Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4
WE IMPROVED THIS EXPERT ADVISOR FOR YOU!!!
PLEASE NOTE: This expert advisor was publicly available for free usage on other websites and is not programmed by us. We explain the functionality and possible improvements of the EA. Furthermore, we are convinced that fully automatic Expert Advisors will fail in the long run. On the other hand, our semi-automatic approach with detecting the best setups and then activating our Expert Advisors (e.g. V-Power EA, EdgeZone EA) produced many successful traders and some of them even got prop traders at prop trading firms. Therefore, we added a similar semi-automatic trading feature (to allow only buy or only sell trades) to the free Expert Advisors. You can download the modified version here and enjoy!
Table Of Contents:
- Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4
- The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 – Entry Criteria
- The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 – Exit Criteria
- The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 – Room for Improvement
As the name suggests, the Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 enters the market using the principle of support and resistance as defined by the pitchfork methodology. While the user can easily draw the pitchfork on the chart manually using any three points, a robot can create such an object if provided with three points each containing price and time coordinates. The standard pitchfork is normally drawn using three recent swing points on the current timeframe. On the other hand, the pitchfork created by this expert advisor is based on arbitrary candle numbers (i.e., candles 1, 30 and 49).
Running the trading system in the strategy tester for a short period of time reveals that this expert advisor is not yet ready for live trading. The test result was breakeven at best. The equity curve had no clear direction, although it ended a little below the starting balance. Further testing must be done to determine the effectiveness of this expert advisor. The user might find different results when the trading system is applied to different symbols and periods.
The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 – Entry Criteria
The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor creates and adjusts the placement of the pitchfork object on the chart on every tick. Trade hunting is performed at the close of the previous candle. During the trade search, the robot refers to the pitchfork object drawn on the chart for trade direction. However, the pitchfork is only one factor for entry. Other technical indicators will confirm the trade entry.
The user is given some freedom to control some aspects of the trading system. This is done by offering some parameters in Inputs that the user can adjust as necessary. The most crucial parameters and their default values are outlined below, along with a brief explanation.
- PITCHFORK = 50 – This parameter refers to the number of candles to be covered by the median line of the pitchfork.
- Col_Cn = clrYellow – This is the color of the pitchfork lines.
- Exit = false – If this value is true, the expert advisor will use the exit strategy in managing open trades. By default, this option is disabled.
- Lots = 0.01 – The default lot size of trades open by this robot is 0.01 lot.
- TrailingStop = 40 – The trailing stop function is turned on when a trade gains 40 pips.
- Stop_Loss = 20 – During trade execution, the robot assigns a stop loss of 20 pips to each trade.
- MagicNumber = 1234 – The robot associates this number to each trade it has opened.
- Take_Profit = 50 – Upon trade execution, the robot sets a take profit of 50 pips to each trade.
- FastMA = 6 – A moving average (6 period) is used for trend identification.
- SlowMA = 85 – Another moving average (85 period) is used for trend identification.
- Mom_Sell = 0.3 – A signal for sell entry will be validated if the momentum is lower than 0.3.
- Mom_Buy = 0.3 – A signal for buy entry will be confirmed if the momentum value is lower than 0.3.
- UseEquityStop = true – Since this variable is set to true, open trades will be liquidated if the total drawdown reaches a certain limit.
- TotalEquityRisk = 1.0 – If the open trades produce a drawdown equivalent to one percent of the balance, all such trades will be liquidated at once.
- Max_Trades = 10 – The expert advisor can execute up to 10 trades at any one time.
As the name suggests, the robot uses the pitchfork object to generate trade signals in combination with moving averages and momentum indicators. How the trade signals are generated is explained below:
- Moving averages (85 and 6 periods, price typical, linear weighted) – These two moving averages are applied on the next higher period, and the values needed for trend determination are obtained from the current candle of the active symbol. A buy signal is generated if the 6 LWMA is above the 85 LWMA, and a sell signal is come by if the 6 LWMA is below the 85 LWMA.
- Momentum (period 14, close price) – The momentum indicator is used on the next lower period, and its values are derived from the last three bars. If at least one of these values is less than 0.3, a trade signal (buy or sell) is confirmed for entry.
- Pitchfork object – The expert advisor draws the pitchfork object on the chart using three points. The first point is defined by candle 49 and its open price, the second point is defined by candle 30 and its open price, and the third point is defined by candle 1 and its open price. To get a trade signal, the robot makes use of the prices of points 1 and 2. For a buy signal, the first point should be lower than the second point, and for a sell signal, the first point should be higher than the second point.
If the number of open trades is less than the maximum and if a trade entry exists, the robot will open a trade with a position size of 0.01. This trade comes with a stop loss of 20 pips plus the spread and a take profit of 50 pips minus the spread. A trade is only opened when a new candle has formed. In case another signal occurs on subsequent candles, the signal will be taken so long as there are less than 10 trades on the current symbol.
The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 – Exit Criteria
While each trade executed by the Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor has a specific take profit and stop loss values, it is possible for the trade to be closed at other prices. This is due to the use of trailing and breakeven functions. The breakeven function comes in when the trade has gained 30 pips, while the trailing function kicks in when the trade has gained a total of 40 pips. While breaking even is a one-time event, stop trailing continues until price hits either the new stop loss or the take profit.
The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor For MT4 – Room for Improvement
The Andrews Pitchfork Expert Advisor must be improved to be able to generate profits. The most apparent cause of failure in testing was the low win rate, which was only 32 percent. This means that the current entry rules might not be sufficient to bring in profits. In relation to this, the system is not using how the pitchfork tool should be utilized in trading. Using an arbitrary number of candles for setting the three points to set up the pitchfork is incorrect. The robot must determine the three recent swing points on the current timeframe and put the anchor points of the pitchfork there.
Another weakness of this system is the limited spacing between trades. As measured in testing, the distance between trades can be less than one pip. This type of entry is good as taking one trade with a huge volume. To address this concern, a minimum distance should be set between trades. Since the robot opens a trade on every candle, the actual trade gap could be higher than the minimum value, which is actually better. Using a grid system to space out trades is not necessary as well as employing pending orders.
It appears the trading system is designed for trading trending markets. It generates profit during trending market conditions but loses money during ranging markets. Since markets tend to range more than they trend, the odds of success are already against this trading system to begin with. To improve the chance of success, trade entries should be filtered even more.
Partially Automated Trading Besides Your Day Job
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