Algorithmic Trading Articles — Guides & Examples

Visualize a Strategy in the MetaTrader 5 Tester

We all know the saying "Better to see once than hear a hundred times". You can read various books about Paris or Venice, but based on the mental images you wouldn't have the same feelings as on the evening walk in these fabulous cities. The advantage of visualization can easily be projected on any aspect of our lives, including work in the market, for example, the analysis of price on charts using indicators, and of course, the visualization of strategy testing. This article contains descriptions of all the visualization features of the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester.

In this article, we will create a pattern that uses a single set of parameters for optimization of a trading system, while allowing for unlimited number of parameters. The list of symbols will be created in a standard text file (*.txt). Input parameters for each symbol will also be stored in files. This way we will be able to circumvent the restriction of the terminal on the number of input parameters of an Expert Advisor.

Interview with Vitaly Antonov (ATC 2011)

It was only this summer that Vitaly Antonov (beast) has learned about the upcoming Automated Trading Championship and got to know MetaTrader 5 terminal. Time was running out, besides, Vitaly was a newcomer. So, he randomly chose GBPUSD currency pair to develop his trading system. And the choice turned out to be successful. It would have been impossible to use other symbols with the strategy.

MQL5 Market has many products for sale but some of their descriptions leave much to be desired. Many texts are obviously in need of improvement, as common traders are not able to comprehend them. This article will help you to put your product in a favorable light. Use our recommendations to write an eye-catching description that will easily show your customers what exactly you are selling.

Today we interview Francisco García García (chuliweb) from Spain. A week ago his Expert Advisor reached the 8th place, but the unfortunate logic error in programming threw it from the first page of the Championship leaders. As confirmed by statistics, such an error is not uncommon for many participants.

We have launched the service for selling MetaTrader 5 trading applications paying much attention to security issues. We have minimized all associated risks to allow you to concentrate on more important matters - searching for the most suitable trading robot!

Order Strategies. Multi-Purpose Expert Advisor

This article centers around strategies that actively use pending orders, a metalanguage that can be created to formally describe such strategies and the use of a multi-purpose Expert Advisor whose operation is based on those descriptions

Continuous Walk-Forward Optimization (Part 2): Mechanism for creating an optimization report for any robot

The first article within the Walk-Through Optimization series described the creation of a DLL to be used in our auto optimizer. This continuation is entirely devoted to the MQL5 language.

ZUP - Universal ZigZag with Pesavento patterns. Search for patterns

The ZUP indicator platform allows searching for multiple known patterns, parameters for which have already been set. These parameters can be edited to suit your requirements. You can also create new patterns using the ZUP graphical interfaces and save their parameters to a file. After that you can quickly check, whether these new patterns can be found on charts.

This article is a quick guide to MQL4 language functions, it will help you to migrate your programs from MQL4 to MQL5. For each MQL4 function (except trading functions) the description and MQL5 implementation are presented, it allows you to reduce the conversion time significantly. For convenience, the MQL4 functions are divided into groups, similar to MQL4 Reference.

Building an Interactive Application to Display RSS Feeds in MetaTrader 5

In this article we look at the possibility of creating an application for the display of RSS feeds. The article will show how aspects of the Standard Library can be used to create interactive programs for MetaTrader 5.

Principles of Exchange Pricing through the Example of Moscow Exchange's Derivatives Market

This article describes the theory of exchange pricing and clearing specifics of Moscow Exchange's Derivatives Market. This is a comprehensive article for beginners who want to get their first exchange experience on derivatives trading, as well as for experienced forex traders who are considering trading on a centralized exchange platform.

Working with sockets in MQL, or How to become a signal provider

Sockets… What in our IT world could possibly exist without them? Dating back to 1982, and hardly changed up to the present time, they smoothly work for us every second. This is the foundation of network, the nerve endings of the Matrix we all live in.

Universal Expert Advisor: Custom Strategies and Auxiliary Trade Classes (Part 3)

In this article, we will continue analyzing the algorithms of the CStrategy trading engine. The third part of the series contains the detailed analysis of examples of how to develop specific trading strategies using this approach. Special attention is paid to auxiliary algorithms — Expert Advisor logging system and data access using a conventional indexer (Close[1], Open[0] etc.)

Creating and Publishing of Trade Reports and SMS Notification

Traders don't always have ability and desire to seat at the trading terminal for hours. Especially, if trading system is more or less formalized and can automatically identify some of the market states. This article describes how to generate a report of trade results (using Expert Advisor, Indicator or Script) as HTML-file and upload it via FTP to WWW-server. We will also consider sending notification of trade events as SMS to mobile phone.

DIY multi-threaded asynchronous MQL5 WebRequest

The article describes the library allowing you to increase the efficiency of working with HTTP requests in MQL5. Execution of WebRequest in non-blocking mode is implemented in additional threads that use auxiliary charts and Expert Advisors, exchanging custom events and reading shared resources. The source codes are applied as well.

The MQL5 language keeps evolving, and its new features for working with data are constantly being added. Due to innovation it has recently become possible to operate with ZIP archives using regular MQL5 tools without getting third party DLL libraries involved. This article focuses on how this is done and provides the CZip class, which is a universal tool for reading, creating and modifying ZIP archives, as an example.

MetaTrader 5: Publishing trading forecasts and live trading statements via e-mail on blogs, social networks and dedicated websites

This article aims to present ready-made solutions for publishing forecasts using MetaTrader 5. It covers a range of ideas: from using dedicated websites for publishing MetaTrader statements, through setting up one's own website with virtually no web programming experience needed and finally integration with a social network microblogging service that allows many readers to join and follow the forecasts. All solutions presented here are 100% free and possible to setup by anyone with a basic knowledge of e-mail and ftp services. There are no obstacles to use the same techniques for professional hosting and commercial trading forecast services.

Building a Social Technology Startup, Part II: Programming an MQL5 REST Client

Let's now shape the PHP-based Twitter idea which was introduced in the first part of this article. We are assembling the different parts of the SDSS. Regarding the client side of the system architecture, we are relying on the new MQL5 WebRequest() function for sending trading signals via HTTP.

In this article, we will create a new base class of all library objects adding the event functionality to all its descendants and develop the class for tracking symbol collection events based on the new base class. We will also change account and account event classes for developing the new base object functionality.

We continue testing the patterns and trying the methods described in the articles about trading currency pair baskets. Let's consider in practice, whether it is possible to use the patterns of the combined WPR graph crossing the moving average. If the answer is yes, we should consider the appropriate usage methods.

The article dwells on Elder-Ray trading system based on Bulls Power, Bears Power and Moving Average indicators (EMA — exponential averaging). This system was described by Alexander Elder in his book "Trading for a Living".

How to Write an Indicator on the Basis of Another Indicator

In MQL5 you can write an indicator both from a scratch and on the basis of another already existing indicator, in-built in the client terminal or a custom one. And here you also have two ways - to improve an indicator by adding new calculations and graphical styles to it , or to use an indicator in-built in the client terminal or a custom one via the iCustom() or IndicatorCreate() functions.

This article starts a new series about the creation of the DoEasy library for easy and fast program development. In the current article, we will implement the library functionality for accessing and working with symbol timeseries data. We are going to create the Bar object storing the main and extended timeseries bar data, and place bar objects to the timeseries list for convenient search and sorting of the objects.

It is possible to start making money on MQL5.com right now without having to be a seller of Market applications or a profitable signals provider. Select the products you like and post links to them on various web resources. Attract potential customers and the profit is yours!

In the previous part, we considered the implementation of the MySQL connector. In this article, we will consider its application by implementing the service for collecting signal properties and the program for viewing their changes over time. The implemented example has practical sense if users need to observe changes in properties that are not displayed on the signal's web page.

In this article, we will complete the description of the pending request trading concept and create the functionality for removing pending orders, as well as modifying orders and positions under certain conditions. Thus, we are going to have the entire functionality enabling us to develop simple custom strategies, or rather EA behavior logic activated upon user-defined conditions.

We continue the development of the functionality allowing users to trade using pending requests. In this article, we are going to implement the ability to place pending orders under certain conditions.

MetaTrader 5 has received network functions recently. This opened up great opportunities for programmers developing products for the Market. Now they can implement things that required dynamic libraries before. In this article, we will consider them using the implementation of the MySQL as an example.

We continue the development of the library functionality featuring trading using pending requests. We have already implemented sending conditional trading requests for opening positions and placing pending orders. In the current article, we will implement conditional position closure – full, partial and closing by an opposite position.

Starting with this article, we are going to develop a functionality allowing users to trade using pending requests under certain conditions, for example, when reaching a certain time limit, exceeding a specified profit or closing a position by stop loss.

In the previous article, we have created the classes of pending request objects corresponding to the general concept of library objects. This time, we are going to deal with the class allowing the management of pending request objects.

In the previous articles, we checked the concept of pending trading requests. A pending request is, in fact, a common trading order executed by a certain condition. In this article, we are going to create full-fledged classes of pending request objects — a base request object and its descendants.

This is the third article about the concept of pending requests. We are going to complete the tests of pending trading requests by creating the methods for closing positions, removing pending orders and modifying position and pending order parameters.

In this article, we will continue the development of trading requests, implement placing pending orders and eliminate detected shortcomings of the trading class operation.

In this article, we are going to store some data in the value of the orders and positions magic number and start the implementation of pending requests. To check the concept, let's create the first test pending request for opening market positions when receiving a server error requiring waiting and sending a repeated request.

After we send a trading order to the server, we need to check the error codes or the absence of errors. In this article, we will consider handling errors returned by the trade server and prepare for creating pending trading requests.

In this article, we will have a look at the handler of invalid trading order parameters and improve the trading event class. Now all trading events (both single ones and the ones occurred simultaneously within one tick) will be defined in programs correctly.

In the article, we continue the development of the trading class by implementing the control over incorrect trading order parameter values and voicing trading events.

In this article, we will start the development of the library base trading class and add the initial verification of permissions to conduct trading operations to its first version. Besides, we will slightly expand the features and content of the base trading class.

Visualize a Strategy in the MetaTrader 5 Tester

MQL5 Cookbook: Developing a Multi-Currency Expert Advisor with Unlimited Number of Parameters

Interview with Vitaly Antonov (ATC 2011)

How to Write a Good Description for a Market Product

Interview with Francisco García García (ATC 2012)

How Secure Is It to Buy MQL5 Market Products?

Order Strategies. Multi-Purpose Expert Advisor

Continuous Walk-Forward Optimization (Part 2): Mechanism for creating an optimization report for any robot

ZUP - Universal ZigZag with Pesavento patterns. Search for patterns

Migrating from MQL4 to MQL5

Building an Interactive Application to Display RSS Feeds in MetaTrader 5

Principles of Exchange Pricing through the Example of Moscow Exchange's Derivatives Market

Working with sockets in MQL, or How to become a signal provider

Universal Expert Advisor: Custom Strategies and Auxiliary Trade Classes (Part 3)

Creating and Publishing of Trade Reports and SMS Notification

DIY multi-threaded asynchronous MQL5 WebRequest

Handling ZIP Archives in Pure MQL5

MetaTrader 5: Publishing trading forecasts and live trading statements via e-mail on blogs, social networks and dedicated websites

Building a Social Technology Startup, Part II: Programming an MQL5 REST Client

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XVI): Symbol collection events

Testing patterns that arise when trading currency pair baskets. Part II

Elder-Ray (Bulls Power and Bears Power)

How to Write an Indicator on the Basis of Another Indicator

Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 35): Bar object and symbol timeseries list

How to Make Money from MetaTrader AppStore and Trading Signals Services If You Are Not a Seller or a Provider

Applying network functions, or MySQL without DLL: Part II - Program for monitoring changes in signal properties

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXXIV): Pending trading requests - removing and modifying orders and positions under certain conditions

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXXII): Pending trading requests - placing orders under certain conditions

Applying network functions, or MySQL without DLL: Part I - Connector

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXXIII): Pending trading requests - closing positions under certain conditions

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXXI): Pending trading requests - opening positions under certain conditions

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXX): Pending trading requests - managing request objects

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXIX): Pending trading requests - request object classes

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXVIII): Closure, removal and modification of pending trading requests

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXVII): Working with trading requests - placing pending orders

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXVI): Working with pending trading requests - first implementation (opening positions)

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXV): Handling errors returned by the trade server

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXIV): Base trading class - auto correction of invalid parameters

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXIII): Base trading class - verification of valid parameters

Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part XXII): Trading classes - Base trading class, verification of limitations