The most important is to avoid the current situation where a large lot is ignored due to an existing smaller one.
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yes, i agree… but the primers is the most important part, and then this would be the second i think 
I agree. I’m just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks while CC is working 
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Well - I know its still the same amount of units. What I mean is that the percentages are larger, and the amount of pips needed to stop you out are smaller if you use higher leverage. Which might induce some stress at least if you are trading on Etoro, and markets suddenly move - like gaps during weekends. I guess on MT4 it will be less stressfull as you can simply opt to have no SL.
Hehe… Love the exchange here. Yeah I definitely think the primers is the biggest ‘issue’ at the moment, but this is an interesting question.
A third option that hasn’t been discussed is this: If there is a current 0.1 lot open, and new lot size is 0.2, then if there is already an open trade sitting at 0.1 the new trade should be of only 0.1 to make it 0.2 thus evening out the imbalance without getting too much in one direction (0.3 in total which is above the desired amount with current equity).
Another issue which relates to my current account copying Viking: I have some imbalances due to the faulty copy-system meaning that in effect I have 2-3 times as many sell-units open compared to buy-units. As I see it I have two options 1) Open up a buy order to cancel out the extra units I have. 2) Wait and let the system correct itself. If I am not mistaken even the larger sell-orders will become ‘minor’ ones equity grows, and if they get closed at some point new trades will be made based on Vikings current equity, which means that the channel will slowly and automatically stabilize without me having to intervene. Please correct me if I am wrong… Also - these large sell-orders are some 200-pips away, so I am afraid that a buy-order at current level will keep channel unbalanced… or will that only happen if the course stays within current 200 pip range?
could we please leave the etoro system fails over on etoros openbook, and talk MT4 here, as the EA is being build for the MT4 platform… etoros platform seems to be pretty hopeless for this system, both when trading, and especially when copying…
almost anything will unbalance an copied channel on etoro, but try and ask viking on openbook how he thinks you should try and counter it, even though he dont answer questions on why etoro fails at copytrading, im sure he will answer questions on what you should do to get in ballance.
I have tried to ask at etoro, but most posts get lost due to the big volume of posts being written. This board seems to be better for serious discussions and not ‘tweet’/facebook-like exchanges.
Also I believe my question about imbalance could be of interest to anyone - regardless of if they trade on their own or copy someone, and also relevant for MT4: How does one best deal with imbalances should they occur? I mean - what would you do if the EA for some reason failed for a couple of hundred pips due to a malfunctioning? In my view we should try to think out all the ‘worst case scenarios’ to be able to proper trade the system as safe as possible, knowing how to deal with situations as and when they occur.
Guys,
Interesting points you are discussing. I was worried of the same issue of what happens during a weekend gap which opens 200 pips above/below friday close. The best idea I could think to counter this is:
- Every friday evening before market close remove TP of the border most buy & sell. Then on monday again place the TP appropriately (manually).
If price opens 200 pips away we will not suffer.
Just to update guys - work is still in progress. i expect to spend more time tomorrow on the EA and try to finish. then will have to troubleshoot to see if I am satisfied with it.
But currently braindead - so going off to sleep. Have a driving liccense test tomorrow early morning.
But as all of you I am excited too and I hope the EA for the primers is coded properly.
You guys have been amazing.
So have a good weekend. We will definitely continue this discussion as soon the next version is ready.
Cheers
CC ( I like what Dennis nicknamed me. Easier to type)
This could cause problems as different brokers close/open trading at different times depending on DD or Non-DD (I guess) making the EA less usable on some accounts. My UniFX account halts before eToro in Fridays, and start up again an hour later on Sundays.
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I’m starting to assume our programmer per excallance is an ozzie or kiwi
Sleep well and thank you for your great work once again.
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That is why I proposed manually release the TP at whatever time you feel comfortable on friday. This just to make sure that you are secure for the weekend gap if any.
The EA should not be affected if you manually change the TP. But ofcourse this is only if you want to do it.
Otherwise you will move a few steps back in case of these drastic gaps.
BTW - I am an Indian living in Singapore. Just a guy who learnt C++ in university and trying MT4.
Goodday/Goodevening/Goodnight!! (reminded me of The Truman Show).
D’UH! The sun goes east/west, not south/north. How embarrasing…
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While CC catches some Z’s, perhaps some Danes can elaborate on security for primers. I like the idea of calculating primers from the 0.06% thing, but should the first one and second one be placed without a SL?
If the EA places P1 at 1.5000, P2 at 1.4970 and P3 at 1.4940, then at 1.4941 I would have 2 primers placed, possibly with no SL (if P1 gets it’s initial +4 pips SL at 1.4940), and you know that’s where the rate will turn (right? of course it will)
On the other hand, placing P1 with a close SL will end up repeatadly closing out primers with -5/-10 pips, or whatever you choose as SL. So what does the math say about this? Can it be done with any sort of safety without adding lots of oscillators, RSI, EMA etc. etc. etc?
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If their is a weekend gab. Then the trade will just close with a lot bigger profit when the market opens. and there will be a gab with no open trades. This gab will be closed the next time the rate drops again. So I don’t think that gabs will be a problem.
About the trade size.
I think that it might be a good idea to make the EA check if there is already an open trade. And then adjust the lot size so it fits the current lot size of the system, so that there is two smaller trades open with at lot size that added together is the same as the current lot size.
About the Primers.
When the third primer is opened, then the first primers SL is set 10 pips in green. That makes a margin of 50 pips that the rate will have to retrace, for the first primer to close. I have explained this in details in an earlier post, and I think that CC knows how that part will work.
But as the primers is started already at 0,06% draw down. Then there is space for primer 1 to be closed in + 10pips, a lot of times without putting the system in danger.
Yes, that’s how to handle primers with manual trading, but with auto-trading we have to make sure that the first primer doesn’t stay open if the trend turns after only a couple of pips. If you do that by setting a narrow SL on placement we risk a problem we had earlier where the DeleteFarAwayTrades function was too close to the limit for setting new trades, resulting in trades being set and then deleted again several times per minute as the rate went up and down a couple of pips (fixed now). With a primer of 10 times normal size or more being repetadly placed and closed you can quickly do some massive damage just by the spread alone.
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why??
if it works in manual, and we can cary the primer with us in the wrong direction, that wont change just because its run by the EA instead of manual
CAN we actually carry two primers with us if the rate turns? We won’t be sitting there watching and making manual decisions about closing an unfortunately placed primer, so my worry is if a quick exit has to be progammed.
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The system is build to carry two primers in each direction at all time.
This is a long term system, not a day trader system. I know that all public sites teach everyone to use SL. But we think different
OK, I did not know that primers are included in the drawdown calculations. The FB dox doesn’t include info on this. There are occasional closed reds in Viking’s history (usually at less than 2%) so I assumed primers where manually closed if the trend suddenly turned. I really appriciate you clearing these things up as it doesn’t matter how well something is programmed if the underlying system it is to automate is misunderstood.
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