Follow the BIG Candle

smaller dd

and U/J ..

This is a release for older MT4 versions. It was compiled on Build 445. Let me know if it works/or not.
I have put a suffix of "x" in the file name in order to differentiate between the two versions.

Regards,

The only valid "old" MT4 version should be 509 ...

I tried the version compiled with Build 445 on Build 500 and it worked fine.
Guys with older versions please try it and let me know if it didn't work along with MT4 Build number.

Thanks.

Great job guys. Seems you can make it work on any timeframe. Been running tests on 5mins too.

Would it be a good idea to be able to set the stop in relation to the Entry Candle and not the ATR? If the entry candle is say 100pips, I would like my stoploss to be bellow the candle, so sl would be say 1.2 x Entry candle. That way its always bellow the entry candle because with news a huge candle appears, very often retraces to the origin and then the rest of the unfilled orders gets filled and it continues in right direction. just a thought, will post some test results in coming weeks.

This possible by setting the "sl_atr" parameter to the same amount (or more) of the "atr_multiple" paramter.

abokwaik - trail_stop_jump = 5 applies to broker with 4 digits, or 5 digits?

For 4-digit brokers you can set it to 5 or 10. While for 5-digit brokers to 50 or 100 (as it will be in points not pips).

194 downloads for the 1st version and 86 downloads for the 2nd version. Good. BTW I prefer that we all use the latest version "Big_Candle_02".

So, What's next ?

I know that each pair/time-frame requires different parameters.

So, one of our goals should be to find best parameters for different pairs/tfs for a specific period (say 2013), and then run with the same setup on a different period say (2012 and earlier years for people who have historical data) and see if results were consistent or not.

Other goal will be to see where the script fails (makes large loss or high drawdown) and investigate the reasons in order to fix the script accordingly.

I am not looking for random huge profits, if we can get 20 to 30% annual profit consistently thats fine with me.

In setting the parameters, many things should be considered:

1. Pair Volatility (for example GBP/AUD is much more volatile that EUR/USD)
2. Time Frames (large parameters with smaller time frames and visa/versa)
3. Trending or Ranging pair (for example I don't think it will work with EUR/GBP)

Please share your results, comments and improving ideas.

Regards,

Khalil

What is the difference between points and pips?

Example with 1.30023 on a 5digits broker ... the last 2 digits represent 2.3 pips or 23 points.

I would caution against wasting too much time trying to 'improve' this ea based on backtesting results. I think you will find there are plenty of other problems you will find when running it live. Backtest results on this ea wont have any relationship to how it will perform live.

A big bar shows significant momentum which means you are going to slipped massively if you get filled at all. Also big bars typically happen at news which means the spreads are going to be much wider. The backtester wont even take any of this into account but running live both will be in play and will likely add up to maybe 2 or more times ATR (if you even get filled) on almost every trade this ea takes.

I am not saying its a bad strategy. In fact its a perfectly logical one but your wasting your time thinking about optimizing backtest results etc when you really need to be live testing and figuring out how to deal with all the requotes, slippage and wide spreads.

Great! This is what I want to hear. With respect to every one, this is the most interesting reply so far.

 

1. Spread : With all auto-trading I prefer to use Fixed Spread. Some Brokers have only Fixed-Spread, and some have both options. For example I changed my account with FXDD from Variable to Fixed spread, and its fixed All the time (around 14 months so far). And hence we are looking for big moves (specially on large time frames) spread will not make a big difference.
2. Slippage : Since we are entering the trade after multiple ATRs, the hot action will be probably ended by then. For example if we are trading the H1 timeframe with atr_multiple of 5, and atr normally around 15pips (for GBP/USD) so we are entering only if the candle size reached 5x15=75 pips and most probably this will be after the slippage fight is over.
3. Back testing and Optimization: We need to test any strategy before going live. Testing on Demo is preferred, but since that will take a long time (specially for large time frames), we are left with Back testing option at least until we are comfortable with the idea. Taking my comments on Spread & Slippage would make back testing not a so bad idea.

All my respect,

Khalil

A couple of comments on using MA (Moving average) related parameters:

1. ma_period : If you set to a value(20,100,200 etc), the system will open trades only if price above the MA. So to disable this parameter you can set to a min. value of 1
2. ma_open_atr: if set to a value 5, the system will open trades only if distance between current price and the MA is less than 5 x ATR. So if you like to disable it an open trades regardless of distance between price and MA then Set it to a high value (say 100)
3. ma_tp_atr: if set to a value of 5 for example, the system will take profit on 1/2 the position size, and let the rest running until trailing stop is hit. If you want to disable this option you can set it to a higher value than tp_atr so the system will take full profit at tp_atr or trailing stop.

One last note on MA, as much as the period is small (5 , 8, 10) as much as we are likely to catch the beginning of the swing.


I hope this is useful.

Thank you. Abokwaik tests are with a broker with 4 digts.

Are you asking or telling ?

The tests I attached were with 4-digit broker. The only difference for a 5-digit broker will be that you multiple the trailing stop jump by 10 because for a 5-digit broker this number means points (tenths of pips).

I hope this is clear.

Hi abokwaik !

I put the EA in the expert folder, but once mt4 launched the file disappeared. Any other EAs would work properly... Any clue ?

which mt4 version/build you have? If 600 pls refer to posts 15/16.To know which build# you have:go to Help menu and click About.

...build 509