My EA Gift to Traders

Hi Dave, first I would like to thank you for the optimization software which I purchased on Thursday great. I am currently setting up a strategy which has shown good results after running it through the optimization program.

1.1% on equity
2. TradeClosureMode: Signal Reversal
3. Stop Loss :100
4. Indicators: RSI & CCI

Are the inputs below correct ?
extern string Hlp1b = "TradeClosureMode: Use StopLoss=0, Use Signal Reversal=1, Use TradersDynamicIndex=0";
extern int TradeClosureMode = 0;
extern string Hlp1c = "If Trade Closure Mode=1 or 2, or for StopLoss using ATR, use StopLoss=0";
extern int StopLoss = 100;
extern int StopLossATRPeriods = 0;


Regards
rammer13

If the Trade Closure Mode is Signal Reversal, then Stop Loss should be 0 because the Signal Reversal determines the trade close (not the Stop Loss value)

Also if you are using signal reversal, you need to set one of the indicators Max Bars Lookback out to 5 because the chances of a simultaneous signal reversal would be very low. By setting the Max Bar Lookback = 5 (on either the CCI or RSI), the reversal signal would be confirmed if the crossover occurs within the last 5 bars.

The inputs on Traders Gift EA should be

TradeClosureMode = 1
StopLoss = 0
UseRSI = 1
...... RSI settings parameters including MaxBarsAgo = 1 or 5 (if CCI is 1 use 5 here)
UseCCI = 1
...... CCI settings parameters including MaxBarAgo = 1 or 5 (if RSI is 1 use 5 here)

What you are quoting to me is the program source code, not the result of your inputs, which are set when you attach the EA to a chart (or loaded from a saved set file).

Hi Dave, thank you very much for your reply I will check all inputs and get back to you with the reults.Yes I applied the 5 after viewing your videos it really is a great service that you give to this community I thank you again.
Regards
rammer13

hi dave i cant able to download your EA file ...how can i get that

Todays Discussion: Refer Post #1301

Using a VPS (Virtual Private Server). Refer Post #206

A Virtual Private Server is a remote computer which is accessable through the internet and provides a similar interface as if it was your own personal computer. The primary advantage is that it is always on and able to run MetaTrader (or any other Windows program) 24/7 and, 99.9% of the time, is not subject to interruptions.

It is normally hosted on a very secure server and has an uninterruptable power supply making it very reliable and able to monitor trades continuously. If the server is located closer to the Brokers server than your own computer, the advantage is that your trades will be executed in less time.

To use a VPS with MT4, you will need a VPS running the Windows operating system. Once you complete the sign up formalities, you will be given a link to run the computer as if you were sitting in front of it and will be able to upload and install Windows programs, notably your Brokers version of MT4. Some VPS's have MT4 pre installed.

There are a number of free offerings notably Amazon Web Services (free for 1 year) but with limited memory (512mb). If you are choosing a commercial service, I suggest a minimum of 1024mb memory (1gb). You can comfortably run up to 4 instances of MT4 with Amazon but access will be slow during trading hours. Expect to pay around US$30 per month for a commercial service. Metatrader does have it's own offering however I do not have any experience with it.

Once you have uploaded and installed MT4, you run the program as you would with your own PC, the advantage being that it is always on and connected to the internet even if you are not accessing it.

Go to Post 1, follow the link and register.

hi dave thanks for your trader gift
i already test on real account its amazing!!!
i'm statisfied with your trader gift and gonna buy your strategy optimizer gonna improve some
thanks again dave!!

Hi, Dave,
I would like to report a problem about EA not changing the stop loss price. I found even the EA already set up the stop loss to break even pips, in many occasions, the EA cannot modify the sl price after the price already passed that break even price. However, I was able to solve this problem by restarting the MT4. I found after the restart of the MT4, then the sl price will be modified by EA automatically based on the setup of the EA. What is the reason for this? Thank you.

try to use MT4 from website http://www.metatrader4.com/en
search your server then try use it
hope its help you
i try with MT4 http://www.metatrader4.com/en it help me and also change SL

I have reproduced this discussion from the post on Breakeven (Post #1367) which is constantly misunderstood. Particularly read the section in bold print.

Quote:
Buy Trade at 1.0000. SetStopLossToBreakEvenPips = 30
At 1.0032 (the 2 pips is representative of the spread), the Stop Loss is moved to 1.0002. In other words you will no longer make any loss on that trade.

This does need further explanation however. If your original Stop Loss was 80 and had been trailing up to this point, it will cease to trail at 1.0032 and will only commence to trail again at 1.0082 and that is the part that its being misunderstood. In other words there will be no movement of Stop Loss between 1.0032 and 1.0082. The integrity of the value of Stop Loss is being protected but more importantly your capital is being preserved in the interim and you will, in the worst case scenario, break even. Once the price moves above 1.0082, the Trailing Stop Loss will recommence.

End Quote

The point that you are most probably misunderstanding is that Set Stop Loss to Breakeven does not mean that the Trailing Stop Loss automatically changes to that value as the price increases beyond that point. Only when the profit has increased to the value of the original Stop Loss will the Stop Loss begin to trail again.

Hi Dave, your opinion on my approach please :

 

1. Will consider only one currency (EURUSD);
2. Will follow the most profit strategy for past 3 months (and less drawdown);
3. Will run the optimization on that strategy every weekend with last 3 months data and replace the .set file with the new configuration;

Thanks for your time.

Joao.

I would change your approach to

1. Will consider the best performing currency pair
2. Will follow the most profit strategy for past 3 months (and less drawdown);
3. Will run the optimization on that strategy every weekend with last 3 months data and replace the .set file with the new configuration;

Regards
Dave

Also experiment with some of your own strategies. Here's a tip - Try Divergence and Candlesticks combined. (rename to .set)

Coming later - Todays topic will be interesting reading - What to optimize

Thanks for your answer. But maybe you misunderstood my question. Let's take your example, the price has moved to 1.0032, but the EA does not move the stop loss to 1.0002, I have been observing this many times, if I restarted the MT4, then the EA automatically modified the stop loss to 1.0002. That is my question, it is nothing to do with trailing stop.

Hi Dave ,

I placed the EA on 8 currency pairs none have as yet placed a single trade are you able to check the inputs I have uploaded.

Regards
rammer13

I can't see any problem with the code and the EA is behaving correctly on back test.

Don't forget that the break even will not be executed until the price is at least 30 pips beyond the Break Even price in the quoted example.

The code is covered from lines 1488 to 1513.

Edit: Nobody else is reporting this problem

I don't think you fully understand.

You don't need to modify the code of the program, you just need to modify the inputs for each currency pair and if necessary save the inputs as a set file and then send them to me.

Having a quick look at your inputs where you have modified them in program code, I see you have Signal Reversal on RSI and CCI (up to 5 bars). The reason that the trades would not have taken place is that the events have not occured together. To place the same settings on 8 currency pairs, it would be almost impossible to make a profit and in any case the scenario you have placed would seldom be traded. If you are using signal reversal, I would recommend a back test to ensure that trades do take place. If as I would expect they would be few and far between, consider other scenarios than signal reversal or reduce the reversal to 1 indicator.

In future, I need a copy of your set file, the currency pair and time frame, dates in question and copy of the EA info panel.

Todays Discussion: Refer Post #1301

What to Optimize - Traders Gift EA provides close to 100 numerical inputs, each of which can be optimized.

The decision on which factors to optimize lies with the expection of return for money invested and the safety of the investment. Very simply put, the Profit Factor and Drawdown.

Profit Factor is the ratio of Nett Profit versus Net Loss. That is a measure of the efficiency of the investment.
Drawdown is the maximum percentage fall from any position throughout the term of the investment. This is the risk of the investment.

The significant advantage of Strategy Optimizer is the ease of determining these factors and the graphical representation. The blue and orange graph on the centre right of the results page gives the Profit Factor and the Equity graph gives the drawdown. Use your printer to take paper copies of these graphs or screen capture software such as Greenshot for comparison with other optimizations. Also remember to use the "Write Optimization Results" button on the RH side just below the toolbar for a complete record of all optimizations within the current session.

You no doubt have heard the number of total potential iterations -

1. 10 variables with 10 steps = 10,000,000,000 iterations
2. 8 variables with 8 steps = 16,800,000 iterations
3. 6 variables with 6 steps = 46,700 iterations

Use of the genetic algorithm decreases these iterations dramatically and Strategy Optimizer recognises which variables have the greatest impact. That is what I would like you to consider in all your optimizations.

When you combine all your strategies, take notes of which indicators seem to be having the greatest effect on return.

Within a particular indicator, initially try the standard settings for the indicator leaving money management variables at the default values. Then work with the values within the indicator to see what is having the greatest impact with optimization. When you have a good idea of the most effective settings, leave them as a constant and work with the money management variables using the default optimizations of SL, SL Multiple, TP Multiple. If you are on a good path at this stage, intoduce the other money management variable into the picture - Break Even, Min Pip Gain and Decrease SL Percentage.

The point I am trying to emphasize with your explorations is that initially you need to get a feel for what appears to be working for you and what can be dismissed before you enter into a fully blown optimization where you optimize all the variables. It goes without saying if you are looking for a Moving Average crossover with a fixed Take Profit and Stop Loss, you are wasting your time because you are using a lagging indicator by itself.

On the other hand if you are trying to optimize the combination of 3 indicators, it just will not work unless you expand the number of lookback bars on all combinations because all combinations work on the "and" condition not the "or" condition and you simple will not have many, if not any, trades.

The timeframe selected is a personal preference. If you are looking for a scalping type trade, then the 1 minute time frame is most appropriate. Just remember that each trade involves commission and if you are only looking for 10 pips, each trade is going to cost around 20% of your investment. If you are looking for 100 pips, the cost is around 2% of your investment.

After many optimizations over the last 20 years, I have formed the following opinions.

1. Money management is the most important factor
2. What is obvious in the market is not necessarily reflected in future market movement
3. Fundamental factors always overrule technical factors
4. Longer timeframes are more profitable
5. The trend is definately your friend
6. If you are unsure, dont trade or use a straddle trade

I have not really emphasised the straddle trade, but be prepared to try indicator and price straddles. Straddles can be very effective approaching significant Support and Resistance levels where you are not really sure of the outcome. One thing that seems to be apparent, is that once a level is cleared eithe way, significant price movement can be expected. It is a good idea to have the Fib levels plotted on the chart of the timeframe you are using. I'd suggest a lookback of a minimum of 40 periods but go beyond that to find significant highs and lows..

My own recommendations on what to optimize - 60 min. timeframe

1. RSI, MACD, CCI, Straddle, ADX, Divergence, Candlesticks in combinations of 2,
2. All variables optimized on Strategies - Filter lookbacks to be optimized
3. Lookback bars of any one of 2 strategies being optimized to 5. Other fixed at 1.
4. SL, SL Multiple, TP Multiple all optimized.
5. Optional - Break Even, Min. Pip Gain and Decr. Stop Loss to be optimized.

Optimizations are only an indication of what was effective in the past. Look at the MACD Cdl strategy at the top of the page. On Apr. 29th, Post #1206, I stated that I believed that this strategy had run its course (started on 1st Feb) and we are now seeing it down below that level.

Traders Gift EA and Strategy Optimizer are only tools. It is how you work with them that determines your profitability.

Edit: Actually I just had the same problem mozhixing had. I didn't catch a screenshot though. When I restarted MT4 it placed the SL where it should have been. Also no modify error in the journal.

I real love the "Auto-cal" feature ....thanks much for all you do.

On USDCHF pair, we both having same problem, it keep on draining the account, I had only 9 trades so far on this pair and it doesn't look too good, on other hand you had 32 trades, I think USDCHF is much difficult to guage(both for human's eyes and EA) after crazy ride on Jan 15th of this year, moving foreward im considering of removing this pair.

​Appreciate your weekly "data" update also, current one is "21st March to 20th June 2015"; I'm doing weekly optimizing on SUNDAY, then reload ALL 7 charts with new .set file
​http://www.forexfactory.com/getting#40-report
​
​regards
​Chanon

Looks like we're on same boat. I did same thing, close and restart MT4, and it moved the SL. I had similar feeling yesterday, and a pair AUDUSD had gone much further, but came back and hit SL close to sell price. It maybe that, it needs restart often? Or cache needs to be cleared somehow?

Started new explorer with a Oanda. PSAR and RSI combination - still looking to see where this goes.