It’s hard to quantify the cumulative size of the world’s financial markets, with the capitalization of all global stocks thought to be $70.75 trillion as of December 31st, 2019.
The total size of the forex market is also estimated to be 2.5-times larger than the world’s GDP, so it’s little wonder that investors are continually encouraged to participate in these sectors.
There’s also a wide range of markets that can be accessed in the digital age, while tools such as the MetaTrader 4 provide a user-friendly and customizable way of creating a balanced portfolio through a single interface.
You can download MetaTrader 4 on your smartphone or computer, before accessing some of the following markets and unique user benefits.
Trading Forex, Stocks, and Commodities on the MT4
This platform is most commonly used to trade forex, usually through the vehicle of contracts for difference (CFDs). These contracts enable you to speculate on price movements without assuming ownership of the underlying assets, instead of buying and selling large amounts of specific currencies.
You can access multiple forex CFDs through MetaTrader 4, and if there is a particular currency pair that you wish to trade, you can click through the ‘Market Watch’ tab and navigate the list of available options.
To officially add a pair, you then just need to click on the symbol and select ‘Show’, as this will enable you to monitor your new asset and execute orders accordingly.
You can also access stock-related CFDs through the MT4, although this is a little different from trading forex. Once again, it’s relatively easy to view and analyze share CFD prices in the MT4 app, simply by opening the aforementioned Market Watch window and right-clicking on the symbol (or equity) that you’re interested in.
From here, you can click through the ‘New Order’ button on the toolbar, before finalizing your trade size and implementing any risk management tools such as stop losses as and when required.
You can even trade bonds and commodities through the MetaTrader 4, with the latter accessible in a very similar way to CFDs on shares and indices.
In the Market Watch window, you can select the CTRL+U option to bring up the symbols menu once again, before choosing a relevant option based on your investment intent.
For example, if you want to trade relative safe-haven assets such as gold or silver, seek out the Spot Metals folders and expand this to find your preferred asset.
What are the Key Features of the MT4?
As you can see, it’s incredibly easy to access various markets and asset classes through MetaTrader 4, and this is one of the main advantages of utilizing this tool.
Beyond this, the platform also provides access to a comprehensive suite of analytical tools and in excess of 50 technical indicators, each of which can be presented through customizable and easy to understand charts.
This provides a huge boon to investors, particularly day traders who tend to place a large volume of orders in a relatively short period of time.
There’s also good news in that the MetaTrader 4 is available across a diverse range of major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and even web trader.
This makes it possible for traders to access their accounts on the move across various devices, creating a more seamless user experience and ensuring that your portfolio is never more than a few clicks away.
