Hotforex ECN Different Spread in the "Market Watch": 4 Points and the Chart: 15 Points - page 3

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4evermaat: I noticed a similar problem with other brokers.  The example photo is from Forex.com mt4 b840.  Instead of using the order window, I used the terminal.  The 'terminal', market watch, and all EA/indicator spread prices seem to reflect the 'real' ask prices and therefore real spread;  the chart has fake askprices. 
I can confirm that using FXCM, the market watch, and the code agree (Bid/Ask.) It is the chart that is off, the Ask line is X points higher and the Bid X points lower, with X being 9-11.
 

would you please explain this equaiton? in my understanding, the Close[0] might be the chart ask or bid price, so bidAdj might be the off or the off plus the chart spread, thank you

troyhen #:

I've noticed this with multiple brokers. Some have the bid-ask spreads tighter than the chart and some set them wider. I'm sure there is a reason, but I can only guess, which is that the chart data is coming from a different server than the broker's actual Bids.

Here's a simple equation to find out how much (if any) your broker chart differs from your actual broker bid. I put this in all of my EAs and use bidAdj whenever I need to compare actual prices to the chart data.

    double bidAdj = Close[0] - Bid;

Be careful of the sign. If your broker has narrower spreads than the chart this number will be negative. And if they are wider, it will be positive. Note, this number is to adjust the chart Bid/price only. If you want to know the full chart spread then you should double this number, since I've found that the amount the Bid is off is the same as the amount that the Ask is off, but in the other direction.

Mathematically, you would add bidAdj to convert from (or compare) chart data to actual. Subtract bidAdj to convert from (or compare) actual Bid to chart values.

One more interesting point. During EA testing the chart data is used rather than the brokers actual bid prices. But using this equation results in a 0 difference. Therefore, it's safe to always use this adjustment factor.

Never stop coding!

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