Everyone has been waiting for the release of MetaTrader 5 and now we've had our first glimpse of the new platform and its features.  The new MT5 platform is not an upgrade of MT4 but rather an entirely new client terminal, written from scratch.  As I wrote in a previous Forex Magnates post, MT5 will feature:

• 5 order types and 4 execution modes available for trading
• Implements practically any trading strategies
• Built-in reports on all trading activities
• Built-in indicators and graphical objects
• Allows quicker analysis of quotes and trade decision making
• 3 chart-types, 21 timeframes and over 70 analytical tools
• High performance and outstanding speed
• Strategy tester MetaTrader 5

Over the next few days I will try to explain in some depth what these features really offer the trader and the impact it will might have on your trading.

Today, I'll focus on MetaQuotes' new Depth of Market (DOM) window. What DOM affords a stock trader is a view of current market activity for a particular stock. Market depth information is not available for retail Forex traders because their is no central exchange from which to derive the data.  The best a Forex broker can do is provide a mechanism to show a consolidated view of available orders from their liquidity providers. A small broker, for example, with only one liquidity provider is more restricted in what they can offer a trader.  Since their pool of orders is smaller, the trader may not get an order filled at the price requested.  A broker with more liquidity providers will have a larger pool of orders from which to match a trader's order and trading generally runs smoother.  Fewer requotes and less slippage.

Tradeview Forex's Platinum trading platform offers DOM information, but market depth data has been generally unavailable to retail traders up to this point.  MT5 will change all that.  Here's an example of how it could help you as a retail trader.

Let's say that you want to place a buy order for 1 lot EUR/USD and the market depth window on the platform indicates that, on the buy side, there are 10 lots available at 1.4000.  You can then request to trade your 1 lot and be guaranteed an immediate fill at 1.4000.  There's no requote and no slippage.  You should then see the DOM window reflect the change in buy-side order availability.

Access to that kind of information can take a lot of anxiety out of the trading environment and potentially change a lot of traders' strategies.

Tomorrow, more about MT5's 21 timeframes and how this feature could make a big difference in your trading.