to show streaming crude oil quotes for oil. This can list as many crude oil quotes provided by your oil broker or a few selected by a trader on the MetaTrader 4 platform. To save internet bandwidth, right click inside the crude oil market watch window and choose 'Hide All', so as to hide the instruments that you're not trading and save on internet band width.
6. Terminal
This is the panel that is like the bank account trade area for your oil trade transactions, on this MetaTrader 4 window you can view your oil trading account balance, profit & losses statement, equity, margin used also retrieve a copy of all your oil trade transactions history.
This will also list all open oil trade transactions and calculate all the profit & loss in real-time as the oil prices move upwards or downward.
7. Connection Bar
MT4 connection bars on MT4 status bar - Red bars are for no connection, green bars show that there is connection to the broker servers and oil trade orders can be placed. These MetaTrader 4 connection bars should always be green when one logged into their demo oil trading account or live crude oil trading account.
These main areas form the MT4 interface and will be the main areas to be covered in detail in the next MT4 Introduction Oil Trading Tutorials. For now it's best to download MT4 platform & familiarize yourself with MT4 platform interface.
Why Oil Trading Platform is Required for Placing Oil Trade Transactions with Brokers
Oil platform is the software that's used to access the crude oil market & interpret these crude oil price movements using crude oil charts and technical analysis tools. There are various reasons why a trader requires to use a good oil trading platform. A good oil platform can determine if a as a trader you make a profit or not when trading using the platform.
So why does a trader need a good Crude Oil Trading Software:
To connect to the Oil Trading Broker Trading Server:
To place a oil trade order a trader needs to use a oil trading platform which will connect to the trading servers of their crude oil broker and allow them to open and close trade orders. Good oil trading softwares will connect with ease to the brokers' servers & allow crude oil traders to place oil orders at any time from computer.
To analyze oil charts using crude oil charts and crude oil trading analysis tools
To place a buy or sell oil trading order a trader needs to first analyze the direction of oil. This is why all good oil softwares provide crude oil price charts and crude oil trading analysis tools such as, oil technical indicators and various different chart time-frames from which one-can analyze crude oil price moves using the crude oil chart timeframes of their choice.
How to Use MT4 Guide
From above MetaTrader 4 crude oil trading platform interface - MT4 Introduction Tutorial, the summary of all information required by a trader is provided on this trading interface
- Connection - connection to the broker servers
- Charts - price graphs which display oil prices movements
- Toolbars - chart tool bars to add tools and technical analysis technical indicators
- Market Watch - for displaying available financial instruments
- Data window panel - provides oil account information and other indicator data
- Exchange rates - shows current market crude oil price on a oil chart
- Menu bar - Shows all menu items on the MetaTrader 4 platform
