When I use the Oanda trading platform, it allows me to select a unit size that will make each pip be worth X amount of dollars.
For example, on the EUR/USD, 10,000 units makes 1pip=$1
I am unsure how to do this via MT4. Via MT4, I can only change the volume. When I do this to get the pip value I want, my margin gets too big and I can’t make a lot of trades, even though my leverage is 50:1. I only have $1000 in my practice account, since this will simulate my first deposit.
Any help? I am trying to get this all sorted out before I deposit real money.
You can only change the lot size in increments of 0.01 lots on the mt4 platform with Oanda. This means you will have to work out manually the amount you risk for a given trade which is easily done as long as your not trading very short time frames. MT4is not really designed for trading with a small amount of equity such as 1000 bucks.
Alternatively why not use mt4 to carry out your analysis and place orders on your Oanda trading platform, which does allow you to vary the size of orders and therefore correctly manage your risk.
hey I’m using Oanda with a 500 EUR live account. 1 lot size in MT4 is 100.000 units, if you want to trade only 10.000 units, change the lot size to 0.1. Smallest lot size you can trade with Oanda MT4 is 0.01 (= 1000 units).
I would use MT4 for the analysis and Oanda for the trading, but sometimes you see a trade develop and want to lock it in instantly. I thought MT4 would have the same ability as the Oanda platform, but I guess it doesn’t. No big deal I guess.
I picked Oanda because they allow you to set your own lot size, which is ideal for a small amount of $1000. I am trying to make my practice account emulate what I will deposit in the future to make it as accurate as possible.