TradersYour First Trade on MT5: A Click-by-Click Walkthrough
MetaTrader 5 looks busy the first time you open it. This walks you through one trade from start to finish: finding the market, choosing an order type, setting a stop and a target, and picking a lot size you understand.
Written By
Karolina Hansen
Key Takeaways
- Do your first trades on a demo account, so mistakes with the platform cost nothing.
- A market order fills now. Limit and stop orders wait for price to reach a level you choose.
- Decide your stop before your lot size. The distance to the stop tells you what size keeps the loss to an amount you've accepted.
- On gold, lot size × 100 × stop distance in dollars gives you the amount at risk.
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is one of the most widely used trading platforms, and most brokers that offer gold and forex support it. The first time you open it there are windows everywhere and it's hard to know where to look. You only need a few parts of it to place a trade, though. I'd do everything below on a demo account first, so a wrong click costs you nothing.
Before You Click Anything
Market Watch
The list of symbols and their bid and ask prices. Open it from the View menu if you can't see it.
Chart window
Where you see price move. Drag a symbol from Market Watch onto a chart to open it.
Toolbox
Along the bottom. The Trade tab shows your open positions, your balance and your profit or loss.
Before opening an order window, you should already know three things: which way you're trading, where your stop goes and where your target goes. If you're deciding those while the order window is open, you're deciding them in a hurry.
Market, Limit and Stop Orders
There are two ways to get into a trade. You can take the current price straight away with a market order, or you can leave a pending order that waits for price to reach a level you've chosen. MT5 has four basic pending orders.
| Order type | Where you place it | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Market (buy or sell) | At the current price | Getting in now |
| Buy Limit | Below the current price | Buying if price dips to your level |
| Sell Limit | Above the current price | Selling if price rises to your level |
| Buy Stop | Above the current price | Buying if price breaks up through your level |
| Sell Stop | Below the current price | Selling if price breaks down through your level |
Market order
Fills straight away
- You know you're in
- The fill price can differ a little from what you saw, especially in fast markets
Best for: When you're at the screen and your setup is there now
Pending order
Waits for your price
- You set entry, stop and target in advance
- Might never fill if price doesn't get there
Best for: When you know your level and don't want to sit and watch
Choosing a Lot Size
On gold, one standard lot is 100 ounces, so a $1 move is worth $100 per lot, $10 at 0.10 lots and $1 at 0.01 lots. That means the amount at risk is lot size × 100 × the distance to your stop. Pick the stop first, from your chart. Then choose the lot size that keeps the loss to an amount you've decided in your plan.
Money at risk with a $5 stop on gold, by lot size
Turned around, the sum gives you the lot size. Say your plan allows a $20 loss on this trade and your stop is $5 away. $20 ÷ ($5 × 100) = 0.04 lots. If the stop needed to be $10 away, the same $20 would mean 0.02 lots. A wider stop means a smaller size.
Placing the Trade, Step by Step
Here's a buy on gold at market, with a stop and a target. The example: gold is at 4,000.00 bid / 4,000.30 ask. You've decided on a stop at 3,995.30 and a target at 4,010.30, and your sum gave you 0.10 lots.
Find gold in Market Watch
If it isn't listed, right-click in Market Watch, choose Symbols, search for XAUUSD (or your broker's name for gold) and show it.
Open the order window
Double-click the symbol in Market Watch, or press F9. A New Order window appears.
Choose the order type
Leave it on market execution to enter now, or switch to a pending order and choose Buy Limit, Buy Stop and so on, plus your entry price.
Enter the volume
Type your lot size, 0.10 in this example. Double-check the decimal. 1.00 instead of 0.10 is ten times the risk.
Set the stop-loss
Type the price, 3,995.30. MT5 asks for the price level, not a dollar amount.
Set the take-profit
Type the target price, 4,010.30.
Place it
Click Buy (or Place for a pending order). The trade appears in the Trade tab of the Toolbox.
Log it
Write down why you took it, your entry, stop, target and size while it's fresh.
Example trade: 0.10 lots bought at 4,000.30
After the Trade Is Open
Once you're in, the Trade tab shows your position and its running profit or loss. The stop and target will also show as lines on your chart. You can drag them, but I'd leave them alone on your first trades. Moving a stop further away because price is getting close is one of the most common beginner habits, and it's worth never starting.
- The trade shows in the Trade tab with the right symbol and direction.
- Volume is what I meant it to be.
- Stop-loss and take-profit both have prices in them.
- I know roughly what I'll lose if the stop is hit.
- I've written the trade down.
A short list to run through before every order, so you never open MT5 without a plan.
Download the free Pre-Trade ChecklistJournal this first trade, set up your trading plan and carry on with the next lessons in your dashboard.
Create your free accountFrequently Asked Questions
I'd say yes. The platform is identical, so everything you learn carries over, and a wrong lot size or a misplaced stop costs nothing while you get used to it.
Usually the stop or target is on the wrong side of the price (a buy's stop must be below the entry) or too close to it. Brokers set a minimum distance, which you can see in the symbol's specification.
A buy limit sits below the current price and fills if price drops to it. A buy stop sits above the current price and fills if price rises to it.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading involves risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
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