Auto Trendline Indicator

Here is a handy MT4 indicator to auto-color your trend lines AND make them visible only in the timeframe drawn or lower.

• Applies Bearish Color to trendlines drawn downward
• Applies Bullish Color to trendlines drawn upward
• Applies Bullish Color to lowest horizontal line
• Applies Bearish Color to highest horizontal line
• Makes trendlines and horizontal lines visible only in timeframe drawn and below
• Higher timeframes have thicker lines
• Object Description updated with Timeframe Short Name
• You must enable "Show Object Descriptions" on the chart properties to see the timeframe text.

For example, if you draw trendlines in the M15 time frame, they will not appear in higher timeframes such as Daily. This allows for "cleaner" charts as trendlines/horizontal lines from lower time frames do not clutter up the higher timeframes. You also save time not having to change colors and widths.

 

 

 

 

Attached Files

 FTAutoTrendlines.ex4   9 KB 

 FTAutoTrendlines.mq4   8 KB

MT4 News Calendar Indicator

For those of you that have been using Metatrader 4 for a while, you will remember there were many MT4 News Calendar Indicators. With MT5 of course there is a built in function to show news.

The most popular MT4 News Calendar was the FFCal News Indicator.

What made it really stand out is that it's an indicator, so if you are crafty, you can modify the indicator and use it in your expert advisors, scripts, or just modify the indicator to your liking.

Unfortunately with the new release of Metatrader 5, the folks at MetaQuotes Software started modifying the MT4 builds and broke this indicator.    Support for it stopped and there was one other choice that surfaced, the NewsCal-v107.  It was good but source code was not available, so you had to use it as is, with it quirks and short comings.  Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT indicator.

The good news is that thanks to rod178 at ForexFactory, I got my hands on source code for a working MT4 FFCal News Calendar called "CalendarFX-I" and started making enhancements.

You can find the MT4 News Calendar mq4 and ex4 files here:

 CalendarFX-I-A16.ex4  

 CalendarFX-I-A16.mq4  

 

For the latest release check this Foum for new versions of CalendarFX-I:

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?p=8256565#post8256565

Kudos to traderathome, deVries, qFish, atstrader, rod178 for creating and keeping the FFCal News Indicator alive!

Handy MT4 Indicator - NewsCal-AddOn

If you are using the NewsCal-v1.07 Indicator then like me you might be frustrated that the source code is not available.

Here is a sample NewsCal-AddOn Indicator that you can use to read the NewsCal-v1.07 display.  It creates a label for upcoming important news like ECB, FOMC, and NFP.

Feel free to modify the indicator or add to your own code.

Download the Indicator here:
NewsCal-AddOn.ex4    NewsCal-AddOn.mq4

For the latest version check here:
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=326551&page=15

Are you using Alerts?

Many traders make the mistake of either sitting infront of the computer all day or checking the chart too late only to discover their "ideal" signal was hit.   There is an easier way.... Alerts!

Every trader has their own favorite strategy and entry "signal".  For example you could use Moving Average Crosses, RSI, MACD, or a mixture.

One of the simplest and most powerful functionality of your trading platform is Alerts.  Every platform has them, I am going to focus on Metatrader.

There are three types of "Alerts" you can set up.

1. Alert by Sound - great if you are near your computer
2. Alert by Email - great if you are mobile and have access to email
3. Alert by Notification - great if you are mobile and have the Metatrader App

For Email and Notifications to work you need to configure Metatrader (Tools >> Options).  Note that it can be tricky to get SMTP to work as many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) now block SMTP Port 25.   If that's the case ask your ISP what SMTP port is open.   Notifications can also be tricky as some cell phone providers will block the port for notifications.  For example here in Thailand I only get notifications once I use Wifi but never with my AIS Mobile Provider.

In any event I still use notifications as my thinking is that if I'm not using Wifi then I'm likely not in a position to make a trade....

There are also two different ways to set up Alerts.  You can either open the Alerts tab on your Terminal window in Metatrader and set the currency and level, ie. EURUSD > 1. 2844 or you can check your favorite indicators to see if they have the Alert capability.   If they don't, see if you can find an indicator with an Alert function.  

If you have some programming experience you can easily add the Alerts to your favorite indicators.