What should be noted when going live with MT4? | Forex Factory

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What should be noted when going live with MT4?

  • #1
  • First Post: Oct 19, 2010 3:28pm Oct 19, 2010 3:28pm
I´ve done quite a lot of back- and demo testing with my MT4 experts, and results look quite promising. I have used 8 different pairs on D1 for months now, and all pairs have gone up as I thought they should. Now I would like to start doing live trading with minimum lots to see what happens on a real Forex environment.

But, now I started thinking that are there some specific issues that I should be aware of before I start playing with real money?? I don't mean anything concering the way of trading, SL's, TP's, money management or such, but more of issues concerning the Metatrader environment itself, the way experts and trades are handled, good design patterns in MQL etc. etc.

So, all comments from you experienced MT4 live traders are more than welcome:

- What should I be aware of to minimize risks of unwanted situations or false trades and losing money with my expert?
- Any important issues with handling of error situations?
- How about requotes; what to do with them or how to prevent them?
- Typical mistakes that newbies do with MT4 experts?
- How about if Metatrader is closed & started again, can this gain any problems with open trades?
- Differences between demo & live accounts, what should be noted in expert?
- Good design patterns at the whole are very welcome!
  • #2
  • Oct 19, 2010 5:31pm Oct 19, 2010 5:31pm
What should be noted? Your acct balance because it will the last time you see it.


sorry, couldn't resist
  • #3
  • Oct 20, 2010 2:19am Oct 20, 2010 2:19am
Well, that's exactly what I'm afraid of ;=)

But can you Slack give any reason for your pessimism/realism?
  • #4
  • Oct 20, 2010 2:37am Oct 20, 2010 2:37am
Well, EAs have a bad reputation for blowing up accts. It's very hard to code an effective MM/trade mgmt scheme that can handle all market conditions.

High volatility, which is what we dealing with for years to come, can really screw with the EA.

I'm not against them; I ran one 24/7 in 2009 for a 45% ROI, but I was lucky and pulled the plug at the end of the year because I was forecasting an increase in volatility.

Anyway, I wish you success! Please keep us posted.
  • #5
  • Oct 20, 2010 9:17am Oct 20, 2010 9:17am
i definatly experienced some nasty broker tricks, i do see these tricks sometimes in demo nowadays

for requotes & off-quotes, use a boolean, count the trades before you enter and after
if the number doesnt change, keep trying to enter until it does

heres a example

Inserted Code
int orders=OrdersTotal();
   if (GlobalVariableGet(IsTesting()+Symbol()+"have_traded")==1)
   {
     if (longs&&iOpen(NULL,0,0)<iMA(NULL,0,10,0,MODE_EMA,PRICE_OPEN,0)&&iOpen(NULL,0,1)>iMA(NULL,0,10,0,MODE_EMA,PRICE_OPEN,1))
   {OrderSend(Symbol(),OP_BUY,lots,Ask,3,NULL,NULL,NULL,OrdersTotal(),0,Blue);if (sound)PlaySound("metalclang.wav");}

 
   if (orders!=OrdersTotal()){bar=iBarShift(NULL,0,0);GlobalVariableSet(IsTesting()+Symbol()+"have_traded",2);
   GlobalVariableSet(IsTesting()+Symbol()+"bar",iBarShift(NULL,0,0));
   }}

also youl need to use global variables like in my example
the reason is the broker can reset your ea anytime they wish

youl also need to count more than one bar on a indy, when the broker resets your ea, your indy will return a incorrect value, you may get bad results

so for coding a indy cross
if open > indy
thats not good enough

you need
if open > indy && previouse open < previouse indy
  • #6
  • Oct 20, 2010 9:35am Oct 20, 2010 9:35am
Quoting Slack
Well, EAs have a bad reputation for blowing up accts. It's very hard to code an effective MM/trade mgmt scheme that can handle all market conditions...
BINGO! This is the hardest part. All traders HATE to lose and many will hold onto a trade for far too long 'hoping' that it will turn around and go their way. Until you find a max acceptable loss strategy you'd better hold onto your rabbits foot. - Is not easy. It took me over a year to find a loss situation that I liked. One that happens infrequently enough (maybe once or twice every 6 months) while at the same time being a max loss that I can easily accept (about 1%). Once you have this plan you can stop worrying about losses and concentrate on improving the core profit strategy.
  • #7
  • Oct 20, 2010 9:49am Oct 20, 2010 9:49am
if open > indy && previouse open < previouse indy
The above makes sense.But really its tuff to go about wen real money gets involved.Little more careful reading is needed i think.
  • #8
  • Oct 20, 2010 9:55am Oct 20, 2010 9:55am
This should be noted too. You only have a 33% chance of being profitable, and here's hard evidence.
http://cdn.forexfactory.com/attachme...0&d=1286373245
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  • #9
  • Oct 20, 2010 10:00am Oct 20, 2010 10:00am
out of the 100%
what % is newbs
what % are experienced

Quoting stevegee58
This should be noted too. You only have a 33% chance of being profitable, and here's hard evidence.
http://cdn.forexfactory.com/attachme...0&d=1286373245
  • #10
  • Oct 20, 2010 10:02am Oct 20, 2010 10:02am
i think monthly statistics arent good
id love to see the same statistics from accounts that are 2 yrs or older, and instead of month, show us a yr

edit, oh i see its quarterly, that gives it more weight
  • #11
  • Oct 20, 2010 10:03am Oct 20, 2010 10:03am
Quoting a_trader
out of the 100%
what % is newbs
what % are experienced
Who cares? If the account had increased in value at the end of the quarter it was counted as profitable. If it decreased, it's unprofitable. If it had no trades it wasn't counted.

Speculation: 95+% of the accounts are small noob accounts.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  • #12
  • Oct 20, 2010 1:09pm Oct 20, 2010 1:09pm
A_trader, thank you very much for your tips! I did not know about the resetting of EA by the broker, what does it mean exactly?
  • #13
  • Oct 20, 2010 1:36pm Oct 20, 2010 1:36pm
its the same as re applying the ea to a chart, anything the ea was supposed to remember is lost
such as any booleans that were changed from default

Quoting AlliumPorrum
A_trader, thank you very much for your tips! I did not know about the resetting of EA by the broker, what does it mean exactly?
  • #14
  • Oct 20, 2010 1:46pm Oct 20, 2010 1:46pm
the problem is, if the broker resets your ea, youl see the screen flicker
maybe the ea isnt reset, but there screwing with data and giving u a tick at the same time
usually it happens to fast for the eye to see
sometimes itl be blank and say "waiting for update"
as if they are re writing your history

if your code says
if open>indy buy

when this little trick happens, the indy returns 0 for a millionth of a second, causing ur ea to open a trade, maybe even open then close depending on ur code

thats why u need use 2 bars for the main trigger indy
theres other ways to overcome it

to demonstrate the error, use ibfx, i use ibfx and i see it happen several times a day

make a simple ea using parabolic sar

if (open>sar) close sells and buy
if (open<sar) close buy and sell

youl see trades open n close in strange places, where sar wasnt even near crossing

now if you edit the code to this

if (open>sar&&pre_open<pre_sar) close sells and buy
if (open<sar&&pre_open>pre_sar)) close buy and sell

youl overcome the error

Quoting Tinakirby
if open > indy && previouse open < previouse indy
The above makes sense.But really its tuff to go about wen real money gets involved.Little more careful reading is needed i think.
  • #15
  • Oct 21, 2010 7:53am Oct 21, 2010 7:53am
Ok, thanks again A_trader.

Does this resetting affect only values got from indicators? I mean, I don't think that there is anyway that they could mess up with the variables defined & used in the EA?
  • #16
  • Oct 22, 2010 12:59pm Oct 22, 2010 12:59pm
when a ea is reset, the settings in the properties are used, it doesnt mean the settings you changed in the properties are reset

lets say you have a boolean set to false by default
when a indy cross or whatever, it changes to true
suddenly ur screen flickers, it gets set back to false


i dont know any better way to explain a ea being reset

all im saying, is the broker has that ability, its been happening to me every single day for years, i watch it with my eyes every day
iv seen it happen already 3 times today
it happens to diferent accounts, diferent pairs, at diferent times

just earlier, i had a mtf ma on my chart, set to h1
my screen flickered, the line became horizontal as if i no longer had h1 data

i find it hard to believe im the only 1 who has this problem everyday for years

log off demo, logon to a live account, youl see ur history be deleted then restored

thats exactly how it looks

wether the ea is reset, data being purged, something happens
Quoting AlliumPorrum
Ok, thanks again A_trader.

Does this resetting affect only values got from indicators? I mean, I don't think that there is anyway that they could mess up with the variables defined & used in the EA?
  • #17
  • Last Post: Nov 21, 2010 2:52pm Nov 21, 2010 2:52pm
Any other good tips'n hints?
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