Zigzag Bollinger Band

[jlcgarcia]

Hi,

after so many attempts, many simulations and many demo accounts, I have reached a workable solution for an EA that follows the ideas of this thread.

The myfxbook link is

http://www.myfxbook.com/members/jlcgarc ... ero/987853

and it is my intention to let this EA alone without modifying anything (because I am tired of the more than 150 modifications I have introduced in only a week).

It is a multipair EA with good expectations. Let's see.

Regards

José Luis

Hi friends,

when I began to thinking about constructing an EA with Bollinger and ZigZag, I thought the result will be a puzzle without sense. But now my opinion is being reversed. Take a look:

Sin título.gif

[patmontes]

Hi friends,

when I began to thinking about constructing an EA with Bollinger and ZigZag, I thought the result will be a puzzle without sense. But now my opinion is being reversed. Take a look:

Wow looking good!!!

[jlcgarcia]

Hi friends,

when I began to thinking about constructing an EA with Bollinger and ZigZag, I thought the result will be a puzzle without sense. But now my opinion is being reversed. Take a look:

Wow looking good!!!

Hi friends,

I am still seeing a great potential in this EA, althought I began very doubtful.

I recommend also to read this thread:

http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3 ... =15&t=1313

Take a look:

Sin título.gif

[bazze]

[jlcgarcia]

Hi friends,


Cuadrilatero EA began as a simple code passtime and now is going to be something serious. Take a look:

Sin título.gif

[nonlinear]

Looking good so far, but its early. Which pairs is that on, Jose?

[snailbeard]

I see that while I have been away in far off mountains, some old hands have been working hard in the forum! Thanks for the link to

ZigZag is NOT ZigZag!

.
I had to implement my own version which is not as good as the one in Big Be's thread and I still have issues with the transient zz-pivot. Rather than rewrite this code I added complementary methods and additional cross references which in somes ways relate to the ATR without using ATR directly.

It was suggested to me that if this EA is coasting while the forex ATR is too low for reliable trading, why don't I see if it can work with other instruments such as the UK100...

Although, I expect the methods should work just as well on an index, unfortunately there are places where the code assumes currency pairs.

Another issue is that some brokers specialise in currencies only and others invent there own names for these other instuments.

So can I make changes without ending up with empty variables and execution errors?

For example Alpari UK has a couple of variations for UK100:
a) _UK100
b) UK100.U

Whereas Oanda has its own version
a) UK100GBP

Therefore, it did not make sense to try and define these names in advance.
Instead I have just defined a list of the core names:

Code: Select all

string CommonIndexPairs = "SP500,S&P,UK100,WS30,DAX30,DJ30,NAS100,CAC400";

and added a function to pick out similar names from Broker's own list
then I add them to the forex list. I added another function to strip out any instrument which does not return a valid price:

Code: Select all

17:38:35 zzbb_UK100_mt4b509 _UK100,H1: BrokerIndexPairs: UK100.U,_UK100
17:38:35 zzbb_UK100_mt4b509 _UK100,H1: DropUnknownSymbols()... 
17:38:35 zzbb_UK100_mt4b509 _UK100,H1: xSymbolsToTrade: 
UK100.U,_UK100,EURUSD,USDJPY,GBPUSD,AUDUSD,USDCHF,USDCAD

This is working as far as it goes, but it also needs to run through the code to open and close trades to be sure there are no additional currency traps.

[snailbeard]

As well as variations in symbol names across brokers, there could also be differences in daily price range between currencies, indexes and commodities.

Looking back over one and half years of data:
First for a currency:

EURUSD-12plus-Months-D1ATR.png

Then for UK100:

UK100GBP-12plusMonthsOfD1Atr.png

EURUSD ATR has been consistently falling from a healthy 90, then about 70 and more recently to a less interesting 50.

The UK100 ATR moves mostly between 55 and 85 and is currently at the lower end of a useful range.
There is no obvious trend correlation between the two ATRs, and the peaks and troughs occur at diffrent times as well.

Finally, it is interesting to see how ATR has been dropping off since 2009 on this long term view of GBPUSD. Some traders who were doing well in the past might not have noticed this gradual reduction in price movement. Previously successful traders might be struggling if they continue to follow the same method without adapting. It is the same issue with many autotraders which do not adapt to changes in price movements. Back-testing has its limitations, but this is why I have extended the back-tests to run over 3 years of data and switched entry method when the ATR is at the lower end of the ATR.

GPBUSD-long-term-fall-in-D1-ATR.png

[snailbeard]

Are low volatility trades another name for scalping ?

Cheers

I have previously thought of scalping as a method of catching a few pips trading very frequently. Although, honest brokers charge commissions on each trade instead of high spreads, so this kind of scalping is less attractive. Whats the minimum number of pips required to cover commisions+spread and still turn a profit?

However, perhaps most traders in this forum refer to short price action trades as scalp trades?. Scalping methods often ignore the main directional bias whereas this EA is still following the same rules but over a narrower range, so if I do create a scalping EA it should be able to trade both ways in a single session.

I know there are a couple interesting scalping EA's in this forum...

http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3 ... f=5&t=3726

and

http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3 ... f=5&t=3671

How are these EA's doing at the moment?
Are they the best performers when the D1 ATR at it's lowest?
Would I do better to use these than try and get my EA to trade Indexes?

[SpiderX]

Hi snailbeard,

The more reputable ECN brokers charge around 0.4- 0.55 pips in commission (after rebates...you have to look for it).
So probably around 5-10 pips profit would be good.

Cheers