Trade Stock Indices

History Center on Tools Menu in the MT4

The history center on MT4 is located in the tools menu. The history center in MetaTrader 4 saves data for every chart you open. Open the Indices M15 chart, and it starts storing info for that timeframe. Each time you log back in, it updates with the latest prices and keeps the data.

History Center on Tools Menu on MetaTrader 4 Platform - Stock Index History Center on Tools Menu in MT4

This also means that for any other chart not opened in your MT4 the platform won't start to save data for that chart. For example, if you only open M15 for Indices only information for M15 will be stored, and not for Indices 1H or Indices 4H chart. Hence, if you want to begin saving records for 1 Hour and H4, then you as a trader must begin by opening these time-frames and the data will begin to get saved from this point.

In the trading example illustration explained and illustrated and shown below, the Indices Time frames are Shown, However only M15, H1 and H4 Icons are marked & labeled yellow and Green meaning data is being saved and updated to the History center. All others are Gray in colour, meaning they have not yet been opened on this trading platform. To change this and have these charts start and begin to update & have the price info saved, just open any timeframe for the Indices, for example the 30 minutes and the Icon for this time frame will change immediately from Gray to Yellow & Green, do same for all others.

Download Price Data on to MT4 History Center - Indices History Center on Tools Menu on MT4

From the above exemplification you can see the format that MT4 uses to store trading price data information as figures, these numbers are the ones used to replicate the trading chart.

Why Use the MetaTrader 4 History Center

Because of the format of storing data in numbers it means that these figures can be analyzed using mathematical formulas and hence these mathematical methods can then be used to trade the market prices by analyzing these price movements.

These Mathematical methods are implemented for trading using computer algorithm trading programs. Computer automated programs will be programmed using these mathematical methods and formulas. This will produce what in coding is known as algorithm, these algorithms are implemented on MT4 using programs referred to & known as Expert Advisors(EAs) - Automated Programs.

This section regarding Expert Advisors (EAs) addresses the purpose of the History center. The data contained within it serves stock traders in evaluating their automated Stock EAs. They can analyze how these EA Automated Trading Robots would have performed historically and subsequently ascertain their profitability and suitability for different trading approaches. When automated trading programs prove to be profitable, traders have the opportunity to implement these systems on the live trading market. If the programs are not profitable, traders make changes and adjustments to their algorithms' trading formulas and reprogram the automated algorithm. After making these adjustments, traders test the new automated trading algorithm with the same data on the history center. The goal is to successfully program an algorithm that is profitable enough to trade with on the live market and execute profitable trade positions.

One way to add data to the history center is by downloading it, as illustrated below. However, this downloaded dataset often contains gaps and provides inaccurate information. As an indices trader, it's recommended to use data directly fetched by the trading software after installation, ensuring greater accuracy. That means the information that is available from when you downloaded the platform and started to trade with it, even if it is a couple of weeks or a couple of months.

How Do I Download Price Data on MT4 History Center? - Index History Center on Tools Menu on MT4

If you want to start testing these Expert Advisors then for every trade that you trade you as a trader must open that chart, as well as opening all the time-frames of that chart, that's the following:

  1. 1 Min - M1
  2. 5 Min - M5
  3. 15 Min - M15
  4. 30 Minutes - M30
  5. 1H - 1H
  6. 4 Hour - H4
  7. Daily - D1
  8. Weekly - W1
  9. Monthly - MN

When it comes to testing your EA, select the begin date as the date when you'll execute the above operation of downloading all the data for these chart time frames and for different MT4 symbols also, so as to ensure your Expert Advisors(EAs) are using correct info & give you the right results.

Because of this reason you should not download any information on your MT4, just use the data that's available after you open the trading charts as displayed above & start from that point onwards.

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Stock Index Broker