1
2
3 DISCLAIMER Trading 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.
4 Introduction MetaTrader 4 is a trading platform developed by MetaQuotes Software for online trading in the forex, CFD and futures markets.
5 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.
Introduction This course will introduce MT4's automated trading, strategy testing and optimization features. The MT4 platform supports automated trading, or system trading. 6
7 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.
8 Introduction Perhaps the biggest advantage of automated trading is the ability to remove some of the emotion from trading.
9 Introduction Since these systems can trade completely mechanically based on the predetermined rules of a trading plan, dealing with losses or secondguessing a trade entry will not affect system performance.
10 Introduction Another significant advantage to trade automation is that the trades are automatically executed with extremely fast reaction times.
11 Introduction An automated trading system must clearly identify buy, sell, stop-loss and profit-target rules.
12 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.
Introduction The various benefits of automated trading make it a helpful tool for traders. So let s get started! 13
14 Course Overview Expert Advisor Setup Launch Shutdown Strategy Testing Setup Results Expert Optimization Setup Results Practical Each section will be followed by practical application
15
16 Expert Advisors Expert 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.
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
18 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.
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. 19
20
21 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.
Expert Advisor - Setup 22
Expert Advisor - Setup To set up expert parameters, select the "Expert Advisors" tab. The following settings are available in it: 23
24 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.
Expert Advisor - Setup This limitation can be useful for testing an Expert Advisor in real-time mode (not to be confused with testing on historical data). 25
26 Expert Advisor - Setup Automated trading can also be allowed or disabled using the Auto Trading button on the toolbar.
27 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.
28 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.
29 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.
30 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.
31 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.
32 Expert Advisor - Setup If this option is disabled, no expert can use external DLLs. It is recommended to disable import when working with unknown experts.
33 Expert Advisor - Setup Allow WebRequest for listed URL The WebRequest function in MQL4 is used for receiving and sending information to websites.
34 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.
35
36
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. 37
38 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.
Expert Advisor - Launch "Drag'n'Drop" to insert the expert into any chart. At that, the expert s settings window will appear. 39
40 Expert Advisor - Launch In 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.
41 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;
42 Expert Advisor - Launch Allow DLL imports enable/disable imports of functions from DLL files; Allow import of external experts enable/disable calling of functions from external experts;
43 Expert Advisor - Launch 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.
44 Expert Advisor - Launch External variables of the expert can be changed in the "Inputs" tab.
45 Expert Advisor - Launch 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.
46 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.
47 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.
Expert Advisor - Launch To attach the expert with the new parameters to a chart, press "OK". To cancel the expert, press the Cancel button. 48
49 Expert Advisor - Launch 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.
Expert Advisor - Launch Attention: Only one expert can be attached to a chart. If another expert is imposed, the previous one will be deleted from the chart. 50
51
52
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. 53
Expert Advisors - Shutdown To remove an expert from the chart, right click on the chart, "Expert Advisors Remove" Or attach another expert to the same chart. 54
55 Expert Advisors - Shutdown 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;
56 Expert Advisors - Shutdown 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.
57
58
59 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.
60 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.
61
62 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)
Strategy Testing - Setup 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. 63
64 Strategy Testing - Setup 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.
Strategy Testing - Setup 65
66 Strategy Testing - Setup 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.
Strategy Testing - Setup A new window with three tabs will appear then: Testing Inputs Optimization 67
68 Strategy Testing - Setup Testing 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.
69 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.
70 Strategy Testing - Setup Whatever the expert algorithm is, it will open positions only in the defined directions.
71 Strategy Testing - Setup Include 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).
Strategy Testing - Setup Inputs the list of all inputs is given here as a table. Inputs are variables that influence the expert operation. 72
Strategy Testing - Setup The amount of input variables can change depending on the expert. At testing, the expert inputs are defined in the "Value" field. 73
74 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.
75 Strategy Testing - Setup 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.
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. 76
77 Strategy Testing - Visualization Testing Visualization
Strategy Testing - Visualization 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. 78
79 Strategy Testing - Visualization 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.
80
81
Results Strategy Testing - Results After the testing has been completed, the results can be see in the tabs of "Results", "Graph", "Report", and "Journal". 82
Strategy Testing - Results 83
84 Strategy Testing - Results Information 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;
85 Strategy Testing - Results Type 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);
86 Strategy Testing - Results Size 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;
87 Strategy Testing - Results 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;
88 Strategy Testing - Results Balance balance value. The balance value is recorded only at closing of positions.
89 Strategy Testing - Results 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.
Strategy Testing - Results 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". 90
91 Graph Strategy Testing - Results
92 Strategy Testing - Results The 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.
93 Strategy Testing - Results 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.
94 Strategy Testing - Results 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.
95 Strategy Testing - Results 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.
96 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.
97 Strategy Testing - Results To do so, select "Save as Picture" context menu command or press Ctrl+S.
98 Report Strategy Testing - Results
99 Strategy Testing - Results Generalized results of the expert testing and some key data are represented in the "Report" tab.
Strategy Testing - Results Such reports allow to quickly compare various experts to each other. The following data are published in reports: 100
Strategy Testing - Results Bars in test the amount of history data modelled in bars; Ticks modeled the amount of ticks modeled; 101
102 Strategy Testing - Results 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:
Strategy Testing - Results 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; 103
104 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;
105 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 deepgreen band means that data of M30 period were used for testing, and the brightest one means that M1 data were used;
106 Strategy Testing - Results Attention: 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;
107 Strategy Testing - Results Initial 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";
Strategy Testing - Results Gross profit the sum of all profitable trades in monetary units; Gross loss the sum of all unprofitable trades in monetary units; 108
109 Strategy Testing - Results Profit factor the ratio between the gross profit and the gross loss in per cents. One means that these sums are equal;
110 Strategy Testing - Results Expected 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;
111 Strategy Testing - Results 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;
112 Strategy Testing - Results 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;
Strategy Testing - Results Short positions (won %) amount of short positions and the profit percentage thereof; Long positions (won %) amount of long positions and the profit percentage thereof; 113
114 Strategy Testing - Results Profit 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;
115 Strategy Testing - Results Largest profit trade the largest profit among all profitable positions; Largest loss trade the largest loss among all unprofitable positions;
116 Strategy Testing - Results Average 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);
117 Strategy Testing - Results Maximum 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;
118 Strategy Testing - Results Maximal 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;
119 Strategy Testing - Results Average consecutive wins average amount of profitable positions in consecutive profitable series; Average consecutive loss average amount of unprofitable positions in consecutive unprofitable series.
120 Strategy Testing - Results The 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.
121 Journal Strategy Testing - Results
Journal Strategy Testing - Results Information about testing process with all trade operations is automatically published in the "Journal" tab. 122
123 Strategy Testing - Results This 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.
124 Strategy Testing - Results After 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.
125 Strategy Testing - Results The following commands can be execute from the context menu of this tab:
126 Strategy Testing - Results 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.
Strategy Testing - Results 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
Strategy Testing - Results thus you can view previous records of the terminal operation. Only the latest entries are displayed on the "Journal" tab; 128
129 Strategy Testing - Results Copy Copy the line with the information to the clipboard for further use in other applications;
130 Strategy Testing - Results Clear 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.
131 Strategy Testing - Results Viewer Open the window of the special program for viewing log files;
132 Strategy Testing - Results 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.
133 Strategy Testing - Results Auto Arrange if this option is enabled, size of the table columns will be selected automatically when the window size is changed;
134 Strategy Testing - Results Grid show/hide grid to separate fields.
135
136
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
139
Expert Optimization - Setup Setup Before beginning to optimize expert parameters, They first need to be setup: 140
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
143 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
Expert Optimization - Setup 144
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
146 Expert Optimization - Setup At that, a new window containing the following three tabs will appear:
147 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
Expert Optimization - Setup Turn on the genetic algorithm of optimization here. Detailed information about "Genetic algorithms: Mathematics" is beyond the scope of this course. 149
150 Expert Optimization - Setup 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:
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
152 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
153 Expert Optimization - Setup Inputs 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.
154 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
Expert Optimization - Setup 155
156 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
158 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
159 Expert Optimization - Setup The current set of external variables can be saved by pressing the, Save button.
160 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
Expert Optimization - Setup 161
162 Expert Optimization - Setup 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:
Expert Optimization - Setup 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
164 Expert Optimization - Setup 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
165 Expert Optimization - Setup 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.
166
167
Expert Optimization - Results Optimization Results After optimization has been completed, its results can be viewed in the "Optimization Results" and "Optimization Graph tabs. 168
Expert Optimization - Results 169
170 Expert Optimization - Results Unlike testing, optimization is supposed to perform many passes of the mechanical trading system (MTS) with different inputs.
171 Expert Optimization - Results This is aimed at determining which expert parameters produce the greatest efficiency.
172 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".
173 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:
174 Expert Optimization - Results Pass the pass number; Profit the pure profit (gross profit minus gross loss); Total trades the total amount of open trade positions;
Expert Optimization - Results Profit factor ratio between gross profit and gross loss in per cents. One means that these values are equal; 175
176 Expert Optimization - Results Expected 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;
177 Expert Optimization - Results 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;
178 Expert Optimization - Results Inputs changeable values of inputs at each pass.
179 Expert Optimization - Results Having clicked with the left mouse button on any column header, all records in the table are sorted in increasing or decreasing order.
180 Expert Optimization - Results 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).
181 Expert Optimization - Results 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.
182 Expert Optimization - Results 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.
Expert Optimization - Results 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
Expert Optimization - Results Skip Useless Results show/hide the results of unprofitable passes; Show Input Parameters show/hide the "Inputs" column; 184
185 Expert Optimization - Results 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.
186 Expert Optimization - Results Optimization Graph
187 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.
188 Expert Optimization - Results 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.
189 Expert Optimization - Results Double click with the left mouse button on any point of the graph switches to the "Optimization Results" tab and selects the corresponding pass.
190 Expert Optimization - Results Using the "Copy" command or Ctrl+C, the graph will be copied to the clipboard to be used in other applications.
Expert Optimization - Results 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
192
193
194
Inputs Explained In the Tester window click on Expert Properties. Select the Inputs tab. 195
196 You will see five columns headed: Variable Value Start Step Stop Inputs Explained
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
201 Inputs Explained Lets take a closer look at what each input variable does.
202
203 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).
204 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.
205 If set to 0, it is set automatically by the strategy. Risk Parameters
206 Target If set to 0, it will use the strategy s target for example with PowerTrend, the trade will exit when the EMAs crossever. Risk Parameters
Risk Parameters Also if Target is set 0, it will use the ExitRatio parameter below. It is an optional parameter. 207
208 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.
209 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.
210
211 ExitRatio If set to a non-zero value, the trade will exit at the ratio multiplied by the risk pips. 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. Different Exits 212
213 The ExitRatio is only used when the Target variable (above) is set to 0 pips. Different Exits
214
215 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.
216 Trade Sizing & Spreads For examples, if set to 10, you can only have maximum of 10 open trades.
217 Trade Sizing & Spreads Lots The parameter controls how many lots the EA will buy or sell when the LotSizeAutomatic is set to 0.
218 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)
219 Trade Sizing & Spreads LotSizeAutomatic 1 = On, 0 = Off If set to 1, the EA will automatically calculate how many lots/minilots/micro-lots to buy/sell per trade.
220 Trade Sizing & Spreads If set to 1, the EA will ensure that the number of lots/minilots/micro-lots bought or sold is within your risk parameter for e.g. 1% risk.
221 Trade Sizing & Spreads TotalMaxAccountRisk This parameter controls as a percentage how much of your account is at risk.
222 Trade Sizing & Spreads 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.
223 Trade Sizing & Spreads This parameter is set in conjunction with the MaximumOpenPosition sinmt4 parameter. If you set MaximumOpenPosition sinmt4 to 10 and TotalMaxAccountRisk to 5, then the EA will risk 0.5 percent per trade.
224 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.
225
226 NOTE: Only set ONE of the following strategies to 1at any time. You cannot run two strategies on one chart at the same time. Strategies
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
229 UseNewsStrategy - If set to 0, it is turned off. If set to 1, it is activated. Strategies
230 UseCustomStrategy - If set to 0, it is turned off. If set to 1, it is activated. Strategies
231
232 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.
Strategy Specific Parameters 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
Strategy Specific Parameters 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
235 Strategy Specific Parameters If the current price is below EMA1 for e.g. 20 EMA, then only shorts will take place.
236 Strategy Specific Parameters 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.
237 Strategy Specific Parameters 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.
238 Strategy Specific Parameters SuperiorStrengthEMAF ilter 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.
Strategy Specific Parameters Only take short trades when the current price action is below EMA1. If set to 0, ignore this filter and take all trades. 239
240 Strategy Specific Parameters NewsTradeHour, NewsTradeMinute - These parameters are only used when UseNewsStrategy is set to 1.
241 Strategy Specific Parameters 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.
242 Strategy Specific Parameters If the price breaks the bar long, the EA will go long and target the Target pips.
Strategy Specific Parameters The stop loss is set to the high/low of the previous bar. Alternatively, if set, the parameter StopLoss is used. 243
244 Strategy Specific Parameters ExpiryMinutes The trade is cancelled if not triggered after x number of minutes.
245 Strategy Specific Parameters 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.
246
247 UseMD If set to 1, the Market Direction filter is applied to the current active strategy. If set to 0, it is disabled. Market Direction
248 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.
249 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. If set to 3, use 15 min timeframe. If set to 4, use 30 min timeframe. If set to 5, use 60 min timeframe.
250 Market Direction If set to 6, use 240 min timeframe. If set to 7, use Daily timeframe. If set to 8, use Weekly timeframe. If set to 9, use Monthly timeframe.
251 Market Direction UseMDForRangeTrading This parameter is only used when UseMD is set to 1.
252
253 Moving Averages UseEMA1, UseEMA2, UseEMA3 switch on EMA1, EMA2 and EMA3 respectively.
254 Moving Averages UseEMA1, UseEMA2, UseEMA3 are NOT required to be set to 1 when PowerTrend, Archer, Focus or SuperiorStrength strategies are used.
255 Moving Averages In other words, only set these to 1, when using the Custom or News strategy.
256 Moving Averages EMA1, EMA2, EMA3 Set these to appropriate values for your strategy.
257
258 UseBoli = 1 will switch on the Bollinger Bands filter. Bollinger Bands
259 BBLength, BBDeviation, BBShift These are standard indicator parameters. Bollinger Bands
EntryTimeFrame Choose what time frame s Bolliger Band to enter on. If set to 0 it is the current charts time frame. Bollinger Bands 260
261 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. Bollinger Bands
262 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. Bollinger Bands
263 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). Bollinger Bands
264
265 UseStoch = 1 will switch on the Stochastic filter. Stochastic
266 All other Stochastic settings are standard indicator parameters. Stochastic
267
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
270
EmailTradeAlerts Email Trade Alerts If this is set to True, you will receive an email informing you of the trade that has just been entered. 271
272
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
275 Balance Warning 10 means when my account has reduced by 10% send me an email.
276
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
278 Hourly Daily Trading Windows A value of 0 next to each hour means do not trade during this hour.
Hourly Daily Trading Windows You can also choose which days to trade on. Place 1 in the value cell next to each day you want to trade. 279
280 Hourly Daily Trading Windows Place 0 in the value cell next to each day you do not want to trade.
281
Activation Go to Tools -> Options In the Expert Advisors tab, tick the Allow WebRequest for listed URL and add the following URL: http://www.automatedtrading.com.au/ 282