Ok i am at work so i am not looking at the specific price however last night i entered an order on the MT4 platform for a pending buy order with a stop. Later i was very surprised to see that the order had executed even though the price on my platform never reached the price i had specified. I analyzed the candle in the hour that the buy went through and the high was 2 pips lower than my price specified. This is the GBP/USD pair in question. Of course the trade turned out to be a losing one allthough it never would have triggered in the first place had it bought when i programmed it to.
Any ideas? I am still quite new but it can’t be the spread as i realize that i have to add four pips to the bid price (that is my spread) on a buy however that should only be added on to my price that i paid (on top). For example if i was buying at 2.0000 then the buy should have triggered at 2.0000 but i would have paid 2.0004. I can’t think of any other reason besides broker error?
Ur not gonna like this response but it was the spread. You see they show you the sell price so the buy is 4 pips above, but not shown. so if you buy at 2.0000 the price is actually at 1.9996. It does get confusing tho, I’ve benn there. If ur still not convinced, or this isn’t the case, just post again, no worries. later eh!
Thanks for the reply Shadow. However this does not make sense. The standard price shown an any chart including the MT4 is the bid price. If you are buying than you must add the spread to the bid price to calculate what you will actually pay. That is why i am immediately in a negative trade when i buy.
In the scenario of buying say the GBP/USD at 2.0000 (which is my price on my pending order) why would the spread of 4 pips be deducted from the price instead of added on? Buying at 1.9996, this is backwards to an instant execution order. I am trying some more examples now, just need some active pairs. But it can’t be this.
got ya, well ur looking at it the wrong way. If the buy was above the sell you would be in the positive everytime. Say you buy it at 2.0000, if the sell was above that would mean the sell would be at 2.0004. If you were to close it right away you would make money. That’s why you always start in negative. The buy has to be above the sell. It’s kinda hard to explain, but if you download a platform other than metatrader, u’ll understand. I won’t lie I didn’t explain this one too wellbut again just download a different platform and check the large quotes or pictures quotes whatever they are. Should be on almost any platform. just download it. Again It is confusing to think about, I just look at it like you have to be 4 behind so if you sell at 2.0000, the market price will be at 2.0004 and if you buy at 2.0000, the market price be at 1.9996. u’ll get it eventually. keep at it.
I agree with your last paragraph.
Here is one more chance to explain myself:
GBP/USD BID 1.9996 ASK 2.0000 (scenario 1 placing instant order and buying)
MT4 always shows the BID price on the chart be default, in this case 1.9996. I want to buy so i complete an instant execution order. The quote has not changed and my order goes through for 2.0000. I am immediately in a loss position because i just purchased the ASK for 2.0000 and if i sold right away i would receive the BID price of 1.9996 and i would lose 4 pips. I think we can agree on this one right?
GBP/USD BID 1.9980 ASK 1.9984 (scenario 2 placing pending order and wait)
Again i want to buy. MT4 chart is showing the bid price of 1.9980. But according to my strategy this is only a good buy at 2.0000 as that would indicate a breakout in my mind. So i input a pending buy order with a stop. The price i indicate to buy at is 2.0000 and i have a stop loss at 1.9985 and a take profit at 2.0015. In my mind this order should execute when the ASK price hits 2.0000 and the BID is 1.9996.
GBP/USD BID 1.9992 ASK 1.9996 (scenario 2 order is placed)
The order goes through and I should have bought at 2.0000. However MT4 buys it at 1.9996 which is not right. This really screws me up. I guess i could try and remember that on all pending buy orders add 4 pips to the price that i want to buy at, but that is getting too complicated.
I am surprised that i am the only one that this is happening to as MT4 is a popular platform.
Which broker are u using for metatrader? I usually never use pending orders but I’ll check it out. You could always download a different metatrader and see if it does the same thing.
I have tried FXDD and Alpair UK. Both seem to be the same. I would like to experiement some more but need more up movement on my pairs.
Oh I see what ur getting at. Yep ur gonna have to add 4 pips. because really you want to buy at the ask price when the bid price = 2.0000. so then you don’t want to buy at 2.0000, you really want to buy at 2.0004. Sorry it took me so long to figure it out, I feel like a total knob. I don’t think you can set it up so that the candles are the ask price, so u’ll just have to bite the bullet on this one. If you write this on ur trading rules, maybe it’ll be second nature when you follow them. or maybe just put a posted note on ur computer desk. Well best to ya, sorry for the bad news.
Thanks for staying with me Shadow. Allthough i still don’t really follow since the “at price” box in MT4 should always be the ask price… but wait. On an instant execution order there is no price box. So that is what this is all about then.
Bizarre, why would MT4 set up their “at price” box to be the bid price where you sell and not the ask price where you buy? Wierd but that is what it is i think. Just have to add four pips (my GBP/USD spread) to my pending buy orders. I am assuming the pending sell will be correct but i better check to make sure.