MetaTrader 4: Bid Ask and Spread in MT4

As a forex trader, you’re probably already familiar with the Bid and Ask pricec. But you might not be aware of their role in order placement. It is very importance to use the correct price when opening or closing orders.

The Bid price is what you see on the MetaTrader charts. It is usually what we think of when we think of the “current price”. The ask price is generally just a few pips above the Bid price. The difference between the Bid and the Ask is the spread, which is the broker’s commission for placing the order.

The ask price is whenre er open buy orders and close sell orders. The Bid price is where we open sell orders, and close bbuy orders. You ‘ll need to indicate the correct price when opening a market order, or when closing an order at market, so remember the different between two.

The process of placing an order in MQL involves several steps.  We must determine the following before placing the order:

- The type of order to be placed – buy or sell; stop, market or limit.
- The currency pair to trade, generally the chart that the EA is attached to.
- The lot size.  This can either be a fixed lot size or ane that is calculated using a money management routine.
- The order opening price.  For market orders, this will be the current Bid or Ask price.  For pending orders, the opening price must be a minimum distance from the current price and should be above or below the current price as required by the order type.
- The stop loss price.  The stop loss can be a predetermined price, an indicator value, a fixed number or pips from the order opening price, or it can be dynamically calculated using a risk management routine.  The stop loss can be placed with the order or it can be added to the order afterward.
- The take profit price.  This s generally a fixed number of pips from the order opening price although it can be calculated using other methods as well.  The take profit can be placed with the order, or it can be added to the order afterward.
- Order identifiers such as an order comment or a “magic number” that identifies an order as being placed by specific expert advisor.
- An optional expiration price for pending order, if the broker supports it.