Trade Management EA - Need some advice

Hello All:

I'm having a problem with a trade management EA provided to me by the head of a small, private trade group. The guy is a great trader but not a programmer. The EA was written by someone else; I have permission to post it for review.

This is a simple trade manager that does this: Places OCO's and takes profit at three different levels moving the stops at TP2.

I also would like to note that while I'm no programmer, I do have a fair amount of experience using EA's and seldom make rookie mistakes.
Here's my problem...

The first couple of days the EA worked fine for me. Then it just stopped. What I mean by this, is that when it is waiting to place the orders the chart text will read the entry levels for both orders, then when a trade is opened it will show the profit or loss. When the trade is closed it will say "Not looking for a trade right now"

What is happening now is when I place the the parameters, they will show on the chart, but when the price reaches the point to open a trade it will immediately switch to "not looking for a trade right now". This happens no matter how many times I remove and reset the EA.

A few notes:

This first happened on an IBFX demo when they changed their order method to ECN type. I have tried it on other brokers, with the same result.

After using the EA for a day or so, I went in and changed the coded stops to work with 5 digit so I wouldn't have to do this every time I used it. I then changed the filename, compiled it and tried to use it, and that's when this problem started.

I went back and deleted my file and got a new original from the provider and yet this problem persists. I have tried installing the new file on several different brokers and the result is the same. There are others using this EA just fine, on 4 and 5 digit brokers.

The problem seems to be on my end..any idea's? This is a Vista computer, BTW

Howdy,

Didn't test this but see if this works.....

Thanks bro! I'll get right on it and report back!

Thanks kenny you fixed it! Thank you soooo much!

Now if I want to adapt it for a 5 digit all I have to do is go into the code and add the zero's where appropriate, correct?

If I can get this to work on ECN type orders I'll be set...another day

If I can get this to work on ECN type orders I'll be set...another day[/quote]

Scratch that, looks like it is already doing that, Thanks again, Kenny!

Can you tell me what "StopProfit" under Inputs is for?

I don't Know exactly. It was put in there by the developer to be used later. Perhaps one of the coders here could take a look and tell us if it's functional.

One other problem with this ea is- It needs some code that will automatically disable itself when a trade has run it's course. I use this on daily and 4Hr charts and after the trade is completed, I like to review the trade on a 15M chart. If I don't remove the ea before changing the chart to another TF it will immediately open a new trade with the parameters that were input hours earlier. Many times I have forgotten this and my demo account reflects this. Idea's anyone? Kenny, perhaps?

If someone could make this happen you will have my eternal gratitude!

Ok, here is the EA with unintended initialisation protection.

The StopProfit variable appears to be a variable that is used to calculate the various profit levels as the ea does a partial close. Apart from displaying the info it does not actually appear to have any bearing on what the EA does, so I'm not sure why it is an external parameter.

Kenny you are awesome! Thank you so much I will test immediately.
I tried to PM you yesterday, but couldn't (no link) I wasn't going to pester you or anything, just wanted to say thanks one more time....

You are welcome.....

The initialisation protection will give you a warning for the most common cases of accidental running and EA such as terminal closure or timeframe changes, etc. If you choose cancel, on the message box, it will remove the EA from the chart.

The ones that it does not give you a warning for are when you bring up the EA properties box intentionally(click on the smiley face), dragging the EA onto the chart after intentionally removing a previous EA, or when you close a chart.

Hope it helps.

I just tested the fuction and it works But you knew that already, didn't you...nice work, Kenny. Thanks again.

Kenny, do you do private work also? If so, shoot me a PM.

do this EA use hidden/stealth SL & TP mode?

Yes, it uses a a market order to close. Server side stops are incompatible with partial closing of orders.

IMHO, the concept of hidden stops is way over-rated. I have never seen any evidence that they are effective. The fact is that stoplosses are stop orders, which by their nature are trend or 'run-causing' orders. Often stops are clustered together globally by traders around the world and this has the effect of consuming liquidity that causes price to run and this is mistaken as stop-hunting. If you then come along with your market order, you will simply have your order at the back of the que and you will be slipped more than if you had a server stop.

The broker has the ability to 'spike' the data feed, but he cannot spike your particular feed independently, so unless you feel that your trade is moving the market, it is unlikely that there will be a significant difference in the outcome between a server based stop and a 'stealth' stop.

In terms of a takeprofit, this is the most effective way you can exit a trade. It is like a limit order as I have never seen slippage on my TP to below the level of the server side TP. I have seen a profitable order closed for a loss by closing it through a market order though.

Hi kenny, I had a request from the leader of the trade group to ask if I could get some modifications to this EA (it has been working great BTW).

He sent me a message this morning asking...what we need it to do is use just two TP's- with stops moved to BE when TP1 is reached.

I feel a little funny to just come here to ask for something when I have little to contribute, but I figure it's worth a shot.

Thanks for considering, Andy

Andy, did you get my PM?

I did kenny thanks. I was a slacker this weekend. You should have my reply by now. Thanks for your generosity!!

uote=kennyhubbard;3947633]Andy, did you get my PM?[/quote]

try increasing the sl (and probably your take profits) to 500 vs 50.

It appears you are using 5 digit broker so what is 50 pips to a 4 digiter is 500 to a 5 digiter.

By the way, did you ever get the stops to BE change? I would be interested if your willing to share.

Forget that last post of mine, I deleted it. Sometimes I'm an idiot...






That is a different EA you are asking about, kenny is working on it when he has time.