Overview
The world of trading is continuously changing and evolving, with technologies emerging to help different participants in the market streamline and improve their trading. Forex Forest is an algorithmic trading provider that is headquartered in Hong Kong.
Forest Forex is an award-winning provider of algorithmic trading as comprehensive and powerful trading and investment tool in a competitive global market. The provider is committed to educating traders of all experience levels in how to develop and use automatic trading programs.
These programs can be used across different financial markets, and they can trade 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with truly little intervention from the trader, using predetermined sets of rules to enter and exit markets, and manage trades.
The team behind Forest Forex is professional and experienced, with a combined 10 years specialising specifically in automated programs. These professionals also feature an experienced research team responsible for continued improvements, updates, and optimisation of the different automated trading programs offered.
Forex Forest offers eight different courses and has the necessary ISO 9001 Quality Certification, making these courses some of the most reliable and critically acclaimed, helping traders with professional and conscientious self-account programs.
Forex Forest Services and Courses
Automated trading has proven to optimise the time of traders by eliminating manual trading. In addition, it has also helped countless investors and traders make consistent profits in different market conditions, with computers capturing the perfect time and opportunities for traders to enter and exit the market, minimising several different risks inherent to trading.
Forex Forest’s automated trading program lets traders master the basics involved with automated trading and they can subsequently use the technology that MetaTrader 4 offers. This helps traders learn several different trading strategies along with using backtesting techniques and giving traders access to simulation exercises which will further improve their trading skills and knowledge.
When traders use the Forex Forest courses, they will be equipped with the ability to develop a proprietary system that can help them earn profits in the forex market. Forex Forest’s courses are unique and powerful, featuring a well-established foundation that is associated with interactive learning, providing traders with the skills to navigate and master several trading strategies.
The team involved with Forest Forex offers dedicated support to its learners, with prompt responses to questions, queries, and issues that learners may face. Forex Forest also provides a dedicated mentor and a course coach that will shadow the learner for the first two months.
There is also an Expert Advisor that traders can use which can be run either on demo or live mode without any additional cost. When traders sign up with Forest Forex, they are introduced to the basic concepts involved with automated trading with a comprehensive introductory course.
The Forex Forest course is ideal because it caters for traders even if they do not have any prior knowledge or skills involved with trading. The program can be used by complete beginners and even by advanced traders who want to start using automated trading programs.
Course Expectations
Understand Automated Program Trading and Market Fundamentals
The Forex Forest trading course allows beginners to start with a well-established foundation and a conducive environment where they can learn what automated trading is, how it works, and how it can be applied in different financial markets.
Master the MetaTrader 4 Trading Platform
MetaTrader 4 is one of the most used and popular trading platforms in the industry that caters extensively for the use of expert advisors, or EAs, on its platform. Through Forest Forex, traders will learn about MetaTrader 4’s EAs and how they can master the trading platform so that it can help them develop comprehensive trading strategies.
Use historical transactional data for backtesting
When traders use Forex Forest’s courses, they can learn how historical data can be used to test the efficiency of their trading strategies. This helps traders improve the accuracy of their transaction data results before they apply their trading strategies in live market conditions.
Advantages of using the Forex Forest Course
Basic Knowledge of using automated trading
When traders use Forex Forest, they will learn about automated trading programs in-depth, and they will also receive extensive exposure to updated market information. Traders can also learn about these automated trading programs in a learning environment that is interactive and conducive to their learning, allowing traders to interact with mentors and other learners.
Embrace a unique teaching method
When traders use Forex Forest, they are provided with a coach and a dedicated team that will help them through the learning process from start to finish. Traders will learn in an interactive group setting that will enable them to quickly master the innovative technology that auto trading is well-known for.
Benefit from Research and Practice
The courses that are offered by Forex Forest allow traders to learn about different auto trading systems and strategies. Traders will be introduced to different backtesting techniques and have access to simulations exercises that will help them develop a proprietary trading system tailored to their trading needs and objectives.
Enjoy extended learning and technical support
The learning does not end when traders complete Forex Forest’s courses. Traders can continue learning about automated trading when they participate in different academic exchanges, sharing sessions, and training sessions with more inexperienced learners, where traders can become mentors and coaches.
MetaTrader 4 and Automated Trading
MetaTrader 4 is a powerful, innovative, and popular trading platform that features Expert Advisors, also known just as EAs. EAs are software programs featured on the MetaTrader 4 trading terminal that was created using MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4).
EAs are used for the automation of trading and analysing processes that are carried out on the MetaTrader 4 trading platform across different platforms.
EAs allow the trader to perform a range of functions, including technical analysis on the price data of securities in addition to in-depth fundamental analysis on all of these. EAs provide traders with the ability to manage their trading activities based on the trading signals that they receive from their analysis and technical indicators.
These processes, both the analysis and trading, can easily be passed on to automated robots. These EAs can perform analytical and trading functions for any securities 24/7 without any action required from the trader.
These robots can also function without any additional charts being open in the fore- or the background, which means that the whole process from analysis right through until the trading position is closed can be run automatically.
Updated Features on the Development of MT4 Trading Robots
While MQL4 is innovative and comprehensive, MetaQuotes updated the programming language to the MQL5 language syntax. MQL5 is like MQL4, but it is significantly more comprehensive, powerful, and 20 times faster.
MQL5 features additional functions that allow for it to be more efficient and the compiler in the program also ensures for optimisation of the executable EX5 code which allows for it to achieve higher speeds.
MQL5 also means that the asynchronous operations can be executed much faster, and this bodes well for professional traders, granting them additional trading opportunities that they did not previously have access to.
MetaTrader 5 and MQL5 is the fifth generation that eliminates the inherent need for any third-party connections for protocols to be exchanged. Traders need not keep their terminals closer to their broker and they have the option of using a VPS next to their trading server.
This allows traders to send their trading robot to trade directly from the terminal, streamlining the process even further. These latest updates also ensure that the network costs are reduced and that there is an increased Depth of Market refresh rate.
With improvements in the sending of asynchronous orders, traders will see an acceleration in the speeds and efficiency of their trading. This will allow traders to improve their trading robots, ensuring that they can be used across different trading strategies in global financial markets.
Event handling was incorporated in MQL5 to make it easier for traders to develop complex trading algorithms. The innovative Trade and TradeTransaction events on MQL5 will be transferred to the trader’s terminal where they can be carried out by their appropriate handlers.
In addition, MQL5 allows for Depth of Market and traders are also granted access to tick history. Traders can use this information to analyse time and sales, giving them the ability to develop strategies that use information from price changes and deal volumes.
Automated Trading in Forex
Currencies are traded in varying volumes according to different quoted prices, which in turn are driven by various economic and political factors. The forex market sees over 6.6 trillion USD, which is 96 trillion ZAR, traded daily. Millions of different market participants trade currencies for both business and speculative reasons.
Algorithmic trading is based on predefined rules that are executed by a trading bot that has been programmed to complete a certain task.
Algorithms can be characterised according to their set of defined rules which can include when the trade is opened when it is exited, what the trading volume must be, whether there is a specific price at which the trade must be entered/exited, and so on.
There are different algorithmic strategies available to traders, but the following are the main four basic types of algorithmic trading:
- Auto-hedging – a strategy that develops certain rules that will help to reduce the risk of exposure of traders when they enter financial markets.
- Direct Market Access (DMA) features reduced transaction costs and increased trading speeds that allow traders to connect to different trading platforms where they can get the best possible pricing.
- Statistical Algorithms – to find profitable trading opportunities that rely on a statistical analysis of historical time-series information as well as data.
- Algorithmic execution refers to strategies that aim to execute certain objectives that are determined by the trader and that reduce market impact, quick trade executions, and others.
Another subcategory that traders will discover in algorithmic trading relates to High-frequency trading. This type of trading is synonymous with high rates and speeds of trading where orders are executed in extremely liquid markets, such as the forex market.
High-frequency trading strategies provide more advanced traders with advantages that include the ability to execute trades in milliseconds where the price changes are incremental. This bodes extremely well for scalpers and day traders who depend on these changes to make quick profits in volatile, liquid markets.
Algorithmic trading has seen widespread adoption and expansion, especially in the forex market. This can be attributed to the automation of previously tedious, time-consuming processes and this has reduced the number of hours that traders had to spend carrying out comprehensive analysis on market conditions so that they could time their trades.
By automating these processes, traders can increase their efficiency and subsequently reduce the transaction costs to which they are subject. Algorithms trade according to predefined criteria, and this makes the trading process more accurate, factually informed, and efficient.
Because automated trading has grown in popularity, traders are not the only market participants that have realised its benefits and potential. Banks have started adopting automated trading to streamline the process of obtaining updated pricing on currency pairs across their different electronic trading platforms.
This allows banks to increase the speed according to which they can quote market prices, and this also reduces the manual working hours that it would traditionally take to quote prices. Banks are also using algorithms for more effective risk management.
Algorithms are also used to sell currencies and to match the trade of clients when they purchase from their bank, ensuring that there is a consistent quantity of certain currencies maintained in reserve.
Automated Trading Risks
As with any kind of strategy and system, automated trading has associated risks that must be explored and understood, specifically relating to the effect that it may have on the stability and liquidity of financial markets, especially the forex market.
An inherent downside of automated trading is that there may be imbalances in the trading power that some market participants may have. Participants in the forex market could have the resources to employ sophisticated technology that can place them at an advantage above others, especially if they can trade at increased speeds.
This will inevitably lead to fragmentation in the market, causing liquidity shortages after repeated incidents. There are differences between the different financial markets, especially the forex and stock market.
In 2010, there was a significant stock market crash that was caused by an error in an algorithm, and it is feared that this may happen to the forex market. If this were to occur, it would mean that the algorithms would not have the ability to respond in a timely fashion because they are programmed for certain market conditions.
Therefore, markets must be monitored so that algorithmic trading can be suspended when there is turbulence, subsequently avoiding a market crash. However, there is another downside to this as well, because during certain circumstances the suspension of algorithmic trading by large market participants can cause increased volatility and extreme liquidity shortages in the forex market.
Automated Trading Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
| Automated trading eliminates emotions while trading because it is rule-based | Overfitting can occur and lead to inflexibility of trading strategies |
| Automated trading bots can react promptly when conditions change rapidly in the market | Backtesting can create a bias for positive outcomes |
| Trading decisions are based on facts derived from analysis | Automated trading is not free from human error |
| Automated trading involves comprehensive backtesting against historical data | |
| Backtesting allows for traders to predict profitability against previous trends | |
| Automated trading can be used by traders of all trading experiences |
FAQ’s
What is an algorithmic trading strategy?
A forex trading strategy is a predetermined set of rules that the trader follows manually, but with the use of computer programmes, traders can now implement an automated trading strategy through a forex bot.
Can automated trading systems ever be wrong?
Yes, human error can occur in automated trading systems. Even though automated trading systems follow a predetermined set of rules, an error can be made when these rules are set.
Can auto trading be profitable?
If traders use auto trading strategies smartly and they use a reputable trading bot, they can earn consistent profits.
What trading platforms can you use to use auto trading strategies?
Many trading platforms allow traders to use auto trading strategies, but MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are two of the best because of their innovative Expert Advisors.
What is an important factor to remember with auto trading?
Automated and algorithmic trading does not mean that the process is free from human intervention or error because humans develop these systems. Automated trading does not guarantee that traders will earn profits when they use them.
Why should you learn about algorithmic trading?
The world is rapidly adapting algorithms and there are several exchanges, brokers, and other platforms that are executing algorithms to give them a competitive edge.
What is an auto trading bot?
An auto trading bot is computer software that runs with a specific algorithm that can trade a wide range of securities.
Top 4 Brokers
