By: Christopher Lewis

If you are going to trade Forex, sooner or later you will hear about automated Forex systems. They are also called “robots”, “expert advisors”, and “auto traders”. No matter what you call them, they all operate in a similar manner. While the exact technical set ups will vary from system to system, the operation of them will essentially be the same.

You will download and install the system to your Forex trading platform, and set up should only be a couple of steps. The basic premise of these things is that they are essentially an “add on” to your trading platform. This allows for easy installation, and uninstalling is just as simple. Because of this, many traders will actually have several different systems that they use in a variety of market environments.

The systems will fall into two basic categories: automatic and semi-automatic. The automatic ones will place trades for you, without any input from you at all. The semi-automatic ones will simply give you a signal or suggestion as to which way to trade a particular currency pair.

The automatic one will simply buy or sell based upon a sometimes complex mathematical formula that tells the computer when it is time to enter or exit the trade. The automated system simply does all of the work for you. It is very common for these systems to have a hidden proprietary algorithm that you never see in order to make these decisions. The one thing they will all have in common is that they are all mathematically based. Hiding the algorithm is just a simple way of protecting their intellectual property.

The semi-automatic system offered by Forex automatedtraders will simply let you know when it gets a signal to buy or sell. The system will still have that hidden algorithm that you won’t see, but instead of placing the trade you will often see some kind of pop up alert when it is time to trade. You can then choose as to whether or not you want to trade the signal, allowing greater flexibility for the trader.

The majority of these systems are made for the MetaTrader 4 platform as it is by far the most popular one out there. There are systems made for other platforms such as GFT’s DealBook 360, NinjaTrader, TradeStation, and many others. However, you will find an almost unending supply of them for the MT4 platform as even the brokers that use other platforms will often offer MT4 as well.

The better Forex automated systems will come with a money back guarantee, normally through some kind of ClickBank vendor account. Because of this you should be able to feel somewhat comfortable with the software as your money can be refunded. However, it is recommended that you try a new system out on a demo account just to make sure it performs up to your standards. Like anything else, there will be some that are better than others and your mileage may vary so to speak.