Turtle Trader 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:
- Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4
- The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 – Entry Criteria
- The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 – Exit Criteria
- The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 – Room for Improvement
The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 is a sophisticated trading system by design. This is evident when one looks at the code and when the number of technical indicators used is considered. The name of the trading system might mislead people into thinking that this is the same or based on the famous turtle trading system developed by the legendary trader Richard Dennis. That is not the case here and not even close.
While the original turtle trading system employs the Donchian channel indicator for entry, the expert advisor under discussion uses a different set of indicators. As shown in the image above, this trading system utilizes five technical indicators to find trade opportunities. Despite the seeming sophistication in design, the trading system fails miserably in back testing, judging by the equity curve and test report generated. This might not be the case for everyone so interested parties should do their own testing.
The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 – Entry Criteria

The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor is a complex trading system that should be used with care by any user. To make the most of this program, the user must fully understand the options provided to him in Inputs. He can try the default settings at first to get an idea on how the robot works. Then he can do trial and error until he finds the most profitable settings.
Due to the number of variables in Inputs, it is not best to provide and explain all these variables in this article. The following list is only a small part of the external variables but is sufficient to give the reader considerable insights into the workings of the robot.
- Lots = 0.2 – The position size of each trade is 0.2.
- StopLoss = 77 – The stop loss on an actual trade is not equal to this default value. To get the actual stop loss, this initial value is divided by the lot size and the result is multiplied by the point value of the underlying instrument. Finally, the product is deducted from or added to the bid price to find the final stop loss price. The stop loss amount is around 38.5 pips.
- TakeProfit = 0 – If the user keeps this value, trades taken by the robot will not have take profits.
- MAGIC = 12357951 – This number is the magic number given to all trades.
- NotSell = false – Since this parameter is false, the robot will execute sell trades.
- NotBuy = false – Since this variable is false, the robot will execute buy trades.
- Martingale = true – Since this parameter is set to true, the martingale lot sizing method is used.
- MartingaleStep = 2 – This variable refers to the martingale factor or multiplier applied to determine the lot size of the next trade.
- AutoLots = false – With this default value, the expert advisor will use the declared lot size in Inputs when opening trades.
- MAXLots = 10 – The maximum lot size allowed for trades is 10.
- Risk = 0.7 – If AutoLots variable were set to true, the expert advisor will compute the lot size as a percentage (0.7%) of the account balance.
- StoKperiod = 4 – This is the %K period for stochastic indicator.
- StoDperiod = 3 – This is the %D period for stochastic indicator.
- StoSlowing = 3 – This is the slowing period for stochastic indicator.
- MASlowTime = 5 – A slow-moving average with a period of 5 is used in this trading system.
- MAFastTime = 4 – A fast-moving average with a period of 4 is used in this trading system.
- CCITime = 5 – A 5-period CCI is used in this trading system.
- CHOTime = 5 – A custom indicator named CHO is used in this trading system. This indicator has a period of 5.
- RSITime = 6 – A 6-period RSI is used in this trading system.
- ADX = 6 – A 6-period ADX is sued in this trading system.
- MomentTime = 5 – A 5-period momentum indicator is used in this trading system.
This trading system employs various technical tools to find entries. These technical tools and the manner of generating trade signals are described in the following:
- Chaikin Oscillator (slow period 5, fast period 3, type smooth 0) – This indicator was created by Marc Chaikin as a derivative of the Accumulation Distribution indicator, moving average and volume. It is shown on a sub-window as an oscillator. The values needed for computation are derived from the current and previous candles of the current timeframe and symbol. If the value is greater than 10, a bullish signal is generated. If the value is less than -10, a bearish signal is indicated.
- Stochastic (4, 3, 3, simple mode) – Two values of the stochastic indicator are needed by the expert advisor. These values are derived from the current and previous candles of the current timeframe and symbol. If the stochastic of the current candle is less than or equal to 12, a bullish signal is indicated. If the stochastic value of the current candle is greater than or equal to 88, a bearish signal is provided.
- Relative strength index (period 6) – The value of the RSI needed for computation is derived from the current candle of the current period and symbol. If the RSI value is greater than 50, a bullish signal is obtained, while if the RSI value is less than 50, a bearish signal is come by.
- Commodity channel index (period 5, price typical) – The values of the CCI needed by the robot are obtained from the current and previous candles of the current timeframe and symbol. A buy signal is generated if the current CCI is greater than previous CCI and current CCI is less than 75. A sell signal is obtained if the current CCI is less than previous CCI and current CCI is greater than -75.
- Average directional movement index (period 6, low price) – The expert advisor obtains four values from the ADX (plus DI, minus DI, ADX 1 and ADX 0). If -DI is less than +DI, ADX 0 is greater than ADX 1, and ADX 1 is greater than 20 but less than 40, a buy signal is generated. If -DI is greater than +DI, ADX 0 is greater than ADX 1, and ADX 1 is greater than 20 but less than 40, a sell signal is obtained.
When a trade entry has been determined and qualified, the expert advisor executes a market order with an initial lot size of 0.2. The user might expect that the trade will come at a stop loss of 77 as declared in Inputs, but this is not true in actual scenario. The robot makes further calculation so the actual stop loss is a little different. By inspection of the trade results in testing and the code, it appears the stop loss is 38.5 pips. The trade has no take profit. Later, if the trading system encounters losses, the lot size will increase by an order of 2.
The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 – Exit Criteria
Trades opened by the Turtle Trader Expert Advisor are closed by the same method used in entry but in reverse. When a trade of a certain type is opened and an opposite signal arises, the trade is immediately closed either in profit or in loss. This is noticeable in the test results.
The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor For MT4 – Room for Improvement
The Turtle Trader Expert Advisor needs a lot of improvement to turn the bad performance in testing around. This article cannot enumerate all such improvements. The best way to improve this expert advisor is by reviewing the code for possible errors and revisiting the logic for entry, exit and money management.