A guide to help Forex traders find the best currency strength indicator for their trading needs
A guide to help Forex traders find the best currency strength indicator for their trading needs
Forex Strength Meter - iPhone Version by QM4 Designs
This currency strength meter has become popular over the past few years, as an alternative to Accustrength. The Forex Strength Meter is an IOS App, designed to run on Apple’s iPhone devices, but it’l run on any IOS device.
Background
Like Accustrength, the Forex Strength Meter has been around for a while now. It was first released by QM4 Designs back in 2010. Since then it has undergone numerous upgrades and enhancements as iPhone’s have become more powerful, and their displays have got bigger and better.
We purchased our copy back in 2011. Back then iPhone’s only had 3.5” displays, and limited power. Mobile Apps for trading were a bit of novelty back then.
But things have changed. The latest mobile devices are now rivalling the power of some desktop computers and the displays have got better and better. Many traders now have a mobile device as a permanent part of their trading desk setup.
Built-in data Feed
Like Accustrength, the Forex Strength Meter has access to it’s own propriety data server.
We’ve found this data feed to be very reliable. So far we have never experienced any outages. This might be because this product can switch to backup data feeds if the main one is unavailable for whatever reason.
Surprisingly Fast and Accurate
In our opinion currency strength accuracy is the most important feature of a currency strength meter, and this App delivers in this area. Currency strength values are very similar to Accustrength which is widely regarded as the “gold standard” in terms of accuracy.
This App is surprisingly quick. Data updates are fast, and there’s very little lag between forex charts and currency strength data i.e. the latency is low. This is important for traders who trade using very small time-frames.
Currency strength is displayed in either a bar chart or line chart form.
Bar Chart Display
In this display mode, the strength of each currency is graphically represented by a bar on a scale of 0 (weakest) to 10 (strongest). So there’s 1 bar for each of the 8 currencies.
In addition, the strongest and weakest currencies at any point in time are highlighted in real-time with a green and red highlight respectively.
The bar chart display also has a history slider feature, similar to the slIder feature on Accustrength. Moving this slider to the right, allows historical data to be viewed on the bar chart.
You can also change time-frames by swiping the screen to the left or the right.
We’ve found that the bar chart display is more useful than the line chart when viewing data on lower time-frames, just because it makes it easier to see rapid fluctuations in currency strength values.
Line Chart Display
This is very similar to Accustrength’s charting. Each currency is displayed on a line chart with a vertical scale of 0 (weakest) to 10 (strongest). Like Accustrength, it’s possible to display any combination of currencies. This is done by simply tapping on the currency label on the chart. So tapping on the AUD label will show/hide that currency.
The chart also has a basic zoom feature, activated by double tapping the screen. The vertical and horizontal grid lines are also customisable by tapping over the chart axes.
8 Currencies
The Forex Strength Meter supports 8 currencies: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD and NZD. Unlike Accustrength, it doesn’t support MXN (Mexican Dollar), HKD (Hong Kong Dollar)
Up to 6 Time-Frames
The standard App supports 4 Time-Frames : 4-Hourly (H4), Daily (D1), Weekly (W1) and Monthly (M1).
Adding the Data Booster Pack option (see later) adds another 2 time-frames: 15-Minute (M15) and 1-Hourly (H1).
We’ve found that we mostly use the H4 and D1 time-frames for our style of trading. Time-frames shorter than this can be a bit noisy, and are really designed for very short term traders e.g. scalping type strategies.
Adjustable Time-Zone
The time-zone of the currency strength data can be adjusted via the App’s settings. This allows you to adjust the time-zone to match your trading charts display.
For example, if your broker’s charts are GMT +1, then simply adjust the App’s time-zone to GMT +1. Then the currency strength time axis will match your trading charts.
Support
Any support questions can be sent from within the App. We’ve found the support to be quick and helpful.
User Guide
The App has a built in User Guide, that walks you through each of the App’s features.
Cost
The Forex Strength Meter App costs $9.99 USD, and is available from the iTunes Apps store. This is a once off cost and guarantees free updates for the life-time of the product, and life-time access to the data server. You can also install the App on multiple devices.
Data Booster Pack Feature (Optional Extra)
The Data Booster Pack, is an optional subscription feature designed for traders who need even faster data updates and lower time-frames i.e. scalping type strategies.
This feature adds 2 extra time-frames – 15 minute (M15) and Hourly (H1). In addition the already fast data refresh rates are increased by a further 2-3 times.
We’ve often used this App without this subscription feature because we mostly use the H4 and D1 Time-frames, and the refresh rates on the standard app are already fast enough in our opinion.
But if you need something even faster, and with even lower time-frames, then this option is for you.
What we’ve found, is that currency strength data can be a bit noisy on very low time-frames, just because price moves over shorter time-intervals can be erratic. It’s easier to trade with the bar chart rather than the line chart at these low time-frames.
Purchasing a subscription is done from within the App, as an In App Purchase. The cost is $1.99 USD for 7 days, or $4.99 USD for 30 days. The App tells you how much time is left on the subscription. You can top-up at any time, and all payments go through Apple’s iTunes store.
Importantly you can share your Data Booster Pack subscription on all of your IOS devices using a common login.
Summary
We can see why this product has become popular. We’ve used many IOS and Android currency strength meters, and no other mobile currency strength App comes close to this one.
For just $9.99 USD you get a quality currency strength meter, with accurate fast data rivalling Accustrength, life-time access to a propriety data feed, line and bar charting, up to 6 time-frames, plus other features.
Overall Accustrength has more features, but the Forex Strength Meter does have some unique features that even Accustrength lacks such as:
- Bar Chart Display
- M15 Time-frame option
- Adjustable Time Zone
The price difference is also significant i.e. $9.99 for the Forex Strength Meter versus $129.95 per 90 days for Accustrength.
If you want a quality currency strength meter, with fast accurate data and don’t mind using an IOS device on your trading desk or mirroring your iPhone display on your desktop computer, then this is the App for you.