I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered before. I haven’t been able to find anything on it.
Here’s my problem: I see different pip ranges and different candlestick patterns for a given time period (D1, H4, H1 …) across MT4 platforms being provided by different sources.
I see basically the same patterns, including OHLC values from Freestockcharts, MT4 as provided by IBFX and those from ThinkorSwim. Everything matches to within a pip or two. Fine.
BUT when I look at the same information on MT4 as provided by Fxlite.com I see radically different patterns and often radically different values for OHLC.
It is even NOT unusual to see a bull candle on the Fxlite platform when I see a bear candle on the others - and vice-versa.
So…who’s right? Or, more usefully, which is the better source if I wish to apply some of the concepts (e.g. trading Fakeys and Pin candles) I am learning on BabyPips?
Take some screen captures of your charts that show this and put them on photobucket and post the links to them here. I will then post captures from the same time and dates from my charts to compare them.
Thanks cubanpip2010. I failed to respond to your “time question.” Yes, indeed they are both working off of GMT. there is one difference: When I click on a candle I find that one of the providers indicates the starting time of a candle while the other indicates the closing time. However, the screen shots I took can be compared candle by candle (there might be a slight difference in the last candle because I did not - indeed, could not - capture the images at exactly the same time). The differences are easy to see.
Thank you for your input. You may be right but it is not at all obvious to me. When I look at the two images you posted I see many differences. I’ll cite a few:
The 4th candle back is clearly a b earish candle on the 1st chart and a bullish candle on the 2nd.
The 7th candle back is a bullish candle on the 1st and bearish on the second.
The 8th candle back shows a hammer on the first but a long bodied bull candle with very short wicks on the second.
…and that’s just in the last 8 candles. For the life of me, I cannot see how you can say the two images are “the same.”
As for the brokers using different clock times…hmmmm… not at all obvious how that has an effect on the differences between candles which represent the same absolute time. That is, the last candle - whatever time zone the broker is in - is still the last candle. I would think that the two “last” candles represent action taking place during the same time, regardless of local clock time. Similarly, for the second last, third last, etc.
Looks like I goofed in posting a link to the images. Or, at least as a person with fewer than 50 posts, I was not supposed to post a “clickable link.” Not your fault…mine for not understanding the rules.
Easy to see. On candle #4 back, you can see the bull candle at one time was a bear candle. The long wick gives it away. And the same goes for the other candles you mentioned.
You’ll see that the highs and lows are equivalent they are just shown in different candle forms.
The last candle is disparate in time. A 4 hour chart with even a 1 hour difference in broker time is going to show a difference.
On MT4 you have 3 forms of charting styles available. If you still have a hard time buying it, just pop it on to the “line” chart up at the top to the right of the candle option. You’ll see the similarities instantly.
I gotta ask what you think the benefits of using two MT4 platforms are.
I have two MT4 platforms, but there’s a big difference between the two. One of them offers commodities and equities as well as forex.
OK. I see that the high and low of the two candles are approximately the same: Highs of 1.3553 and 1.3542; lows of 1.3433 and 1.3437 …close enough. BUT the closes are significantly different: 1.3537 vs. 1.3486. That makes them very different candles, in my opinion.
re: disparate in time…hmmm… again, I’m not sure of the significance of clock time differences. I may be wrong but it would seem that any pair of OHLC prices should be showing the same values. Clearly, that’s the case for the range; why not for the open and close? The price at which a given pair is trading AT ANY GIVEN TIME is - for all practical purposes - the same on both platforms. Therefore, the first price at which a pair trades (i.e. the opening price of the new candle) is the same AT THAT MOMENT on both platforms. Hence, when a new time period begins the prices are the same and the “Open” should be the same. A similar argument, it seems, would hold for the “Close.” Where am I going wrong?
re: two different MT4 platforms. I didn’t start that way, nor do I wish to continue that way. I ended up with two in an attempt to resolve the differences I saw (i.e what appeared to me to be differences) between examples being given by potential mentors and what I had on my IBFX platform for the same pair and time period.
I use ThinkorSwim because I can trade equities and options on that platform (not an MT4 platform but its 4X displays are consistent with IBFX’s MT4 displays). MT4 is, to me, the better platform to use for analyzing 4X but - back to my current quandry - I don’t know which to use to give me the most accurate representation of what is happening (see my first post on this subject.)
Again, my sincere thanks for your help in resolving my (real or imagined) conflicts.
As you sugested, I looked at the two charts using line graphs. They are NOT the same! Granted that the overall shape of the curve is quite similar on the two charts, there are variations and it is those variations which often offer trading opportunities, including opportunities to enter or exit trades at more favorable prices.
I really do appreciate your efforts to help me but let me try to get the discussion back to what really matters to me, viz., determining which platform-broker combination to use to get the most accurate information regarding the action in the 4X marketplace. If I understand you correctly, your comments would lead me to believe that, at least as far as the data-flow/graphics is/are concerned, it doesn’t make any difference. All the information is the same.
Clearly, I neither see nor understand that position. I am being exposed to the idea that “pins” (whether candle-based or traditional OHLC bar plots) are indications of what might be characterized as “price level rejections.” If two different platforms show significantly different plots, and if my decisions to trade are strongly influenced by what those plots look like, then I am led to very different conclusions regarding whether or not to open a position in a given currency pair depending on what I see.
Hmmm…having said that, maybe I’m looking at the wrong thing. If you are right that, regardless of what the charts “look like,” the information is the same (I still can’t quite see that), maybe the problem is my developing dependence on this “pin concept.” Hmmm…
OK…I’m a newbie…learning…this is good for me…even though it may be becoming frustrating for you.
Again, my sincere thanks for your continuing help.
They still will have a slight variation due to the time they post coordinates on the charts.
Put it on the 1 minute time frame, and it should be almost identical.
Let’s address your pin bar situation.
You aren’t getting false signals either way. You are just getting variations of sells and buys. Those high and low pin bars with price retracing on one chart, show bearish or bullish candle pattern reversals on the other.
Two different views with the same conclusion.
I would pick one or the other and stick with it. It’s going to be an even split on the entry points being better. The differences between the two will only serve to confuse you in making solid decisions for entries and exits.
