Pip Accumulator EA

[soundfx]

Hi Guys,

 

This EA is based on the manual system which is currently being enhanced, tested and traded in the thread:

 

http://indo-investasi.com/showthread.php/14520-Pip-Accumulator

 

I started a new thread for the EA, because I think it will be disruptive to the original thread to mix in EA discussions. So, please use this thread for anything related to the EA ;)

 

The EA is based on an earlier version of the II Pip Accumulator indicator (without multiple timeframe probabilities) and the code from the indicator has been replicated inside the EA.

 

Because the probability indicator which the EA uses operates over multiple timeframes, I don't think we can get accurate backtests, hence the EA will need to be forward tested.

 

The EA has various options, though I've not been able to test many of these (I'm sure that there will be plenty of bugs that need fixing if you start using options other than the current settings, so any keen EA developers, please feel free to amend whatever you like and repost it here). However, with the current default settings I'm getting excellent results running the EA on a 5m chart.

 

Please post your testing results and findings here, so that we can all work on creating a great "home grown" EA :)

 

Here's the most recent version of the EA and indicators (on 26th Sept 2011):

 

http://www.multiupload.com/FHMDLQVU7B

 

I also recommend that you read through the whole of the manual trading thread, so that you have the full background of where the EA development came from. Plus in the more recent posts you'll be able to download the most recent versions of the indicators II_Pip_Accumulator and II_Prob_Hist.

 

Here's a screen shot of what the indicators look like (I have these on the chart when running the EA, so that I can clearly see when and why the EA is making its decisions):

 

 

 

http://i54.tinypic.com/29sm6r.png

 

Here are the results from today running on EURUSD 5m with default settings:

 

 

 

http://i56.tinypic.com/14d2i42.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/ab2ddz.jpg (http://i54.tinypic.com/ab2ddz.jpg)

Edited September 26, 2011 by soundfx

[conglo]

What a great effort..!

 

Eager to try this one.

 

Thanks much!

[scorpion]

Dear friend SoundFX, that if it is a pleasant surprise, to spend the weekend

I honestly did not expect this surprise at the end of the afternoon,

Today I met with my friend, if a programmer! and talk about this system and the possibility of developing an EA,

Of course you can count on me to perform the necessary tests, desafortunadamante I'm not a programmer,

 

Once again, Thank you for your true spirit of sharing.

[jshear]

Thanks Sound FX wow what a good EA. One question I see setting for Lot Decimal point default is 1 what is this function for? Have a nice weekend.

 

 

Jeff

 

 

PS your surprise for the weekend put a big smile on my face!! Thank you!!

[soundfx]

Hi Jeff,

 

One day's results don't make a good EA, though it's a promising start at least :)

 

I should have written a guide to the parameters, though most are self-explanatory and I wanted to post the EA so that we could get testing.

 

The lot decimal point is used for the MM feature. The default settings I'm using have MM turned on at 2% of account balance. When 2% of account balance is calculated it will end up as a decimal. Depending on the sort of account you have with your broker, orders for e.g. 1.24 lots may not be accepted, but orders for 1.2 lots are fine (this applies to my standard account - hence the default setting of 1 for "Lot Decimal Point").

[ShaKerZ]

Thank you soundfx ;) You use the defaults settings with always 13 pips target ? Why not put this value to 0 ? In the manual, this value depend of color box I think

[soundfx]

Guys,

 

Just a few of my thoughts on this EA...

 

I built in as much as I could think may be handy, the only thing missing is moving stops to breakeven if we're looking to test larger targets possibly on different timeframes. However, most of these extra functions like trailing stop, swing stop, running 2 trades (as in the original manual with swing stop/target and ATR stop/target) will probably need some tweaking before they work properly.

 

I actually moved away from using all that stuff and and used a simple 1:1 13 pip stop and 13 pip target on the 5m chart. No doubt these are good settings for EURUSD, though different settings will probably be required for other currencies and we may need to tweak the EURUSD ones as the average daily range changes over the long term. In fact a good way to determine stops and targets is to take them as a % of the 21 day ADR.

 

Why 13 as stop and target? In my experience even EA's which have decent signals need to have at least 1:1 risk:reward, because they just don't have the market awareness that manual traders have. The EA needs to work (or at least teeter around breakeven) in ranging markets. Hence a relatively small target should stand a good chance of being hit even in ranging markets. The stop needs to be small but not too small - lots of traders carelessly set their stops at 10 and they can be easily taken out with a broker spike.

 

15/15 may work just as well or better than 13/13 - it's something to test. 13 is the sort of number most folks would stay away from because they mistakenly see it as an "unlucky number", so that makes it a perfect candidate.

 

The EA running with the default parameters will have it's fair share of losses, though the profits should more than make up for those. When we're in a trending move provided the probability is > 20 or < -20 then we keep on placing trades. Obviously when the move ends we'll take a loss and we could take the odd loss on the way by retracements which go further than 13 pips.

 

It's sensible to use the MM setting as we're then always trading a fixed proportion of our account, so if we have a string of winners we can stake more and if we have a string of losers we can stake less.

[soundfx]

ShaKerZ,

 

Thank you soundfx. You use the defaults settings with always 13 pips target ? Why not put this value to 0 ? In the manual, this value depend of color box I think

 

This is an EA which I built (I believe that the original system offered an EA, though I've not seen it) - and I don't think auto target/stop determination is working 100%. I use ZigZag to get swings, though we can relatively easily change the EA to calculate box highs and lows instead and allow the user to input a "buffer" of additional pips below those box tops and bottoms. The 13 pips values I've explained in the previous post.

 

I've studied the trading method in the manual and I've come to the conclusion that it's not very good and will generate lots of losses in ranging markets. However, what is good about the system is the probability calculation. You'll notice in the manual trading thread that the guys who are taking consistent winners from the system are not following the rules in the original manual ;)

 

There are lots of things we can do to this EA, now we need all who are interested on II to give their input and improve it into something we can be proud of.

Edited August 26, 2011 by soundfx

[ShaKerZ]

Ok, thank you very much for your reply, I will test it with the default settings the next week.

[soundfx]

Guys,

 

I'm not going to be a "Marchello" (who I incidentally have good respect for as a trader and all round nice guy) and continually use this thread to expound my philosophical views on trading and everything else lol...however, I think we need to shift out of the current mentality which permeates II.

 

This mentality in general comes from desparate wannabe traders who plead for the latest version of the hyper marketed EA which shows unlimited winners going back to the year 1999 lol. You see the same desperate posts all the time "Please share this EA, "I really need this...looking forward to you sharing it" etc. These wannabe traders are typically employed in 9-5 jobs (which in general they hate) and are looking for the solution to all their problems...an EA which makes tons of cash whilst they're at work and when it's making enough cash they'll be able to quit their jobs and just live off the proceeds :)

 

The saying "there is no free lunch" applies to trading as much it does to anything else. Quit wasting your cash on latest EA fad thinking that "this is going to be the one, I can sense it..." lol. Just look at how degenerate the whole marketing of trading systems has become.

 

We have videos of guys who look as they're sincere traders talking about how EA's are rubbish and that their systems are so much better than the rest, and what do you find when you sign up to their "service"...they're suddenly offering you the classic "upsale" of an EA!!!

 

Even worse are the ones who say that EA's are rubbish etc. and that you need a real trader making real trades to make any money and for this privilege they'll charge you a modest monthly (or even weekly in some cases) fee for as long as you live! Now this may not be too bad, however from what I've seen of everything marketed for $37 per month, $60 per month etc. or similar tiny amounts, you're not getting a skilled trader at all :)

 

You're being tricked, because these guys are making money out of you every day you keep your subscription and all they do is run a mediocre EA on a server and copy the trades to you (so you've no idea where the trades come from and assume that they're coming from a skilled trader...because that's what you paid for).

 

I've spent many years in this game and I've seen rich people (and self-defined experts at handling these sort of EAs) lose everything by thinking that they can become the next Warren Buffet by running the classic grid/martingale EA's. These sort of EAs attract all because of their apparent inability to take a loss. Don't be fooled by EA's which have tiny targets and massive stops, the day will come where your whole account will disappear in a puff of smoke overnight, all the months/years of gradually building up a stack of cash will be wasted. So...you think that you have the ability to get out of bad trades from these sort of EA's before they blow your account...just try it ;)

 

This EA is something different from hyped up marketed c*r*a*p, see it as a foundation stone from which we can use our combined thoughts to create something which can truly enrich everyone's lives. We all need to get involved in this project. Very little of substance is really shared these days because the originators are fearful of others copying the system selling it as their own etc., however I've taken a gamble and have posted this EA and indicators connected with this system freely, so that we can all benefit and if a few "black sheep" sell the system as their own who cares?

 

It's up to all of you guys now to "own" this system, now I've started the ball rolling. Eveything connected with this system should be open and posted here for all to see. We have some great minds and traders on this forum...now's your chance to shine :)

 

Here's a final note for the people who are thinking that they can lay back and wait for everyone else to create a perfect EA which will make them loads of cash...

 

Think of anything you've achieved and attained a sense of satisfaction from - did it involve some effort and possibly commitment on your part? I'm 100% sure it did, so why do you expect the mysteries of trading to be handed to you on a plate? ;)

[conglo]

What would really pimp out this method (the "Pimp Accumulator") and any number of other methods is proper MM.

 

With an intelligent lot-sizing mechanism in place it opens up a new set of possibilities for TP, SL and TS parameters.

 

 

I'm very impressed with the DDSMM spreadsheet, I've been manually backtesting using the algorithm and playing around quite a bit with it:

 

http://indo-investasi.com/showthread.php/13408-DDSMM-Anyone-heard-of-this/page4?highlight=ddsmm

 

See post #36 for the spreadsheet download link.

Post #4 has a link to a demonstration video.

 

Unfortunately the Auto DDSMM is still elusive.

 

 

This algorithm can literally turn a losing strategy into a winner (that is indeed the marketing hype, but it's true); if you have a good strategy it will supercharge it.

 

(As a sidenote.. for those of you who like to play outside the box, there are enormous possibilities if you use two spreadsheets and plot your buys and sells separately, but that's another topic.. discuss amongst yourselves..)

 

In a ranging market the lot sizes would be tuned down automatically to mitigate a series of losses.

 

If this MM approach could in some way be incorporated into the EA (I know it would be a huge task) it could be a real barn-burner..

Edited August 27, 2011 by conglo

[psaini1973]

SoundFx millions of thanks to You 4 devloping an EA 4 this system...

 

Your hard work of so many days will definately pay off...

 

Its a selfless act of yours.. may god give u each n every thing u need and want in life....

 

My Best Wishes are with you always....

[stock]

Thanks for develop this system to EA

[vitamin]

Hi Sound fx,

Thanks for your great work.i go through your first post i noted that more than 56 trades are executed by it and every trade made average profit and loss of 200 dollars and the net result is 1170 or 5 trades..So in one day test this ea give 50 % success and failure.So it is time to FILTER THE SIGNALS..just my 2 cents

[soundfx]

Hi vitamin,

 

Absolutely - this is just a starting point. The results came from running the EA all day with very basic settings. Watching the indicators and price action in different timeframes should help us to see certain patterns where high probability trades are occuring - we can then identify these in the EA and only trade the high probability stuff.

 

All ideas are welcome and if anyone wants to change the code and try new things please do. The only thing I think should remain is the probability calculation in one form or another, otherwise we'll end up developing a totally different EA :) The Arrows are nothing more than a "heads up" of possible price change of direction and are a basic MACD main/signal cross.

 

It may be possible to enhance the filtering by following progress on the manual system in the other thread. There we have a newer version of the probability calculation which determines probabilities in several timeframes at once. If we're trading 5m and 1m, 5m, 15m and 30m probabilities are all over 20 - then that should be a perfect buy signal for example.

[pray624]

Soundfx,

 

Thank you for your very intelligent message and your efforts. You are greatly appreciated.

Edited August 27, 2011 by pray624
spelling

[Capella]

The calculations in this Excel spreadsheet are standard calculations that many MQ4-programmers uses for Money Management. Nothing impressive at all.

[conglo]

Well, excuse me..

 

Why don't you add it to the EA?

 

The calculations in this Excel spreadsheet are standard calculations that many MQ4-programmers uses for Money Management. Nothing impressive at all.

Edited August 27, 2011 by conglo

[mograst]

Hi,

thanks "soundfx" i will test next week and share what i have found.

 

BTW: the spreedsheet calculation may be a good idea for lot calculation... if it could be added it would be nice

[⭐ musketeer]

Guys,

 

Just a few of my thoughts on this EA...

 

I built in as much as I could think may be handy, the only thing missing is moving stops to breakeven if we're looking to test larger targets possibly on different timeframes. However, most of these extra functions like trailing stop, swing stop, running 2 trades (as in the original manual with swing stop/target and ATR stop/target) will probably need some tweaking before they work properly.

 

I actually moved away from using all that stuff and and used a simple 1:1 13 pip stop and 13 pip target on the 5m chart. No doubt these are good settings for EURUSD, though different settings will probably be required for other currencies and we may need to tweak the EURUSD ones as the average daily range changes over the long term. In fact a good way to determine stops and targets is to take them as a % of the 21 day ADR.

 

Why 13 as stop and target? In my experience even EA's which have decent signals need to have at least 1:1 risk:reward, because they just don't have the market awareness that manual traders have. The EA needs to work (or at least teeter around breakeven) in ranging markets. Hence a relatively small target should stand a good chance of being hit even in ranging markets. The stop needs to be small but not too small - lots of traders carelessly set their stops at 10 and they can be easily taken out with a broker spike.

 

15/15 may work just as well or better than 13/13 - it's something to test. 13 is the sort of number most folks would stay away from because they mistakenly see it as an "unlucky number", so that makes it a perfect candidate.

 

The EA running with the default parameters will have it's fair share of losses, though the profits should more than make up for those. When we're in a trending move provided the probability is > 20 or < -20 then we keep on placing trades. Obviously when the move ends we'll take a loss and we could take the odd loss on the way by retracements which go further than 13 pips.

 

It's sensible to use the MM setting as we're then always trading a fixed proportion of our account, so if we have a string of winners we can stake more and if we have a string of losers we can stake less.

 

I can confirm the stop of 13 is good, based on over 7k trades in last 10 months... :)

ADR is possible, but I really do not like it, leading to poor R:R and large floating P/L (both profit and loss) :)

[soundfx]

Hi musketeer,

 

Thanks for the confirmation of 13 stop being good :)

 

When I was thinking about ADR, I was thinking more about the longer term ADR where markets in one year can show ADR from say 70-100 and in another can show ADR from 120-150.

 

These changes in overall market volatility are generally what causes systems with fixed stops and targets to fail. So, the idea was rather than trade 13 pips all the time, if 13 pips work in the current market volatility then caculate that as a % of ADR and continue to use that % for stops and targets (so R:R shouldn't be affected).

 

Current 21 day ADR on EURUSD I'm seeing as 164 pips, so 13 pips is around 8% of ADR. Now if later in the year the volatility expands even more to say 200 pips, then our 8% will give us 16 pip stops and targets which in theory should work better than the standard 13 pips - because with the higher volatility 13 pip stops are more likely to be blown.

 

Even though we're looking at what are essentially longer term natural expansions and contractions of the market, we still need a relatively short averaging period or we won't be able to adapt quickly enough to new volatility.

 

There will be potential downsides to this method too, it's possible that changes in volatility will be temporary and we could be looking at high volatility ADRs and setting stops and targets as 16 for example, when those conditions have been and gone and we're now in a compressed market and finding our trades are failing to reach their targets. It's all "swings and roundabouts" in trading.

[mograst]

sorry but does the EA need to have "ZigZag.ex4" indicator?

I have error:

Cannot open file 'C:\Program Files\MetaTrader - Alpari UK-Demo\experts\indicators\ZigZag.ex4' on the EURUSD,M5

 

 

 

thanks

[soundfx]

Sorry mograst, I thought ZigZag was standard...

 

Here it is:

 

http://www.multiupload.com/ROCRB2MKMC

[fx4a]

soundfx..Thanks for this great contribution. As you say just what 11 needs to change mentality. Hopefully we can all work to make this a decent EA.

I started forward test on an ECN broker today, but error opening order : invalid stops. Is it possible to make this ECN compatible?

[soundfx]

Hi fx4a,

 

Yes it is, we just need to ensure that orders are placed without stop or target, then afterwards modify that order with stop and target.

 

I'm still working on enhancing indicators for the manual system in the other thread, so I'm hoping someone else will be able to "take up the reins" on this one and look at including ECN compatibility and possibly handling MM like the DSMM spreadsheet.