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Forex on AutoPilot, Robot EA Reviews for 2012
Forex beginners and even inexperienced computer users can follow simple instructions to set up automated forex trading using autopilots and robots many of which sell for under $150. However, inexperienced traders using some of these robots manage to blow their accounts quickly due to lack of basic trading knowledge and more importantly, risk management. Most robots have that built in to a degree, but settings may still be required for account (lot) size. In the event of bad performance, you will most likely be refunded the price of the program – but not for your trading losses! Opening a demo account before risking a small amount of real money when you feel comfortable is usually the way to go.Forex News Update: FAP Turbo #1 Best Selling Forex Robot now at Version 56 for ECNFAPTurbo is one of the best known MT4 EAs, popular since 2008 when I bought my copy. It has always made money and there have been numerous upgrades (free to owners) and improvements. The latest version is fine tuned and optimized for ECN broker accounts and the 'before and after' live trading results graphs are impressive. Learn more about FAP Turbo 56.
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Is Successful Forex Trading with a Robot or AutoPilot Possible? Foreign currency pair trading, or forex as it is better known, has come 'down' to the level of 'ordinary folk'. That's what some hotshot marketers want you to believe. Previously considered the domain of banking or financial trading professionals, fund managers, economists and the like, the past few years have seen programs, manuals and systems on sale or subscription that suggest (some even promise) that any purchaser can make easy money from forex trading. Most fail to warn that it's just as easy (more so in fact) to lose money, which is what is estimated 95% of participants do. The mechanics of forex trading are simple, there's little doubt about that. You use an easy to understand software interface between you and your bank or forex broker who places trades on your behalf. Actually it's all done electronically and in fact there are no physical 'exchanges' located in major cities around the world, such as with stocks.
Most forex robots work with the MetaTrader 4 platform. MT4 build 220 or higher (419 was released in March 2012). There are also versions for mobile and smartphones. This free forex trading platform is also offered by many banks and brokers, and is required for virtually all current trading autopilots or EAs. Although it may look complicated if you've never used a forex trading platform before, all becomes clear very quickly and there is also a downloadable user guide. Further advice and support is available from your own forex dealer, bank or broker. Below is a typical MetaTrader display (many viewing options are available) while running a forex robot or EA on two currency pairs – in this case Forex BulletProof which has a proven track record and is one of the better, more reliable Expert Advisors, from the same stable as FAP Turbo.
How to set up MetaTrader 4 with a forex robot/expert advisor/EA You can download MetaTrader either direct from the site http://metaquotes.net or by applying for a free demo trading account with a broker who uses the MT4 platform. Once you are able to run MT4, you can add an EA (robot) to it. If you have just bought a new EA, the vendor may recommend a broker for you. Follow the instructions that come with it which is to copy one (the EA ex4 itself) or more files into your MT4 program directory/folder. Load MetaTrader, then open a chart window Some robots will work on more than one currency pair, in one or more time frames. Set the first currency pair you want to trade and the time-frame. Drag the EA on to the chart and use the Properties dialog to set a few recommended parameters (including Allow Live Trading) and perhaps a licence number for your robot. Makes sure you Turn Expert Advisors on. You should see a small smiley face icon at the top right of the chart window. That means the robot is 'live' and will trade per its parameters and providing the markets are open, which is from Sunday afternoon till Friday afternoon New York time. Add new charts for other pairs or the same pair with a different time frame. The robot software will automatically enter trades when its criteria are met. Trades will show as either Buy or Sell, the size of the lot and the entry price. Stop Loss and Take Profit levels may also be set automatically. A log of transactions gives you all trade details of profit or loss and account balance, and you can print a full report of trades with profit/loss analysis and an equity graph. If you want to suspend or stop the robot from trading for any reason, make sure there are no active trades, then turn Expert Advisors off, disable Live Trading or simply close Metatrader down. Some robots allow you to choose the hours you want to trade and enable/disable Friday trading and other options. You can theoretically open an unlimited number of installations of MetaTrader, choosing different brokers or dealers to run both demo and live accounts. However, the likelihood of actually staying in profit, without spending time studying the methods of experts with proven track records, is slim. Even the so-called gurus and professional traders fail to make profitable trades all the time and at some point may show negative equity (drawdown) before a recovery into profit again. That fact is well known. Trading consistently for profit was never seen as simple as trading product publishers and marketers made out – that is until the advent of the trading robot, and now a whole new 'sub-industry' has emerged: autotrading. Most professional traders if they do use automated trading at all, don't give or sell their secrets to the public. Although recently some of them claim they do. Forex autotraders or robots come in different 'sizes'. As with most things, you expect to get more or less what you pay for. On the internet, though, this is not always the case. Most of today's robots usually cost $100 - $150. In the past they ranged between $50 and $5,000! In principle they are all designed to do basically the same thing – make profitable trades unattended. Robots use a variety of methods (algorithms as they grandly call them); some have limited features or inflexibility which becomes apparent when you compare different robots and run these automatic traders side by side.
I haven't just reviewed forex robots at Forex-On-Auto.com; I've bought them, tried them, recommended and even sold some on commission. Names like Forex Boomerang, FAP Turbo, Forex Detector, PipZu, PipZu Extrapolated, Forex Terminator, Pips Leader, Forex Maestro, Automated Forex Grail, Forex MegaDroid, FRWC and many others I've forgotten. The latest ones that pop up two or three times every week I mostly ignore. Occasionally I'm curious (or gullible) enough to be taken in by the hype and actually buy one. The most consistent and one which is continuously upgraded and optimized for current trading conditions is still FAP Turbo. Results generally vary a lot, not only from using robots but how they are set up and with which broker. If you want to use forex robots, expert advisors and autopilots, do so on demo accounts first to get a feel for automated forex trading. GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE WITH FOREX TRADING Before you even try your first robot, learn about Money Management. Risk of loss is increased for the forex trader who doesn't fully understand Leverage and Margin as offered by brokers. This is basically trading on credit, and almost all traders do it. Profits are multiplied, but so are losses. Every trader has to accept some losing trades as well as winners and that's an undisputed fact. Many popular robots have limited controls for risk management. Every trader needs to decide for himself and herself how much to risk, including lot size per trade and the number of trades or orders that can be entered and left running simultaneously.
Forex Nitty Gritty is a downloadable course suitable for forex beginners, and available for $39.97. It won't teach you everything you need to know about the forex market, and it won't make money for you, but it will help you reduce loss. Is Forex Autotrading suitable for people without prior trading knowledge or experience? How long might it take a beginner to set up an Autotrader and enter a first trade? Yes, it is suitable even for the beginner trading on a demo account because very little knowledge is needed to use them. After the initial setup, which can be usually achieved in minutes, trading will begin automatically when suitable 'slots' are found. To use one of these automatic trading systems you first you download MetaTrader 4 (Version 419 is the latest) from an ECN broker such as FX Choice (ideal for running FAP Turbo 56) and install it on your computer. You can do that before getting a robot so you can see what this trading platform looks like (picture above), or wait until you purchase one of the programs when you will be given complete instructions and possibly videos to follow. In any event open a free demo account and even start trading by yourself. It doesn't really matter what you do as you don't risk any money! In spite of what was said above, the more knowledge you have, the easier it is to understand what's going on with forex. It can certainly be a bit overwhelming to the total beginner who has only recently become aware of forex trading. VPS Hosting and running MetaTrader on a PC compared with using a VPS (Virtual Private Server) For an auto-trading program to work properly, it must run continuously, connected via its trading platform at your brokerage, and ready to make trades whenever the opportunity arises. This means the computer and programs need to stay online at any time trades are running. The markets are open 24 hours daily between Sunday and Friday afternoon in New York (local times will be different in other regions and time zones). If there is a problem maintaining this online connection, new trades cannot be initiated and open trades cannot be closed by the software. The chances of loss or bad trades are greatly increased if your computer loses its internet connection, shuts down or reboots unexpectedly – especially while you are away from it and is not set to power up, go online and resume the program connection automatically. A reliable system and internet connection with minimal downtime are important aspects of automatic forex trading. An alternative to trading and monitoring directly from your own machine is to have MetaTrader and its EAs hosted on a third party Virtual Private Server which runs 24/7. Any maintenance or down time is usually on the weekend when the markets are closed. This is like having a self-contained Windows Desktop with programs, running on a secure, firewalled server, managed and maintained by professionals. The VPS Remote Desktop is seen as a full screen or resized window on a PC or notebook, and reacts to keyboard and mouse movements just like any other; you can seamlessly switch between local and remote Desktops too. See full screen shot enlarged. For traders 'on the move', this is important. A remote VPS system can be accessed securely from an internet computer anywhere in the world. Ideal for traders with dealers and brokers in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. Here you can see the VPS Desktop showing MetaTrader running in a Window of the host PC.
VPS is useful for anyone and not only for forex trading. A US-based VPS also acts as a Proxy Server (with a US IP address). This is very useful if you are in a country where information and website access is restricted. You can access the world wide web from any VPS which has IE, Firefox or other browser loaded, as well as send and receive email. You can also access sites and download links that may be otherwise 'locked' if your IP address is not from a certain country. However, the main advantage is reliability and continuity of software services that need to run all the time. VPS services are usually available by subscription, for $25-$75 a month. Considering the overall benefit, this is not a great deal to pay to keep your trading account open and running continuously 24/7, freeing up your own machine for other tasks, and reducing your internet bandwidth (a cost consideration for some) at the same time. You simply access the remote server from time to time, from any PC, and see how your trading accounts are doing. The hard way (which in the end achieves little or nothing)... Setting up a VPS (remote server) for the first time can be complicated, and possibly beyond the capabilities of someone who really just wants to press a few keys and begin trading on a remote server. Read about this and download a free pdf guide to see what is entailed, and the possible problems of setting up a VPS service for MetaTrader manually from 'ground zero'. After spending some time studying this (and scratching my head), I did a bit more research and found the right solution. An easier way to VPS forex autopilot trading... Fortunately, virtually all the fiddly setting up can be bypassed by choosing a VPS that is pre-configured for MetaTrader. All you need to do is upload the EA (robot software) which you have purchased. You can also run multiple instances of MetaTrader with the same or different broker accounts – both demo and live. ForexHoster or EZ Forexhost VPSs cost about $70 per month. There are cheaper services too, but you need to be careful as they don't all offer the same facilities. As I know the advantages of running MetaTrader on a VPS, I started using ForexVPS in January 2009. Their Starter Desktop at $35 monthly was adequate only for running a single instance of MetaTrader 4 reliably. This is pre-installed as well as other software. You can add your own either by direct download or upload from your own PC, but memory limitations may slow down or stop the service from time to time. LATENCY ISSUES FOR VIRTUAL SERVER TRADING – especially with 'scalping' robots. It is important for the remote server and broker locations to be in as close proximity as possible, whereas the actual trader or 'end user' can be based anywhere. Latency is an issue that can have an adverse effect on forex robot performance. Latency is the delay in milliseconds for an instruction to be acted on by the broker. This is due to the signal being passed through many connections before reaching its destination. The longer the delay, (latency) the less chance of prices requested being accepted and possibly other traders getting in ahead of you. For example, a Europe-based trader with broker Alpari UK using the CNS London server – with less than 2ms latency – would have different and probably better results than someone using a server in New York (79ms) or on the West Coast (156ms) – better for a trader with their account at Alpari US.
Only buy forex trading robots
that come with a 60-day money back guarantee.
Forex Nitty Gritty
is a downloadable course suitable for
Open a demo account with
eToro;
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