Manual Trading Lightweight Utility 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:
- Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4
- The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4 – Entry Criteria
- The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4 – Exit Criteria
- The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4 – Room for Improvement
The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor for MetaTrader4 is a simple but very useful tool for manual trading. With trial and error in a demo account, the user can easily figure out how to use the tool in trading. As a manual trading tool, the program does not work in the strategy tester. It will not open any trades no matter how hard the user may try. That is simply because it is designed to be used by traders for discretionary trading.
While it is not an automated trading system, the program is an expert advisor nonetheless. No other type of MQL4 program can take its place. A technical indicator cannot execute trades on the trading account, while a script runs only once and folds after performing its operations such as opening or closing trades. An expert advisor, on the other hand, stays on the chart and can be used to place trades anytime the user wants to.
The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4 – Entry Criteria
When the Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor is first dropped on the chart, the user is presented with a small window containing the trading parameters that can be modified at will. If the user does not change anything in Inputs, the initial settings will be used by the robot. The meaning of each parameter is discussed below:
- LotSize = 1 – The default lot size is 1.0, which is too high for any type of trading account. The user is advised to adjust this value to reduce the risk on every trade.
- LotControl = false – The user can toggle this parameter to true or false. When false, the buttons for the lot size selection are hidden in the interface. When true, the lot size buttons for buy and sell are displayed so that the user can adjust the lot size directly in the dashboard.
- TakeProfitPoints = 400 – Each trade regardless of type (i.e., market, stop or limit order) will have a take profit target of 400 points or 40 pips. The take profit is set when the trade request is sent to the trade server.
- StopLossPoints = 200 – Each trade regardless of type will have a take profit target of 200 points or 20 pips. The stop loss is put in place when the trade request is sent.
- LimitOrderPoints = 50 – When the trader uses a limit order to place trades, the order will be placed at a distance of 50 points or 5 pips from the current market price. For buy limit, the order is placed 5 pips below the ask price. For sell limit, the order is placed 5 pips above the bid price.
- StopOrderPoints = 50 – When the trader prefers to use stop orders when entering trades, the stop order will be placed at a distance of 50 points or 5 pips from market price. For buy stop, the order is placed 5 pips above ask price. For sell stop, the order is placed 5 pips below bid price.
- magicNumber = 0 – This number is the main identifier of trades placed by the expert advisor. If the default value of zero is used, orders executed by the robot will not have magic numbers similar to manually opened trades. The user can use either a positive or negative number as a magic number.
The expert advisor displays a cool and user-friendly interface on the main chart of the active symbol. The user must be aware that the program can only execute trades on the current symbol. On the leftmost part of the interface is a button (one for buy and one for sell) that the user can toggle to E, L or S. These letters stand for the three types of orders (E for market execution, L for limit order and S for stop order).
On the right side of the order type button is price (one for buy and one for sell) that shows the market price that the program will execute depending on the type of order selected. If the user chooses E (for market execution), the price shown is ask price for buy and bid price for sell. If the user picks L (for limit order), the price shown is 5 pips below bid price for buy order and 5 pips above ask price for sell order. If the user sets S (for stop order), the price shown is 5 pips above ask price for buy order and 5 pips below bid price for sell order.
The user can also adjust the limit and stop order prices directly in the dashboard when the L or S buttons are pressed. Clicking on the plus button will increment the stop and limit orders by one pip, and clicking on the minus button will decrement the limit and stop orders by one pip. It is not possible to adjust the price for market orders. To use a lot size other than the default value of 1.0, the user must press L on the computer keyboard. Performing this action will cause the buttons for the lot size adjustment to appear in the dashboard. To adjust the lot size, the user can either type directly in the Lots field (the faster option) or click the plus or minus button (the slower option).
Once everything is set, that is, the utility is attached to the desired symbol, the correct type of order is selected, and the lot size is adjusted to the preferred value, the user is ready to click either the Sell or Buy button to send the trade request to the server. Normally, the trade request is approved very quickly and the trade is executed almost instantly provided no error was encountered at any point in the process.
The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4 – Exit Criteria
The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor only works as a trade entry tool. Since the interface does not contain a button to close trades, once a trade has been executed, the trade must be managed manually by the trader, or the trader can allow the trade to hit either the stop loss or take profit.
The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor For MT4 – Room for Improvement
The Manual Trading Lightweight Utility Expert Advisor is a simple but interesting trading tool. The interface looks good and is easy to understand with little practice. In addition, the dashboard does not take up so much space on the main chart. Another cool feature is that the dashboard can be freely moved anywhere on the chart, which prevents the possibility of covering order levels or price action. Overall, the program is a useful addition to the trader’s toolbox.
However, once in a while the program returns an error when an attempt is made to enter trades. This is encountered when the magic number is adjusted, for example. Trade errors also occur in other situations. The code might need to be reviewed to resolve these errors as the program is essentially designed as a trade entry utility. The errors will defeat the purpose of creating the tool in the first place.
Another thing to improve is the default lot size, which might be too much for a trading account with limited capital. Executing trades with this trade volume might put the trading account in great danger. This would not be a problem if the user is already familiar with the interface, but for new users who are not well versed in using the MT4 platform, it might be difficult to adjust the lot size.
Partially Automated Trading Besides Your Day Job
Alerts In Real-Time When Divergences Occur
