Automated Trading Championship 2012: How to Fix Errors in Trading Robots

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Some applicants think that automatic tests of Expert Advisors are a mere formality, which is not really important for the Championship. They ignore the fact that such tests are objective and valuable experience for automated trading system developers. Here we present an overview of the most common errors revealed during the tests, as well as tips to fix them.

Automatic Tests of Trading Robots

How to Read Error Reports

Each submitted Expert Advisor undergoes the automatic tests. Their results are fixed in "Discussion" section of the applicant's profile. Here is a typical test report containing error messages:

Dear [Participant_Name],

Errors found in your Expert Advisors during checking:

2012.07.15 23:42

1. Copy
   experts\[ExpertAdvisor_Name].ex5 ok

2. Compile

3. Configuration
   [ExpertAdvisor_Name] on EURUSD:M30 every tick 2012.01.01-2012.08.01


4. Start
   finished in 9 min 29 sec


5. Statistics
2012.01.02 07:26:55   failed buy stop 6.00 EURUSD at 1.30088 (0.00000) sl: 1.28288 tp: 1.30118 [Invalid volume]
2012.01.04 08:32:28   failed buy stop 6.00 EURUSD at 1.31109 (0.00000) sl: 1.29309 tp: 1.31139 [Invalid volume]
2012.01.09 15:30:05   failed buy stop 6.00 USDCHF at 0.95940 (0.00000) sl: 0.94140 tp: 0.95970 [Invalid volume]
2012.01.30 06:36:55   failed buy stop 7.32 EURUSD at 1.32564 (0.00000) sl: 1.30764 tp: 1.32594 [Invalid volume]
2012.02.07 00:32:42   failed buy stop 7.56 EURUSD at 1.32007 (0.00000) sl: 1.30207 tp: 1.32037 [Invalid volume]
2012.02.16 07:53:05   failed buy stop 7.80 EURUSD at 1.30883 (0.00000) sl: 1.29083 tp: 1.30913 [Invalid volume]
2012.03.08 08:22:05   not enough money [instant buy 0.75 AUDUSD at 1.06160 sl: 1.05160 tp: 1.06210]
2012.03.08 08:22:05   not enough money [instant buy 0.75 AUDUSD at 1.06160 sl: 1.05160 tp: 1.06210]
2012.03.08 08:22:05   not enough money [instant buy 0.75 AUDUSD at 1.06160 sl: 1.05160 tp: 1.06210]
2012.03.08 08:22:05   not enough money [instant buy 0.75 AUDUSD at 1.06160 sl: 1.05160 tp: 1.06210]
2012.03.08 08:22:05   not enough money [instant buy 0.75 AUDUSD at 1.06160 sl: 1.05160 tp: 1.06210]
2012.03.08 08:22:05   not enough money [instant buy 0.75 AUDUSD at 1.06160 sl: 1.05160 tp: 1.06210]
2012.03.15 07:00:00   failed buy stop 9.72 USDCHF at 0.93883 (0.00000) sl: 0.92083 tp: 0.93913 [Invalid volume]
2012.04.12 12:30:41   not enough money [instant buy 0.87 EURUSD at 1.31408 sl: 1.30408 tp: 1.31458]
2012.04.12 12:30:41   not enough money [instant buy 0.87 EURUSD at 1.31408 sl: 1.30408 tp: 1.31458]
2012.04.12 12:30:41   not enough money [instant buy 0.87 EURUSD at 1.31408 sl: 1.30408 tp: 1.31458]
2012.04.12 12:30:41   not enough money [instant buy 0.87 EURUSD at 1.31408 sl: 1.30408 tp: 1.31458]
2012.04.12 12:30:41   not enough money [instant buy 0.87 EURUSD at 1.31408 sl: 1.30408 tp: 1.31458]
2012.05.02 07:56:41   failed buy stop 15.00 EURUSD at 1.32970 (0.00000) sl: 1.31170 tp: 1.33000 [Invalid volume]
2012.06.06 12:01:39   failed buy stop 15.00 EURUSD at 1.25707 (0.00000) sl: 1.23907 tp: 1.25737 [Invalid volume]
   796 kb of log files
   50 trades, 639 deals, profit 24796.34 USD

20 errors

We have replaced the applicant's name and the name of the trading robot with [Participant_Name] and [ExpertAdvisor_Name], respectively.

In this report, we see many errors of two kinds:

  1. insufficient funds for performing trading operations - not enough money

  2. invalid volume in a trade request - Invalid volume

Besides, the report contains the following two final lines:

  • 796 kb of log files - logs size during the test of the Expert Advisor,

  • 50 trades, 639 deals, profit 24796.34 USD - number of trades and deals, as well as profit gained according to test results.

The final line shows the total number of detected errors. If a report contains at least one error, such a trading robot will not be accepted for the Championship. The above Expert Advisor has gained $24 796 of profit but has failed the tests all the same.

The full text of the news can be found at the Championship website - How to Fix Errors in Trading Robots.

The sponsors of the Automated Trading Championship 2012 are Alpari (UK) Limited, United World Capital and RoboForex LP.
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