I’m kicking myself for not implementing this earlier (actually I did implement it a while ago, but didn’t start using it until a few days ago), so I thought I would share some code for once to help out anyone writing and optimizing their own MT4 strategies. I simply call this function after I have taken a position, which saves the current graph (including any information written on it) for later inspection. I have found that this greatly helps me analyse the trade afterwards.
extern int ScreenShotWidth = 1200;
extern int ScreenShotHeigth = 1000;
void TakeScreenShot(int ticket) {
string ScreenShotFileName = StringConcatenate(”Purple_EA_”,Symbol(),”_”,DoubleToStr(ticket,1),”.gif”);
if (WindowScreenShot(ScreenShotFileName,ScreenShotWidth,ScreenShotHeigth)) {
//WriteLog(”Screenshot taken: “+ScreenShotFileName);
}
else {
//WriteLog(”Screenshot failed: “+DoubleToStr(GetLastError(),1));
}
}
Just call the method with the ticketnumber of the trade. This will dump the current graph and all eventual indicators and visible objects to a screenshot.
As I’ve started to quickly convert one of my most trusted scalpers to MetaTrader5 (to trade on the Alpari UK ECN MT5 platform) I found this little gem: http://www.mql5.com/en/articles/81
It quickly describes most of the changes needed to get a MQL4 based EA running. When I go through the list I actually can’t understand why some of these have changed. Change without reason is always bad. It does omit trading functions, which is changed quite a bit in MQL5. It is probably a good idea to implement these from the ground up.
By accident I just visited the site of Alpari UK and noticed that their MT5 offering now is enabled for live trading (last time I looked it was only open for demo trading). MetaTrader 5 hasn’t been able to replace the old and trusted version 4 despite being available for quite a long time now.
Alpari UK is apparently hoping this will change if they sweeten the deal a little and is currently offering a MT5 ECN account without commission (!). And you only even have to deposit $200 to test it. The promotion is valid until 2nd of July 2012. Unfortunately I have no EAs to trade the account with, but hopefully I can convert some of my old MQL4 bots without too much trouble.
It is possible to trade micro lots and DOM is available (6 levels). Sounds really good when combined with razor thin spreads without commission (after the promo they will be $6/lot round turn, which is competitive for sure). I’m signing up as I’m writing this 
Check it out: http://www.alpari.co.uk/en/trading-accounts/ecn.html (don’t know if you get any rebate by signing via Cashbackforex.com since you don’t pay any commission, but it never hurts either so do it. After the promotion is ended it could be a good idea).
I’ve been noticing this a few times now when scalping GBPCHF around NY close (23:00 GMT). I use very tight stop-losses when price have been trapped in a clear channel for the day (or at least NY session). Sometimes of course this doesn’t work out, price breaks out of its channel. But now and then price have stayed in the channel, but I’ve hit stoploss anyhow on a few account, not all. The one below is a GoMarkets Demo account.
I (or rather my EA) have been scalping the channel both high and low successfully during the timeframe I scalp GBPCHF. I would say that every entry is sound and should be profitable (or close for a break even after a specified time, which is how this EA is programmed). But the first sell (red) order in the picture actually closed at it’s SL level at preciesly 23:00. A level that never was reached if you just check the chart above.
The problem of course is that the broker, GoMarkets in this case, for just a few ticks had a huge spread in this exotic pair. It was probably around 20 pips (but I don’t have the exact ticks saved so I don’t know exactly). This triggered the stoploss and a loss was realized. Just ticks later the spread was normal again and the trade would have taken profit or at least closed out for a break even result.
The solution is to move the stoploss higher, but since I risk a set percent of my total account on each trade I stand to make less profits if I adjust this. Another way would be that the stoploss is moved higher from 22:59 to 23:01, by the EA in question.
I think I will have to try the second solution actually. It would mean that I risk more than I really want for 2 minutes, but on the other hand hopefully filter out these unwanted stop-losses that occur just because there is some turbulence in pricing at NY close.
I’ve written a bit about this before. But now the live Pepperstone account have traded for a while, and I would classify the second half of September as quite hard because of the turbulence in the markets. Seems as Forex Shocker v3.0 is quite picky when to trade, which is good if it picks the wright times of course. And, well, it has. Do remember that they had losses in early August, but that they restarted the MyFXBook account to hide them. A silly move of course because no one cares about losses if they are balanced with more profits. A system that never loses doesn’t exist.
http://www.myfxbook.com/members/shockerv3/shockerv3/148370
As you may recall I entered the MyFXBook trading contest at GoMarkets that ran during September. It didn’t go very well, I lost 13%. I blamed the high spreads at GoMarkets partly (for my scalpers), but mostly the extreme turbulence we saw during the second half of the month. When the contest was over I started a new demo with GoMarkets in the same terminal, IE with the same settings. I choose a $5000 account this time thou, it is more realistic for me. Then I forgot about it, it is on a VPS over at SWVPS that I don’t use much anymore, but have payed for a year in advance.
I checked in yesterday. The account has exploded to about $11200, which equates to about 124% gained in 14 days. At first I thought that I had mistakenly started a $10000 demo, but after checking the trading history I can just say that the EAs in the account has made a great job during these weeks. The performance is not possible in a live account thou, because I forgot to adjust the lotsize of one of the EAs. It still used fixed 1.10 lots for trades, this number was based on the $50000 account size of the contest account. IE I have been taking 10 times the risk in this demo. The interesting thing is the gained pips thou, and in that respect this strategy (a midterm intraweek EURUSD strategy) have been doing very well with 6 trades resulting in 542 pips. I have corrected it to take 2% risk now, which is more realistic for a live trading environment.
All the other EAs have been doing great also, including my main scalper. I really can’t wait to get my money from JadeFX now so I can start a live account at Pepperstone (via cashbackforex of course for the kickback) and really get into this again.
Here’s the account (demo at GoMarkets): http://www.myfxbook.com/members/someguy/ea-portfolio-gomarkets/179700
It’s been quite some time since I traded accounts with any sums to talk about (I have a very small account at Alpari UK funded still, but it isn’t doing well with automated strategies, it’s okay for manual mid term strategies thou). I’m still waiting to get my money back from JadeFX to start trading automatically seriously again. The last word is that the NFA is going to get access to JadeFX accounts in November and that they then will start the distribution of funds. It will be interesting to see how much I will receive since I had quite a bit more in the account than I had deposited (I had profits of 143% during 2010H2). I’m guessing I won’t get the profits back, but at this point really anything is better than nothing. I’ve been waiting for 7 months…
In the meantime I have been testing different strategies out in demos at FINFX and Pepperstone. I was quite confident that I had a nice setup with 5 different EAs after the summer, but the last contest at MyFXBook unraveled some disturbing losses. The scalpers really suffered from the relatively high spreads at GoMarkets (they have been optimized for the low spread trading environments at ECN-brokers like Pepperstone and FINFX). More disturbing was that some intra-day strategies didn’t work well when turbulence hit the markets in mid September. All in all I lost ~13 % during the month, and I was up about 10% halfway through. I know that if this would have been a live account there would have been days I would not have traded because of the turbulence in the worlds markets, so I think a live account would have managed a break even month. I would like the EAs to take this “no trade” decision themselves thou, and it is something I am working on.
I think that you will see more activity in this blog once I get my (forex) trading capital back from JadeFX. Until then I will try to take some time and update the Forex Guide. It is long overdue.
Here’s a official live account from the Forex Shocker guys trading v3.0 of their EA. Interestingly enough it is at Pepperstone. It haven’t traded long (since early June), but so far it has been quite undramatic, if not a little bit depressing. We’ll see in the long run.
Link: http://www.myfxbook.com/members/shockerv3/shockerv3/135399
Update: They’ve closed the account above and replaced it with this one http://www.myfxbook.com/members/shockerv3/shockerv3/148370 . Obviously they weren’t pleased with the performance and started over. Bad move. I think it still is the same live account thou, if it is it started with $900 asfaik. No point in offering live statements if you can’t stand for the losses the system incurs.
Both FAP Turbo and Forex Shocker has new versions out. Forex Shocker 3.0 and FAP Turbo Ichimoku. I haven’t had a chance to test them yet, but actually both seem quite promising. I’ve been hearing good things from a friend of mine about FS3.0 and FAPT Ichimoku has excellent backtests posted on their site. The backtests were performed with tickdata and has 99% accuracy. That is certainly not the same thing as a “proof”, like many of these EA vendors would like you to think, but it is usually a very good indication.
When I get back from my vacation I will run my own tickdata backtests on both EAs and get back with the results. I will also start demos at Pepperstone for forward testing.
Excellent ECN spreads (and STP if that is your taste) at a broker that is regulated by ASIC? Sounds excellent. They show spreads that is lower than what I was used to at JadeFX and lower than the currently popular FinFX, and they offer micro lots and just $200 deposit limit (good for first “live test”). When (if) I ever get my money back from JadeFX I’m tempted to stick at least some of it in at Pepperstone. Still lacking reviews over at ForexPeaceArmy, which is strange, but at least there aren’t any negative ones.
Be sure to sign via Cashbackforex.com so you get the best possible deal.
