If there is one currency you need to follow, whether as a forex trader, or a trader in other markets, it is the US dollar. The US currency is the currency of first reserve, and the axis on which all the financial markets spin. The dollar supports the largest debt market in the world, it is the currency in which all commodities are priced, it is the principle currency held by all major banks, and is the currency used in facilitating exotic currency transactions. As the currency of first reserve, it also reflects risk sentiment.
The DXY indicator has been developed to allow you to instantly see US dollar strength and weakness without leaving your MT4 platform. It can be applied beneath a currency pair, or on a separate chart. The choice is yours. The DXY is based on the original dollar index, but we have replaced the SEK (Swedish Krona) with the Australian Dollar (AUD), as the SEK is rarely available on the MT4 platform. The weightings are as follows:
- EUR 57.6%
- JPY 13.6%
- GBP 11.9%
- CAD 9.1%
- AUD 4.2%
- CHF 3.6%
The Quantum DXY indicator displays strength and weakness in the US dollar against this basket of currencies. It will give you an instant view of the US dollar. Alternatively, why not create a separate workspace with multiple timeframes.
The indicator can be used in one of three ways:
- First, as an inverse indicator to a major currency pair, helping you get in, stay in and get out
- Second, as a confirming indicator for the Quantum Currency Strength indicator, providing a perspective against other currencies
- Finally, as the ultimate barometer of risk
Whichever approach you adopt, you will no longer have to leave your MT4 platform for a view of the US dollar!
- The Quantum DXY indicator works in all timeframes
Applying the Indicator
Open your MT4 platform and in the main menu, select View > Navigator to open the Navigator window which appears at the left hand side of your workspace.
In the Navigator window, expand the Indicators tree by clicking the “+” symbol. Find the Quantum tree and expand it by clicking the “+” once again to reveal the full list of Quantum Trading indicators.
To start using the indicator, you can click and drag QuantumDXY from the Navigator to a chart or you can also double-click QuantumDXY (which will then be applied to the currently selected chart). Doing either one of these will display the Custom Indicator window where you can configure all the various user settings for your Quantum DXY. These options are grouped and can be accessed by selecting the tabs which will be discussed further in the following sections. Once you are done customizing the indicator’s options, click OK to run the indicator.
About tab
Here you can find basic information about the indicator such as its name, description, and version number.
Common tab
Please make sure that the “Allow DLL imports” option is checked/ticked before running the indicator. This is required by all Quantum indicators to properly communicate with its accompanying DLL file. Alternatively, you can set this option globally by selecting in the main menu, Tools > Options > Expert Advisors tab and checking/ticking the “Allow DLL imports” option. Other than this, please leave other options to their default setting.
Inputs tab
You can configure the indicator by changing the variables listed in this tab. We explain this in more detail shortly, but below are the configurable inputs for the Quantum DXY.
Dependencies tab
All the files that the indicator uses to run is listed here. You can leave this tab as it is.
Colors tab
All the plots of the Quantum DXY can be configured in this tab. It has 5 plots but you only ever need to worry about the first 3 if you like to customize its look and feel.
- The first plot is the indicator’s line chart mode. Its default color is Chartreuse.
- The second plot is the indicator’s first moving average line (MA1). Its default color is aqua.
- The third plot is the indicator’s second moving average line (MA2). Its default color is magenta.
Levels tab
This indicator does not use any Levels so this tab is empty.
Visualization tab
The indicator’s visibility can be toggled on or off in different contexts with the options in this tab.
Configuring the Indicator
Let’s return to the Inputs tab and explain how to customize the settings of your Quantum DXY.
Account Email
When running the Quantum DXY for the first time in your trading account, you need to enter the email you used to register in the Quantum Trading Indicators Enablement System – http://enable.quantumtrading.com/ as part of its verification process. You only need to do this once as the email is stored in the terminal’s global variable cache after it is entered initially. Please make sure that you enter your email correctly and exactly without any extra spaces before and after it. If you made an error, simply fill this field again to update it.
Look Back
This setting defines the number of bars the indicator processes and this is also the number of bars it displays on the chart. It is set to 200 by default.
MA1 Period
This is the first Simple Moving Average with a default setting of 7.
MA2 Period
This is the first Simple Moving Average with a default setting of 14.
Candle Thickness
You can adjust the thickness of the candlesticks by changing the value of this setting.
Bullish Candle Color
This setting allows you to change the color of the bullish candlesticks. Its default color is dodgerblue.
Bearish Candle Color
This setting allows you to change the color of the bearish candlesticks. Its default color is red.
Line Chart Mode
The Quantum DXY indicator attempts to generate its own candlestick chart by default but if this field is set to true, it will use a line chart to display the index.
Line Chart Price Type
When the indicator is set to Line Chart Mode, you can change the price type it uses to plot its line chart using this setting.
Currency Prefix
This is the variable field that you will need to update, if your FX broker delivers your currency pairs with a prefix. As an example this might be a.EUR/USD, in which case you would need to enter the value a. in the Currency Prefix field. If your currency pairs are delivered with a prefix, then you MUST enter this in this field, otherwise your indicator will not work.
Currency Suffix
This is the variable field that you will need to update, if your FX broker delivers your currency pairs with a suffix. As an example this might be EUR/USDm, in which case you would need to enter the value m in the currencySuffix field. If your currency pairs are delivered with a suffix, then you MUST enter this in this field, otherwise your indicator will not work.
Making Adjustments to the User Interface
Expanding the Indicator’s Screen Size
To expand the indicator to full size so that it fills the chart, these are the steps to follow:
- Hover your mouse pointer over the double horizontal lines marked with the red arrows above
- A small icon of two parallel lines with the words ‘click drag a border of the window’
- HOLD down the left click on your mouse, and drag these lines to the top of your chart, and release when done
- Hover your mouse over the right hand edge of the chart until a double headed arrow appears
- HOLD down the left click on your mouse, and drag the right hand edge of the chart across to the left and release when done
- Left click on the chart to make it the active window
- Left click on the zoom icon below, to expand your Quantum DXY indicator to full size. The zoom function is shown below and is found in the standard toolbar below the top level navigation.
Removing the Indicator from the Chart
Open the chart’s Indicator List window by pressing Ctrl+I. You can also right-click the chart and select Indicator List from the context menu.
Select QuantumDXY and click the Delete button then click the Close button.
