Why does my EA miss some good trades? | Forex Factory

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Why does my EA miss some good trades?

  • #1
  • First Post: Mar 2, 2018 8:44am Mar 2, 2018 8:44am
Hello everyone, i've been working with a programmer to create an expert advisor and along the line, i got puzzled on why it misses some good trades. Also, it fails to exit some trades when an opposite signal comes up, though it was programmed to do so. Can anyone help me with good suggestions as to get to the bottom of this? Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.
  • #2
  • Mar 2, 2018 9:12am Mar 2, 2018 9:12am
It's a good question
  • #3
  • Mar 2, 2018 9:18am Mar 2, 2018 9:18am
Seriously, you can't think why? Face palm...

Quoting timidave
Hello everyone, i've been working with a programmer to create an expert advisor and along the line, i got puzzled on why it misses some good trades. Also, it fails to exit some trades when an opposite signal comes up, though it was programmed to do so. Can anyone help me with good suggestions as to get to the bottom of this? Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.
"The meek shall inherit the earth.." Yeah right, good luck with that shit..
  • #4
  • Mar 2, 2018 10:02am Mar 2, 2018 10:02am
If you post up the code, I'm sure someone will be more than willing to take a look, but without the code no one will be able to answer your question.
"Pips are vanity. Profit is sanity."
  • #5
  • Mar 2, 2018 10:19am Mar 2, 2018 10:19am
It's the difference between your subjectivity, your unconscious desire to see only good trades and great exits after the charts are already drawn, and the objectivity of the EA that just follow the rules you gave him with no subjectivity. It's the difference between winning and losing. By the way, if you can't trade manually profitably with the rules of your system, don't bother with an EA. It will not do better than you. If you are not patient enough, trade at least on a trade simulator instead of backtesting. You'd be surprised.
Don't give up on your dreams. Keep sleeping.
  • #6
  • Mar 3, 2018 1:47am Mar 3, 2018 1:47am
wtf is this..i dont get it
  • #7
  • Mar 3, 2018 6:13am Mar 3, 2018 6:13am
If by missing good trades you mean that your EA is seemingly not following the rules you think you have programmed into it then the issue is faulty code. The next step is to check your logs and trading journal for order errors and if there are none then your logic is to blame.
  • #8
  • Edited 9:55am Mar 3, 2018 9:19am | Edited 9:55am
Quoting timidave
Hello everyone, i've been working with a programmer to create an expert advisor and along the line, i got puzzled on why it misses some good trades. Also, it fails to exit some trades when an opposite signal comes up, though it was programmed to do so. Can anyone help me with good suggestions as to get to the bottom of this?
The EAs that I write have a subroutine (procedure) that dumps the values of critical registers (variables) to a file, which I call from strategic points in the code, if a 'debug' switch is turned on. This makes it possible for me to check what these values were, so that I can later review exactly why my EA took trades that it shouldn't have, missed trades that it should have taken, or otherwise does anything else that seems wrong, by walking through the program code; a step beyond what the data in MT4's journals and logs have to offer. After I'm satisfied that my code is working 100% correctly, I simply set the debug switch to 'off', and I periodically prune or delete the dump files (as they tend to get quite large).

Some of my EAs are complex, and without this facility, I would find them extremely difficult to debug. Historical scenarios in the market can't easily be reproduced, and I would otherwise have no way of knowing exactly why my code failed to deliver the desired result.

My EAs also have a facility to take screenshots of the chart when trades are entered or exited, which can also be helpful for reviewing historical scenarios.

I also write EAs for some of my trading buddies. Reviewing the process in the above manner helps to determine whether the code is faulty, whether they have failed to explain their trading rules to me correctly, or whether there is some other reason (e.g. an unexpected spike in the spread), for any anomalies that they allege have occurred. I normally walk through the debug process with them on skype, which helps to give them an appreciation of how EAs operate.

Perhaps you could discuss this kind of approach with your programmer. I've attached a code fragment below (the debug subroutines, copied from one of my EAs) as an example for him/her.
Attached File(s)
File Type: mq4 debug code.mq4   28 KB | 379 downloads
  • #9
  • Dec 17, 2018 11:25pm Dec 17, 2018 11:25pm
Quoting hanover
{quote} The EAs that I write have a subroutine (procedure) that dumps the values of critical registers (variables) to a file, which I call from strategic points in the code, if a 'debug' switch is turned on. This makes it possible for me to check what these values were, so that I can later review exactly why my EA took trades that it shouldn't have, missed trades that it should have taken, or otherwise does anything else that seems wrong, by walking through the program code; a step beyond what the data in MT4's journals and logs have to offer. After...
Many thanks for this great reply. Wish you could help me do some debugging on my EA
  • #10
  • Dec 19, 2018 8:01am Dec 19, 2018 8:01am
Quoting timidave
Hello everyone, i've been working with a programmer to create an expert advisor and along the line, i got puzzled on why it misses some good trades. Also, it fails to exit some trades when an opposite signal comes up, though it was programmed to do so. Can anyone help me with good suggestions as to get to the bottom of this? Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.
When coding , assume you want to buy at Price 1.2310 as the Ask Price. Instead of using the word Ask. use the words

{
NormalizeDouble(MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_ASK),Digits)
}
  • #11
  • Dec 19, 2018 8:31am Dec 19, 2018 8:31am
Very often, this has nothing to do with subjectivity, it's just poor programming.

Here is what I do to be (almost) sure that my orders get filled...

Inserted Code
      TicketNumber = OrderSend( ...);
      for( int i=0; i<10 && TicketNumber == -1; i++ ){
         Sleep ( 500 );
         RefreshRates();
         TicketNumber = OrderSend( ... );
      }
      if( pT.m_TicketNumber == -1 ){
         // Something went really wrong here, print (log) some debug information...
      }

The same to get orders closed.

Inserted Code
         for( i=0; i<10 && OrderClose( TicketNumber, ...) == false; i++ ){
            Sleep( 500 );
            RefreshRates();
         }

This code works since several years and I had to date no trade or close missed !

Also, take care that the slippage parameter if your ea trades on high volatility as this could cause your order to be rejected.
Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.
  • #12
  • Dec 19, 2018 9:23pm Dec 19, 2018 9:23pm
Quoting broketrader
Very often, this has nothing to do with subjectivity, it's just poor programming. Here is what I do to be (almost) sure that my orders get filled... TicketNumber = OrderSend( ...); for( int i=0; i<10 && TicketNumber == -1; i++ ){ Sleep ( 500 ); RefreshRates(); TicketNumber = OrderSend( ... ); } if( pT.m_TicketNumber == -1 ){ // Something went really wrong here, print (log) some debug information... } The same to get orders closed. for( i=0; i<10 && OrderClose( TicketNumber, ...) == false; i++ ){ Sleep( 500 ); RefreshRates(); } This code works since...
Hello, thanks for this response. I had always felt it could be my slippage parameter that restrains some trades. What slippage would you suggest please so thqt it will allow for more trades? Thanks
  • #13
  • Dec 19, 2018 11:46pm Dec 19, 2018 11:46pm
Quoting timidave
{quote} Hello, thanks for this response. I had always felt it could be my slippage parameter that restrains some trades. What slippage would you suggest please so thqt it will allow for more trades? Thanks
Well there is no right or wrong value, it depends on the type of trading you are doing.

If you're scalping for some pips, then you don't want to have a too much large value (certainly 1-2 pip max), on the contrary if you're doing swing or trend trading and going for more than 20-30 pips, certainly that a value of 2 to 5 or a bit more would do it.
Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.
  • #14
  • Dec 21, 2018 1:03am Dec 21, 2018 1:03am
Quoting broketrader
{quote} Well there is no right or wrong value, it depends on the type of trading you are doing. If you're scalping for some pips, then you don't want to have a too much large value (certainly 1-2 pip max), on the contrary if you're doing swing or trend trading and going for more than 20-30 pips, certainly that a value of 2 to 5 or a bit more would do it.
Many thanks!!!
  • #15
  • Last Post: Aug 30, 2019 3:54am Aug 30, 2019 3:54am
I am having the same problem and I don't receive any errors in the journal to specify why the trade isn't entering or exiting.

I use market orders for ECN so I didn't think that specifying slippage really mattered.

Did changing the slippage work for you?

Thanks.
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