Hi everyone,
I just wanted to drop by and see how everyone was doing with the system. It seems that many of you have been getting very good at it. I’m also impressed with those who have taken the time to create an MT4 indicator. Thank you to all of those who have taken time to answer beginning surfers’ questions. Keep up the great work and happy trading!
-PipSurfer
Hi there dudes! I am very new to Forex (just set up MT4 with Cowabunga Expert Advisor) but have been trading in the stock market for many years. My question comes from the fact that I have a day job and there is simply no way I can wake up at night and place trades. Therefore I have come up with the following two questions important to me in my situation…
How would I set up automatic trading to act upon Cowabunga Expert Advisor alerts? I mean what’s the process of setting it up from a purely technical standpoint.
What would be the optimal stop loss and take profit values? Since I would not be near my computer, the best I can do is try to calculate the most optimal settings based on historical performance of the system. Since the historical average for 2007 is 54% WIN and the average win is consistently greater than the average loss, I would still see a significant profit, right? Please correct me if I am wrong on this.
It would help me a lot if you guys could expand on this and I think automation is a good topic to brainstorm anyway…
Thanks,
Mark.
Dear Mark,
To set up MT4 to automatically trade Cowabunga would mean developing an MT4 Cowabunga Expert Advsior instead of using the existing Cowabunga indicator. This is not straightforward and requires quite a lot of software programming. Kepler has already done a great deal of the work and posted a trial EA in the forums and there is a separate thread for Cowabunga EA development:
http://forums.babypips.com/free-forex-trading-systems/6738-wip-cowabunga-mt4-expert-advisor.html
However I gather that Kepler’s EA has not been working accurately / successfully and it is my intention to try to fix it when I get time. Kepler doesn’t have any time to work on it right now.
I suspect that what you say here is not necessarily true. I believe Kepler started out by setting a standard 20 point profit and 20 point stop loss, just to make a start on the project in a simple way, but this would not comply with Cowabunga rules which are a bit more complex. Stops should be placed at recent swing high/lows and that will have to be developed somehow into the EA. If you simply set it up to always make or lose 20 pips then you will make two things happen:
You will you lose the advantage that wins are much bigger than losses,
You will change the ratio of number of wins versus losses (currently 54%)because you will change the logic of when a win or loss occurs (i.e. you might keep taking stop losses too often because your trade wasn’t allowed enough room to breath, the stop loss would no longer be set at sensible resistance/support levels which Cowabunga describes simply as being the recent swing high/low). Having said that, until it is tested properly we don’t really know how good or bad the change might be. I suspect quite bad.
It is an exciting and difficult challenge to develop a successful EA, especially if you plan to avoid modifying any of the Cowabunga rules in some way for fear of spoiling the track record. For example even if you successfully create code to find the swing highs/lows, then there is another problem of how to avoid news events! Again this is possible but it would probably require you to keep manually updating a database table with the news times that you want your computer to avoid from trading in - that’s not ideal. There are a few other complexities I’m sure.
I am sure that with some good programming and hard work, an EA could prevail. I have a lot of experience in computer programming, but for me it is about finding the time. In the meantime I don’t have a problem placing the trades manually and it enables me to sanity check everything before I commit a trade.
By the way Mark, what time zone do you live in?
Kind regards,
Pipalot 
Pipalot, thanks for your help, you’ve helped me a lot over the past several days. I live in the PST so I am asleep when most entry signals occur (after 1am EST).
Please keep us posted on the Cowabunga EA.
Also, perhaps there is a longer term system I can try (which also possibly takes advantage of the interest rate?). The only reason I bring this up is because when I go to sleep, I SLEEP as I need to wake up at 7:30 and get ready for work… and nothing can wake me up :D:D:D
Mark, you are very welcome.
In terms of other systems there is Michael Dunbar’s 8and8 system in the thread:
http://forums.babypips.com/free-forex-trading-systems/1857-my-e-book-trading-daily-charts-have-read-2.html
The latest version of his downloads are in post #45
I have only recently starting to look at the above system, so I can’t yet give any view or track record but it looks interesting and appears to be based on the original Fozzy system. Importantly it looks like a “simple 10 minutes before you go to bed type of system” that might fit in nicely with the hours that you keep.
Best wishes,
Pipalot
Pipalot - just seen your response to my question some time back - thanks a lot for all the info and hard work
You are very welcome.
Regards,
Pipalot
Hello -
PipSurfer, or BigPippin if either of you check this from time to time I hope you see this and will answer.
Meanwhile, if anyone else knows the answer, please tell me!
I have been following the Cowabunga system for about a week now, and trying to trade it for several days. In the surf report for yesterday, there were three trades. I was asleep during the second, so fortunately for me I’d have missed the loser! But I was awake and saw the first one and the third one.
All three are marked by green vertical lines on the attached picture.
My problem here, is that on my chart MACD was positive and trending down. See that on my picture. So I considered them no-trades and didn’t get into either of them.
The one where the red vertical line is indicated, that one showed MACD in the negative and trending up.
PipSurfer, on each of the three trades, you said in the surf report that the MACD was negative and gaining value, and your picture shows it that way.
So my question is, do I have my MACD set wrong somehow?
Thanks for any feedback!
Jeff
Hey pipalot–
Right after I posted, I saw your link a few posts back into another thread, where I have read you saying something exactly about MACD in MT4. I am reading in there now, and can see that the answer may be contained there.
Still, anything you think about my sitch specifically, I appreciate it.
And still, anyone else with any feedback, please tell!
Jeff
EDIT=> And I just now saw a few posts above to look at the OsMA instead of the MACD anyhow. I just added that indicator to my chart, and now I can see PipSurfer’s signals from yesterday plain and clear, all three of them! Is that all I needed to do?
Amazing how much you can learn when you read, as I know from VAST experience with forums . . .
Jeff
Hi Jeff
That’s right, get rid of the MACD indicator and use OsMA (this is MT4’s version of the MACD Histogram) to make your charts the same as PipSurfer’s.
You might also find it useful to download the Cowabunga Indicator for MT which I have posted in this thread and also in the separate thread dedicated to it specifically. It can even alert you by playing a sound and sending email to your phone, handy if your not paying attention or are asleep want to get woken up! Make sure you download my latest version which is called Cowabunga- Any Pair.MT4. I posted a template in the thread too.
Good luck,
Pipalot
Funny you should say this just now! I was just busy making myself a list for weekend tasks, and the first item on it is:
Set up MT4 to NOTIFY on a crossover, and to EMAIL it, and for that to trigger a CELL PHONE CALL
I will read thru the entire thread, and hope I don’t run into too many stumbling blocks in getting it all working–
Thanks,
Jeff
Hey PipSurfer–
In the comments for today’s surf report there are several good ones:
Really nice Alltough my indicator didn’t show up that early
gryat | Posted 15:33 07 November 2007
Hi Pipsurfer dude, I can’t find your daily update for Monday 5th November 2007. Did you trade on that day? Best regards, Pipalot
pipalot | Posted 16:17 07 November 2007
Hi Pipsurfer! It looks like your indicators 2 period ahead!I am using Amibroker and on first entry neather EMA cross nor stochastics %D(10,3,3) were showing me that early (%K(10,3) were up correctly). Do you know some problem with indicators on other charting software or I am checking something in a wrong way? By the way, thanks a lot for your great system!
isv | Posted 08:29 08 November 2007
To echo what isv and gryat said, my indicators were two periods behind also for the trade on 11-7 at 3:15EST. My 5EMA didn’t cross the 10EMA until 3:45EST. It was still a good trade, good for 67pips in my case, but since your indicators came in a full two periods ahead, I have been analyzing everything to see if I have mine mis-set some how. Is it likely that it’s just the difference between a few pips of price between different brokers?
As to what pipalot said, is there a trade report for Monday? I have actually been eagerly awaiting your results, as I got three fakeouts in a row, good for 24, 26 and 32 pips loss respectively. I missed the first of those by being asleep, which is good for me in this case, but I caught the second one. After seeing two turds in a row and taking one of them, I chickened out on the third one, which turned out to be a good decision. I wonder if you had the same fakeouts that morning? If not, then we all wonder what about your signals might have saved you from them?
If you are in this thread again, would love to see your feedback on these items!
Jeff
Following the comments from others I find that there is no direct match often on either MT4 using OsMA or netdania. Yesterday for instance the EMA cross occurred 2 candles later and by then the MACDH was into its 3rd positive bar. It makes no difference whether the MA is put on the open or closing price of the candles and I have found in a backtest using the signals on either of my packages the system is essentially not profitable because of the later entries. I think PS needs to address this on behalf of the forum to see if he can come up with an explanation. Although it is difficult to see sometimes even his own charts have questionable crosses at the point of entry. How this is defined would also be useful info. As always though it is the responsibility of each of us to come up with individual rules based on our packages that work for us
Even with pipalot’s wonderful modified any-pair indicator, I find that I still get a few false signals, and miss a few qualified ones.
I echo your sentiment in that pipalot’s tool is a gracious gift when it does work most of the time, and when it doesn’t, well it’s still ultimately our own responsibility . . .
Jeff
Dont know if this is the answer but I have got closer to PS chart (in fact identical yesterday) by having the 5MA calculated on the close and the 10 on the open
Hello. I’ve posted in the “mt4 indicator thread” aswell… sorry for “multiposting” or whatever it’s called. Ehm… yea, i’m experiencing a problem with the MT4 cowabunga indicator (any-pair). At most triggers (up or down) I receive an email saying “down trigger occured at…”, but sometimes i don’t receive no email. Like today at the down trigger at 3.45am ET, I did not receive a mail for some reason. The program was restarted at 2.00am ET, so there was no trigger having occured before.
And by the way, if you want your MT4 application to startup at midnight ET, why don’t use “schemed activities” in windows XP. That starts the program automaticly whenever you wants it to. That allows the (well, aparently, normally allows) the cowabunga indicator to go off at the first trigger after program startup. You do have to leave your compu on 24/5, but that’s no problem for me though
i have question - i have installed metatrader 4 software
i am trying to go with candlestick chart type but its not working
its looks like big straight green line
how i can see candlestick pattern and i also installed the cowone indicator
but i cant see candlstick
what should i need to do to see candlstick???
Please link me with the thread to this system.
Prince.
Look under Blogs
If I have EVER spent more time on something and come up TOTALLY EMPTY I can’t recall it! I have more than 30 hours invested now in trying to make the frigging “email send” work in MetaTrader!!! I am not exaggerating. It took most of both Saturday and Sunday, and up til 3am several nights now researching and looking all over forums and all over the internet.
All I want it to do is send an email to <[email protected]> whenever the arrow lights up. Why is that so hard?!
Or to send an alert to my cell phone. I have AT&T.
If ANYONE can PLEASE either list for me or link me to a fully detailed, blow-by-blow of EXACTLY how to make EITHER of these work, I would so appreciate it!!
Yahoo mail. AT&T cellular.
Can anyone help on this please?
Thanks,
Jeff
