FAQs

    1.  My oil or Dow chart no longer has a 'Trading' option. It's probably expired and you need to load the next (current) month. To do this, open up the Market watch, RIGHT click inside the window and click Show all. The new contract will appear. Drag it onto the old chart to update. If you have the option to load the far contract for oil (the following month) do so. Futures contracts expire a month before their denomination (e.g. October expires in September). So the current contract will be labelled a month ahead and the far contract two months ahead! Like many things in trading, a little practice will clarify this...

    2.  How do I know if my MetaTrader shows prices to an additional decimal place? RIGHT click on the chart and click 'Trading'. If prices are shown with another decimal place, the last figure will be a smaller 0 or 5 (they will be shown to another half pip). In this case, stops and limits will have a zero added - 250 becomes 2500.

   3.    I've installed the software but get no arrows or the chart doesn't look like the one in the screenshots. Quite simple - you haven't installed the ex4 files into the correct folder or you are not using the Template file (if it's not available, then you've installed that into the wrong folder). Also, check page 7 of the guide!

    4. Can I enter a trade earlier if I see a signal arrow? This is not advisable because it often happens that the price retraces and the arrow disappears. With long-term trading, we are in no hurry! Relax and stick to the rules, open (and close) trades end of day only.

    5. I made a trade and when I checked later, the signal arrow had disappeared. This can happen very rarely and it is probably best to exit the trade. It means that conditions have changed. Sorry, but trading cannot be black and white. However, we only close trades at the end of the day if this happens. Remember, we do not chart watch - you will want to check often but we only need 1 minute a day!

    6. I cannot see gold in the Market Watch window. If you have a Micro account with Windsor, they do not have gold - only available on the normal sized accounts. AvaFX.com have gold on the Micro account.

    7. My broker (spread bet accounts and AvaFX) allows contract roll-overs, is this better than closing and re-opening the trade or using the far contract? Yes, you can use this option if available but make sure you request the roll-over if it is not automatic - otherwise it could be very costly. Capital Spreads, for example, close an expired contract trade up to 24 hours later and often at a price that may be 100 pips different from the actual close price!

    8. I'm confused by pips in gold. yes, gold is confusing because pips and points are not the same. The minimum official price move is 10 cents, so that is one pip. For example, 1320.50 to 1321.50 is ten pips. This explains why the spread is often shown as 50 when it is 5 pips! Remember, max candle size of 300 pips is $30 and includes wick and tail.

    9. The signal candle disappeared the next day, what's happening? Sometimes, when we have a strong retrace, the software registers the change in conditions and withdraws the arrow - signalling that it is probably better to close the trade. This is not common on the daily chart but can happen after several days of sideways movement. Sorry, but nothing can be black and white in trading - it is better to admit when a trade is maybe wrong that to keep the signal and hold on for a greater loss... As stated before, you need only check at the end of the day and so trades are not closed or opened at any other time.