Compound your profits

Every year hundreds and thousands of new traders come into the forex arena looking for riches, trading 24 hours a day shooting for 50% a week and find their accounts blown within the month, most of which become too demoralised to ever even consider depositing more funds and pulling the trigger on another trade, their trading career is over before it had even begun.

Those that become successful long term traders understand the power of compounding gains for huge eventual profits, they start small, aim low and believe it will all pay off in the future, however most human beings are born with a natural greed, an emotion that runs so strong in most people's veins that the thought of 2 - 3% a week sends shivers down their spine and they become part of the above club, the 95% of unsuccessful traders.

As fun as it is to dream of doubling your money every fortnight it is important to be realistic of what to expect in terms of profit in both the short and the long term, the reality is a consistent weekly gain of 2 - 3% over the period of a year is no easy feat for even the best of traders however it is achievable for the few successful traders.

To most the idea of making a 2 - 3% weekly gain isn't all that exciting, especially when compared to claims of 20,30 and even 40% returns a week that are often thrown around on the internet but the moment we add compounding into the equation those small weekly figures can amass to some huge yet realistic sums of money.

For those that don't understand the concept of compounding gains or interest it is the exponential growth of a sum of money by continuously reinvesting all profits, so although the profit percentage remains the same the actual sum of money grows at a very rapid rate.

As a very basic example lets assume we have $1000 in our trading account.

If we were to make a 10% return every month for a year and not re-invest any of it we would have made a 120% return equating to $1200.

If however we compound our gains every month we will end up with a much larger sum which i'll demonstrate below.

month 1 - 1,000 + 10% = 1,100

month 2 - 1,100 + 10% = 1,210

month 3 - 1,210 + 10% = 1,331

month 4 - 1,331 + 10% = 1,464

month 5 - 1,464 + 10% = 1,610

month 6 - 1,610 + 10% = 1,771

month 7 - 1,771 + 10% = 1,948

month 8 - 1,948 + 10% = 2,143

month 9 - 2,143 + 10% = 2,357

month 10 - 2,357 + 10% = 2,593

month 11 - 2,593 + 10% = 2,853

month 12 - 2,853 + 10% = 3,138

Total gain in percentage - 213.8%

Total monetary gain - $2,138

Now lets take it one step further by using our yearly return and compounding over a 7 year period with a starting balance of $1000

Year 1 - 1,000 + 213.8% = 3,138

year 2 - 3,138 + 213.8% = 9,847

year 3 - 9,847 + 213.8% = 30,900

year 4 - 30,900 + 213.8% = 96,964

year 5 - 96,964 + 213.8% = 304,273

year 6 - 304,273 + 213.8% = 954,811

year 7 - 954,811 + 213.8% = 2,996,198

Total gain in percentage - 299519.8%

Total monetary gain - $2,995,198

How is that for a retirement plan?  7 year plan.

Now I think I can safely say that would be extremely impressive to anybody!

With the power of compounding gains figures like that eventually become realistic in the long term if you can remain consistently profitable at even 2 - 3% a week!

So if you really want to be successful aim for 2% a week instead of 20%, compound your gains and begin building your future!

You can use this concept for your expert advisors as well.  Set a weekly balance limit that will cut off the EA from trading until the next week.  Also, set a profit target for your EA so it will close all positions or at least set stops to protect that profit.  This is one way of controlling your EA's in MT4 so that they will achieve your goals..  It will also aid to get you out of the market when things start to change.

OIL as in UCO ETF

Demand level identified.  Who is ready to go long on OCO?  Risk is defined here with a stop under the recent low.

The demand level is shown with the top horizontal line on this hourly chart.

Tipster Trendlines Chart Trader - Properties

This video goes over the properties of Tipster Trendlines.  This is the experts properties menu that you see when your drag it onto the chart.  Hope it helps.

An introductory video to Tipster Trendlines for MT4

What is it?

Tipster Trendlines (TT) is an Expert Advisor (EA) for MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading software platform. Once you download and install the EA it will automate your manual trading for you. Tipster Trendlines is a TOOL, not a trading 'system' or robot. Use it if you place trades manually, it will do the grunt work for you. You can place every kind of order. You can select between 1 or 2 targets.

Where can I get it?

Where can I read more about it?

Tipster Trendlines for MT4 Update

Version 14.1 is now available at MQL website.

Take a look at the videos and read about it at 2 different forums. 

Here is the page that describes the MT4 chart trader expert advisor and give you the links and information you need.  

Remember this post? Here we go AGAIN!

A long time ago, I did a post up on "What the top looks like".

If you trade forex and follow USDCAD, you will want to read this and keep your eye on the ball this time. Watch the freight train hit the 1.3 wall and STOP.  Your guess is as good as mine if it continues or reverses, but 1.3 will stop price until all the order are sorted out.

What to look for in a Forex broker

First off, let me tell you who was on my list when it was compressed to 2.  Questrade and Forex.com.  FXCM came in close as well.  What do they have in common?  The most important part for my broker is regulation and protection.

So my main broker right now is Questrade.

There are 3 major steps to find a forex broker.

Use these suggestions to narrow it down to a few.  It shouldn't take long to do that.  The important thing to know is this – they are all out to take your money in fees of some sort. After you do some research you will see there is no perfect broker, they all have some way of getting the edge to take you money.

Step 1: Do some research
Before you compare brokers you need to list the criteria that you will compare. Add more to the list as you discover details. I used an excel spreadsheet to help me.  List the brokers as you find them, filling in the details.
Regulation

There’s regulation, then there’s protection. Do not confuse the two. I want both. Is the broker regulated, and registered with the regulator listed on their site? If they are, also go to the regulators web site and cross check to make sure they are actually registered and in good standing. For US resident, good luck, the NFA and CFTC are pretty useless for forex, and in comparison the rest of the world, totally useless as there is no protection (refer to my post of CIPF which offers solid protection).  I recommend a Canadian broker, if they let you open an account you have some real solid protection for your funds.  Also, ask “is the money deposited separated from operational capital, in other words, is it segregated”?  You want segregated.

Dealing Desk, Non-Dealing Desk ECN

I like ECN, it’s a straight through process with less screwing with your orders.

Spreads or commissions

Does the broker offer fixed or non-fixed spreads?  Depends on how much you trade.  Most MT4 brokers make money on the spread.  There are many tools on the net to check this.  How wide are the spreads?  Check the tools and get a demo to confirm when you narrow down to a few brokers. Spread is more important if you trade short term.
Leverage and margin

Demo accounts

Do they offer demo accounts?  You need this to get familiar with the software and it will prompt LOTS of question if you actually place trades and follow through.  How long until the demo account expires?

Account lot size (mini, micro, standard). A smaller lot size allows you to trade with less money.

Swap or rollover

Does this broker credit or debit daily rollover interest? Some brokers either do both, deduct interest, or neither.  This information is important to traders who hold positions overnight.Some even have negative swap both ways, meaning you have to pay them, how is this possible?  If you want to do carry trades this will impact you.

Trade rules

distance of stops, orders inside bid/ask, order types (brackets orders?), is hedging allowed?

Currency pairs offered

What types of customer service is  offered, and what methods can I contact them through? 

What times are they available?

What trading platforms are offered? Is there a mobile application as well?

What is the deposit/withdraw process / methods?

Step 2: Compare brokers now that you have a completed spread sheet

Step 3: Open demo accounts and ask questions.

Pick at least two brokers that fits most of your criteria and open up demo accounts. Trade in different market environments. Learn all the different features of each trading platform. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask. Many brokers have excellent customer service support and would be happy to answer your questions.
Demo accounts are great for selecting a broker. make sure you call them to ensure your demo account would be set up exactly as your real account. Same deposit currency, same rules (hedging, leverage, etc.)
Most demo trading platforms are very similar to their live counterparts, but not exactly the same. There may be a difference in speed of execution, slippage, and platform reliability (most of the time live accounts are more reliable than demo accounts). When you do have your strategy down and you are ready to move to a live account, start off small, test the waters, and see if this particular broker will suit your trading needs.

Media Monkey - Announce the next song title

I wrote a script to announce the next song in MediaMonkey.  It uses a text to speech conversion process and the text to speech engine is not on your PC.  It works for both local music and streaming radio stations.  The voice is very natural and nice to listen too.  At the top of the hour it will announce the time with the new song, same for half past the hour.

Here is a sample of the transition and the song announcement.


It is absolutely fabulous!!

Do you want the script?  All it takes is a small $15 donation to help me out.

The MediaMonkey website is here.

Remembrance

Thank you, Soldier.

Play MP3 and have text to speech in MT4

In a few days the following packages will be released.

• Talker - Text to Speech
• PlayMP3 - Play MP3 files in MT4
• TalkMP3 - Plays MP3 files and does text to speech in MT4

Each one of these is a library file (ex4).  You place it in your experts/library directory.

To learn more about these, visit the MT4 Talker and PlayMP3 page (link also appears at the top of the blog.

Demo is available.

Tipster Trendlines for Amibroker - new price!

The price for Tipster Trendlines for Amibroker has been reduced!!
It's now ON SALE

Now $30 - grab it while it's on sale!

What is Tipster Trendlines for Amibroker?  Read all about it here.

Here is the FAQ

Crossfader EA - Gold - Safety Lines

There have been many ideas tabled on saving the mighty trading account from CF when she turns against you. 

I have been using two charts with one set for buys and one set for sells.  The idea was that the sell trades could start even if the buys trades were active.  I was hoping to see the drawdown controlled.  Not sure why it doesn't work so well, I haven't spent much time examining that though.  Most likely because CF holds losers and take profits quick (no runners).

I had another brain fart the other day.  How can I manually control DD, and not sit and ‘hope’ price returns.  As I was looking through the sub-forums at SHF to decide where to post I ran across varso using a 45 pip stop (MPTM).  It seems to work for him.  My idea is almost the same!  We all know that trading with the trend is the way to go, but there are problems with that.  Which time frame is the trend you should be following?  The trend for CF should probably be the 240 or max the daily for a couple of reasons, first, CF uses a 240 stochastic, and second, when a basket starts, and depending on how many maxorder you are allowing, a price reversal could last a long long time.

Picture this - Price has been ranging on the daily for weeks and CF is happy to make Buys and Sells inside this daily range.  Now you enter a few trades, I've notice 4 to 6 in a ranging market on the 1 hour TF or 4 hour TF then price snaps against you.  CF enters more trades, price keeps ranging and snapping against you.  "Snapping" is the term I use when price surges in the direction of the trend.  In a downtrend, if you look at the chart you see price slowly drifting up, then all of a sudden it hits a level that everyone wants and BOOM, you have a lopsided market and price moves fast.So what I'm going to try is to limit drawdown by turning off Buys or Sells once price passes a certain spot or level. 
Here is the research I did to arrive at the solution.  I'm going to use AUDUSD charts as I have trades shown on it.  Now remember,  none of these trades had any drawdowns I couldn't deal with.  The trade starts are marked with lines
Here is the daily, notice the daily trend is strong down - didn't matter, CF made coin.  We'll zoom in after this chart.

Below is the hourly of the same pair

Both directions made money - look where the buys are made in this downtrend, pullbacks and consolidation.  If the pullback is weak or the consolidation not strong what happens?  You get hammered.
Here is a picture of what getting hammered looks like.
EURUSD Buys in a down trending market.  This is the hourly - clearly headed lower. Everything looks good until the recent buy, notice the pullback was weak and we get smashed.

 
In this case - you could have drawn a line at the top of the range and call it "SellBelow", CF will only enter sell trade when price is under this line.  In my version, I will also add to the logic, once price goes over this line all sell orders will be closed.  Then get back to trading with a profit.
I don't know if this will work.  I've looked at the trades CF makes (myfxbook charts the trades) and this approach should work.  You could even follow the pivot points on the chart if you wanted too. 

How would I prevent this?  here is the idea.
Draw a line on the chart, a line in the sand.  Actually, draw 2 lines.  A green line and a red line.
Buys are only allowed ABOVE the green line, so you can trail it up if you want too.
Sells are only allowed BELOW the red line, you could trail this down if you wanted too.

One more thing - if there are open Buy orders and price drops below the green line, I close the basket.
So now I don’t have to worry about having two charts open, or having stupid large drawdowns.  You could even use SAR as your trend switch here instead of lines, SAR is more automatic.

Back to the first chart - where to put the lines?
On the downtrend, I plan to use the red line and the green line on a 1 hour chart to start.  The safe way to go in a downtrend, just turn off the Buy trades, chances are on your side that you wont get killed.  You wouldn't even need these lines.  

These are my Safety Lines.
So go ahead and draw the lines on the chart, the problem is if you change the timeframe CF needs to reload, I'm not sure if this is an issue or not.  Go to a 1 hour TF, put the red line above the high that price would have to get to and make the strong downtrend weak.
Here's an example (yes, hindsight is 20/20)
The red lines I show, the bottom right of each line is "when" I would move the line
The green lines - as soon as the Buy (long) trades are started, I would move the green line.  If you wanted “rules” – then as soon as the first trade is entered, draw a line.  You have lots of time to do it before you get smacked.
The yellow box below shows you the current Buy trades that are getting hammered, and where this system would have exited.


If you are familiar with supply and demand you shouldn't have a problem with this.  I'm going to try this and I'll keep you posted.  I won't be near a computer for a few days, so don;'t expect quick replies!!!  The code is NOT finished yet, maybe by the end of the weekend.  I would like your thoughts on this method.

Play MP3 sound files in MT4

Play MP3 files in MT4

Have you ever wanted to play a MP3 file in MT4?  

The built in function PlaySound() will only play wav files.

If you are interested in this, send me an email.  I can play mp3 files from MT4, it's easy!

Forex Trading Signal for MT4

If your interested in following forex trading signals, take a look at this link for the signal.  Good gains!

MetaQuotes (MT4) - What are the alternatives?

In a story I have been following closely, MetaQuotes has published on its broker support site that it is urging brokers to cease operation with third party developers that they believe to have ‘hacked’ their MT4 trading platform and are violating the firm’s license agreements. Mentioned in the letter to brokers are copy trading provider ZuluTrade, Tradency, Tradeo and Myfxbook. A similar announcement led to the banning of a popular third party user interface plugin from MT4i.  According to sources, MetaQuotes is presently in the process of trying to ban IPs being used by these four service providers.

The overriding opinion is that while there are in fact cases where plugins are detrimental, conference goers believed the marketplace was a ploy by MetaQuotes to increase revenues on the back of their platform.

Below is the entire message from MetaQuotes to brokers. Forex Magnates is currently reaching out to brokers and third party developers for their opinions and will be updating this story as we receive more information.

Unfortunately, some third-party developers have hacked MetaTrader 4 trading platform’s network protocols violating end user license agreements and terms of contracts with brokerage companies.

As a part of our active efforts to improve MetaTrader 4 system, we are starting to upgrade the network protocols and block all services based on the hacked versions.

We urge you to cease any cooperation with ZuluTrade, Tradency, Tradeo, Myfxbook and other companies that use the hacked protocols violating our rights.

Further to MetaQuotes issuance of a warning urging brokers and traders to desist from using third party copy trading platform providers this morning, Tradency has been the first of those mentioned to respond.

The company has announced that it has with immediate effect ceased operation with MetaQuotes systems, shifting its Mirror Trader brokers to various currently available proven solutions.  Tradency stated that its various integration solutions will be offered to those of its clients that have been previously using Mirror Trader with MetaQuotes services. The on-going transition process has been in motion for some time now, and is expected to accelerate in light of recent events.

Tradency sent a clear message in a corporate statement today that the company will continue to offer its growing client base with top-tier technological integration solutions away from MetaTrader, including Currenex, FXCM, ACT and additional proprietary solutions. These solutions are already in place with a series of brokers, therefore paving the way for what Tradency expects to be a straight-forward transition.

Support Growing For New Platforms

Tradency’s step, while seemingly bold, could also be viewed as being far from a step into the great unknown.

The early part of this year has seen some of the world’s large banks pledge their support for new platforms such as ParFX and cTrader, and discussion among some senior figures last week at the IFXEXPO in Cyprus favoring open platforms, this could be the dawn of a new era.

Dukascopy CEO Alain Broyon addressed delegates at the IFXEXPO conference last week in Cyprus in favor of open platforms. “The Jforex platform is built in with different interfaces that can be set by the broker. Every platform should have a detail that is different, to help it be global and allow the technology to be in line with regulation.”

Tim Haman, CEO of Fair Trading Tehcnology added that third party applications and tools are important to traders who want to use EAs and signals. He explained : “They may not be programmers therefore they need to be able to have a list of options to customize their platform to suit trading style.”

Gold-i CEO Tom Higgins considers the server-side as important as the user interface side: “We see a lot of server side integration, copy trading, multi-account managers. We are very big on the server side. There is a lot of demand for back office integration so that databases can be managed and reports to regulators can be easily pulled off the system.”

The general consensus among the panel was that the participants were very much pro open trading platforms. It was agreed that party providers which can link a broker to appstore and provide on-the-move open applications can really make a difference to the reach of a broker.

When asked if the future is open platforms, the answer was a resounding yes. It was the view of the panel that closed platforms are not offering enough solutions to brokers or traders, therefore it is down to programmers and developers to continue to engineer open platforms and third party solutions which integrate with such platforms.

Please comment on alternative platforms or sign up and discuss in the SteveHopwoodForum, links to relevant posts are below.

cTrader seems to be the leader, but there are many others.  

In an email I sent to Amibroker, Thomaz said he would release the code fo iBControler.  The email is below

Hi Amibroker guys;

 

I own version 5.4.

 

I wanted to let you know that there is considerable pushback from MT4 users now – Metaquotes have done some stupid things, one of which is forced upgrades resulting in some not being able to access there account.

You probably have heard of the rumblings since its your line of business, if not, here is a start....

 

http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2267

 

http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2291&start=10

 

What this email is about is just to give you some thoughts....

 

There could be a business opportunity for you, adjust Amibroker for the MT4 users who want to leave to another platform.. Some are considering cForex or jForex but those platforms aren’t quite right.

 

The reason I don’t use Ami any longer to trade is the trading interface.  I want data and a trading interface that is not clunky, it needs to be built in.  I want to trade, not program interfaces.  I traded with IB but found to much of the actual trade interface to be a pain in the ass.  I wrote TipsterTrendlines, I know you have heard of it.

 

You should give some consideration to connecting traders to brokers, the FXCM’s of the world.  I don’t like the order2go plug in, or importing/exporting data.  I like to turn on the software, the data comes in, the connection is made with the broker using programming from an expert (like you guys) and I do the trading.  You could write a back end or use another platforms, maybe jForex, its open source, but I don't know anything about it (just suggestions)

 

If you want to get more of a feel and some good feed back from some traders I suggest you sign up at SteveHopwoodForex.  Friendly bunch of people who were fed up with ForexFactory so they started their own forum.  I hope to see you there.

 

Brian (AnotherBrian)

 

Hello,

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

What I am planning is to release source codes for existing IBController with a free license to
create derivative works and some docs regarding
how to connect 3rd party solutions to GetTradingInterface function of AmiBroker.
This should provide enough ground for 3rd parties to add their own trading interfaces.

At the moment I can not promise that I will develop anything especially for MT4 users since
our resources are limited, and trading interfaces require lots of maintenance as brokers change their APIs.
But I think that opening sources for IBController may be good first step.

Best regards,
Tomasz Janeczko
amibroker.com

Hear the Market

A great way to study the market with the Market Pace indi.

This indicator was posted on FF and I've used it occasionally to "hear" the ticks. It's sort of like watching the level 2 screen but easier. Since SHF is where I usually go for forex related info, I thought I would post it there.
Set it up on a 1 minute chart and listen as price goes into supply and demand areas, or tests new highs and lows. It will sit there for a while then a big pop can be heard, the bigger the pop, the more points it just travelled.
As I don't tend to scalp very often I don't use this much but I do listen as I do other things sometimes. It sort of tells you when things are heating up....
If you scalp, you might want to try it out.
rooicol wrote this gem.  I you have issues installing there are a few posts on FF that might help. Some users have had difficulties getting the correct sounds to play. Read the instructions and the posts on FF if you have issues. Feel free to post questions here as there are many brains willing to help.
It's attached here so you don't have to go get it.

Drawing Levels on MT4

This is a new script I wrote and have been using.
TT2P_DrawLevels
Drag and drop the script to the top part of the level you want to identify and it will draw two horizontal lines from that point to the right of the chart. If you drop it above current price it's red, below is green. So post on page 18 for a picture. If you turn on "show object descriptions" in the chart properties, the level will also show the timeframe where you found the level.

TT2P

Just a reminder that Tipster Trendlines is available for MT4 totally FREE from this web site

Questrade and MT4

Canadian broker Questrade now offers MT4. I don't have any info or details on the "rule set" but there is a demo available. If you sign up, use this promo code pa1ink35, you get some free trades (50 bucks) but I'm not sure that applies to MT4, it might only be stocks.
They are regulated by IIROC and your account would be protected by CIPF, and that's killer protection!!

Money Management idea for MT4 EA’s

Lots of EA’s out there don’t place stops and the idea or risking a percentage of the balance isn’t really accurate.  So you leave yourself open to more risk.

Here’s an idea that might help assuming your EA is profitable.

When an account grows and the lot size is determined by the risk value, the lots can get too big. Then the account gets hammered.
I know when I would kick this in for a demo but for a real account, would you really let it trade 1 lot? Maybe, but this way you can adjust it to your own appetite. This also lets you not worry to much about making withdrawals on time to gain back your initial investment or monthly withdrawals.

If you want to see the system performance and not colour the results with MM, use a constant lot size. The equity curve should be a relatively straight line. Then you use MM to curve it upwards. BUT, don;'t use MT4 to do this, it's not of ANY use.
To test this, start a demo and use a low lot size that would be lower than if your set the risk to 10. I would do this but I don't have any space for more demos. I might, however, try this add on to one of my existing experiments....

Then add your max lot size code and do another test.

The Spread in Forex (MT4)

I’m testing an EA called Crossfader (CF), this post discussed the spread as it impacts that EA.

Spreads are more on the exotics, less on the majors.  This gets amplified in low liquidity  So, my thoughts on exotics and the spread.....

Firstly, the CF biotch works great with EURUSD, the most proven and reliable pair.  Hooking her up to an exotic?  Why would you do this (other than a demo as an experiment), are you looking for a hidden treasure, are you subconsciously trying to ruin your account?  That's purposely making your growth task much harder. 

Slapping this EA on exotics and trying to then fix it with filters is a waste of time and increases your risk, not to mention work load and stress level (if live, not sure anyone is doing this yet...)

If you're trading live or planning to trade live at some time,
I recommend slapping it on the 6 majors, on a demo account.  For analysing pairs.
Here's what I do, and consider I have a small nugget on a live test account with CF running;
Have 1 demo running 6 majors on all the time;

• Risk 10
• 100% DD
• check each week and month for each pairs performance.  This will tell you what pairs to run live.  [*]On MyFxBook you can analyse by pair.
  Even put some additional pairs on it as you wish
• The only purpose of this is to track pairs, not to see if the EA works or test DD or risk level, although you can glean some of this info from this demo

Spead Filters

• Let's say you are running biotch CF on EURUSD only. 
  Do you need a spread filter?
  What number should it be set for?
  Should it stop entries or entries AND exits?
  Should it stop trading when spread is over or under your number (strange question right?)

When price is moving fast, like after a news event, is spread big or small?  small, sometime there is no spread as there are so many trades going on.

When it's off hours and price is standing still, no bidders want to hit the ask, no sellers want to pay the bid, what happens?  Large spread, price doesn't move, stalemate. 

How about just before a news release?  Wide spread, nobody wants to trade, they are waiting for the news.  The market is open, lots of participants right?  Nobody wants to trade. 

wide spread = nobody wants to trade

What happens during market hours when price runs into daily support / resistance level?  I bet most of you never watched a chart real time to see this....  As price approaches the level, you see many ticks, it slows as you arrive at the level, then you see nothing.... you check your internet connection, wtf?  I lost my feed... then you see TICK....  the spread widens.  This is where you want to enter or exit, a turning point possibly, or a breakout. 
Don't believe me? 
Run a spread recorder, install the market pace indicator so you can "hear" the market, and watch price on a 1 minute chart.  Mark off area where price stalls. 

Market pace is a nice piece - when price is moving slowly you hear a low volume tick pop sound.  when price is at a level and stall, let's say price is rising, hits a level and stops.  After about 30 seconds price will go down by the value of the wide spread, this larger movement makes a louder sound POP!!!  It really is neat to watch this, it may help you understand the auction process.

Back to the questions above -

• Do you need a spread filter?  entries, probably not if you turn the EA on for liquid session and use one of the majors. 
  What number should it be set for?  use the spread recorder to find the right number.
  Should it stop entries or entries AND exits? Probably both - apart from off market hours increasing spread, there are S/R areas and news events that increase spreads and I don't want to trade at that time, BUT - to get out of a trade at  the profit level and worry about another pip, that doesn't concern me.
  Should it stop trading when spread is over or under your number (strange question right?)  This was the point of this post, now your thinking maybe I should enter when the spread is big during market hours?  You must figure this one out on your own. 

What am I doing?  I'm adding a spread filter that just takes out the really stupid spreads, for example, EURUSD would not allow entry or exit on a spread of more than 4 pips.  (that's actual pips, not fractional pips).  Exotics, not trading them, those pairs are there for companies that do business in other countries, not for traders.)

MT4 to Amibroker data feed and becktesting

We all know MT4 is a piece of shit for back testing (as well as some other things but lets stay focused!)

I want to test a system in Amibroker that has been written in MT4.  First thing I’ll do it convert the code.

Then run it live in Amibroker with a data feed from MT4, to see if the same trades are opened and closed.  This tell sme the code has been converted OK.

Next, I can back test it in Amibroker which has a robust back tester.

Here’s the plug-in to connect the two platforms.

http://www.marketcalls.in/amibroker/mt4-plugin-for-amibroker.html

MT4 and tick charts

I found this tick chart

 

http://www.marketcalls.in/metatrader/how-to-setup-tick-charts-in-metatrader-4.html

Questrade offer MetaTrader (MT4)

Next step - What Canadian broker has MT4 and is covered under CIPF, and accepts USA or other countries?

I know that Questrade is going to be introducing MT4 in August some time.

UPDATE - They have MT4 now, here is the link



FXCM uses a company called Friedburg Direct, and the web site claims to offer MT4. I've sent an email to clarify, since I checked 3 months ago they did not have MT4 accounts in Canada (went to UK for MT4). I have a small FXCM account in UK. Here is the MT4 FXCM page.

I've looked at a bunch of brokers over the past week, I always look to see what country they are in. I found one in Mauritius (HotForex). I've been there. I wouldn't go with that broker with your money!! The broker would have to be in one of the large stable countries (with a half decent auditor!!!)

Alternatively, I'm looking at TradingStation II and Strategy Trader both offered by FXCM. I'm not using EA's except for TipsterTrendlines to place pending order. It's not an auto trading strategy, it's atool that does all the grunt work for my manual trades. So depending on what the next 2 months holds, I might go to that platform. After being hit by both MF Global AND PFG, I'm ONLY going with CIPF firms. There are to many f'n crooks in the finance world. The Canadian finance sector including banks are well regulated and offer a solid foundation, the credit crises really never screwed up our banks and real estate in Canada, not sure if anyone outside of Canada realises that. 

So, I'm not saying that anyone should jump to Canadian firms, just that from my experience, any firm covered under IIROC and CIPF is well worth looking at in your comparison.

IIROC and CIPF

Here is some information that might help out the person wishing to open an investment account in Canada. 

Protection and regulation are really two different things, depending on what you mean when you say “protection”. I define protection (for the purposes of this post) to be protection of my personnel funds in the case of another MF Global or PFG Best.  Even if the regulator does not do their job (put your hand up American regulators!!!!) you will still get your funds returned to you. 

I was part of the MF Global non-sense, got every penny back, and it didn’t take very long either. I had an MF Global account that was registered in Canada.

Definitions

IIROC - Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

CIPF - Canadian Investor Protection Fund.

IIROC is the Canadian Regulator.  CIPF Members are Dealer Members of IIROC.

Mission Statement: To contribute to the security and confidence of customers of Canadian investment dealers by maintaining adequate resources to return assets to eligible customers in cases where a Member becomes insolvent.

In the unlikely event that the Member you are dealing with becomes insolvent, CIPF will ensure the securities, cash and other property that are held in your account are returned to you in accordance with our Coverage Policy. 
Investment dealer insolvency doesn’t happen very often.  In fact, since CIPF’s inception in 1969 there have been only 18 Member insolvencies. CIPF has made payments of $36 million, net of recoveries, and no eligible customers have suffered a loss of property.

So, for anyone outside of Canada (except AUSA residents), take a look at this page.... it tells you what and who is covered under CIPF.

http://www.cipf.ca/Public/CIPFCoverage/ ... olicy.aspx

Does it matter if I do not live in Canada, or if I am not a Canadian citizen or a Canadian resident?

No. CIPF coverage does not depend upon residency or citizenship. CIPF coverage is available to you when you open an account with a CIPF Member.

If you are living in the USA, forget it.  The U.S regulators are soooo terrible that they demand your money stays inside the U.S.  Imagine if this rule didn't exist, there would be a whole lot of American funds being transfer outside the country.  Other countries respect the regulator so they don't open accounts for Americans.  I have money sitting in the bankruptcy case with PFG – so I don’t have anything good to say about the US financial system. 

Free Online Charting

Here is a list of online charting applications.  They all run on your browser, chartingstation can also run on your desktop.  I use the first one listed since it was the first one online and I’m used to it now.  If I was to start fresh, I think I would go with chartingstation as they have less advertising on the screen real estate.

Take a few minutes and explore each of them. They are all free, free data from the BATSA exchange, meaning I wouldn’t trade intraday off those quotes but it gives you a great idea of where the market is. I mostly use it for my long term holding check, and to look at the US dollar index on the weekends.

In the end, pick one and stay with it. 

http://www.freestockcharts.com/

by Worden brother.  Although I like this, its heavy advertising and a push to upgrade or go with there platform TC 2000.  I stay with the free version as it does what I need.

https://www.tradingview.com

Community based, tons of features. 

http://www.chartingstation.com

• Multi-screen end-of-day stock charting software
  7 chart types (Candle, Point & Figure, Renko, Kagi, Heikin-Ashi, Line, High-Low)
  16 drawing tools (Fibonacci tools, Gann tools, Channels, Andrew's Pitchfork, Text, Basic Shapes)
  70+ indicators and chart transformations
  Access 3 free stock data providers (Yahoo!, Google, MSN Money)
  Load custom Comma Separated Value (CSV) files
  Multi-platform: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
  Use from your desktop or web browser

The end of the world

Do you think the world will end on December 21, 2012?

With the impending date of Dec. 21, we wonder if this will really be the year that the world comes to an end, but looking back, we see that the end of the world was supposed to come about 17 times already.

Is the world really going to end, though? According to the Mayans, some say, yes. Others feel it may just be a myth, or that the Mayans simply ran out of rock.

Why the 21st of December of this particular year? What calculations did the Mayans, who were incredibly advanced in math and science, have to come up this exact date? How valid are their calculations? Many doubt that the Mayans could have predicted the end, as it was several thousands of years away.

Some wonder if the few days before the 21st will become a sort of Black Friday shopping spree. 

I don't think it will end on the 21st.  Maybe a few weeks after that :)

ProSLTP

There is a tool out there called ProSLTP.  It costs money, really? The functionality is OK but this guy is charging for it.

ProSLTP Review

If your here you were probably searching for reviews of this tool, or the tool itself.

If you want a real free tool, go here and get TT2P.

The latest version is always on the first post.

MT4 Signal Service

This last weekend I updated my platform to build 445.  I'm running a FXCM platform on my smaller account.  The update included a signal service from the MT5 / MT5 community.  Here's the look of the new options tabs. Any comments on the new service?  Here is the link to MT4 Signals.

 

The sound of the market

Ever wondered what the market would "sound" like?

Even if you don't find this Indicator useful for your day-to-day trading, it's interesting to listen to it for a while.

On Forex Factory, under the thread called "Scalping With Sound", I found this gem.  (You'll have to sign up to get these files).

I installed this on the MT4 platform, on a Windows 7 machine.  A little crazy to get it to work but I finally manage it.  The trick was to select the new sound files, right click properties, and "Unblock" the files.

This is an indicator, so you put the "rooicol - Market Pace.ex4" file in the MT4/experts/indicators directory.  Put the sound files in MT4/sounds.  Then you re-start MT4.

Here is what I mean by "unblock".  You need to do it for each file.  It might work doing it once for the zip file after download.

Listen to the ticks as price reaches support, resistance, supply, demand, or whatever you call it in your world.  The ticks will stop, silence..... If price breaks this area (rising for example) and shoots up, the ticks go crazy.  If price backs off, you hear price getting smacked down, then slowly rising again.

Listen when the market is busy, I bet it sounds busy on a news release!

MultiCharts Discretionary Trader

MultiCharts was previously available for free, the catch is that trades could only be placed manually, no automation.  It did however allow for chart trading, and it did a pretty good job at it.  

You could place orders by clicking on the chart, with multiple targets.  You could attach strategies such as breakouts or limit orders and as bracket orders as well.  I didn't like the fat that it waited until the order was filled before it placed stops and targets (bracket).

The software has the ability to connect to a bunch of brokers as well, for order placement.

If your looking for this trading platform, you can probably find the torrent for it.  I am fairly certain it still works as a free version to connect to a pile of brokers, but I'm not sure how buggy it is.

I wrote a post a while back on this platform, that it was GONZO.  They took the free version off the web site.  The paid platform looks very kick-ass if your a full time trader.  

If you want to read more about it here is the MultiCharts web page, click on the "Compare editions" on the left side.  Also, mouse over the "MultiCharts" on the top to see a huge menu to learn more about this package.  I don't use it but if I was a full time trader I would seriously consider it.