Figuring out an Indicator's trading style

Trading Systems Expert Advisors and Automated Trading
1

I would like to figure out how a custom indicator decides when to buy and sell so that i can add buffers and better format the indicator as a whole to be more profitable. I do not know how to program MQL4 and therefore can not interpret the code in MetaEditor…what is the best way for me to discover how this specific indicator is trading??

Thanks

2

Your question is not clear. There are many custom indicators out there, and even more possible.

You probably have to learn MQL if you want to be able to work with custom indicators.

3

You don’t need to learn coding to figure out how an indicator works - although it helps. Understanding the math is important. But more important is understanding yourself and deciding what trading style and strategy you are suited for. Once the strategy question is answered, there are lots of threads on here and FF to guide you. But try things without any indicators to be sure you understand the charts.

4

also, you are asking “how a custom indicator decides when to buy and sell”.

If I am reading your question right, the indicator does not decide. The EA is programmed in such a way that it takes action when the pre-determined criteria are reached, normally through indicator parameters, either standard or custom. The criteria can also be based on price action, bar open/close and others.

If the EA is working off a custom indicator, it works in a similar was as with a normal indicator in that when certain values or criteria are reached, it will execute commands at that time.

Is that a bit clearer for you ?

5

Thanks for the replies. I was given a custom indicator from a friend and asked to improve it by adding buffers/filters. In order to do that, I first wanted to see how this specific indicator came up with its buy and sell alerts. Without being able to read the code, this was rather difficult. I ended up comparing it to every indicator I had in MT4 and noticed it was a smoothed/edited version of a well known indicator. I am now looking for ways to improve upon it by adding filters. Sorry for the confusion. I was trying to find an easier way to figure out the “puzzle” without having to read the code.