disclaimer - automated trading · disclaimer trading and ... •this course will introduce...

DISCLAIMERTrading and investing often involves a very high degree of risk. Past results are not indicative of future returns and financial instruments can go down as well as up resulting in you receiving less than you invested. Do not assume that any recommendations, insights, charts, theories, or philosophies will ensure profitable investment. Spread betting and CFD’s carry a high risk to your capital, can be very volatile and prices may move rapidly against you. Only speculate with money you can afford to lose as you may lose more than your original deposit. Spread betting may not be suitable for all customers, so ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary

Past performance and any examples or testimonials cited is no indication or guarantee of anticipated future results. Individual results will vary and cannot be guaranteed.

3

Introduction

• MetaTrader 4 is a trading platform

developed by MetaQuotes Software

for online trading in the forex, CFD and

futures markets.

4

Introduction

• MT4, as it is commonly known, provides

tools and resources that allow traders

to analyse price, place and manage

trades, and employ automated

trading techniques.

5

Introduction

• This course will introduce MT4's

automated trading, strategy testing

and optimization features.

• The MT4 platform supports automated

trading, or system trading.

6

Introduction

• Automated trading involves developing

an objective set of rules for trade entries

and exits, and programming the rules in

the platform's proprietary language

(MQL4) so that the platform can handle

all of the associated analytical and

trading processes.

7

Introduction

• Perhaps the biggest advantage of

automated trading is the ability to

remove some of the emotion from

trading.

8

Introduction

• Since these systems can trade

completely mechanically based on

the predetermined rules of a trading

plan, dealing with losses or second-

guessing a trade entry will not affect

system performance.

9

Introduction

• Another significant advantage to

trade automation is that the

trades are automatically executed

with extremely fast reaction times.

10

Introduction

• An automated trading system must

clearly identify buy, sell, stop-loss and

profit-target rules.

11

Introduction

• In other words, the system must identify

the conditions under which a trade will

be initiated (whether a long or a short

trade), when the trade should be

closed at a loss, and when the trade

should be closed at a profit.

12

Introduction

• The various benefits of automated

trading make it a helpful tool for

traders.

• So let’s get started!

13

Course OverviewExpert Advisor

• Setup

• Launch

• Shutdown

Strategy Testing

• Setup

• Results

Expert Optimization

• Setup

• Results

Practical

• Each section will be followed by practical application

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Expert AdvisorsExpert Advisors• Expert Advisors (experts or EA) are programs in

the terminal that have been developed in MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4) and used for automation of analytical and trading processes.

• They perform prompt technical analysis of price data and manage trading activities based of signals received.

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Expert Advisors

• The entire routine work of technical

analysis and trading can be given to

experts.

• An expert can perform analytical and

trading operations for any symbols or

periods.

17

Expert Advisors

Working with experts:

• Before using experts, they first have to be set up.

• Working parameters common for all experts are set in the client terminal settings. Each expert can also have its own settings.

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Expert Advisors

Working with experts:

• To launch an expert, it first needs to be

placed into the chart. After the first

tick, the expert will start executing.

• An expert advisor is shut down after it

has been removed from the chart.

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Expert Advisor - Setup

Setup• Before you can use experts, they need to

be set up. Working parameters common for all experts are defined in the client terminal settings window.

• This window can be opened by the "Tools — Options" menu command or by pressing Ctrl+O.

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• To set up expert

parameters, select

the "Expert Advisors"

tab.

• The following

settings are

available in it:

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Expert Advisor - Setup• Allow automated

trading — this option allows you to enable or disable the performing of trade operations by Expert Advisors and scripts.

• If it is disabled, scripts and Expert Advisors will work, but they won't be able to trade.

24


• This limitation can

be useful for testing

an Expert Advisor in

real-time mode

• (not to be confused

with testing on

historical data).

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• Automated trading

can also be

allowed or disabled

using the Auto

Trading button on

the toolbar.

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Expert Advisor - Setup• Disable Auto Trading when

the account has been changed — this option represents a protective mechanism disabling trading by Expert Advisors and scripts when the account is changed.

• It is useful, for example, when you change a demo account for a real one.

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Expert Advisor - Setup• Disable Auto Trading

when the profile has been changed — a large amount of information about the current settings of all charts in the workspace is stored in Profiles.

• Profiles contain information about Expert Advisors attached to charts.

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Expert Advisor - Setup• Expert Advisors

included into the profile will start working when a new tick is created.

• Having enabled this option, one can hinder the trading by the Expert Advisors launching when the profile has been changed.

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Expert Advisor - Setup• Disable Auto Trading

when the charts symbol or period has been changed — if this option is enabled, when the period or symbol of a chart is changed the expert advisor, which is attached to it, will automatically prohibit any trade operations.

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Expert Advisor - Setup• Allow DLL imports

To enlarge their functionality, expert advisors can use DLLs (dynamic-links libraries).

• If it is enabled, such libraries can be used without any limitations.

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• If this option is disabled, no expert can use external DLLs.

• It is recommended to disable import when working with unknown experts.

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• Allow WebRequestfor listed URLThe WebRequestfunction in MQL4 is used for receiving and sending information to websites.

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Expert Advisor - Setup• To allow an MQL4

application to send such requests, enable this option and manually specify the URLs of trusted websites.

• For security reasons, the option is disabled on default.

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Launch

• After general parameters have been

set up, experts can be launched.

• To do so, it is enough just to attach the

expert to the chart.

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Expert Advisor - Launch• The "Attach to a chart"

command of the "Navigator — Expert Advisors" window context menu, or double click with the left mouse button on the selected expert in the same window allows it to be inserted into the active chart.

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Expert Advisor - Launch

• "Drag'n'Drop" to

insert the expert into

any chart.

• At that, the expert’s

settings window will

appear.

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Expert Advisor - LaunchIn the "Common" tab, it is possible to:

• Positions — select the direction of position opening:

• Long & Short — in both directions;

• Only Long — only for buying;

• Only Short — only for selling.

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Expert Advisor - Launch• Enable alerts —

enable/disable the expert to alert;

• Disable alert once hit —disable alerts after the first alert has been given;

• Allow live trading —enable/disable live trading;

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• Allow DLL imports —enable/disable imports of functions from DLL files;

• Allow import of external experts —enable/disable calling of functions from external experts;

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• Allow modification of Signals settings — this option allows/prohibits an MQL4 application subscribing and unsubscribing from signals as well as changing the settings of signal copying.

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External variables of the expert can be

changed in the "Inputs" tab.

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• These are the expert’s variables.

• To save an input, double-click with the left mouse button on its value and write the new one.

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Expert Advisor - Launch• Then change the

value of each variable or download the set of inputs already saved (the "Load" button).

• To save the current set of external variables press the save button.

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Expert Advisor - Launch• The "Reset" button

returns all default settings.

• Parameters defined in the terminal settings are given in the "Common" tab. And parameters defined in the program source code are set as inputs.

47


• To attach the

expert with the new

parameters to a

chart, press "OK".

• To cancel the

expert, press the

Cancel button.

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After an expert has been set up, it will be initialized, after the first tick.

An expert is attached if its name and a smiley can be seen in the upper right corner of the chart.

If live trading is disabled in the expert settings, a sad face will appear instead of the smiley.

A dagger means that all experts are disabled.

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Attention: Only one expert can be

attached to a chart.

• If another expert is imposed, the

previous one will be deleted from the

chart.

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Expert Advisors - Shutdown

Shutdown

• To shut down an expert, it has to be

removed from the chart.

• Experts must been deinitialised before

being shut down.

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• To remove an expert from the chart,

right click on the chart, "Expert Advisors

— Remove"

• Or attach another expert to the same

chart.

54


Attention:• at client terminal shutdown, all experts

are shut down, too;• at chart closing, the expert attached to

this chart will be shut down;• at the inserting of another expert, the

previous one will be removed after confirmation;

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• deletion of the expert from the "Navigator" window does not shut down the expert of the same name placed in the chart;

• disabling of experts in the client terminal settings does not provide complete disabling of experts. This option stops launching of the start function of each expert, but will continue to run.

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Strategy Testing

Strategy Testing

• The terminal allows not only the writing of expert advisors, but also the testing of them before use.

• This useful function allows the effectiveness of the trading system to be tested on historical data.

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Strategy Testing

• Testing allows automated trading with the full knowledge about the expert’s performance under different market conditions.

• The special “Strategy Tester" window was built into the terminal for this purpose.

• Using this window, can optimize expert inputs, as well.

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Strategy Testing - Setup

Setup• Before starting to test expert advisors, the

following parameters need chosen:

• select an expert and set up its inputs

• select a symbol and its period

• select one of three modelling methods

• set the testing time range (optional)

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• To test and optimize experts, a special

"Tester" window is used in the terminal.

• All above parameters are set in the

"Settings" tab of this window.

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An Expert Advisor and Its Parameters

• Select an expert to be tested in the "Tester — Expert Advisor" field.

• Only those experts that are available in the client terminal can be selected here.

• To be selected, they must be compiled and located in the EXPERTS folder.

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• After an expert has been selected, additional settings of testing parameters and inputs can be set.

• This can be done by pressing the "Expert properties" button.

66


• A new window with

three tabs will

appear then:

• Testing

• Inputs

• Optimization

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Strategy Testing - SetupTesting — general testing parameters are set in this tab. These are amount and currency of the initial deposit to be given in the corresponding fields.

It is this deposit that will be operated by the expert during testing.

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Strategy Testing - Setup• Types of positions to be

opened at testing are defined here:

• Only Long — open only long positions;

• Only Short — open only short ones;

• Long and Short — open both long and short positions.

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• Whatever the

expert algorithm is,

it will open positions

only in the defined

directions.

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Strategy Testing - SetupInclude an optimization genetic algorithm and select a parameter to be optimized (maximization by the balance value, the profit factor, expected payoff, or minimization by the maximal drawdown value or drawdown percent).

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Inputs — the list of all

inputs is given here as

a table.

• Inputs are variables

that influence the

expert operation.

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The amount of input

variables can change

depending on the

expert.

At testing, the expert

inputs are defined in

the "Value" field.

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Strategy Testing - Setup• Data written in the fields

of "Start", "Step", and "Stop" do not influence expert testing and are necessary just for optimization of its parameters.

• How to work with these parameters is described in the "Optimization Setup" section.

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Optimization — settings in this tab allow selected testing passes at optimization.

Changing of parameters in this tab does not influence single testing passes of the expert.

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Strategy Testing - Visualization

Testing Visualization

• If the ""Visualization“ is flagged, after

the "Start" button has been clicked,

the chart will be opened

automatically, on which the modelled

tick sequence will be played.

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Testing Visualization

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• The playback speed can be

regulated. The playback can be

suspended by clicking the "||" button.

• The repeated click on this button

resumes play of the modelled ticks.

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• Pressing of F12 causes the appearance of the next tick even in the suspension mode.

• Visualization can be skipped up to a certain date. After the desired date is set and the "Skip to" button is clicked, visualizing will stop and then resume after the tester reaches the defined date.

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Strategy Testing - Results

Results

• After the testing has been completed,

the results can be see in the tabs of

"Results", "Graph", "Report", and

"Journal".

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83

Strategy Testing - ResultsInformation about all trade operations performed is given in this tab as a table:

# — the trade operation sequence number;

Time — time at which the operation was performed;

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Strategy Testing - ResultsType — type of operation (sell, buy, s/l, t/p, modify, close at stop, etc.);

Order — ticket number of trade position or pending order (not to be mixed up with the trade operation sequence number described above);

85

Strategy Testing - ResultsSize — amount of lots traded;

Price — symbol price during operation;

S/L — the Stop Loss order value. No entries in this field mean that the order was not placed;

86


T/P — the Take Profit order value. No entries in this field mean that the order was not placed;

Profit — profit/loss. The profit/loss value is entered only at closing of positions;

87


Balance — balance

value. The balance

value is recorded only

at closing of positions.

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• Clicking with the left mouse button on any column header, will sort all entries in the table in increasing or decreasing order.

• Using the "Copy" context menu command or pressing Ctrl+C, the selected lines of results can be copied to the clipboard for further use in other applications.

89


• If no line has been selected, the entire

table will be copied to the clipboard. To

copy the entire table to the clipboard,

chose the "Copy All" command.

• The report of results can be saved in the

hard disk as an HTML file. To do so, press

"Save as Report".

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Graph

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Strategy Testing - ResultsThe graph representing the account balance (the blue line is "Balance") and general account status considering open positions (the green line is "Lots") is drawn in the "Graph" tab automatically.

92


• If only the balance line is displayed in the graph, it means that the lines of "Balance" and "Lots" coincide during the entire testing period.

93


• Graph allows changes in trading results during testing.

• If lot sizes were changed during testing, the chart of lot size changes will be shown in the bottom of the graph.

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• A double click with the left mouse button on any point in the graph will switch to the "Results" button, the corresponding line being selected.

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Strategy Testing - Results• Using the "Copy"

context menu command or Ctrl+C, will copy the graph to the clipboard to be used in other applications.

• A graph can also be saved in the hard disk as a GIF file.

96


• To do so, select

"Save as Picture"

context menu

command or press

Ctrl+S.

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Report

98


• Generalized results

of the expert testing

and some key data

are represented in

the "Report" tab.

99


• Such reports allow

to quickly compare

various experts to

each other.

• The following data

are published in

reports:

100


Bars in test — the

amount of history

data modelled in

bars;

Ticks modeled — the

amount of ticks

modeled;

101


Modeling quality — the quality of ticks modelled during testing, in per cents. Modelling is shown as a band in the next line of the report.

The band can be of one of three colours:

102


• Grey — this part of

available data was

not involved in the

testing.

• Grey colour can

appear if there was a

date range specified

in the testing settings;

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Strategy Testing - Results• Red — modelling was

not performed in this space because of missing available data of a lesser timeframe.

• Only data of the timeframe selected in the testing settings were used;

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Strategy Testing - Results• Green — modelling was

performed in this space. And the brighter the colour, the higher modelling quality was. For example, at testing on the H1 period, the deep-green band means that data of M30 period were used for testing, and the brightest one means that M1 data were used;

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Strategy Testing - ResultsAttention: If the fastest method ("Open prices only") was selected in the testing settings, the entire band will be red. At that, "n/a" (no modelling was performed) will be written in the "Modelling quality" field;

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mk:@MSITStore:C:/Users/Andre/AppData/Roaming/MetaQuotes/Terminal/Help/terminal4.chm::/ug_strategy_tester_setup.htm

Strategy Testing - ResultsInitial deposit — the amount of initial deposit;

Total net profit —financial result of all trades. This parameter represents the difference between "Gross profit" and "Gross loss";

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Gross profit — the sum

of all profitable trades

in monetary units;

Gross loss — the sum

of all unprofitable

trades in monetary

units;

108


• Profit factor — the

ratio between the

gross profit and the

gross loss in per

cents. One means

that these sums are

equal;

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Strategy Testing - ResultsExpected payoff —mathematical expectation of win. This parameter to be calculated statistically represents average profit/loss factor of one trade. It can also be considered as showing the expected profitability/unprofitability of the next trade;

110


Absolute drawdown —the largest loss is below initial deposit value;

Maximal drawdown —the largest loss of the local maximum in the deposit currency and in per cents of the deposit;

111


Relative drawdown —the maximal loss in per cents of the maximum equity value and its corresponding money value;

Total trades — total amount of trade positions;

112


Short positions (won %)

— amount of short

positions and the profit

percentage thereof;

Long positions (won %)

— amount of long

positions and the profit

percentage thereof;

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Strategy Testing - ResultsProfit trades (% of total) —the amount of profitable trade positions and their part in the total trades, in per cents;

Loss trades (% of total) —the amount of unprofitable trade positions and their part in the total trades, in per cents;

114


Largest profit trade —the largest profit among all profitable positions;

Largest loss trade —the largest loss among all unprofitable positions;

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Strategy Testing - ResultsAverage profit trade —average profit value within a trade (sum of profits divided into the amount of profitable trades);

Average loss trade —average loss value within a trade (sum of losses divided into the amount of unprofitable trades);

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Strategy Testing - ResultsMaximum consecutive wins (profit in money) —the longest series of profitable trade positions and sum of their wins;

Maximum consecutive losses (loss in money) —the longest series of unprofitable trade positions and sum of their losses;

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Strategy Testing - ResultsMaximal consecutive profit (count of wins) — the maximal profit within one series of profitable trades and the corresponding amount of profitable trades;

Maximal consecutive loss (count of losses) — the maximal loss within one series of unprofitable trades and the corresponding amount of unprofitable trades;

118

Strategy Testing - ResultsAverage consecutive wins — average amount of profitable positions in consecutive profitable series;

Average consecutive loss — average amount of unprofitable positions in consecutive unprofitable series.

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Strategy Testing - ResultsThe report can be copied to the clipboard or saved in the hard disk as an HTML file. To do so, select "Copy" and "Copy as Report", respectively.

The report can also be copied to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C.

120


Journal

121


Journal

Information about

testing process with all

trade operations is

automatically

published in the

"Journal" tab.

122

Strategy Testing - ResultsThis journal is the same as that of the "Terminal — Experts" window, except for that messages published in the tester window inform about testing the expert, but not about its operation in the market.

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Strategy Testing - ResultsAfter testing has been completed, the data will be output in a separate directory named /TESTER/LOGS.

The testing journal files are stored in the /EXPERTS/LOGS directory, file names corresponding with the data of journal —YYYYMMDD.LOG.

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• The following

commands can be

execute from the

context menu of this

tab:

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Open — open the folder with the log files of the journal. Besides that, when this command is executed, all current journal records are saved to log files.


These files are stored in

the /TESTER/LOGS

directory of the client

terminal.

File names correspond

to the date when the

journal was formed —

YYYYMMDD.LOG.

127


thus you can view

previous records of

the terminal

operation.

Only the latest entries

are displayed on the

"Journal" tab;

128


Copy — Copy the line

with the information

to the clipboard for

further use in other

applications;

129

Strategy Testing - ResultsClear All Journals Logs— delete all the log files of the strategy tester (/TESTER/LOGS). The Journal tab is cleared and all the log files are deleted from the specified folders when this command is executed.

130


Viewer — Open the

window of the special

program for viewing

log files;

131


Auto Scroll — if this option is enabled, the list of entries will be automatically scrolled to the latest entry as a new message appears in the journal.

132


Auto Arrange — if this

option is enabled, size

of the table columns

will be selected

automatically when

the window size is

changed;

133


Grid — show/hide grid

to separate fields.

134

Expert Optimization

• Optimization represents successive

passes of the same expert advisor with

different inputs on the same data.

• Such parameters can be sorted out so

the expert efficiency will be maximum.

137

Expert Optimization

• Terminal possesses some built-in means

that allow the automation of this

process.

• To optimize an expert, flag the option

of the same name in the "Tester"

window and press the "Start" button.

138

Expert Optimization - Setup

Setup

• Before beginning to optimize expert

parameters, They first need to be

setup:

140


• select an expert and its inputs

• select a symbol and its timeframe

• select one of three bar modeling

methods

• set up the time span for optimization

(optional)

141


• A special window named "Tester" is

used for testing and optimization of

experts in the terminal.

• All settings listed above can be made

in the "Settings" tab of this window.

142


Expert Advisor and Its Parameters

• Select the expert and the parameters which should be optimized in the "Tester — Experts" window.

• Not any expert file can be selected in this field, but only those that are available in the client terminal. For this, they must be compiled and placed in the /EXPERTS folder.

143


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• After the expert has been selected,

make an additional setup and set the

inputs.

• This can be done by pressing the

"Expert properties" button.

145

Expert Optimization - SetupAt that, a new window containing the

following three tabs will appear:

146


Testing• General optimization parameters are set

in this tab.

• They include the initial deposit amount and currency to be specified in the corresponding fields.

• It is this deposit that will be operated by the expert during optimization.

147


• Types of positions to be opened are

selected in this tab, as well: Only Long,

Only Short, or Long and Short.

• Whatever expert algorithm is used, it

will open positions only in the directions

defined here.

148


• Turn on the genetic algorithm of

optimization here.

• Detailed information about "Genetic

algorithms: Mathematics" is beyond

the scope of this course.

149

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• An optimized parameter is a certain factor, whose value defines the quality of a tested set of parameters.

• The higher the value of the optimization criterion is, the better the testing result with the given set of parameters is considered to be.

• The following parameter are available for optimization:

150


Balance — the highest value of the

balance;

Profit Factor — the highest value of the

profit factor;

Expected Payoff — the highest value of

the expected payoff;

151


Maximal Drawdown — the lowest value of the maximal drawdown;

Drawdown Percent — the lowest value of the relative drawdown (in percentage terms);

Custom — the optimization criterion here is the value of the OnTester function in the Expert Advisor. This parameter allows using any custom value for the optimization of the Expert Advisor.

152

Expert Optimization - SetupInputs• All inputs are listed here as a table. Inputs are

variables that influence the expert operation and can be changed directly from the client terminal.

• For these parameters to be changed, there is no need to change the expert code. The amount of inputs can vary depending of experts.

153


• At optimization, the expert inputs are set in the fields of "Start", "Step", and "Stop". Initial values, change interval, and final values of external variables will be set in these fields, respectively.

• There are checkboxes to the left of variable names that include the parameter into the optimization process.

154


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• If a variable is not checked in this checkbox, it will not be involved in optimization.

• Its value will not be changed within the optimization process, and the parameter given in the "Value" field will be written here.

156


• The amount of expert passes depends

on these parameters directly.

• Data written in the "Value" field do not

influence the expert optimization and

are necessary only for its testing.

157


• The set of inputs already saved before (including those given in the fields of "Start", "Step", and "Stop") can be downloaded.

• This can be done by pressing the "Load" button and having selected the preliminarily saved set of parameters.

158


• The current set of external variables

can be saved by pressing the, “Save”

button.

159


Optmization• Optimization — this tab allows to manage

limitations during optimization.

• If any of conditions is met during a separate pass, this pass of the expert will be interrupted.

• Optimization will continue with the next pass.

160


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• To enable a limit in condition, one has to flag it in the checkbox to the left of it.

• Double click with the left mouse button in the "Value" field can be used to change the existing parameter.

• Limiting parameters are:

162


Balance minimum — the smallest

balance value in the deposit currency;

Profit maximum — the largest profit in

the deposit currency;

Minimal margin level % — the lowest

margin level in per cents;

163


Maximal drawdown % — the largest drawdown in per cents;

Consecutive loss — the largest loss within a series. Loss series is a number of consecutive loss trades;

Consecutive loss trades — the largest amount of loss trades within a series

164


Consecutive win — the largest total profit within a series. Profitable series is a number of consecutive profitable trades;

Consecutive win trades — the largest amount of profitable trades within a series.

165

Expert Optimization - Results

Optimization Results

• After optimization has been

completed, its results can be viewed in

the "Optimization Results" and

"Optimization Graph“ tabs.

168


169


• Unlike testing, optimization is supposed to perform many passes of the mechanical trading system (MTS) with different inputs.

170


• This is aimed at

determining which

expert parameters

produce the

greatest efficiency.

171

Expert Optimization - Results• To optimize an expert,

one has to flag "Optimization" in the testing settings tab and press "Start".

• After that, two new tabs will appear in the window: "Optimization Results" and "Optimization Graph".

172

Expert Optimization - Results• Not all operations are

listed in the tab of "Optimization Results", unlike that of testing results, but only final reports about each pass.

• The entire information is represented as a table with the following fields:

173


Pass — the pass number;

Profit — the pure profit (gross profit minus gross loss);

Total trades — the total amount of open trade positions;

174


Profit factor — ratio

between gross profit

and gross loss in per

cents.

• One means that

these values are

equal;

175

Expert Optimization - ResultsExpected payoff —mathematical expectation of win. This value to be calculated statistically represents the average profit/loss factor of one trade.

• It can also be considered to represent the expected profit/loss factor of the next trade;

176


Drawdown $ — the largest drawdown related to the initial deposit, in the deposit currency;

Drawdown % — the largest drawdown related to the initial deposit, in per cents;

177


Inputs — changeable

values of inputs at

each pass.

178


• Having clicked with the left mouse

button on any column header, all

records in the table are sorted in

increasing or decreasing order.

179


• At execution of the "Set Input

Parameters" context menu command,

the data of the selected pass will be

written as the expert basic inputs

(expert properties window, "Inputs"

tab).

180


• At that, it will be switched to the "Settings" tab, and the optimization will be disabled. Having pressed the "Start" button, one can start to test the expert with the selected inputs.

• Double click with the left mouse button on the pass line in the Optimization Results tab allows to do the same.

181


• Using the "Copy“ command or Ctrl+C, the selected results lines will be copied to the clipboard for further use in other applications.

• If no lines have been selected, the entire table will be copied to the clipboard. To do the same, select the "Copy All" command.

182


• The report about optimization results

can be saved on the hard disk as an

HTML file.

• To do so, select "Copy As Report".

• Other context menu commands allow

to set up representation of results:

183


Skip Useless Results — show/hide the

results of unprofitable passes;

Show Input Parameters — show/hide the

"Inputs" column;

184


Auto Arrange — arrange the column sizes automatically when the window size has been changed.The same action can be done by pressing A;

Grid — show/hide grid to separate the columns.The same actions can be done by pressing of G.

185


Optimization Graph

186

Expert Optimization - Results• The graph of profit of

all passes is drawn automatically in the "Optimization Graph" tab.

• The graph allows to estimate the profitability of the use of different input combinations visually.

187


• The graph representing the amount of profitable (green colour) and unprofitable (red colour) trades at each pass is given in the bottom of the window, as well.

188


• Double click with the

left mouse button on

any point of the

graph switches to the

"Optimization Results"

tab and selects the

corresponding pass.

189


• Using the "Copy"

command or

Ctrl+C, the graph

will be copied to

the clipboard to be

used in other

applications.

190


• The graph can also

be stored on the hard

disk as a GIF file.

• To do so, select "Save

as Picture" context

menu command or

press Ctrl+S.

191

Inputs Explained

• In the Tester window

click on Expert

Properties.

• Select the Inputs

tab.

195

Inputs Explained

• You will see five columns headed:

• Variable

• Value

• Start

• Step

• Stop

196

Inputs Explained

• Each variable has a

square next to it.

• When the square is

ticked.

• This means the

variable is selected

for optimisation.

197

Inputs Explained

• Optimisation will read

the values you place

in the Start, Step and

Stop column's.

• You will need to press

the Optimization

button in the Tester

window.

198

Inputs Explained

• Once you tick the

Optimization button

in the Tester window.

• Optimisation will read

the values you place

in the Start, Step and

Stop columns.

199

Inputs Explained

• Entries placed in the

Value column will

used by the

Strategy Tester.

• As long as the

Optimization button

is unticked.

200

Inputs Explained

• Lets take a closer

look at what each

input variable does.

201

Risk Parameters

• StopLoss – If set to 0,

the stop loss is the

previous bar’s low (if

going long) or the

previous bar’s high

(if going short).

203

Risk Parameters

• It is set in pips for

e.g. 10 and it is an

optional parameter.

If you set it 10 and

you are going long,

it is 10 pips below

Entry Price.

204

Risk Parameters

• If set to 0, it is set

automatically by

the strategy.

205

Risk Parameters

• Target – If set to 0, it

will use the

strategy’s target for

example with

PowerTrend, the

trade will exit when

the EMAs crossever.

206

Risk Parameters

• Also if Target is set 0,

it will use the

ExitRatio parameter

below.

• It is an optional

parameter.

207

Risk Parameters

• Tip: It might be worth

setting a high number

in the Target. For

example – 1000 pips if

you are trading a

daily chart or 500 pips

if trading a 4 hourly

chart.

208

Risk Parameters

• This will not override

any strategy

targets, it will merely

log a hard target

value with the

broker in case the

VPS Server fails.

209

Different Exits

• ExitRatio – If set to a

non-zero value, the

trade will exit at the

ratio multiplied by

the risk pips.

211

Different Exits

• For example, if the

ExitRatio is set to 4.

• Then if your risk is 20

pips, the trade will

exit when a profit of

80 pips has been

made.

212

Different Exits

• The ExitRatio is only

used when the

Target variable

(above) is set to 0

pips.

213

Trade Sizing & Spreads• MaximumOpenPositi

onsInMT4 – The EA will check how many open positions you have in your MT4 account and make sure you only have this number as your maximum permissible trades.

215

Trade Sizing & Spreads

• For examples, if set

to 10, you can only

have maximum of

10 open trades.

216


• Lots – The

parameter controls

how many lots the

EA will buy or sell

when the

LotSizeAutomatic is

set to 0.

217

Trade Sizing & Spreads• 1 Lot = 100,000 of the

currency (approx. $10 per pip or point)

• 1 Mini-Lot = 10,000 of the currency or 0.1 (approx. $1 per pip or point)

• 1 Micro-Lot = 1,000 of the currency or 0.01 (approx. $0.10 per pip or point)

218


• LotSizeAutomatic –1 = On, 0 = Off

• If set to 1, the EA will automatically calculate how many lots/mini-lots/micro-lots to buy/sell per trade.

219


• If set to 1, the EA will ensure that the number of lots/mini-lots/micro-lots bought or sold is within your risk parameter for e.g. 1% risk.

220


• TotalMaxAccountRisk

This parameter

controls as a

percentage how

much of your

account is at risk.

221


• If you set to 10, that

means that you

want to risk live in

the market, a

maximum of 10

percent of your

account balance.

222

Trade Sizing & Spreads• This parameter is set in

conjunction with the MaximumOpenPositionsInMT4 parameter.

• If you set MaximumOpenPositionsInMT4 to 10 and TotalMaxAccountRiskto 5 , then the EA will risk 0.5 percent per trade.

223

Trade Sizing & Spreads• MaxSpread – This

parameter tells the EA what is the maximum spread permissible for each trade.

• If set to 5, the EA will not take a trade if the current spread is more than 5.

224

Strategies

• NOTE: Only set ONE of the following strategies to 1at any time.

• You cannot run two strategies on one chart at the same time.

226

Strategies

• UsePowerTrendStrategy

– If set to 0, it is turned

off. If set to 1, it is

activated.

• UsePowerRangerStrategy –If set to 0, it is turned off. If

set to 1, it is activated.

227

Strategies• UseSuperiorStrengthStrategy

- If set to 0, it is turned off. If

set to 1, it is activated.

• UseFocusStrategy - If set to

0, it is turned off. If set to 1, it

is activated.

• UseArcherStrategy - If set to

0, it is turned off. If set to 1, it

is activated.

228

Strategies

• UseNewsStrategy - If

set to 0, it is turned

off. If set to 1, it is

activated.

229

Strategies

• UseCustomStrategy

- If set to 0, it is

turned off. If set to

1, it is activated.

230

Strategy Specific Parameters

• ArcherPipsFromEMA –

Maximum distance

between the

low/high (depending

on long/short trade)

of the setup bar and

the 50 EMA in the

Archer Strategy.

232


• FocusUseEMAFilter –

Use an EMA filter for

the focus strategy.

• If set to 1, use an EMA

to decide the

direction. If set to 0,

do not use an EMA to

decide the direction.

233


• If set to 1, this setting

will use the EMA

setting from EMA1

below.

• If the current price is

above EMA1 for e.g.

20 EMA, then only

longs will take place.

234


• If the current price is

below EMA1 for e.g.

20 EMA, then only

shorts will take

place.

235


• FocusExitRatio – Exit when this ratio is reached for focus.

• For example if the risk is 20 pips and ratio is set to 3.0, then the trade is closed when the profit reaches 60 pips.

236


• FocusBar – This is the bar on which the focus trade is based.

• Bars are numbered from right to left.

• So bar 1 is closest to current open bar.

237


• SuperiorStrengthEMAFilter – If set to 1, the

EMA set in EMA1 is

used to ensure that

only long trades are

taken when the

current price action is

above EMA1.

238


• Only take short

trades when the

current price action

is below EMA1.

• If set to 0, ignore this

filter and take all

trades.

239


• NewsTradeHour,

NewsTradeMinute -

These parameters

are only used when

UseNewsStrategy is

set to 1.

240


• If NewsTradeHour is set to 13 and NewsTradeMinute is set to 25, EA will bracket the bar at 13:25 and an OCO order will be created.

241


• If the price breaks

the bar long, the EA

will go long and

target the Target

pips.

242


• The stop loss is set to

the high/low of the

previous bar.

• Alternatively, if set,

the parameter

StopLoss is used.

243


• ExpiryMinutes – The

trade is cancelled if

not triggered after x

number of minutes.

244


• If set to say 6, then

in the example

above when the EA

is set to trigger at

13.25, the order will

be cancelled to

13.31.

245

Market Direction

• UseMD – If set to 1, the Market Direction filter is applied to the current active strategy.

• If set to 0, it is disabled.

247

Market Direction• MDTimeFrame – Only

used when UseMD is set to 1.

• This sets the timeframe for which the Market Direction needs to be checked i.e. is the current market Bullish, Bearish or Ranging.

248

Market Direction• If set to 0, use current

chart timeframe. If set to 1, use 1 min timeframe.

• If set to 2, use 5 min timeframe.




249

Market Direction


• If set to 7, use Daily timeframe.

• If set to 8, use Weekly timeframe.

• If set to 9, use Monthly timeframe.

250

Market Direction

• UseMDForRangeTrading

This parameter is only

used when UseMD is set

to 1.

251

Moving Averages

• UseEMA1, UseEMA2, UseEMA3 switch on

EMA1, EMA2 and

EMA3 respectively.

253

Moving Averages

• UseEMA1, UseEMA2, UseEMA3 are NOT required to be set to 1 when PowerTrend, Archer, Focus or SuperiorStrengthstrategies are used.

254

Moving Averages

• In other words, only

set these to 1, when

using the Custom or

News strategy.

255

Moving Averages

• EMA1, EMA2, EMA3

– Set these to

appropriate values

for your strategy.

256

Bollinger Bands

• UseBoli = 1 will

switch on the

Bollinger Bands filter.

258

Bollinger Bands

• BBLength,

BBDeviation, BBShift– These are

standard indicator

parameters.

259

Bollinger Bands

• EntryTimeFrame

• Choose what time

frame’s Bolliger

Band to enter on.

• If set to 0 it is the

current charts time

frame.

260

Bollinger Bands

• If set to 3 then the entry will be on the 15min chart’s Bollinger Band.

• See Market Direction for which values relate with which time frames.

261

Bollinger Bands• TargetTimeFrame• Choose which time

frame’s Bollinger Band to exit on.

• If set to 5 the trade will exit when price reaches the 60min chart’s outer Bollinger Band.

262

Bollinger Bands

• With these two variables you are able to enter on one time frames Bollinger Band (e.g. 15min) and exit on another (e.g. 60min).

263

Stochastic

• UseStoch = 1 will

switch on the

Stochastic filter.

265

Stochastic

• All other Stochastic

settings are

standard indicator

parameters.

266

Max Trade Attempts

• MaxTradeAttempts

• If you are stopped

out on the first

attempt and would

like to enter again

place a number in

the Value cell.

268

Max Trade Attempts

0 = the initial attempt.

1 = try once more

max.

2 = try twice more

max.

3 = try three times

more max. Etc.

269

Email Trade Alerts

• EmailTradeAlerts

• If this is set to True,

you will receive an

email informing you

of the trade that

has just been

entered.

271

Balance Warning

• EmailBalanceWarning

• If this is set to True,

an email will be sent

informing you your

account has fallen

by x percent.

273

Balance Warning

• BalanceWarningTrigger

• In the value cell set the

percentage amount

your account needs to

decrease by before an

email is sent to you.

274

Balance Warning

• 10 means when my

account has reduced

by 10% send me an

email.

275

Hourly – Daily Trading Windows

• UseHourlyDailyWindows

• Set this to 1 if you want

to choose the hours in

which to enter trades.

• A value of 1 next to

each hour means allow

trading.

277


• A value of 0 next to

each hour means do

not trade during this

hour.

278


• You can also

choose which days

to trade on.

• Place 1 in the value

cell next to each

day you want to

trade.

279


• Place 0 in the value

cell next to each

day you do not

want to trade.

280

Activation

• Go to Tools -> Options

• In the Expert Advisors tab, tick the

“Allow WebRequest for listed URL” and

add the following URL:

• http://www.automated-

trading.com.au/

282

http://www.automated-trading.com.au/

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