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Algotrading with FxPro

Algotrading with FxPro

Algorithmic trading uses systems called Expert Advisors or Robots to open positions based on specific conditions.

Sign up with FxPro and download a supported platform to start setting up your Algotrading strategy!

Install the type of algorithmic bot that suits your account: cBots on cTrader or Expert Advisors on MetaTrader.

How to Use cBots / Expert Advisors

Choose how to start Algotrading

Choose how to start Algotrading

cTrader

You can create custom cBots and indicators using the powerful C# coding language.

cTrader Automate also offers advanced optimization and backtesting tools to help refine your strategy. The cTrader website provides hundreds of downloadable custom indicators and cBots.
Download cTrader

MetaTrader 4

MetaEditor lets you easily create, test, and apply your own EAs using the MQL4 coding language.

Once compiled, your trading robot is moved to MetaTrader 4 for backtesting or optimization with the Strategy Tester. The MetaTrader Market offers over 1,700 robots and 2,100 indicators for purchase or rent.
Download MetaTrader4

MetaTrader 5

MT5 provides advanced market tools, MetaEditor, and integrated algo services via the built-in MetaTrader Market.

You can buy or rent custom trading robots or indicators that are specifically tailored to your unique trading preferences and strategies, developed by highly experienced and professional traders.
Download MetaTrader5

EA Trading Guides

Check out our help section which features some guides and documents for EA trading.

Go to the Help section

FxPro VPS

Run your algorithmic system on a stable virtual private server.

Learn more

EA Trading FAQs

The FxPro MT4 and FxPro MT5 trading platforms are both compatible with Mac and can be downloaded from our Download Centre. Please note that the web-based FxPro cTrader and FxPro cTrader platforms are also available on MAC.
Yes. Expert Advisors are fully compatible with our FxPro MT4 and FxPro MT5 platforms, and cTrader Algos can be used on our FxPro cTrader platform. If you have any questions regarding Expert Advisors and cTrader Algo, please contact our Customer Support at easupport@fxpro.com.
You can log in to your terminal from the menu at the top left of the screen. Click ‘File’, ‘Login to trade account’ and a new box asking for your login credentials, password, and the server your account has been assigned to, will appear.

log in

Your login details are sent to you via email once your account has been created. If you have forgotten your MT4 live account password, you can reset this via FxPro Direct.
There are many ways to place a new order in the MT4 terminal:

  1. Click on the ‘New Order’ button on the toolbar
  2. Select ‘New Order’ from the ‘Tools’ drop-down menu
  3. Press F9
  4. Right-click an instrument in the ‘Market Watch’ window and select ‘New Order’
  5. Double-click an instrument in the ‘Market Watch’ window
  6. Enable one-click trading

Proceeding with any of the above options will open up the ‘Order’ window. This will let you adjust the parameters of the position you are about to open. The ‘Symbol’ field allows you to change the instrument and the ‘Volume’ field allows you to set the size of the trade (lot). You may also set stop-loss and take-profit levels.
You then click ‘Sell’ to open a short position at the current bid price or ‘Buy’ to open a long position at the current ask price.
To manually close an open position, you must first locate the order in the MT4 ‘Terminal’ window at the bottom of your MT4 screen. Right-click on the order you wish to close and select ‘Close Order’, or double-click on the order to bring up the ‘Order’ window and close it from there. Alternatively, you can close a position by clicking the ‘X’ symbol at the bottom right corner of your MT4 terminal.

If you have one click trading enabled, these actions will result in the immediate closure of the trade, without displaying any confirmation window.

If you have set valid stop-loss or take-profit levels, your order will be closed once the market price reaches either of the levels you have specified.
A pending order is an instruction to open a position when an instrument reaches a certain price pre-defined by you.
You can place a pending order via the main ‘Order’ window. Simply change the ‘Type’ to ‘Pending Order’. A drop-down menu will then appear that will allow you to specify whether the pending order you are about to place is a Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop or a Sell Stop Order. It will also allow you to set a limit price and expiry date and time.

Bear in mind that Buy stops & Sell limits must be placed above the current market price while Sell stops and Buy limits must be placed below the current market price.
First, locate the order in the MT4 ‘Terminal’ window at the bottom of your MT4 screen. Open orders appear above your account details, while orders that haven’t yet been executed appear below them. Right-click on the order you wish to modify or delete and select ‘Modify or Delete Order’ or double-click on the order to bring up the ‘Order’ window. From the ‘Order’ window, you may change the price at which the order is triggered, re-set the expiry date of the order, set stop-loss and take-profit levels or delete the order.
This may be because you have placed your stop-loss or take-profit levels too close to the current price. Alternatively, it may mean that you have set these levels on the wrong side of the current price.

Please note that for short positions (sell orders) stop-losses must be set higher than the current market price and take-profit levels must be set lower than the current market price.

You can view the minimum stop levels for each platform in the symbol's specifications: https://www.fxpro.com/trading/forex
Open MT4, go to File>Open Data Folder, then select MQL4/5>'Experts' or 'Indicators' and paste your MQL4/EX4 or MQL5/EX5 file in this folder.

When you reopen the platform you should now see your custom EA/Indicator in the Navigator window. You can drag and drop it to the chart(s) of your choice.

You can find custom EAs and Indicators on the MQL5 website: https://www.mql5.com/en/code/mt4
All EAs are visible in the ‘Navigator’ window on the left-hand side of the MT4 platform. Click on the ‘Expert Advisors’ drop-down menu and then click on the ‘+’ icon to expand the selection and view the full list of available EAs. You can then drag and drop the one you want to the chart of your choice.
From your MT4, go to ‘View’, select ‘Strategy Tester’, choose 'Expert Advisor' from the list and set your backtest parameters.

For more details, please refer to the MT4 backtesting guide available here.

You may test your EA in live trading conditions on your demo account.
To make sure that your EA is running correctly you must first confirm that EAs are enabled on your platform. To do so, check that the ‘AutoTrading’ button on the main toolbar at the top of the screen is green. In case it is red, click on it to enable EAs.

‘AutoTrading’

You must then ensure that your EA is enabled for live trading. To do this, right-click on the chart where the EA has been placed, select ‘Expert Advisors’ and then ‘Properties’. Check the box labelled ‘Allow live trading’ and click ‘OK’. Your EA should now be working properly.

Allow live trading

Once your EA is up and running, you can check the ‘Experts’ and ‘Journal’ tabs in your terminal to see if your system is reporting any errors.
Please note that if your EA is running and automatic trading is enabled, you will be able to see a smiley face on the top right corner of the chart next to the name of the EA.
It seems you don’t have Expert Advisors enabled on your MT4 terminal. This can be done by simply clicking on the ‘AutoTrading’ button in the main toolbar above the chart. When the little symbol inside it turns from red to green, EAs have been enabled. Alternatively you can do this by going to ‘Tools’, ‘Options’, select the ‘Expert Advisors’ tab and ensure that the ‘Enable Expert Advisors’ box is ticked. Please also ensure that the specific EA is enabled for trading by selecting 'Allow Live Trading' in the 'Common' tab when you drag the EA to the chart
To remove an EA from your MT4/5 platform, right-click on the chart, select ‘Expert Advisors’ and then ‘Remove’.
Yes, you can run multiple EAs at the same time and on the same instrument. However, you may only load one EA per chart. For example, if you wish to set two EAs to trade on EURUSD, you will have to open two EURUSD charts and load an EA on each of them.
All account information and trade history is found in the ‘Terminal’ window at the bottom of your MT4 screen. At the bottom of this window you will find the following tabs:

  • Trade: Displays your account balance, equity, margin, free margin, margin level and any open positions and pending orders
  • Account History: Displays a complete breakdown of all the orders you have placed including date and time, type, size, instrument, price at open, take-profit and stop-loss levels, price and time of closure, swap fees and profit.
  • Journal: Provides a list of all the actions you have taken on your MT4 terminal as well as their respective dates and times.
You can create a trade history report and export it as a separate HTML or EXCEL file. Log in to your MT4 terminal and click on the ‘Account History’ in the ‘Terminal’ window at the bottom of your MT4 screen. Right-click anywhere inside the tab, select ‘Save as Report’, select specify a save location and click ‘Save’.
The 'Market Watch' is a section of MT4/MT5 which shows all BID/ASK prices and allows you to view instruments, place orders, open charts etc.
In order to see all instruments available for trading, please right click in the Market Watch window and select 'Show All'.

Show All

To manually add the instruments you wish to see in the list, right click in the Market Watch window and select 'Symbols'. You may also create custom sets.
Once logged in the platform, please go to Tools>Options and under the 'Server' tab, select 'Change Password'. Then, enter the new password you wish to use and confirm.

Change Password

If you encounter issues please check the Journal tab on the MT4 Terminal window to see if there are any errors.
An investor password enables the user to view trading activity but with no access to open/close or modify any trades. It is essentially a 'read only' access.

Once logged in the platform with your master password, please go to Tools>Options and under the 'Server' tab, select 'Change Password'. Then, select 'Change Investor (read only) password'

Change Investor
The History Center provides you with access to historical chart data on the MT4 platform. Please go to Tools>History Center or select the F2.

The amount of historical data available depends on the timeframe you choose due to the fact that there is a maximum number of bars data available for each timeframe (approx 2050 records).For instance if you choose a small timeframe (eg 1M) you may only receive data for one or two days.

You may download additional data, however this is taken from the MetaQuotes server.
  1. After you register and log into FxPro Direct, you will see the relevant platform links conveniently displayed on your 'Accounts' page, next to each account number. From there you can directly install desktop platforms, open webtrader, or install mobile apps.
  2. Alternatively, from the main website, go to “All Tools” section and open the “Download Centre”.
  3. Scroll down to see all the platforms available. Several types of terminals are provided: for the desktop, web version and mobile application.
  4. Select your operating system and click “Download”. The platform upload will start automatically.
  5. Run the setup program from your computer and follow the prompts by clicking “Next”.
  6. After the installation is complete, you can log in with the specific account details that you received on your email after the trading account registration at FxPro Direct. Now your trading with FxPro can begin!

Watch video instruction

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To close a position, click on the ‘Close’ button in the ‘Trade Watch’ window at the bottom of the cTrader screen. From the ‘Trade Watch’ window you can choose to close a single order or close all open positions by clicking ‘Close All’.
You can use the QuickTrade settings to select if this is disabled or if single-click or double-click trading is enabled.

Your cTrader cTID are sent to you via email once the creation of your account has been confirmed.

cTID allows access to all FxPro cTrader accounts (demo & live) using only one login and password.

As default, your cTID email will be the registered email address of your profile, and you can change the password to your own preference.

Once logged in with the cTID, you will be able to switch between any FxPro cTrader accounts registered under your profile.

There are several ways to create a new order in cTrader.

You can press F9 to bring up the ‘Create Order’ window or click on the icon above the watchlist on the left-hand side of the platform. You can also click on any instrument in the 'Watchlists' select the ‘New Order’ icon, or place an order directly from the Buy and Sell buttons:

Buy and Sell buttons

The buy and sell buttons are also available on any chart you have open:

available

If you do not have 'QuickTrade' settings enabled, a new window will appear which will allow you to create a new market order, limit order or stop order, to select the instrument you wish to trade and to set stop-loss and take-profit levels:

Market Order
Note: If you wish to open and close trades with single or double click, directly from the charts and watchlist, you will need to set this up in the settings.
You can place a pending order via the ‘Create Order’ window. On the ‘Create Order’ box, select ‘Limit Order’ or ‘Stop Order’ and choose your symbol, limit price, volume and expiry date and time, set stop-loss and take-profit levels and click ‘Sell’ or ‘Buy’.

You can also place pending orders via the Market Depth or by right clicking on the chart.
Should the need arise for you to modify or delete a pending order that you have placed, click on the ‘Orders’ tab in the ‘Trade Watch’ window. This will bring up all your pending orders. Right-click on the order you wish to modify or delete, to be given the option to either modify or cancel the order. If you click on ‘Modify’, a new window will appear that will allow you to change the parameters of your pending order. If you click on ‘Cancel’, your order will be automatically removed from the list.
On the cTrader platform, click on the settings icon in the bottom left hand corner, and select the 'QuickTrade' tab. From here you can select if you would like 'single-click' or 'double-click' trading.
If you have the quick trade settings 'Disabled', it means that you will have a pop up box to confirm any trade actions.
You are also able to set up default SL/TP and market range settings for all order types from this window.

Click trading
cTrader spreads start from as low as 0.2 on majors, and the commission is 3.50 per lot of the base currency of the pair traded. (On FX and Metals) This is charged round-trip upon opening.
You can use the cTrader commission calculator below to calculate the commission for different trades:
https://www.fxpro.com/trading-tools/calculators/ctrader-commission
As standard, the commission is calculated as $35 per $1million USD traded.
FX example- If you are trading 1 lot (100k) of EUR/USD, the commission will be €3.50 each side, so €7 overall when you place the trade).
Metals example- (number of oz X MP) / 1,000,000 X 35 = One side commission

Your cTrader (cTID) will be created and sent to you via email once the creation of your account has been confirmed.

cTID allows access to all FxPro cTrader accounts (demo & live) using only one login and password.

When logged in with the cTID, your cTrader account(s) will automatically become linked, and you will also have access to extra features that the cTID provides, such as:

  • Custom watchlists
  • Email alerts
  • Price alerts
  • Workspaces

Note: The cTID is seperate from your FxPro account login details and is something offered by Spotware directly. You can read more about it here

You are able to download additional indicators/cBots via the cTDN website: https://ctdn.com/algos/indicators - https://ctdn.com/algos/cbots
You can also click on the indicator icon on any cTrader chart and select 'more indicators'

more indicators

When you click to download from the website, it will prompt you to automatically install it to the cTrader platform.
If you are running cBots on your cTrader platform, you will be able to see a list of attached cBots on the bottom left corner of the chart. A ‘Stop’ button will also appear if your cBot is running correctly.
If you are running cBots in the 'Automate' tab, you will be able to see a list of active instances under each cBot in the cBots list. A ‘Stop’ button will also appear next to running instances.
Once your cBot is running, you can check the ‘Journal’ and the ‘cBot Log’ tabs to see if your system is reporting any errors.
Yes, you can back-test the performance of your cBot over historical data on the cTrader platform. To do this, you need to navigate to your 'Automate' section of the platform, click on the arrow next to your cBot, and select ‘Add an Instance’. Navigate to ‘Backtesting’ tab and set your preferred back-test parameters before running.
Once you are happy with your cBot, you can test it in live trading conditions by using it on your demo account.
Yes, you may run multiple cBots at the same time and on the same chart. Once you add them to the chart, you will see a separate box for each in the bottom left hand corner of the chart.

multiple cBots
To remove a cBot from cTrader, click on the ‘Stop’ button. Instances can be removed from the chart in cTrader or from the ‘Instances’ list in the 'Automate' tab.
In order for your cBots to trade for you, your machine must be running with your cTrader terminal open. Closing your cTrader terminal will cause your cBots to stop trading.

You can subscribe to FxPro VPS (Virtual Private Server) to have your cBots continue to trade around the clock, regardless of whether your cTrader terminal is open or your computer running.
Your account balance and trade history can be found in the ‘Trade Watch’ window at the bottom of your cTrader screen.

  • Positions tab: Displays your current balance, equity, margin, free margin, margin level and unrealised profit and loss.
  • Orders tab: Displays current pending orders
  • History tab: Displays your complete order history.
You can export your trade history from the ‘Trade Watch’ window. Open the ‘History’ tab, right-click anywhere within the list of previous orders, and select ‘Create Statement’ to create a trade history report as an HTML document, or select ‘Export to Excel’ to create a trade history report as an Excel file.
You can download the cTrader desktop platform via our website link below: https://www.fxpro.com/trading-platforms/ctrader

Unfortunately a MAC version is not currently available, but we however offer a cTrader webtrader version, accessed via the below link:
https://ct.fxpro.com/

For system requirements and supported browsers you may refer to the spotware help page.

If you receive an error trying to install it, this is most often caused by a firewall/antivirus which is blocking or restricting the download. Please temporarily disable any firewalls/antivirus and try again to download the platform.
When you uninstall cTrader, there are also some temp folders that must be deleted in order to successfully remove it. Please follow the instructions below to completely remove cTrader from your PC:

Uninstall the cTrader via control panel, then:
- Under Documents remove cTrader and cAlgo
- Under ''C:/Users/user/AppData/Roaming/'' remove: Fxpro-cAlgo, FxPro-cTrader, FxPro-cTraderUsers
- Under ''C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Apps/2.0/'' delete this folder
You can then proceed to re-download.
  1. After you register and log into FxPro Direct, you will see the relevant platform links conveniently displayed on your 'Accounts' page, next to each account number. From there you can directly install desktop platforms, open webtrader, or install mobile apps.
  2. Alternatively, from the main website, go to “All Tools” section and open the “Download Centre”.
  3. Scroll down to see all the platforms available. Several types of terminals are provided: for the desktop, web version and mobile application.
  4. Select your operating system and click “Download”. The platform upload will start automatically.
  5. Run the setup program from your computer and follow the prompts by clicking “Next”.
  6. After the installation is complete, you can log in with the specific account details that you received on your email after the trading account registration at FxPro Direct. Now your trading with FxPro can begin!

Watch video instruction

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You can log in to FxPro Edge by navigating to https://edge.fxpro.co.uk and entering your Direct profile credentials.

Login

If you have multiple accounts, you can select which one to use on the next screen.

Login

You can switch to another account by clicking on the top right dropdown.

Login

There are multiple ways to place a new order:

  1. Via the chart
    • Right click on the chart
    • Click on 'Create New Order'

      Create Order
    • The New Order dialog will appear. Here you can adjust the parameters of the position you are about to open.

      Create Order

  2. Via the Create Order Buttons

    Create Order

  3. Via the Order tiles on your watchlist (when 1-click trading is enabled)

    Create Order

To manually close an open position, you must first locate the order in the Positions/Orders widget. You may either click on the 'Close Order' button (with 1-click trading enabled) or double click on the order and close it from the dialog that appears.

Close Position

Close Position

If you have set valid stop-loss or take-profit levels, your order will be closed once the market prce reaches either of the levels you have specified.

All closed positions will appear in the 'History' widget

A pending order is an instruction to open a position when an instrument reaches a certain price pre-defined by you. You can place a pending order via the main 'Order' dialog by selecting the 'Limit' or 'Stop' tabs. The dialog will then allow you to set the limit price and expiry date/time for the pending order.

Pending Order 1

Bear in mind that Buy stops & Sell limits must be placed above the current market price while Sell stops and Buy limits must be placed below the current market price.

Alternatively, you can instantly place a pending order by right clicking on the chart.

Pending Order 2

This may be because you have placed your stop-loss or take-profit levels too close to the current price. alternatively, it may mean that you have set these levels on the wrong side of the current price.

Please note that for short positions (sell orders) stop-losses must be set higher than the current market price and take-profit levels must be set lower than the current market price.

You can view the minimum stop levels for each platform in the symbol's specifications: https://www.fxpro.com/trading/forex

FxPro Edge does not support custom indicators or EAs at this point in time. We are looking to add support for this in future releases.

You can add more widgets to customize your workspace by clicking on the '+' button on the sidebar. Widgets can be moved around, re-arranged and re-sized.

Widgets

You can view your account performance by clicking on either:
a) The top bar
b) The 'Account Performance' icon on the sidebar

Account Performance

  1. After you register and log into FxPro Direct, you will see the relevant platform links conveniently displayed on your 'Accounts' page, next to each account number. From there you can directly install desktop platforms, open webtrader, or install mobile apps.
  2. Alternatively, from the main website, go to “All Tools” section and open the “Download Centre”.
  3. Scroll down to see all the platforms available. Several types of terminals are provided: for the desktop, web version and mobile application.
  4. Select your operating system and click “Download”. The platform upload will start automatically.
  5. Run the setup program from your computer and follow the prompts by clicking “Next”.
  6. After the installation is complete, you can log in with the specific account details that you received on your email after the trading account registration at FxPro Direct. Now your trading with FxPro can begin!

Watch video instruction

Video Thumbnail

FxPro provides Spread Betting to all clients of FxPro UK Limited that reside in the United Kingdom via the proprietary Spread Betting Platform: FxPro Edge. FxPro Edge is a fully customisable trading platform that allows clients to trade hundreds of instruments, across six asset classes, tax-free*.

FxPro Edge has a widget-based user interface that you can customise to suit your trading requirements. You can also trade directly from the chart, the ticker, or create custom quick trade setups. You will also find more than 50 technical indicators, price alerts and much much more!

  • Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances.

Spread Betting is a form of derivatives trading, which means you aren’t taking ownership of the underlying asset. You open a position based on whether you think the value of an instrument will rise or fall. If the asset price moves in your favour, you profit, if it goes against you, you incur a loss.

Spread Betting is available on Forex, Spot Indices, Spot Metals and Spot Energy and is only available to UK residents of FxPro UK LTD.

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