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Snowballs and the anti-grid

  • #21
  • Mar 23, 2010 7:26am Mar 23, 2010 7:26am
Quoting zznbrm
MBTrading does not allow stop orders (pending) in both directions. You can obviously place a stop order in 1 direction (say, buy). But, when you try to open a stop order in the other direction (sell) at the same time, you get a "Too many orders" error.
i can't understand why metaquotes did not simply make some updates to the server software so that pending stops would scale out or close the oldest trade and then apply the same logic to stoplosses. This would have eliminated almost the entire problem and left the majority of EA strategies intact.
  • #22
  • Mar 23, 2010 12:04pm Mar 23, 2010 12:04pm
The problem with the magic number collisions should be solved now. Update the EA and common_functions. I have rewritten makeMagicNumber() and now it should be pretty safe.

Don't update if you have a pyramid running! Wait until it is closed, because the magic number will change with the update. Also the equity plots will gap and begin at $5000 again.

This version does not yet address the FIFO problem. I just wanted to have this serious bug with the magic numbers fixed as soon as possible.
  • #23
  • Mar 26, 2010 9:27am Mar 26, 2010 9:27am
trying your EA, let's see how it goes...
  • #24
  • Edited 4:17pm Mar 26, 2010 12:35pm | Edited 4:17pm
I fixed some bugs.

Current EA version is 2010.3.26.2

(needs common_functions.mqh version 2010.3.26.1 or later if you want to compile it yourself.)
  • #25
  • Mar 27, 2010 11:20pm Mar 27, 2010 11:20pm
Quoting 7bit
I fixed some bugs.

Current EA version is 2010.3.26.2

(needs common_functions.mqh version 2010.3.26.1 or later if you want to compile it yourself.)
Hey 7bit, hows everything, just passing to say hello, keep your good work man.

C ya

F4p
  • #26
  • Mar 28, 2010 6:03am Mar 28, 2010 6:03am
I'm surprised twoblink hasn't shown up here yet.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  • #27
  • Apr 27, 2010 2:34pm Apr 27, 2010 2:34pm
Quoting 7bit
Here is a little EA i wrote that will assist in pyramiding profits.
http://sites.google.com/site/prof7bit/snowball
It is not a fully automated system, so so don't even try to make an automated backtest, instead it is meant as a tool for short-term starting, building and closing a pyramid, a trade-management EA so to speak. Please carefully read and try to understand the article and all instructions and trade it on demo only until you are sure you know what you are doing.

The EA is provided as an .ex4 file which can...
Firstly a big thanks to 7Bit for developing this very interesting EA.

It was my interest and search for Anti-martingale hedging strategies that led me to this.

I have traded Snowball for a week or so on the EURUSD using 0.1 lots and and stop distance of 5 pips on demo for three days now... and found the following:

(1) Don't trade news... big news that is...

(2) Engage near a significant high or low... using bi-directional. (break or bounce points)

(3) Harvest profits regularly. (2-6% per sequence)

Thus far I have taken profits from $10 000 to 13 200... over-heated for sure... but will keep watching over the next few weeks.

I would so appreciate if 7Bit could explain the action of this EA in layman (for dummies) terms.

Again, many thanks for making this available.

Best,

Tim
[email protected]
  • #28
  • May 29, 2010 10:58pm May 29, 2010 10:58pm
How many levels do you get at any given break out? I believe one basket would get around 10%. with pyramiding it is not as aggressive as martingale.

When do you turn your trades off? Or do you just simply run it until it stops you out?

Thank you in advance.
  • #29
  • May 31, 2010 4:25pm May 31, 2010 4:25pm
thanks for your work but my broker does not work, my broker is activtrades is London ....
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: snow.gif Size: 15 KB
  • #30
  • Edited 7:49am Jun 1, 2010 7:15am | Edited 7:49am
Quoting Togu
How many levels do you get at any given break out? [...]
When do you turn your trades off?
This is difficult to answer. I usually wait at least until it goes into profit one or two levels beyond the green breakeven line, sometimes I have to wait a week(!) or even more (with 30 pip per level on eurusd), sometimes I can have one or two profitable pyramids in only one day. It is not unusual that I have 20 or 30 or even more stoploss hits before it finally goes into profit, much patience is needed.

Thats the reason I recommend demoing it for a few months until you get a feel for how it behaves and what to expect and also to see how much drawdown and profit to expect. This will give you the confidence you need for this system.

In the following screenshot you can see what I'm currently doing: It is in long mode and currently accumulated 436$ losses (~14 stops since friday) for this pyramid, it is one of the not so easy ones (because I expected a long and euro did the opposite). I will most likely close this pyramid once it crosses the green break-even mark which is currently at 1.2290.

As you can see it has trailed down the first entry this morning and with it also the break-even point. Currently I would need a total of 6 levels in total from the bottom (any bottom) to cross break even and come out with profit.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: 2010-06-01-141938_1023x525_scrot.png Size: 53 KB


In the next screenshot you can see the profit curve of my EURUSD activities during the last few months. The red line is where I started my current long pyramid. as you can see, although 430$ might look like a big drawdown and the attempt to long euro from here might look like a hopeless thing in the first screenshot the profits *when* they come are far bigger than the drawdowns and currently it does not yet look like anything to worry about in any way:

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: 2010-06-01-144405_1023x523_scrot.png Size: 33 KB
  • #31
  • Jun 1, 2010 7:17am Jun 1, 2010 7:17am
Quoting pichi
thanks for your work but my broker does not work, my broker is activtrades is London ....
What exactly does not work?

The screenshot does not show anything unusual, the EA is loaded and awaiting your commands. Did you carefully read all the instructions and tried it on demo?
  • #32
  • Edited 10:04am Jun 1, 2010 9:36am | Edited 10:04am
Quoting 7bit
In the following screenshot you can see what I'm currently doing: It is in long mode and currently accumulated 436$ losses
Less than a few hours later I could close this pyramid one level above breakeven and make a total of twohundred-something dollars. I closed the pyramid here mainly because I didn't want to let this already long running thing continue any longer. It was a very suboptimal entry and when this happens I try to close as soon as possible.

See the attached screenshots and compare them to my previous posting, I hope this helps understanding how I use this tool:

Chart with EA:
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: 2010-06-01-162933_1023x522_scrot.png Size: 52 KB

Profit curve:
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: 2010-06-01-163004_1023x526_scrot.png Size: 33 KB


PS: There will be an update soon with some new functions, the most important one is being able to pause the pyramiding at any level (for example on friday) and resume it later. This will be done by closing all trades and reopening them all at a later time. The stoplosses of all re-opened trades will be placed in intervals of stop_distance from current price and profit and breakeven calculation will continue as seamlessly as the realtime equity curve. It will also be possible to reverse a running pyramid (pause it and then simply continue it into the other direction)! There will also be "active lines" (lines you draw that will trigger commands) for all possible commands: "start long", "start short", "start bidir", "stop" and "pause". Stay tuned to this thread!
  • #33
  • Jun 1, 2010 4:19pm Jun 1, 2010 4:19pm
A tribute to the clear thinking of 7Bit.

May I encourage all visitors to read and re-read the theory and explanation behind Snowball EA.

http://sites.google.com/site/prof7bit/snowball

Anti-grid (not anti-martingale) is the best way to describe this system. But to understand anti-grid... you have to understand how the hidden equity draw-down that impairs grid trading. Only when this is fully understood we can unlock the potential of anti-grid system.

We are all learning much from this forum.
  • #34
  • Edited 9:24am Jun 2, 2010 6:30am | Edited 9:24am
There is a new version: 2010.6.2.1 of the snowball EA available.
If you want to compile it yourself you will also need to update to the current version of common_functions.mqh which is at the time of this writing also version 2010.6.2.1

New functionality:

 

  1. pause a running cycle at any moment and at any level, this will close all open positions and remember the current level so you can seamlessly resume it later (by simply using one of the start commands). This way you can also reverse by simply restarting into the other direction.
  2. some additional active lines were added: You can now draw lines that trigger not only the "stop" command but also all other available commands for which buttons exist. Draw a line (horizontal or trend) and into the description field (not the name!) write the command you want to be triggered when price crosses this line. Available commands are "start long", "start short", "start bidir", "stop" and "pause" (without the quotation marks).
  3. auto-tp: enter a positive integer value and it will automatically stop once you are this many levels above break even.

The break even calculation had to be changed to make it work also for resumed cycles that were paused when already in profit. The new implementation is not optimal yet (I really don't like this part of the code, it sucks big time, but I have no better implementation yet), it may sometimes look a bit inaccurate but the error is always less than one break-even step (one stop-loss) and this becomes only visible when price is near a stop-loss (the last trade is losing). The older the cycle is and the closer you come to break-even the more accurate it becomes.

Download it at http://sites.google.com/site/prof7bit/snowball and report problems and bugs here in this thread.

  • #35
  • Jun 3, 2010 10:18pm Jun 3, 2010 10:18pm
Quoting 7bit
There is a new version: 2010.6.2.1 of the snowball EA available.
If you want to compile it yourself you will also need to update to the current version of common_functions.mqh which is at the time of this writing also version 2010.6.2.1

New functionality:
[list][*]pause a running cycle at any moment and at any level, this will close all open positions and remember the current level so you can seamlessly resume it later (by simply using one of the start commands). This way you can also reverse by simply restarting into the...
Thank you for your hard work! I think this is the best semiauthomatical EA available on the forum. I have a question regarding the snowball. Does it move the SL when it moves to your direction? for example If 2nd level was opened after 20 pips then the 1st level goes into break even? If yes I would try this today on NFP with bidirectional trades.
Thanks again.
  • #36
  • Edited 4:15am Jun 4, 2010 3:56am | Edited 4:15am
Quoting Togu
Thank you for your hard work! I think this is the best semiauthomatical EA available on the forum. I have a question regarding the snowball. Does it move the SL when it moves to your direction? for example If 2nd level was opened after 20 pips then the 1st level goes into break even?
No, all SLs stay where they are. This is intentional to not lose any level. I want to make sure that when I am x pips away from the bottom (or top) it is guaranteed that I have always (x/distance) trades running and in profit. Therefore it will only scale out one trade after the other.

You are not the first one to ask this question and I am already thinking about making experiments with such a modified stoploss-strategy, but this need some more time. Currently I'm exclusively trading the snowball in its current incarnation on my account and I'm very comfortable with the way it works, the motivation to change this running system (running for me) is not very strong (at the moment).
  • #37
  • Jun 4, 2010 5:23am Jun 4, 2010 5:23am
Quoting 7bit
No, all SLs stay where they are. This is intentional to not lose any level. I want to make sure that when I am x pips away from the bottom (or top) it is guaranteed that I have always (x/distance) trades running and in profit. Therefore it will only scale out one trade after the other.

You are not the first one to ask this question and I am already thinking about making experiments with such a modified stoploss-strategy, but this need some more time. Currently I'm exclusively trading the snowball in its current incarnation on my account and I'm...
Thanks for the clarification. Can you provide with investors password of your demo account? Do you trade exactly the same methodology with your demo you showed last time? Because I'm not getting how you trade, seems like you leave the trades open for more than one trading day. But in your web site you were suggesting to open trades during the break outs, I wonder how you manage the trades. Thanks
  • #38
  • Jun 4, 2010 5:41am Jun 4, 2010 5:41am
Quoting Togu
I'm not getting how you trade, seems like you leave the trades open for more than one trading day. But in your web site you were suggesting to open trades during the break outs, I wonder how you manage the trades. Thanks
I should change the text on the website ;-)

I initially started to try to trade this on breakouts only but I have found myself now most often trying to use it to catch tops and bottoms. (If i zoom out to higher timeframes there is sometimes also an imminent breakout to justify it, for example currently I am awaiting the breakout long in eurusd of the H4 trend line to materialize)

The fact that it will trail the first entry (in unidirectional mode) when the last trade is stopped out makes it ideal for chasing tops and bottoms. Yesterday I started a short on usdjpy, trying to catch a top.

I have started a new thread in the trading journals section where I will document what I am doing with it and will post screenshots and equity curves: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=239717 so we can separate technical discussion (the mechanics of the EA) and practical usage in trading.
  • #39
  • Jun 4, 2010 1:50pm Jun 4, 2010 1:50pm
I like your idea of letting profits run by doubling and tripling our bets when we are in profit. Where you may able to improve your Ea is during losses. Rather than take small loss when price moves immediately against you, perhaps you can incorporate into your ea, a recovery 2.4.2 policy (doc attached) which allows price moving against us some time to retrace back in our direction (this is not full martingale which is suicide). Please have a read.
Attached File(s)
File Type: doc recovery 242.doc   48 KB | 1,166 downloads
  • #40
  • Jun 6, 2010 1:06am Jun 6, 2010 1:06am
I have a minilot broker, so cannot trade microlots of 0.01 which is the default setting of snowball.ex4

I tried to compile the snowball.mq4 with default lots set to 0.1 and placed the include files in their folder, but I got the following error which is not compile error but something else:

Inserted Code
1;39;;;Function "shell" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "print" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "stringReplace" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "buyLimit" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "sellLimit" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "trailTargets" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "trailStops" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "lockProfit" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "isOrder" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "reducePosition" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "moveStop" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "moveOrder" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "moveTarget" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "getLotsOnTable" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "getAveragePositionPrice" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "getLastProfit" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "selectLastClosedTrade" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "line" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "vertLine" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "text" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
1;39;;;Function "getPyramidBase1" is not referenced and will be removed from exp-file
how to solve it?
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