Cowabunga system MT4 indicator

[Forest]

Hello,

I installed the indicator as told but I could only see the red and blue line in GBP/USD M15 chart. There was no sell signals as mentioned. Tried unzip and restart the MT4 a few times, still the same.

Can someone help me? Thanks.

[awsl]

what is the Blue lines on top represents? target points?

[pipalot]

There appears to be a problem with the MACD shipped as standard in MT4 (and the iMACD function which is used in the Cowabunga MT4 Indicator).

I have partly found the solution:

MACD displays wrong in MT4, various people have re-written the MACD indicator and I have downloaded them and found that they work fine and match the MACD in Pip Surfer's Charts (and all other charting software).

I can post a corrected MACD indicator if anyone wants one.

The remaining problem is that the Cowabunga MT4 Indicator (kindly written by ybop01) uses the iMACD() function, which seems to have the same problem as the standard MACD indicator that is shipped with MT4.

In my opinion, this explains why I find that ybop01's custom indicator doesn't always find the same buy/sell signals as those given in Pip Surfer's daily reports (because it is using a bad MACD function - rather than solely because the data feeds differ slightly from broker to broker).

Has anyone else been having this problem with MACD and the Cowabunga Indicator?

And... has anyone found a solution, if so, what a hero you are and please let me know.

Thanks,
Pipalot

[pipalot]

OK, after much research, here is the answer:

You don't really need my attached updated MACD indicators because I have now found out that the MACD Histogram is already available in MT4 as the custom indicator called OsMA (shipped with MT4). They obviously wanted it in a separate file for some reason. Please note that the indicator that they call MACD somewhat confusingly shows the first MACD line as a histogram (rather than a line) and omits the real histogram.

You don't need the two MACD lines for Cowabunga just the MACD Histogram but if you want to insist on displaying all 3 in one place then here are some custom indicators giving them all combined:

MACDcorrect.MT4 for 2 the MACD lines plus histogram. This one is strictly accurate.

MACD1.MT4 (zipped) same as above but with elongated histogram to make it more readable.

I have also amended the cowabunga indicator written originally by ybop01. It wrongly used the iMACD function instead of the iOsMA function and thus seemed to miss some obvious cowabunga signals to trade. Filename COWABUNGA2.MT4 (zipped).

For anyone who remembers, MACD is composed of 3 things: the first should be a line representing the difference between two moving averages (periods 12 and 26 EMA for cowabunga) in MT4's standard MACD indicator this is confusingly displayed as a histogram, most people expect to see it as a line. The second is another slower line representing the 9 period SMA of the first line (shown correctly as a line in MT4's MACD). Thirdly is a histogram representing the difference of the first two lines (not shown at all in MT4's MACD indicator, you must use the OsMA indicator to see it).

I hope that clears this all up.

I would be glad of some feedback from anyone. Particularly anyone who has tried the original Cowabunga indicator and upgrades to this new version. There may still be improvements that can be made, it looks pretty accurate to me now, but it would be nice to hear your results (don't sue me if you lose!!!)

Happy trading.

Regards,

Pipalot

[pipalot]

As a slight update, I would recommend you to get rid of the last two MACD indicators that I posted as they were not entirely accurate due to rounding errors. I have attached a replacement indicator (MACD-Combine.MT4), this is totally accurate to more decimal places and of course it has the 2 MACD lines and Histogram. The values used in this indicator are also a perfect match for the values used in the OsMA and MACD indicators that ship as standard with MT4 (it is basically those combined into a single indicator chart) and will therefore be a perfect match for the values in the Cowabunga indicator because Cowanbunga takes its values from the MT4 functions iMACD and iOsMA.

However as I said before, you don't really need this combined indicator, you just need OsMA, PipSurfer uses just the Histogram on his chart.

I noticed that the Cowabunga indicator is currently set to not send email notifications. Turning this on/off appears to be a simple change to the code. I have made the change to the code and I am currently waiting for a valid Cowabunga signal to see if I get an email. Assuming I prove that emails now work, does anybody want me to post a new version of the Cowabunga indicator with email alerts turned on?

Kind regards,

Pipalot

[Ammar]

Yes, if you could post the updated indicator with the email notification it would be greatly appreciated. I will be back testing this system and comparing it to the final results given by BigPipin.

This will be a huge time saver for me and others if it works.

Thanks for taking the time to weed out the cracks.

[pipalot]

Hi everybody,

Here is the newly improved Cowabunga indicator (also recently posted in the main Cowabunga thread, but from now on I'll just post them in this thread instead):

1. It should work on any pair (15 minute chart only).
2. It will email alerts.
3. It also plays a sound when the alert occurs (email.wav)
4. It also includes the earlier bug fix for the MACD Histogram aspect.

Oh and here is a Cowabunga chart template too, to make it quick for you to set up all those 15 minute charts. (For each one you need to open a new chart, change the period to 15 min and then simply load the template).

I am turning into a goldmine of cool stuff or what!!!

Ammar, it would be very helpful if you would post your back testing results when completed , thanks.

Regards,

Pipalot

[Mark Trader]

Could someone please help me? I am very confused... How do I set up alerts for the Cowabunga system?
I am using FXCM Trading Station... Or do I have to use MT4? How do I configure either one to issue alerts?? Thanks!

[pipalot]

Originally Posted by Mark Trader

Could someone please help me? I am very confused... How do I set up alerts for the Cowabunga system?
I am using FXCM Trading Station... Or do I have to use MT4? How do I configure either one to issue alerts?? Thanks!

Hi Mark,

The files that generate alerts that I have posted in this thread are very specifically for MT4 software. I understand that FXCM do not offer MT4 but may do so in the future, I don't know if the FXCM Trading Station offers complex alerts.

The solution that I can suggest is to open a demo account with a broker who offers MT4 software (ODL, Alpari, etc there are plenty), then download my indicator and template and take it from there.

Best wishes,

Pipalot

[pipalot]

Dear Mark Trader,

Here is a long list of list of some of the brokers offering MT4 software:

Forex Factory - View Single Post - MT4 Indicators Usage Tutorial/MQL4 Reference Documents

Kind regards,

Pipalot