Introduction: As traders, we all know that relying on MetaTrader 4's automated trading and custom indicators is a game-changer for executing our strategies without being glued to the screen. However, there's one critical element that can throw a wrench in our plans: the price feed. Every new bid/ask update comes in the form of a tick, and if those ticks are stale or out of order, we’re not seeing an accurate price. When you're trading with algorithms, it can be tough to catch these discrepancies just by glancing at your charts, even if the price moves are significant.
That’s where the Rogue Tick Detector comes into play. This tool is designed to keep an eye on your price feed and alert you of any rogue ticks that could mislead your trading decisions.
How the Rogue Tick Detector Works:
- The price feed should be linear – that means current prices should always change in a logical sequence. For instance, a timestamp of 12:20:25 should always come before 12:20:26.
- If a tick arrives out of order, say the 12:20:25 tick shows up after 12:20:26, the detector will trigger an alert, either through a pop-up, an email, or a log entry.
- The log will provide you with essential details, including the symbol name, the rogue tick, and the previous tick's bid/ask and timestamp.
To check for rogue ticks, the tool compares the current tick's timestamp with the previous one. If it finds that the current tick timestamp is less than the previous tick, it will record an alert.
With options for pop-ups, emails, and separate log files, you can easily gather evidence if you need to present it to your broker or tech team. Just remember to account for the time difference; the expert log records local computer time, while the tick timestamps reflect MT4 market watch time.
Installation: To get started with the Rogue Tick Detector, simply copy RogueTickDetector.mq4 or .ex4 into your [MetaTrader 4 folder] > experts > indicators. Once you've restarted MetaTrader 4, you should find the new indicator in the navigator under the 'custom indicators' section. Just drag the Rogue Tick Detector onto any chart of the symbol you want to monitor. You can run multiple indicators on the same chart, but only one instance of the Rogue Tick Detector is needed per symbol.
Your log file will be located in [MetaTrader 4 folder] > experts > files.
Notes: It’s worth mentioning that there could be legitimate reasons for rogue ticks to pop up occasionally (a few times a day at most). However, if you notice a sudden spike in rogue ticks, it might be a sign of intentional price feed manipulation. Keep an eye out for other signs of dealer intervention, such as execution delays, asymmetric slippage, excessive re-quotes, or unusual disconnects. Also, check your own connection quality and latency from the MT4 terminal to the server.
In most cases, rogue ticks are a broker-side issue. We’ve used this tool on a reliable VPS server in New York with a 100% uptime guarantee. Even with multiple accounts across various brokers, only a few consistently have these problems – or a broker might have a clean record until rogue ticks become frequent.
Given how few resources it requires, we highly recommend that all traders who value accurate pricing consider using the Rogue Tick Detector or a similar tool.
Special thanks to Vivek @ Anka Software for their assistance in designing this tool for practical use.
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