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MT4 Auto/Manual Trading

  • #1
  • First Post: May 19, 2014 7:19am May 19, 2014 7:19am
Hello All,

As I'm new to MT4 and MQL I have a quick question about writing EAs.

Is it possible to use an EA to only enter trades through MT4 and then manually exit them at a later date?


Thanks in advance
Chorlton
  • #2
  • May 19, 2014 7:28am May 19, 2014 7:28am
Of course yes. Any order in the terminal can be managed manually ... no matter if it is a manual order or opened by an EA.
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #3
  • May 19, 2014 7:30am May 19, 2014 7:30am
Great .... Thanks the prompt reply
  • #4
  • May 19, 2014 8:02am May 19, 2014 8:02am
Quoting Chorlton
Great .... Thanks the prompt reply
You're welcome.
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #5
  • May 22, 2014 4:16am May 22, 2014 4:16am
Quoting FerruFx
Of course yes. Any order in the terminal can be managed manually ... no matter if it is a manual order or opened by an EA.

Hello FerruFX,

Leading on from my last question, as each trade needs its own Magic Number to identify it, is it possible to create an EA to only enter new trades (eg. each of the open trades will be exited manually at a future time).

Assuming that my buy signal occurs multiple times per trading session (which is what I envisage) I would obviously have multiple open trades at the end of the trading session. How would I deal with this within an EA?

As I'm new to MQL any help from you or other posters on here would be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Chorlton
  • #6
  • May 22, 2014 4:30am May 22, 2014 4:30am
Yes you can code the EA to set a MagicNumber to its own orders ... so later on it will manage only its own positions.
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #7
  • May 22, 2014 4:52am May 22, 2014 4:52am
Hi Ferru,

Firstly thanks for the very prompt reply.

I think I may have not explained myself too well or otherwise misunderstand your reply.

My understanding is that an EA that enters a new trade would be assigned the magic number which I had given it within the code, for example 5000. If that trade remains open but the EA then finds a new entry signal and opens a new trade wouldn't it just assign the same magic number (which I had coded into it) to the new trade? If so, I would then have 2 open trades with the same magic number.

Is this possible and if so, won't it create issues in the future?
  • #8
  • May 22, 2014 4:57am May 22, 2014 4:57am
Quoting Chorlton
Hi Ferru, Firstly thanks for the very prompt reply. I think I may have not explained myself too well or otherwise misunderstand your reply. My understanding is that an EA that enters a new trade would be assigned the magic number which I had given it within the code, for example 5000. If that trade remains open but the EA then finds a new entry signal and opens a new trade wouldn't it just assign the same magic number (which I had coded into it) to the new trade? If so, I would then have 2 open trades with the same magic number. Is this possible...
Yes. That's exactly how it should work. So the EA will take all the "5000" orders and manage them.

Of course, set a different magic for each chart you are trading so the EA will manage only the positions opened on its own chart.

In other words, 1 chart = 1 magic number
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #9
  • May 22, 2014 5:57am May 22, 2014 5:57am
Quoting FerruFx
{quote} Yes. That's exactly how it should work. So the EA will take all the "5000" orders and manage them. Of course, set a different magic for each chart you are trading so the EA will manage only the positions opened on its own chart. In other words, 1 chart = 1 magic number
Interesting..... My basic understanding was that a different magic number was needed for every trade in order to identify each specific trade.

If I were trading, for example EURUSD, and had multiple open trades all opened in the same trading session using the same magic number but they were entered at different times and price levels, how would MT4 know which of those specific trades to close if they all have the same magic number and I only wanted to close specific ones??

Apologies in advance if this is really basic.....
  • #10
  • May 22, 2014 6:03am May 22, 2014 6:03am
What is the management difference between orders opened on the same chart ?
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #11
  • May 22, 2014 6:28am May 22, 2014 6:28am
Quoting FerruFx
What is the management difference between orders opened on the same chart ?

Sorry Ferru, I'm not I understand your question.

If I have multiple open positions on one chart which have been opened at different price levels and for argument sake I wanted my EA to close one of them how would I be able to identify to the EA which one I wanted closed? Hence I (wrongly) assumed that each one needed to have its own unique id (magic number).

As an example using EURUSD (Daily Chart):

Trade 1 Opened 07.02.2014 Price 1.6309

Trade 2 Opened 26.03.2014 Price 1.6523

Trade 3 Opened 15.05.2014 Price 1.6748

If I understand you, each one of these trades would have the same magic number of, for example, 5000, so if all 3 trades were still open and I wanted the EA to close the trade opened on 26.03.14 how would this be done?

As a side note, I have started to learn MQL so hopefully my questions will not be so basic in the future.
  • #12
  • May 22, 2014 6:39am May 22, 2014 6:39am
Quoting Chorlton
{quote} Sorry Ferru, I'm not I understand your question. If I have multiple open positions on one chart which have been opened at different price levels and for argument sake I wanted my EA to close one of them how would I be able to identify to the EA which one I wanted closed? Hence I (wrongly) assumed that each one needed to have its own unique id (magic number). As an example using EURUSD (Daily Chart): Trade 1 Opened 07.02.2014 Price 1.6309 Trade 2 Opened 26.03.2014 Price 1.6523 Trade 3 Opened 15.05.2014 Price 1.6748 If I understand you, each...
My question was to understand what kind of trigger would close a particular trade and not the others.
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #13
  • May 22, 2014 7:04am May 22, 2014 7:04am
Quoting FerruFx
{quote} My question was to understand what kind of trigger would close a particular trade and not the others.
Ah..ok I think I understand now..... Thinking about your question I think my light-bulb has just come on.

I think the reason for your question (and please correct me if I am wrong) is that whatever the trigger is (price pattern, indicator based, etc) it would affect all open trades on the same chart at the same time and therefore close all of them rather than a specific one? Hence why they can all use the same magic number. Is that correct??

If so, I would actually want to close only specific ones on the same chart but this is more to do with money management reasons (closing some for a profit to top up my account) whilst leaving some open for the (hopefully) even bigger gains.

I guess the best way to do this would be to simply close them manually as per my original idea and the start of this thread.
  • #14
  • May 22, 2014 7:40am May 22, 2014 7:40am
Quoting Chorlton
If so, I would actually want to close only specific ones on the same chart but this is more to do with money management reasons (closing some for a profit to top up my account) whilst leaving some open for the (hopefully) even bigger gains
In this case, setting different magic numbers won't tell the EA which one(s) to close ... You will have to check each order and define if it meet your MM closure.
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #15
  • May 23, 2014 4:02am May 23, 2014 4:02am
Quoting FerruFx
{quote} In this case, setting different magic numbers won't tell the EA which one(s) to close ... You will have to check each order and define if it meet your MM closure.
Hello Ferru.

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure how I would do what you are suggesting but I guess that is another thread!!

Out of interest with regard to my last post is my assumption correct ?


Thanks.
  • #16
  • May 23, 2014 4:11am May 23, 2014 4:11am
Quoting Chorlton
Out of interest with regard to my last post is my assumption correct ? Thanks.
I can't give a clear answer without understanding exactly what you are trying to do.
MT4/MT5 EAs/Indicators/Alerts coder
  • #17
  • May 23, 2014 5:05am May 23, 2014 5:05am
Quoting FerruFx
{quote} I can't give a clear answer without understanding exactly what you are trying to do.
Thats ok. I wasn't expecting any specific answer at this stage as I need to sit down and decide clearly what I want to achieve first.

cheers...
  • #18
  • May 24, 2014 1:45am May 24, 2014 1:45am
Quoting FerruFx
{quote} I can't give a clear answer without understanding exactly what you are trying to do.
Hello Ferru,

I have briefly outlined below what I want to achieve with an EA and would welcome your thoughts on the best way to achieve this. For the currency pairs which I choose to trade, each time my signal trigger occurs I need to perform the following:

1) Create a market order to enter a trade (either long or short)

2) At the same time as the market order also create a stop order, say x number of pips below / above my entry price (depending on whether I am going long or short) in order to get me out of the trade at a defined loss should it immediately turn against me.

3) Should the price move in my favour then my stop order will get modified and moved to break-even.

Should another signal trigger occur on the same or different currency pair, repeat steps 1-3. [basically: enter trade -> enter Stop level -> move stop to breakeven -> move onto next trade )

All exits will be executed manually via my MT4 terminal.


My concern is how I manage the above using magic numbers. Based on my strategy I will have a number of open trades on one currency pair. Some open trades will already have the stop moved to break even and others will still be trading above my initial stop level but have not yet reached my break-even level.

Therefore my understanding is that I somehow still need to be able to identify each specific trade in order to be able to move my stop to breakeven on those particular trades that move past my break-even level. Obviously, once stop has moved to breakeven the EA can then forget about them.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated,

Chorlton
  • #19
  • May 24, 2014 1:54am May 24, 2014 1:54am
So if I got you right you are looking for a simple BreakEven-EA with the feature to set initial sl/tp.
The famous mptm does this, find a simple version of the mptm global: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...30#post7432930 (more versions/links to original threads).

Quote
1) Create a market order to enter a trade (either long or short)
Here the question is how it should be done - manually or by ea?
PM me with coding requests and I'll probably put you on my ignore list
  • #20
  • May 24, 2014 2:12am May 24, 2014 2:12am
Quoting fxdaytrader_
So if I got you right you are looking for a simple BreakEven-EA with the feature to set initial sl/tp. The famous mptm does this, find a simple version of the mptm global: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...30#post7432930 (more versions/links to original threads). {quote} Here the question is how it should be done - manually or by ea?
Hey FXDayTrader,

I appreciate the reply. As I am new to MQL (but not trading) I'm finding some of the concepts/coding around MQL a little difficult to get my head round.

I'll take a look at the link which you have posted.

In answer to your question the order to enter the market should be done via the EA.

In essence I want an EA to firstly enter a trade based on my signal trigger which I have coded, and then manage the trade until either (i) trade gets stopped out at initial stop level OR (ii) moves past my breakeven level by x number of pips at which point stop is moved to breakeven level. At this stage the EA can forget about this particular trade as I will then manage it manually through the MT4 terminal.

Is this possible??
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