The CARMEN System Indicator

this system is no longer under developement.

The idea is to have small to zero losses in ranging markets and then make a killing on trends.
Carmen has the simplicity of a moving average system where trades open and close on MA crosses, but she has 0 lag.
This system is for the one-minute timframe.

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There were two themes for the latest release, v4.00: better ranging performance, and a simplified, more intuitive interface.
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Better Ranging Performance
The CARMEN indicator now actively employs three different methods to limit losses due to ranging:
1) 50% of your position should be closed early when the trade is in profit 6-10 pips. The exact value is determined by the variable quick_profit. If the whole trade is not a success, then this profit taken early will reduce the loss to nearly breakeven once the second 50% of the position closes.

2)Untill the whole width of the channel is in profit, the channel will follow the price a distance defined by breakeven_rate. Once the channel is in profit, it will then follow the price at a distance defined by the much slower expand_rate_1. This will help the latter 50% of the position close with minimal losses(or even a small profit) in the event of a sudden reversal.

3)A secret indicator is used to measure trend strength. The period of this indicator is defined by Xindi_period. When the strength of the trend falls below start_trending, then the channel lines turn red and NO new trades should be initiated. When the channel lines turn green again, then it is relatively safe to open a new trade.

Simplified, and a more Intuitive Interface
System Rules:

When the channel lines are Green and when the MA moves outside the channel, open a new trade. If the price is below the channel, open a sell. If it is above the channel, open a buy. The MA should now be Yellow. When the MA turns green, which will happen soon if the price continues to move in the direction of your trade, then close 50% of your position. Close the second 50% of the position when the MA crosses the channel again. If the MA never changes from yellow to green, this means that the price has suddenly retraced. If the channel is still green when the price exists through the opposite side of the channel, exist the position and open a new one. However if the channel has turned red, then simply exist the position, but do not open a new one.

Setting Descriptions:
Play_Sound? : plays sound when indicator indicates a trade opening, trade closing, or when a position should be reduced.
Send_Email? : sends Email when indicator indicates a trade opening, trade closing, or when a position should be reduced.
Show_Message? : shows Message when indicator indicates a trade opening, trade closing, or when a position should be reduced.
spacebase : width of channel in pips
bufferplus : channel will follow price at breakeven_rate till channel is width of channel*bufferplus pips above(or below for sell) order open price.
start_trending : if indicator value is below start_trending, then channel will turn red and no new trades should be opened.
Xindi_period : period of secret indicator that measures trend strength
breakeven_rate : channel will follow price at breakeven_rate till channel is width of channel*bufferplus pips above(or below for sell) order open price.
quick_profit : MA will change from yellow and green and 50% of position should be closed when the trade is in profit by quick_profit points
expand_rate_1 : distance that the channel will follow the price before profit has reached start_at_pips_profit_2
start_at_pips_profit_2 : Determines how profitible trade must be before channel will follow price at the Main_expand_rate_2
Main_expand_rate_2 : Determines how closely the channel will follow the price when profit is between start_at_pips_profit_2 and start_at_pips_profit_3.
start_at_pips_profit_3 : Determines how profitible trade must before channel will follow price at the Main_expand_rate_3
Main_expand_rate_3 : Determines how closely the channel will follow the price when profit is greater than start_at_pips_profit_3


Carmen v4:
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Updates:
v1.01 - 2NOV2009
- Indicator now draws correctly for any currency, just select 4-digit broker or 5-digit broker in indicator settings panel.
- Indicator settings now in whole values.
v1.02 - 2NOV2009
- Indicator automatically determines 4-digit or 5-digit broker setting.
v1.03 - 2NOV2009
- I can take errors in the calculation but errors in the drawing drive me crazy. Fixes drawing for cases when there is not a lot of historical data.
v2.00 - 3NOV2009
- Now the trader can set up 3 groups of settings for three different market moods. The EA will automatically switch from group to the other, depending on how profitable the current trade is.
v2.01 - 5NOV2009
- changed some internal variables to make the indicator a little better
- made some extern variables internal to simplify to the interface. if you want them back just change the source code.
v2.80 - 11NOV2009
- lots and lots of changes
- channel is now mirrored to trade ranging markets
- settings change now based on distance from base trend, vs profit of trade
v3.10 - 27NOV2009
- more similar to the versions before v2.8. Backtracked because 2.8 could only handle ranging around the trendline, ranging in other areas still created havoc.
- indicator now handles ranging by employing two trailing take-profit lines to grab profit early. these lines follow the price at user-defined distances and these distances can be set to change at three different user-defined levels of profit.
- descriptions for the settings are in the indicator.
v4 - 18DEC2009
- added several design features to limit losses due to ranging
- simplified the interface, made it more intuitive
v4.01 - 18DEC2009
- added requested feature: extern variables for line thickness's
- resets alert trigger on MT4 close

sorry,i have absolutely no idea how to trade this carmen,exit and entry's on cross?,could you please explain it more in detail,newbie and no clue!
thanks!

When the white line is above the yellow and blue lines, buy.
Then when the white lines falls below the yellow and blue lines, close the buy and sell.
Then when the white lines rises back above the yellow and blue lines, close the sell and buy.

And Repeat.

You'll always have a order open with this system.

And don't forget money management.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9349/carmen.gif



good morning,

added his EA in USDJPY, TF H1 and M5, but the result is equal to the chart that accompanies it.

Is there a different configuration that should be done?

Grateful

It's because your USDJPY has 3 digits past the decimal point, and the default values are for 4 digits past the decimal point. My bad.

Give me a sec and I'll post a quick fix to detect that.

Okay, I fixed it. It will draw correctly on any currency now. The only difference is all the indicator settings are now in whole number.

Refer to my first post for the updated file.

yeah...thats fine. You'll have to change the other 3 variables too.

breakeven_buffer
space
expand_rate

thank you very much. will observe the strategy for a few hours and give you my opinion hulide.

my only question is how to "repaints". they occur in this EA? There is a statistic on this issue?

yes, except for ideally those variables are extern variables so you can easily change them. But it wouldn't be hard to figure out a fix for that either. I prefer my way. Its simpler.

You really shouldn't spill those beans, lol.

I got into a small debate on this forum afew weeks ago. He wanted to invert a loser to make it a winner. Well there's only 1 consistent loser I know of, and that's a system that never takes a profit (regardless of stop loss). The inverse of that is a system that constantly takes a profit. Think about it.

Of course there's a few more details to consider, but overall...

Nice Thread.......except the fact i had to scroll left to right instead of up and down....(over sized chart) grrrrrrrrrrr.

thx,
todd

I'll make them smaller next time.

Thx,...I'm just messing with ya anyway.

By the way...kool indicator. Looking at the 1min chart for e/u, it's sure been long for quite a while.

thx,
todd

If this thread gets enough attention I might release an EA for the indicator, so that the values could be optimized. The EA would include a few other tricks.

embarrassed to show my ignorance, but in the indicator settings, if i have a 4-digit broker, do i only need to change the 5-digit broker from true to false or are there other steps above my pay grade that need to be done. thanks in advance...

sounds good!

May I ask you how successful you are with this system?

Are you mechanically following your rules or you judge other conditions to enter the trades?

Thanks!

I'm using IBFX and the second indicator you posted here, and see nothing but a white line running through the price, on a 1 min EUR/USD chart. Is there supposed to be some other colors somewhere?

Sorry, changed it to 4 digit and the lines appeared.

Confused with the wording of your entries and exits when looking at your charts. Shouldn't the rules be..When the white line is above the yellow and blue line, you should buy.

When the white line falls below the blue line, you exit.

When the white line falls below the yellow and blue line you sell.

When the white line goes above the yellow line, you exit.

Can you add arrows and show us when you enter, exit, sell and exit on your 5 minute charts. Thanks

Hi aicccia,
I downloaded the indicator, chose 4 digits for MT4 and still nothing appeared on the chart. Did the same thing with the second still nothing. Please help.
Tia, Gab