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Trading Strategies >> Software Infrastructure >> Matatrader for system trading
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Message started by Maltamir on 06/30/08 at 22:19:00

Title: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Maltamir on 06/30/08 at 22:19:00

I advise Matatrader to test your first system trading strategies. Not professional but easy to start with. There is a huge Metatrader community so you can pick algorithm for free and improve them !

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 01/20/09 at 13:26:07

Has anyone come across a third-party Java wrapper API for MetaTrader?

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Yury R on 01/21/09 at 18:44:23

Why bother with MetaTrader? It's horrible!

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 01/22/09 at 05:45:56


qroach wrote on 01/21/09 at 18:44:23:
Why bother with MetaTrader? It's horrible!


Can you elaborate on that? I can see where you are coming from, but your comments (and shared experience) will benefit the readers and members of the forum.

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Yury R on 01/22/09 at 18:02:21

Well, if you are tied to a particular broker that has MT as the only API to submit orders (which is probably just a forex bucketshop) then there is little point in discussing merits and drawbacks - just stick to it.

Other than that - why would one use MT?
For testing trade strategies? - Then why do you need java API? It has its own built-in language (like C), but the implementation has some bugs and it is very primitive anyway. You cannot perform any serious computations in it (forget about any statistics, econometrics, AI, simulating random walks etc.), but can potentially link it with C++ Dll. Not sure about stability of it...

For trading? Then you should know that the broker can switch MT automation whe she wishes (then can do it if you submit too many orders or around news or whenever). I haven't tried to use C++ or Java with it, but your order flow coming through API might be affected by this too.

For downloading quotes? But there are better ways and sources...

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 01/22/09 at 23:09:15

I must admit, I do not have any professional interest in Metatrader mostly for the reasons mentioned above. I am just trying to keep an eye on what's being developed out there.


qroach wrote on 01/22/09 at 18:02:21:
...
Other than that - why would one use MT?
For testing trade strategies? - Then why do you need java API? It has its own built-in language (like C), but the implementation has some bugs and it is very primitive anyway. You cannot perform any serious computations in it (forget about any statistics, econometrics, AI, simulating random walks etc.), but can potentially link it with C++ Dll. Not sure about stability of it...


Thank you for saving me time, Yuri!

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Yury R on 01/22/09 at 23:13:35

... for one thing - you can only use up to 8 arrays (buffers) and they are implemented with bugs-)):

Why don't you better implement an DDE client or a server and link it with excel as you suggested yourself?

you are welcome!

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 01/22/09 at 23:21:40

That's bad.

I do not think Excel will be able to handle my heavy artillery. Unless they come up with highly parallelised cluster running on over a hundred CPUs/cores ;-)

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Yury R on 01/23/09 at 13:18:20

dump some output from your artillery to a file periodically, I mean buy/sell orders and then write a small network app that would scan it periodically and send the requests on its' own (can be 100 lines in C++/Java).

Metatrader can be made to read periodically from a text file too - no problems (I guess 20 lines would be enough here). But do you really deal with bucketshops or you don't care?

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 05/22/09 at 03:13:24

I spent a few hours testing MT4 yesterday evening. It seems fine for low-volume paper/life testing. All I need from the product is a simple order control tool (in case a manual intervention is required) and a snappy charting facility. I would not use their language for implementing even simple algos, but MQL4 is reach enough for me to code a simple bridge between my quant box and MT4.


qroach wrote on 01/23/09 at 13:18:20:
dump some output from your artillery to a file periodically, I mean buy/sell orders and then write a small network app that would scan it periodically and send the requests on its' own (can be 100 lines in C++/Java).

Metatrader can be made to read periodically from a text file too - no problems (I guess 20 lines would be enough here). But do you really deal with bucketshops or you don't care?


This is exactly what I am planning to do. I was initially thinking of writing a custom socket DLL for MT4 (that would connect to the black box), but with the expected order message rate it is not really necessary.

BTW, have you tried streaming quotes from MT4? If so, could you shed some light on how it can be done? (for some models, I want to see what the broker behind MT4 is quoting in the black box)

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by AI Professional on 04/01/10 at 11:35:20

Hi. I am brand new to Forex and MT4 and am considering writing some serious A.I. to attack the problem.

I have lots of experience writing AI but have not yet written my first program in MQL4. (Just began reading about the language last night.)

But I do have some questions about MQL4.

1. Is it possible to automate the exporting of data?
I see how to export history manually; that's easy. But I want to maintain an external database that is in close to real time. Can this be done in an automated fashion?

2. Is it possible to import a complete trade in MT4?
I am assuming it must be, otherwise outside data analysis would be impossible.


If anyone has code references to the above questions I would really appreciate it.


Thank you in advance.

Regards,
DS

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by DerikB on 05/13/10 at 09:16:47

AI, it is possible if I understand you correctly. Do you want to write out the price data to a file? If you want to write out for instance 60min data everytime a new bar appears you can do it by attaching an EA to your chart with code to check for a new bar.

I can help you if this is what you need/want.

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 08/06/10 at 02:09:15

I have implemented a proxy EA that's interacting with the quant engine by feeding the market data and handling incoming signals.

AI Professional, how far have you progressed with your MT4 integration solution?

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by cjforex on 07/27/11 at 15:43:12

I agree, development in mt4 is a bad choice. I have bridged to it before with no hassles. Of course choose your broker carefully.

For development I like to recommend multicharts for beginners. When you get more advanced it has easy api access in and out. It makes for a nice visual tool to see your development process. I know mt4 is free, but its worth the learning curve to apply your time elsewhere for the long term.

Cjforex

Title: Re: Matatrader for system trading
Post by Algo Designer on 07/31/11 at 12:32:54

Good comments. There are a few good brokers out there who provide MT4 access. MT4 has got a long way to go, it has definitely changed the retail FX marketplace. I am hoping to see and test more free products and APIs in the future.

BTW, What do you think of MT5? Do you like the direction the developers have taken?

A custom OMS with FIX along with the strategy server should be a good long-term investment.





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