FX Blue Account Monitor - User guide
The FX Blue Account Monitor collects headline information such as current balance and equity from FX Blue Live, showing the figures in a window on yourdesktop without you needing to visit the website. It can also watch for problems such as low free-margin, or a loss of connection by your copy of MT4.
1Overview
1.1What the Account Monitor does
The Account Monitor collects information about FX Blue Live accounts. It shows you headline information such as equity and free margin in a window on your desktop, without needing to visit the website. It can also watch for problems, and display alerts on screen or send messages by email or SMS.
The Account Monitor can detect the following alert conditions:
- Low free margin.
- Low equity.
- Drawdown %.
- Lack of updates to your FX Blue Live account. This can indicate that your trading software has lost its broker connection and stopped trading.
You can configure the Account Monitor to check the FX Blue website as frequently as every minute while the market is open.
1.2Downloading and installing the Account Monitor
The installation package for the Account Monitor can be downloaded from the following URL:
The installation package creates a new shortcut on the Windows Start menu, in the FX Blue folder. You run the software simply by clicking on this shortcut.
1.2.1Which computer should I install the Account Monitor on?
You do not have to install the Account Monitor on the same computer which you use for trading.
If you run your trading software such as MT4 on a VPS, there are benefits from installing the Account Monitor on a different computer. If the Account Monitor is installed on the trading computer, then it cannot send you email or SMS alerts if that computer completely loses its internet connection.
In other words, if you want to use the Account Monitor to watch for connection problems then you should consider doing either of the following:
- Install the Account Monitor on a different computer to the one which runs your trading software. If there is a problem with the internet connection on the trading computer, your FX Blue Live accounts will not update, but the Account Monitor will be able to warn you about this because it is running on a different computer.
- Install the Account Monitor on the same computer which you trade from, but use a service such as www.siteuptime.com to monitor the health of the internet connection on that computer. These kinds of service can only detect complete loss of your internet connection, not the loss just of the trading connection to your broker. However, if it is only your broker connection which is lost, the Account Monitor will warn you. If the entire internet connection is lost, the external service such as www.siteuptime.com will warn you.
2.1Starting the Account Monitor
The installation package for the Account Monitor creates a shortcut on the Windows Start menu, in the MTIntelligence.com folder. You run the software simply by clicking on this shortcut. (See below for information about running the software automatically when Windows starts up.)
2.2Setting up the list of accounts to monitor
The first step is to give the Account Monitor the list of FX Blue Live accounts which you want it to watch. On the Accounts tab, you simply click on the Add button, and fill in the name of the FX Blue Live account (e.g. "mytradingresults"). If you have PIN-protected the account, you also need to fill in the PIN.
You can also choose a "group" to add the account to. If you have several accounts, arranging them into groups helps to keep them organised in the list. It also makes it easier to get combined statistics for a group of related accounts - see below.
When adding an account you can also choose any types of alert which you want to be warned about. There are four options:
- Low equity. The system can warn you if your account equity falls below the specified level.
- Drawdown % (current floating P/L divided by balance). The system can warn you if drawdown exceeds the specified level.
- Low free margin. The system can warn you if your account free margin falls below the specified level.
- Old data. The system can warn you if the data on FX Blue Live is more than the specified number of minutes old. This can be used to detect a loss of internet or broker connection on your trading computer - see above. For example, you could set an alert if the data on FX Blue Live is more than 30 minutes old.
N.B. The threshold for alerting about old data should be longer than the interval you use for uploading to FX Blue Live. If you have configured your trading software only to update FX Blue Live every hour, then telling the Account Monitor to alert if the data is more than 10 minutes old will obviously lead to constant alerts.
2.3Setting up data collection and alert methods
The Alerts tab lets you choose how often to collect data from the FX Blue Live website. This is limited to a maximum frequency of 1 minute.
You must also specify the period during which the market is open - in your local time, not your broker's time. If you let the software collect data from FX Blue Live when the market is closed, then it may issue unnecessary alerts about the fact that your FX Blue Live accounts have stopped updating.
If you are using the Account Monitor to check for alerts, then you can also choose how you want to be notified about these alerts. There are three options:
- Display alerts on screen.
- Send alerts by email.
- Send alerts by SMS.
If you choose to send alerts by email or SMS then you need to fill in further details about your email/SMS accounts.
2.3.1Email account details
In order to send email from the Account Monitor you need to fill in the details of your email address and server. The configuration window includes buttons for filling in default details for Google Mail and Yahoo Mail accounts.
You will always need to fill in your SMTP server, the address to send from, and the address to send to (or, multiple recipient addresses separated by commas).
Your SMTP server may also require a username and password. For Google Mail and Yahoo Mail, this is simply your email address and corresponding Google/Yahoo password. Some mail services require encrypted connections. If so, they typically run on a port number other than 25, and you will need to change this setting as well.
For most web-based services such as Google Mail, the from-address must either be your account's email address, or another address which you have "verified" with the web-based service.
You can send a test email before saving the settings using the Test button at the bottom of the window.
2.3.2SMS account details
SMS transmission from the Account Monitor requires an account with www.nexmo.com or www.clickatell.com.
Please note that the registration information in this section is subject to change depending on the design of the Nexmo and Clickatell websites.
All phone numbers should be specified in international format, e.g. 442074368920 (where 44 is the country code for the UK).
2.3.2.1Nexmo details
To send SMS through Nexmo you need to fill in a sender name, plus the API "key" and "secret" quoted by the Nexmo website when you register.
You can register at www.nexmo.com. You will need to provide an email address (a real one!) and a mobile phone number to receive a confirmation text. This phone number does not have to be the one which you subsequently want to send alerts to.
Once you have registered, the "Api Settings" section of the Nexmo Dashboard will show you an "API key" and "API secret" for sending texts via your account with them.
To send to numbers in the USA or Canada, the From setting must be a long virtual number. For any other countries, the From setting can simply be whatever text you want to appear as the sender of your SMS.
2.3.2.2Clickatell.com details
The procedure for setting up an account with Clickatell is a little complicated. The following steps could potentially change if Clickatell alter their website.
- Create a "Clickatell Central" account at:
https://www.clickatell.com/central/user/client/step1_new.php?prod_id=2. - Wait for the confirmation email to arrive, and then log in to your account at http://www.clickatell.com/login.php. Choose "Clickatell Central (API)" from the list of products.
- Set up a connection by clicking on "Manage my products" and then choose "HTTP" from the "Add connection" list in the top-left of the page.
- Give the connection any name you like, leave the other fields blank, and click on Submit.
- The "Manage my products" page will refresh to show an "API code" for the connection (usually 7 digits).
In short: in order to send SMS from the Account Monitor, you need a Clickatell username and password (which you choose when you register) and also an "API code".
You can use the Test button on the SMS details windows to try sending a test message using your Clickatell.com account.
3.1The account list and main window
While it is running the Account Monitor will keep collecting data from FX Blue Live about the accounts on your list. The Accounts tab will keep updating with the latest equity, balance, free margin etc (but only while the market is open).
If there is a problem with an account, its entry on the list will turn red (and, if applicable, an alert will be displayed on screen or sent by email/SMS). You can check the latest status of an account using the Status column in the list.
When you add an account to the Monitor, you can choose a "group" for it. If you have several accounts, this helps to keep the list organised.
3.2Hiding/minimizing the main window
If you want to free up your desktop but keep the Account Monitor running, there are two options. You can either minimize it to the Windows task bar in the usual way, or you can click on the "Hide to tray" button. This hides the Account Monitor window and displays an icon in the system tray, next to the clock. You can then display the Account Monitor window again by clicking on the icon.
3.3Viewing the latest account details on the FX Blue Live website
You can view the latest details on the FX Blue Live website for an account either by double-clicking on the account in the software's list, or by highlighting it and then clicking on the View button.
You can also select multiple accounts from the list (using Ctrl+click or Shift+click) and then use the View button to get combined results for all the selected accounts. For example, you can select all the accounts in a group by clicking on the first account and then holding down the Shift key while you click on the last account. The View button will then give you combined statistics for all the accounts in the group.
3.4Editing and removing account details
You can change the alert settings for an account by highlighting it on the software's list, and then clicking on the Edit button. You can remove an account, and stop it being watched by the Account Monitor, by highlighting it on the list and then clicking on the Remove button.
3.5Cleared alerts
The Account Monitor notifies you when alert conditions are cleared, as well as when they start. It displays a new entry in the alert list on screen, and sends a new email/SMS.
3.6Running the Account Monitor automatically when Windows starts
As with any software, you can run the Account Monitor automatically when Windows starts up by adding/copying its shortcut to the Startup folder on the Windows Start menu.
Experienced users may find it useful to know that the software understands two command-line parameters. The "/tray" parameter sends it to the system tray at start-up. The "/minimize" parameter minimizes the Account Monitor window at start-up.
Please note that the Account Monitor records its settings against your Windows user details. If you use "auto-boot" software to run it automatically when a VPS boots, it may not detect the settings you have already given it - because the auto-boot software runs it in a different "user context" to your normal Windows account. You may need to add the Account Monitor to your auto-boot software; start it via the auto-boot software; and then configure the settings for the software.
