MT4 FOREX Trading Robot Tips
PRESET FILES INSTALLATION:
The Preset files for all "V2" robots (robots sold with a lifetime license) are included in your "V2_Include_Scripts_Presets" download file located on your "My Account" page. To download the new V2 Preset files, you must first log into the website at: https://roulettetrader.com/wp-login.php (Click to open a new tab).
Preset files for EAs V3 Robots and higher are included in your robot's own download file.
The Preset files include settings for the 2 most common chart time zones (London & Jerusalem GMT+2 or GMT+3 depending on the time of year). You'll need to know your chart's city time zone so you know which Preset files to save to your MT4 Presets folder. Check the time of a current 1 minute candle on your charts (NOT your computer's local time), then find YOUR Chart's city time at: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
Open the folder matching your chart's time zone and copy the Preset files to your MT4 Presets folder. To reduce unnecessary clutter, only copy the preset files for the EAs and margin you intend to use. You can always add the others later. There's no need to restart MT4. The new Preset files will appear in MT4 immediately.
That's it! Your V2 Preset files are now installed. Preset files for all other robots (v3 and higher) are included separately with each robot file.
- How to Adjust the Money Management Settings with Preset Files and/or Compound Profits while the EA is Trading Live...
To change the money management settings while the EA is running live, do this ONLY in the Expert Advisor properties window. Right click on your chart and select Expert Advisor > Properties.
The Expert Advisor Properties window will open. Here you can change your lot settings: Minimum Lot, Unit Size, and Cycle Target/Max Lots. The EA will begin using the new settings on the next trade .
PRESET FILES (OPTIONAL): Here you may also load a Preset file by clicking the "LOAD" button in the image above. Choose a preset file that matches your EA Name, Chart Time Zone (If applicable), unit cycle target (if applicable), and your allocated margin for that EA. Be VERY CAREFUL to choose the correct file! If you are not sure, don't use it! When you are sure you have the correct file chosen, click Open and it will load the proper settings for your EA and allocated margin. Read my note on margin below...
PLEASE NOTE that "Margin" is the amount of risk capital you are allocating for that particular robot/EA. If you are trading only 1 EA (robot) on your account, then you could allocate the entire balance to that EA. If you are trading 2 EAs on a $1000 account balance, then you would likely allocate about $500 to each EA for balanced diversification, or $333 to 3 different EAs. It's just important that you do not have more than 1 EA sharing the same allocated margin. This is especially important when you are trading at high leverage (or my maximum recommended leverage). Your margin is used by the broker as collateral to cover your losses so it's important that each EA has sufficient margin to cover it's own draw-downs, which may correlate with other EAs that are in a draw-down at the same time.
Also note that matching your allocated margin to the lower number in the Preset file name would be trading at my maximum recommended leverage putting typical large cycle draw-downs at 40-50%. Matching your allocated margin to the higher number in the file name would put your leverage at HALF of my recommended maximum leverage with typical cycle draw-downs in the 20-25% range (much safer trading). If that is still too aggressive for you, choose a preset file with a margin range well below what you are actually allocating to that robot. For example, if you have $2000 that you want to trade more conservatively than what the preset files offer, choose a margin range of $700 - $1400.
2. When to Compound Profits?
To compound your profits, you simply increase the lot sizes in your money management settings. The EAs will not do this for you. There are 2 particular times you can do this and both require that you do it AFTER a cycle target. The first way (2a. below) is as explained in my ebook but the 2nd way (2b.) will give you an additional statistical advantage...
2a. Compounding immediately after a cycle target: This is the simplest method. Simply increase your lot sizes after a WIN at your Cycle Target/Max Lot setting, assuming you have enough profit from the cycle to justify the additional increase in lot sizes. If you are trading the GBP/JPY 15-Min robot at max recommended leverage, then you would need a minimum of $350 margin for each 0.01 unit. So, figure out how much margin you want to allocate to that robot at the time of compounding and divide it by $350. That his how many 0.01 units you can trade. If the new number is higher than the previous, then you may increase your lot sizes accordingly (Minimum Lot, Unit Size, and Cycle Target/Max Lots). As an example, here's a series of trades using the GBP/JPY 15-Min 7-Unit robot on a $700 beginning balance with these settings:
Minimum Lot: 0.02
Unit Size: 0.02
Cycle Target/Max Lot: 0.14
1. 0.02 WIN
2. 0.04 WIN
3. 0.06 WIN
4. 0.08 WIN
5. 0.10 WIN
6. 0.12 WIN
7. 0.14 WIN < 7 unit cycle target hit! Compound profits by increasing lot sizes
8. 0.03 WIN < New Minimum Lot and Unit Size are 0.03 lots
9. 0.06 LOSE < Money Management defaults to Minimum Lot on next trade
10. 0.03 WIN
11. 0.06 WIN
12. 0.09 WIN, and so on..
2b. Compounding Profits after the FIRST LOSS that FOLLOWS a Cycle Target: With this method, you first wait for a cycle target to hit, as above (for example: 7 consecutive wins on the GBP/JPY 15-Min 7-unit robot) and THEN wait for the next loss to occur. After a loss occurs (following the cycle target) now you can increase your lots sizes to compound your profits from the previous successful cycle. Here's an example using the GBP/JPY 15-Min 7-Unit robot and same settings as above: 0.02 minimum lot, 0.02 unit size and 0.14 max lot...
1. 0.02 WIN
2. 0.04 WIN
3. 0.06 WIN
4. 0.08 WIN
5. 0.10 WIN
6. 0.12 WIN
7. 0.14 WIN < 7 unit cycle target hit! Now wait for a loss. Next trade 1 unit...
8. 0.02 WIN
9. 0.04 LOSE < 1st Loss following a cycle target. NOW compound profits by increasing lot sizes
10. 0.03 WIN < New Minimum Lot and Unit Size are 0.03, Max Lot is 0.21 (7x unit size)
11. 0.06 WIN
12. 0.09 WIN, and so on..
On V2 EAs ONLY... lot sizes for the next trade are determined at the CLOSE of a trade so try to make the lot adjustment BEFORE a trade gets stopped out so the next trade opens at the new Minimum Lot setting. If a new trade opens at your old Minimum Lot setting before you have a chance to compound profits, then it will add/subtract the new unit size onto the Minimum Lot that is open at the time of the change. It's rare to get two winning 7-unit cycles back to back with no losses in between so it's highly likely there will be a loss or two that will reset leverage back to the new minimum lot anyway (when using the Consecutive Wins strategy) and basically correct itself using the new settings. But when using small cycle targets (3 or 4 units) it is likely to get 2 winning cycles back to back without any losses in between so with small cycle targets, it may be best to compound profits immediately after a cycle target is hit (method 2a. above).
On all EAs V3 and higher, the lot size is calculated at the opening of each trade by looking up the lot size of the last trade in your history for that EA and magic number. This allows you to close MT4 on weekends or restart MT4 without effecting the money management cycle. However, if you detach and reattach the EA, it will re-initialize the EA and start a new cycle on the next trade.
I encourage you to NOT close trades early. Doing so can cause the EA to jump back into a new trade prematurely at higher leverage even if you closed it at just a few pips of profit. Most of the time, you will do more harm than good by interfering with the trades. The stops and limits work as an important part of the signal strategy and money management strategy, as well.
If you do close a trade early, disable Live Trading until the trade's stop or limit would have been hit. Place a horizontal line on your chart where your original stop and limit were and reactivate live trading after one of these prices is hit. This will put the next entry signal on track to where it would be if you had not interfered, but it will require babysitting your charts until price reaches that level so you can reactivate live trading. It's so much easier to just leave it alone.
3. Restarting MT4 and Compiling your EAs
For all V2 EAs, try to avoid restarting MT4 or altering & compiling your EA source code when there are no open trades. If you do, the EA will lose trade count and default to minimum lot on the next trade. V3 EAs and higher are not effected by restarting MT4 because they calculate the next lot size at the opening of each trade by reading the trade history. All EAs are available in V3 or higher but the source code is not included. If you are running your EAs from a home PC that you like to shut down on weekends, please request a V3 version of your EA so the MT4 restarts do not interfere with your money management cycles.
When is it OK to Restart MT4?
For ALL EAs, the best time to restart MT4 is when there is an OPEN trade. If a trade is open when you restart MT4 or compile the code, then it will continue the money management unit and lot count based on the trade that is open at the time of restart and should not effect it.
4. How to Make Money Management Corrections Manually
If for some reason you ever need to restart MT4 (or Windows reboots your computer for you), your EA will lose trade count if no trades are open at the time on that EA but you can manually adjust for this temporarily deactivating Roulette Trader Money Management (change setting to False) and use the Fixed Lot setting until the EA opens the next trade at the correct lot size. Once the Fixed Lot trade opens at the correct lot size, reactivate Roulette Trader Money Management (change setting to True) and the EA will resume the money management correctly from there. But there may be different scenarios you need to adjust for...
For example, if a trade opens at Minimum Lot (say 0.01) when it should be higher in the cycle (like 0.06), add the additional 0.05 lots manually (using the same stop and limit price as the trade opened by the EA) and then disable RT Money Management and use the Fixed Lot setting for the next trade. But this is when it gets tricky because you'll need to know the result of the next trade to set the proper Fixed Lot setting. So, you will need to watch the trade closely to determine if it will win or lose. As an example, let's assume these are your settings for Consecutive Wins money management with a 7 unit cycle target...
Minimum Lot: 0.01
Unit Size: 0.01 (unit size)
Max Lot/Cycle Target: 0.07
You have a total of 0.05 lots open (0.01 opened by EA + 0.04 opened manually by you).
If the trade wins, or appears it is going to win, change your Fixed Lots setting to 0.06.
If the trade loses, or appears it is going to lose, change your Fixed Lots setting back to 0.01.
This will force the money management to open the correct lot size on the next trade. Once the next trade is opened by the EA at the proper lots, you can reactivate Roulette Trader Money Management (set to True) and the EA will resume the correct lot count from there. Keep in mind that the EA will not acknowledge any trades opened manually by you. It will only add/subtract lots based on trades it opened itself so it's important to get the EA to open the correct size lots itself when it gets off track.
I hope this helps you understand how the EAs operate. It took me months and many costly mistakes to figure this all out for myself. Mistakes are usually costly so hopefully this page saves you some time, trouble, and money too. Let me know if you have any questions about any of this.
Don
Don@RouletteTrader.com