Forex trading robots or automated expert advisors make use of the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform. Technical indicators available in the MT4 such as commodity channel index (CCI), relative strength index (RSI), moving average convergence divergence (MACD) etc are synchronized with the expert advisor using MQL-4 computer programming language. Customization of the indicator can be made in your forex trading robot.

There are different versions of forex trading robots in the market. Some are programmed to trade on news and therefore will cease operations when the market is quiet. Others remain active round the clock. MQL-4 programmers are often called upon by expert traders to create expert advisors or forex trading robots based on their personal manual trading systems that are proven to work.

Basically, the automated expert advisors are made to replace manual trading.

Since they make use of technical indicators such as market conditions, news and price reports, it works in sync with the MetaTrader 4 platform. In making each trading decision, it is able to consider a whole spectrum of conditions and factors, totally devoid of emotions and focused on a profitable game plan. In the meantime, complicated calculations, data comparisons and other micro-actions are taking place within the automated forex expert advisor.

Here is a simple illustration of how a typical forex trading robot works.

Assuming the program is programmed to execute a buy, ie open a long position when the 20 day and 30 day moving averages cross with 20 moving average above 30 moving average and having the relative strength index (RSI) of more than 55.

So when the exact conditions fall into place, it will execute the order.

Of course, this is only a simple example. In fact, a well configured forex trading robot is able to handle much more complicated and sophisticated algorithm to ensure maximum profitability and minimal risk.

Users can also configure their expert advisors if they feel confident and experienced enough to do that. However, most of the forex trading robots sold in the market are already fine-tuned and unless you know what you are doing, it is best to leave it alone.