The Problem with Free Charts
I revisit my frustrations with free charts once a year or so. MetaTrader4 is a reliable and robust package, and in my humble opinion likely the second biggest contributor to clients losing money since forex brokers started allowing clients to fund their accounts with credit cards. The problem is the default MACD is all wrong, as are the Pivots, not to mention the clock.
Thankfully there are, as I understand it, plenty of free forums out there where fellow MT4 users can get together and swap indicators and help each other out. It’s doubtful that individuals who actually know how to trade spend time there, which increases the odds of becoming distracted by the errant pitchman and getting nicked for a couple of bucks, but that’s the way of the world.
I gave my brother a copy of Mastering the Currency Market, and after talking with him after he read it we agreed he probably doesn’t have the time now to learn how to trade now, but his second son, who couldn’t find a job this summer, did. So we agreed, after the boy had expressed interest in learning to trade, to give him a copy of the book along with our beginning and intermediate level 101 course, and see how the lad does.
Which brings us back to free charts…ideally the boy learns how to finagle the indicators he needs on a free chart package such as MT4 before spending his savings on e-Signal charts if he doesn’t display the patience and concentration to become a trader. And his ability or inability to get his charts set-up on his own will prove if he has passion and determination for this endeavor. Luckily a good friend and client of mine already got us the proper MACD we need for MT4 – it’s beyond me why your garden variety 12-26-9 with histogram MACD isn’t the default??? The real problem though comes from not being able to re-set the clock on that platform, and not having the proper pivots. I did see pivots on MT4 set to intraday time frames which is somewhat ridiculous and likely only leads to creating more losing traders. But the boy does have a way with figuring and programming so as long as he knows that the close must be set to 5PM EST daily – which will affect the high, low and closing prices — and to never use pivots lower than daily, he may just come up with a way to display the proper pivots he will need.
My brother and I are big believers that people have to pay their own way and pick themselves up by their own bootstraps. It will be interesting to see how the boy does with what he has. As for free charts, while I couldn’t do it, this is how the majority of people start out trading, so it’s how my nephew will have to start out too.
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Jay Norris is a Trading Instructor at Trading-U.com. To see our course selection go to: Intermediate Level Trading Course
To schedule a complimentary, interactive tutorial with Jay on determining market direction go to One on One Tutorial
DISCLAIMER: Forex (off-exchange foreign currency futures and options or FX) trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Risks include the potential that changing political/economic conditions may substantially affect the price/liquidity of a currency. Investors may lose all or more than their original investments.
Back to an old saying… There is no such thing as a FREE LUNCH…