TCO Trader EA

[TallCoolOne]

** UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE **

Hi Team, I have posted version 1.5 in post 1 along with an updated instructions. The external parameters have changed. So please verify your settings when using the updated EA. You will also need to load the MACD trad colored indicator into the indicators folder. Thanks for your patience. Please ask questions, report issues, bugs and post your results. I also posted my back testing results. Thanks!

TCO Trader v1.5
- Added MA Method and Price Method to the MA Trend Method (no longer just EMA)
- Added MA Method and Price Method to Stochastic Signal Method
- Added 2 more MACD methods - Hanover (corrected adjustable) and Traditional
- Added off/on for alerts
- Lower TF Method selection changed from boolean to integer - to make optimization easier

Back Testing was done with Starting balance of $10,000, Start Date = 1/2/2012, End Date 5/27/2013. I used TTF = 1440, LTF = 60, 0.01 per $1000 for lot sizing, barmode, 8 max trades, 12 bar delay. ATR TP 3, ATR SL 2. So the only other tweaks are outlined in the spreadsheet under each trend method, under each pair. This is no guarantee of future success, but it should give us a good indication of what might work going forward. Thanks - TCO.

[TallCoolOne]

Hi TCO, all.
Ive set up one of the EAs using option 1 attached. I'd like to confirm with you some of the settings.
There are some // notes next to yours and you should be able to get a general idea where i'm headed with this. Still not sure about the low SL or TP settings so will make changes to the attached once you can confirm your thoughts please.
Trying to set up 4 EA's with 4 different magic numbers, attached is option 1 with magic at 1, the rest to follow.

One of the main methods of trading i like to use , is not using a SL or TP and letting a jumping stop deal with closures. I see with option one , there is the KijunSenSL set to true by default. There is also the explanation of setting at 10, then pips profit would have to get to 20 to move the Sl to 10, and so on.

extern bool KijunSenSL = true; // Trailing Stop Using KijunSen

I have set a low SL and TP along with this but not sure how this feature will work if i had option 2,3,or 4 set. Will this kick in if i use the other 3 options, or will it be off by default if i choose the other options. I'm assuming this is all part of option 1 as set in attached EA.

Another thing, i like to get trend confirmation from 15M chart and then trade on 1HR. I know it sounds backwards, but i'm not looking to stay in a positions for days, weeks or months. There seems to be a third option for trend confirmation here;

extern bool MACD_Weekly_Confirmation = false;

Again, cant figure out if this applies to only a specific option method, or if its universal with all method options.? The notes say to leave all the

A brief view of my approach, i dont like ATR, SL or TP's. Trading each pair on its own. Looking to get into a trade with 15M and out with 1hr. 1HR will keep me in for longer, incase of a 15M speed wobble -
this is where it gets tricky because if the MACD is showing a trend on weekly, it can takes months sometimes for MACD to change direction, keeping us out of trades for a long time on 15M and 60M. Not sure whats happening in the code here. I'm still crap at coding and hope my questions are not feeble. Ive read through the 2 sets of pdfs for intructions and your post 1 rules, and for whatever reason, i seem to get stuck.
There is plenty to consume here and i salute your attempt as this really seems to be a monster to code. I'm not familiar with any of the FF threads so this might be why i'm getting myself knotted. Your posts are well explained and there is documentation on all the options and features, but i cant clear myself around the above points. Hope you can help with your thoughts, and thanks for the time you're puting into this.

EDIT- cant figure out what period to change in the indis to get the correct pattern on 15M charts, please advise, its not clear which indis to change and none have a clear option for TF in params. Sorry again if this is a dumb question.

The EA is designed to work on the lower time frame chart. So if you use the daily time frame for your trend determination and the hourly time frame for the Williams% entry signal, the EA must be applied to the hourly chart. The indicators in the attached template were edited accordingly so the daily trend indicators display on the hourly chart correctly. If you use a different time frame for your lower time frame and you use the template, you will need to adjust the periods in the indicator. So be advised. The indicator parameters in the EA however, do not need to be adjusted, just the Trend_TF and the Lower_TF parameters.

regards
cuz

Hi Cuz, sorry for the delay in my reply, I have been busy with back testing and getting 1.5 out.

I think these are your primary questions?

Can the KijunSenSL be used for any of the trend methods or just Ichimoku - It is just used for Ichimoku, It it is set to true, then it will be used if the Trend Method is set to 1, it will be ignored otherwise.

MACD_Weekly_Confirmation can only be used if using MACD for your Trend Method. Otherwise it will be ignored. So if is set to true and your Trend Method is set to 3, the EA will use the weekly MACD also for trend determination along with the Trend Time Frame, which in your case is 15 min. If you set it to false, the EA will just use 15 min for your trend determination.

The inidis on my trend indicators on my template are calculated for as daily trends on the hourly chart. So basically I took whatever the normal settings would be for the daily chart and multiplied them by 24. Since you want the normal settings to be based on 15 min chart for trend determination and you want your signals on the hourly chart - you would take the normal settings. I think for MACD we are using 12, 24, 9. Those would be your settings for the 15 min chart, but for the 1 hour chart, they would be divided by 4, so they would 3, 8, 2.5(maybe 3). It is kind of confusing. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks!

[Wiggy1965]

Hi TCO,

Just trying to understand how the OOTB Take Profit ATR works...Does it just take the range of the last 14 daily candles and time this range by three....? The reason i say this is the BOT took a short on the GBPCHF at 2013.07.15 18:41 (GMT +3) 1.43404 and is currently up 105 pips....I noticed the trade did not have a TP when the trade was entered (I'm pretty sure) so i though the BOT may hide the TP.....However i can see the trade now appears to have a TP set at 1.40144 This appear to have been set much later after trade was entered.....Is this the way it works....?

So the questions i have, if you are in ATR Take profit mode, how and when is the TP calculated....And at what point is the TP applied...

PS, I only have the EA on one chart at the moment....GBPCHF

Regards
Wiggy

it has one now, so

Regards
Wiggy

[TallCoolOne]

Hi TCO,

Just trying to understand how the OOTB Take Profit ATR works...Does it just take the range of the last 14 daily candles and time this range by three....? The reason i say this is the BOT took a short on the GBPCHF at 2013.07.15 18:41 (GMT +3) 1.43404 and is currently up 105 pips....I noticed the trade did not have a TP when the trade was entered (I'm pretty sure) so i though the BOT may hide the TP.....However i can see the trade now appears to have a TP set at 1.40144 This appear to have been set much later after trade was entered.....Is this the way it works....?

So the questions i have, if you are in ATR Take profit mode, how and when is the TP calculated....And at what point is the TP applied...

PS, I only have the EA on one chart at the moment....GBPCHF

Regards
Wiggy

Hi Wiggy, the EA does not have hidden TP or SL If you have Use_ATR_TP = true and Use_ATR_SL = true, then the EA should be modifying your order after it is opened with the correct TP and SL

The default for ATR_TP will take the 14 day Average Trading Range and multiply it by 3, the default for ATR_SL will take the 14 day Average Trading Range and multiply it by 2.

I hope that helps. Thanks!

it has one now, so

Regards
Wiggy

[Wiggy1965]

Hi TCO,

Just trying to understand how the OOTB Take Profit ATR works...Does it just take the range of the last 14 daily candles and time this range by three....? The reason i say this is the BOT took a short on the GBPCHF at 2013.07.15 18:41 (GMT +3) 1.43404 and is currently up 105 pips....I noticed the trade did not have a TP when the trade was entered (I'm pretty sure) so i though the BOT may hide the TP.....However i can see the trade now appears to have a TP set at 1.40144 This appear to have been set much later after trade was entered.....Is this the way it works....?

So the questions i have, if you are in ATR Take profit mode, how and when is the TP calculated....And at what point is the TP applied...

PS, I only have the EA on one chart at the moment....GBPCHF

Regards
Wiggy

Hi Wiggy, the EA does not have hidden TP or SL If you have Use_ATR_TP = true and Use_ATR_SL = true, then the EA should be modifying your order after it is opened with the correct TP and SL

The default for ATR_TP will take the 14 day Average Trading Range and multiply it by 3, the default for ATR_SL will take the 14 day Average Trading Range and multiply it by 2.

I hope that helps. Thanks!

it has one now, so

Regards
Wiggy

Thanks TCO,

Is there and easy way to check this, are you aware of any indis that could represent this....I have done a couple of googles and there are hundreds of ATR indi's and the first five i looked at did not help any...

I also notice (just tested) that once the SL and TP are in place, you can move them and the EA wont reset them....Is this correct...? I just like the idea that if the EA uses a mechanism such as ATR to set SL or TP, then the ability to manually move these to avoid obvious round number or support and resistance is a good feature...

Regards
Wiggy

[TallCoolOne]

Hi TCO,

Just trying to understand how the OOTB Take Profit ATR works...Does it just take the range of the last 14 daily candles and time this range by three....? The reason i say this is the BOT took a short on the GBPCHF at 2013.07.15 18:41 (GMT +3) 1.43404 and is currently up 105 pips....I noticed the trade did not have a TP when the trade was entered (I'm pretty sure) so i though the BOT may hide the TP.....However i can see the trade now appears to have a TP set at 1.40144 This appear to have been set much later after trade was entered.....Is this the way it works....?

So the questions i have, if you are in ATR Take profit mode, how and when is the TP calculated....And at what point is the TP applied...

PS, I only have the EA on one chart at the moment....GBPCHF

Regards
Wiggy

No the EA will not set the TP SL if you move the actual lines on the chart.

Hi Wiggy, the EA does not have hidden TP or SL If you have Use_ATR_TP = true and Use_ATR_SL = true, then the EA should be modifying your order after it is opened with the correct TP and SL

The default for ATR_TP will take the 14 day Average Trading Range and multiply it by 3, the default for ATR_SL will take the 14 day Average Trading Range and multiply it by 2.

I hope that helps. Thanks!

it has one now, so

Regards
Wiggy

Thanks TCO,

Is there and easy way to check this, are you aware of any indis that could represent this....I have done a couple of googles and there are hundreds of ATR indi's and the first five i looked at did not help any...

I also notice (just tested) that once the SL and TP are in place, you can move them and the EA wont reset them....Is this correct...? I just like the idea that if the EA uses a mechanism such as ATR to set SL or TP, then the ability to manually move these to avoid obvious round number or support and resistance is a good feature...

Regards
Wiggy

[Dozer]

Hi TCO,

Thank you for all of your hard work, patience and willingness to share your efforts. I’ve been having great success using some manual guidance along with your EA. I thought I’d share my process in case anyone is interested.

Here is my process for each pair I want to trade: (I trade all of the major pairs)

1. Monitor the Daily and 4 Hour chart
2. Determine the direction I want to trade for the pair
3. Enable your EA and manually specify the higher time frame trend
4. Have it enter trades based on the Wiliams% method on the hourly time frame
5. Use the defaults for all of the other EA settings
6. Manually tweak the StopLoss and TakeProfit levels based on support and resistance levels
7. Manage all open trades as a basket and close out all open trades when the basket reaches 1-5%

I’ve been using the Daily and four hour charts for a currency pair and determining the trend then using your EA to enter trades in that trend direction. In other words, I don’t use any indicators or EA methods to determine the higher time frame trend. I manually specify the higher time frame trend by setting the “GoLongOnly” or “GoShortOnly” for each pair. This can be done once or twice per day. If anyone is wondering, I can’t specify any consistent indicators that I use for determining the trend. I use various indicators and experience to figure out which direction I want to trade the pair.

I then manage all of the open trades in a basket fashion and close all of the open trades when the basket is between 1% to 5% profit. I do this manually and not via the EA. This timing is based on intuition and having a feel for how well the market is trending. I may be too quick at times to close out a profitable basket, but it’s been providing me with some pretty consistent profits. The idea is to take the profits when they are there and then start over. So far, every basket has been in profit at some point. I’m experimenting to see if the timing of when I start the baskets has any influence on profitability. So far, I don’t have any evidence that it maters when I close out and restart the basket.

Very few of the trades have reached their SL or TP levels. Those are mainly for protection against quick market movements.

In some of the other threads here or on FF, I think people get too focused on having a completely automated system for trading. It would be wonderful if we can come up with that fully automated system, but for now, I think this is a nice combination of manual trading and automation.

Thanks again for all of your efforts. It’s appreciated.

Dozer

[TallCoolOne]

Hi TCO,

Thank you for all of your hard work, patience and willingness to share your efforts. I’ve been having great success using some manual guidance along with your EA. I thought I’d share my process in case anyone is interested.

Here is my process for each pair I want to trade: (I trade all of the major pairs)

1. Monitor the Daily and 4 Hour chart
2. Determine the direction I want to trade for the pair
3. Enable your EA and manually specify the higher time frame trend
4. Have it enter trades based on the Wiliams% method on the hourly time frame
5. Use the defaults for all of the other EA settings
6. Manually tweak the StopLoss and TakeProfit levels based on support and resistance levels
7. Manage all open trades as a basket and close out all open trades when the basket reaches 1-5%

I’ve been using the Daily and four hour charts for a currency pair and determining the trend then using your EA to enter trades in that trend direction. In other words, I don’t use any indicators or EA methods to determine the higher time frame trend. I manually specify the higher time frame trend by setting the “GoLongOnly” or “GoShortOnly” for each pair. This can be done once or twice per day. If anyone is wondering, I can’t specify any consistent indicators that I use for determining the trend. I use various indicators and experience to figure out which direction I want to trade the pair.

I then manage all of the open trades in a basket fashion and close all of the open trades when the basket is between 1% to 5% profit. I do this manually and not via the EA. This timing is based on intuition and having a feel for how well the market is trending. I may be too quick at times to close out a profitable basket, but it’s been providing me with some pretty consistent profits. The idea is to take the profits when they are there and then start over. So far, every basket has been in profit at some point. I’m experimenting to see if the timing of when I start the baskets has any influence on profitability. So far, I don’t have any evidence that it maters when I close out and restart the basket.

Very few of the trades have reached their SL or TP levels. Those are mainly for protection against quick market movements.

In some of the other threads here or on FF, I think people get too focused on having a completely automated system for trading. It would be wonderful if we can come up with that fully automated system, but for now, I think this is a nice combination of manual trading and automation.

Thanks again for all of your efforts. It’s appreciated.

Dozer

Hi Doz, I'm glad it is working for you. I think there are many methods to use with this EA. It is the best one I've written to date. TCO.

[TallCoolOne]

*** Update Update Update Update ***

TCO Trader v1.6
- Take Profit/Loss on Percentage based on Magic Number - Thanks to darkgsg(ck) for the coding
- Made the Lower TF Signal selection integer instead of bool, 1 = WPR and 2 = Stochastic


Just a quick update team. Thanks to darksgs, should be able to close trades on profit/loss percentage based on magic number. Also I changed the selection of lower TF method to integer to make it easier to optimize your lower TF trigger methods. I have started a new trade explorer - TCO Trader Mixed Bag, which has all the methods optimized for each pair. I don't have any open trades yet, so it is not visible, but it should soon. Thanks


So take note the parameters have changed, so if you use the new release make sure you check your settings. Thanks!

[Wiggy1965]

*** Update Update Update Update ***

TCO Trader v1.6
- Take Profit/Loss on Percentage based on Magic Number - Thanks to darkgsg(ck) for the coding
- Made the Lower TF Signal selection integer instead of bool, 1 = WPR and 2 = Stochastic


Just a quick update team. Thanks to darksgs, should be able to close trades on profit/loss percentage based on magic number. Also I changed the selection of lower TF method to integer to make it easier to optimize your lower TF trigger methods. I have started a new trade explorer - TCO Trader Mixed Bag, which has all the methods optimized for each pair. I don't have any open trades yet, so it is not visible, but it should soon. Thanks


So take note the parameters have changed, so if you use the new release make sure you check your settings. Thanks!

Hi TCO,

Just want to know how the TP works....I can see the OOTB TP is 350 and the EA also dispays this on the chart....Is this 350 value actually 35 real pips based on a four decimal place broker....or is it actually 350 pips regardless of the number of decimal places your broker has....The reason i ask, is that i have a trade running that is currently up over 100 pips and i'm not sure what to expect from a take profit....

Regards
Wiggy