Articles on manual and algorithmic trading in MetaTrader 5

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This category features articles on all aspects of trading - from manual to fully automatic trading, from Expert Advisor ideas to trading robot creation using the MQL5 Wizard. Position management, processing of trade events and money management - these integral parts of trading are covered in theses articles.

Learn how to copy trading signals and how to provide around-the-clock operation of Expert Advisors, how to create a trading robot and how to run MetaTrader on Linux and MacOS, what social trading is and how to order a trading robot.

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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 10): Automation (II)

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 10): Automation (II)

Automation means nothing if you cannot control its schedule. No worker can be efficient working 24 hours a day. However, many believe that an automated system should operate 24 hours a day. But it is always good to have means to set a working time range for the EA. In this article, we will consider how to properly set such a time range.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 09): Automation (I)

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 09): Automation (I)

Although the creation of an automated EA is not a very difficult task, however, many mistakes can be made without the necessary knowledge. In this article, we will look at how to build the first level of automation, which consists in creating a trigger to activate breakeven and a trailing stop level.
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How to create a custom indicator (Heiken Ashi) using MQL5

How to create a custom indicator (Heiken Ashi) using MQL5

In this article, we will learn how to create a custom indicator using MQL5 based on our preferences, to be used in MetaTrader 5 to help us read charts or to be used in automated Expert Advisors.
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Take a few lessons from Prop Firms (Part 1) — An introduction

Take a few lessons from Prop Firms (Part 1) — An introduction

In this introductory article, I address a few of the lessons one can take from the challenge rules that proprietary trading firms implement. This is especially relevant for beginners and those who struggle to find their footing in this world of trading. The subsequent article will address the code implementation.
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How to detect trends and chart patterns using MQL5

How to detect trends and chart patterns using MQL5

In this article, we will provide a method to detect price actions patterns automatically by MQL5, like trends (Uptrend, Downtrend, Sideways), Chart patterns (Double Tops, Double Bottoms).
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How to use MQL5 to detect candlesticks patterns

How to use MQL5 to detect candlesticks patterns

A new article to learn how to detect candlesticks patterns on prices automatically by MQL5.
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Moral expectation in trading

Moral expectation in trading

This article is about moral expectation. We will look at several examples of its use in trading, as well as the results that can be achieved with its help.
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Creating a comprehensive Owl trading strategy

Creating a comprehensive Owl trading strategy

My strategy is based on the classic trading fundamentals and the refinement of indicators that are widely used in all types of markets. This is a ready-made tool allowing you to follow the proposed new profitable trading strategy.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 08): OnTradeTransaction

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 08): OnTradeTransaction

In this article, we will see how to use the event handling system to quickly and efficiently process issues related to the order system. With this system the EA will work faster, so that it will not have to constantly search for the required data.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Fibonacci

Learn how to design a trading system by Fibonacci

In this article, we will continue our series of creating a trading system based on the most popular technical indicator. Here is a new technical tool which is the Fibonacci and we will learn how to design a trading system based on this technical indicator.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 07): Account types (II)

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 07): Account types (II)

Today we'll see how to create an Expert Advisor that simply and safely works in automatic mode. The trader should always be aware of what the automatic EA is doing, so that if it "goes off the rails", the trader could remove it from the chart as soon as possible and take control of the situation.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 06): Account types (I)

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 06): Account types (I)

Today we'll see how to create an Expert Advisor that simply and safely works in automatic mode. Our EA in its current state can work in any situation but it is not yet ready for automation. We still have to work on a few points.
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Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 12): Can Self-Training Neural Networks Help You Outsmart the Stock Market?

Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 12): Can Self-Training Neural Networks Help You Outsmart the Stock Market?

Are you tired of constantly trying to predict the stock market? Do you wish you had a crystal ball to help you make more informed investment decisions? Self-trained neural networks might be the solution you've been looking for. In this article, we explore whether these powerful algorithms can help you "ride the wave" and outsmart the stock market. By analyzing vast amounts of data and identifying patterns, self-trained neural networks can make predictions that are often more accurate than human traders. Discover how you can use this cutting-edge technology to maximize your profits and make smarter investment decisions.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Bill Williams' MFI

Learn how to design a trading system by Bill Williams' MFI

This is a new article in the series in which we learn how to design a trading system based on popular technical indicators. This time we will cover Bill Williams' Market Facilitation Index (BW MFI).
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Revisiting Murray system

Revisiting Murray system

Graphical price analysis systems are deservedly popular among traders. In this article, I am going to describe the complete Murray system, including its famous levels, as well as some other useful techniques for assessing the current price position and making a trading decision.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 05): Manual triggers (II)

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 05): Manual triggers (II)

Today we'll see how to create an Expert Advisor that simply and safely works in automatic mode. At the end of the previous article, I suggested that it would be appropriate to allow manual use of the EA, at least for a while.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 04): Manual triggers (I)

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 04): Manual triggers (I)

Today we'll see how to create an Expert Advisor that simply and safely works in automatic mode.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 03): New functions

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 03): New functions

Today we'll see how to create an Expert Advisor that simply and safely works in automatic mode. In the previous article, we started to develop an order system that we will use in our automated EA. However, we have created only one of the necessary functions.
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Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 02): Getting started with the code

Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 02): Getting started with the code

Today we'll see how to create an Expert Advisor that simply and safely works in automatic mode. In the previous article, we discussed the first steps that anyone needs to understand before proceeding to creating an Expert Advisor that trades automatically. We considered the concepts and the structure.
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Creating a ticker tape panel: Basic version

Creating a ticker tape panel: Basic version

Here I will show how to create screens with price tickers which are usually used to display quotes on the exchange. I will do it by only using MQL5, without using complex external programming.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Gator Oscillator

Learn how to design a trading system by Gator Oscillator

A new article in our series about learning how to design a trading system based on popular technical indicators will be about the Gator Oscillator technical indicator and how to create a trading system through simple strategies.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 31): Towards the future (IV)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 31): Towards the future (IV)

We continue to remove separate parts from our EA. This is the last article within this series. And the last thing to be removed is the sound system. This can be a bit confusing if you haven't followed these article series.
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Magic of time trading intervals with Frames Analyzer tool

Magic of time trading intervals with Frames Analyzer tool

What is Frames Analyzer? This is a plug-in module for any Expert Advisor for analyzing optimization frames during parameter optimization in the strategy tester, as well as outside the tester, by reading an MQD file or a database that is created immediately after parameter optimization. You will be able to share these optimization results with other users who have the Frames Analyzer tool to discuss the results together.
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Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 09): The K-Nearest Neighbors Algorithm (KNN)

Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 09): The K-Nearest Neighbors Algorithm (KNN)

This is a lazy algorithm that doesn't learn from the training dataset, it stores the dataset instead and acts immediately when it's given a new sample. As simple as it is, it is used in a variety of real-world applications.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 29): The talking platform

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 29): The talking platform

In this article, we will learn how to make the MetaTrader 5 platform talk. What if we make the EA more fun? Financial market trading is often too boring and monotonous, but we can make this job less tiring. Please note that this project can be dangerous for those who experience problems such as addiction. However, in a general case, it just makes things less boring.
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How to deal with lines using MQL5

How to deal with lines using MQL5

In this article, you will find your way to deal with the most important lines like trendlines, support, and resistance by MQL5.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 26): Reinforcement Learning

Neural networks made easy (Part 26): Reinforcement Learning

We continue to study machine learning methods. With this article, we begin another big topic, Reinforcement Learning. This approach allows the models to set up certain strategies for solving the problems. We can expect that this property of reinforcement learning will open up new horizons for building trading strategies.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 28): Towards the future (III)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 28): Towards the future (III)

There is still one task which our order system is not up to, but we will FINALLY figure it out. The MetaTrader 5 provides a system of tickets which allows creating and correcting order values. The idea is to have an Expert Advisor that would make the same ticket system faster and more efficient.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Fractals

Learn how to design a trading system by Fractals

This article is a new one from our series about how to design a trading system based on the most popular technical indicators. We will learn a new indicator which Fractals indicator and we will learn how to design a trading system based on it to be executed in the MetaTrader 5 terminal.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 27): Towards the future (II)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 27): Towards the future (II)

Let's move on to a more complete order system directly on the chart. In this article, I will show a way to fix the order system, or rather, to make it more intuitive.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 26): Towards the future (I)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 26): Towards the future (I)

Today we will take our order system to the next level. But before that, we need to solve a few problems. Now we have some questions that are related to how we want to work and what things we do during the trading day.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 25): Providing system robustness (II)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 25): Providing system robustness (II)

In this article, we will make the final step towards the EA's performance. So, be prepared for a long read. To make our Expert Advisor reliable, we will first remove everything from the code that is not part of the trading system.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 24): Providing system robustness (I)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 24): Providing system robustness (I)

In this article, we will make the system more reliable to ensure a robust and secure use. One of the ways to achieve the desired robustness is to try to re-use the code as much as possible so that it is constantly tested in different cases. But this is only one of the ways. Another one is to use OOP.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Alligator

Learn how to design a trading system by Alligator

In this article, we'll complete our series about how to design a trading system based on the most popular technical indicator. We'll learn how to create a trading system based on the Alligator indicator.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 23): New order system (VI)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 23): New order system (VI)

We will make the order system more flexible. Here we will consider changes to the code that will make it more flexible, which will allow us to change position stop levels much faster.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 22): New order system (V)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 22): New order system (V)

Today we will continue to develop the new order system. It is not that easy to implement a new system as we often encounter problems which greatly complicate the process. When these problems appear, we have to stop and re-analyze the direction in which we are moving.
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Risk and capital management using Expert Advisors

Risk and capital management using Expert Advisors

This article is about what you can not see in a backtest report, what you should expect using automated trading software, how to manage your money if you are using expert advisors, and how to cover a significant loss to remain in the trading activity when you are using automated procedures.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Accelerator Oscillator

Learn how to design a trading system by Accelerator Oscillator

A new article from our series about how to create simple trading systems by the most popular technical indicators. We will learn about a new one which is the Accelerator Oscillator indicator and we will learn how to design a trading system using it.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Awesome Oscillator

Learn how to design a trading system by Awesome Oscillator

In this new article in our series, we will learn about a new technical tool that may be useful in our trading. It is the Awesome Oscillator (AO) indicator. We will learn how to design a trading system by this indicator.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Relative Vigor Index

Learn how to design a trading system by Relative Vigor Index

A new article in our series about how to design a trading system by the most popular technical indicator. In this article, we will learn how to do that by the Relative Vigor Index indicator.