Articles on the MQL5 programming and use of trading robots

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Expert Advisors created for the MetaTrader platform perform a variety of functions implemented by their developers. Trading robots can track financial symbols 24 hours a day, copy deals, create and send reports, analyze news and even provide specific custom graphical interface.

The articles describe programming techniques, mathematical ideas for data processing, tips on creating and ordering of trading robots.

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Can Heiken-Ashi Combined With Moving Averages Provide Good Signals Together?

Can Heiken-Ashi Combined With Moving Averages Provide Good Signals Together?

Combinations of strategies may offer better opportunities. We can combine indicators or patterns together, or even better, indicators with patterns, so that we get an extra confirmation factor. Moving averages help us confirm and ride the trend. They are the most known technical indicators and this is because of their simplicity and their proven track record of adding value to analyses.
A Pause between Trades
A Pause between Trades

A Pause between Trades

The article deals with the problem of how to arrange pauses between trade operations when a number of experts work on one МТ 4 Client Terminal. It is intended for users who have basic skills in both working with the terminal and programming in MQL 4.
Information Storage and View
Information Storage and View

Information Storage and View

The article deals with convenient and efficient methods of information storage and viewing. Alternatives to the terminal standard log file and the Comment() function are considered here.
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Data Science and Machine Learning — Neural Network (Part 01): Feed Forward Neural Network demystified

Data Science and Machine Learning — Neural Network (Part 01): Feed Forward Neural Network demystified

Many people love them but a few understand the whole operations behind Neural Networks. In this article I will try to explain everything that goes behind closed doors of a feed-forward multi-layer perception in plain English.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Awesome Oscillator

Learn how to design a trading system by Awesome Oscillator

In this new article in our series, we will learn about a new technical tool that may be useful in our trading. It is the Awesome Oscillator (AO) indicator. We will learn how to design a trading system by this indicator.
Implementation of Indicators as Classes by Examples of Zigzag and ATR
Implementation of Indicators as Classes by Examples of Zigzag and ATR

Implementation of Indicators as Classes by Examples of Zigzag and ATR

Debate about an optimal way of calculating indicators is endless. Where should we calculate the indicator values - in the indicator itself or embed the entire logic in a Expert Advisor that uses it? The article describes one of the variants of moving the source code of a custom indicator iCustom right in the code of an Expert Advisor or script with optimization of calculations and modeling the prev_calculated value.
Developing a cross-platform grider EA (part III): Correction-based grid with martingale
Developing a cross-platform grider EA (part III): Correction-based grid with martingale

Developing a cross-platform grider EA (part III): Correction-based grid with martingale

In this article, we will make an attempt to develop the best possible grid-based EA. As usual, this will be a cross-platform EA capable of working both with MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. The first EA was good enough, except that it could not make a profit over a long period of time. The second EA could work at intervals of more than several years. Unfortunately, it was unable to yield more than 50% of profit per year with a maximum drawdown of less than 50%.
The Prototype of a Trading Robot
The Prototype of a Trading Robot

The Prototype of a Trading Robot

This article summarizes and systematizes the principles of creating algorithms and elements of trading systems. The article considers designing of expert algorithm. As an example the CExpertAdvisor class is considered, which can be used for quick and easy development of trading systems.
Building a Social Technology Startup, Part II: Programming an MQL5 REST Client
Building a Social Technology Startup, Part II: Programming an MQL5 REST Client

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.
Video: Simple automated trading – How to create a simple Expert Advisor with MQL5
Video: Simple automated trading – How to create a simple Expert Advisor with MQL5

Video: Simple automated trading – How to create a simple Expert Advisor with MQL5

The majority of students in my courses felt that MQL5 was really difficult to understand. In addition to this, they were searching for a straightforward method to automate a few processes. Find out how to begin working with MQL5 right now by reading the information contained in this article. Even if you have never done any form of programming before. And even in the event that you are unable to comprehend the previous illustrations that you have observed.
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Understanding order placement in MQL5

Understanding order placement in MQL5

When creating any trading system, there is a task we need to deal with effectively. This task is order placement or to let the created trading system deal with orders automatically because it is crucial in any trading system. So, you will find in this article most of the topics that you need to understand about this task to create your trading system in terms of order placement effectively.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 66): MQL5.com Signals collection class
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 66): MQL5.com Signals collection class

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 66): MQL5.com Signals collection class

In this article, I will create the signal collection class of the MQL5.com Signals service with the functions for managing signals. Besides, I will improve the Depth of Market snapshot object class for displaying the total DOM buy and sell volumes.
Separate optimization of a strategy on trend and flat conditions
Separate optimization of a strategy on trend and flat conditions

Separate optimization of a strategy on trend and flat conditions

The article considers applying the separate optimization method during various market conditions. Separate optimization means defining trading system's optimal parameters by optimizing for an uptrend and downtrend separately. To reduce the effect of false signals and improve profitability, the systems are made flexible, meaning they have some specific set of settings or input data, which is justified because the market behavior is constantly changing.
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Learn how to design a trading system by Relative Vigor Index

Learn how to design a trading system by Relative Vigor Index

A new article in our series about how to design a trading system by the most popular technical indicator. In this article, we will learn how to do that by the Relative Vigor Index indicator.
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Improve Your Trading Charts With Interactive GUI's in MQL5 (Part III): Simple Movable Trading GUI

Improve Your Trading Charts With Interactive GUI's in MQL5 (Part III): Simple Movable Trading GUI

Join us in Part III of the "Improve Your Trading Charts With Interactive GUIs in MQL5" series as we explore the integration of interactive GUIs into movable trading dashboards in MQL5. This article builds on the foundations set in Parts I and II, guiding readers to transform static trading dashboards into dynamic, movable ones.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 73): Form object of a graphical element
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 73): Form object of a graphical element

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 73): Form object of a graphical element

The article opens up a new large section of the library for working with graphics. In the current article, I will create the mouse status object, the base object of all graphical elements and the class of the form object of the library graphical elements.
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Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 03): Matrix Regressions

Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 03): Matrix Regressions

This time our models are being made by matrices, which allows flexibility while it allows us to make powerful models that can handle not only five independent variables but also many variables as long as we stay within the calculations limits of a computer, this article is going to be an interesting read, that's for sure.
Practical Use of Kohonen Neural Networks in Algorithmic Trading. Part II. Optimizing and forecasting
Practical Use of Kohonen Neural Networks in Algorithmic Trading. Part II. Optimizing and forecasting

Practical Use of Kohonen Neural Networks in Algorithmic Trading. Part II. Optimizing and forecasting

Based on universal tools designed for working with Kohonen networks, we construct the system of analyzing and selecting the optimal EA parameters and consider forecasting time series. In Part I, we corrected and improved the publicly available neural network classes, having added necessary algorithms. Now, it is time to apply them to practice.
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Brute force approach to pattern search

Brute force approach to pattern search

In this article, we will search for market patterns, create Expert Advisors based on the identified patterns, and check how long these patterns remain valid, if they ever retain their validity.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 19): New order system (II)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 19): New order system (II)

In this article, we will develop a graphical order system of the "look what happens" type. Please note that we are not starting from scratch this time, but we will modify the existing system by adding more objects and events on the chart of the asset we are trading.
Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects
Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects

Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects

In this article, I will create two classes (the class of DOM snapshot object and the class of DOM snapshot series object) and test creation of the DOM data series.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 3): Convolutional networks

Neural networks made easy (Part 3): Convolutional networks

As a continuation of the neural network topic, I propose considering convolutional neural networks. This type of neural network are usually applied to analyzing visual imagery. In this article, we will consider the application of these networks in the financial markets.
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Learn how to design a trading system by VIDYA

Learn how to design a trading system by VIDYA

Welcome to a new article from our series about learning how to design a trading system by the most popular technical indicators, in this article we will learn about a new technical tool and learn how to design a trading system by Variable Index Dynamic Average (VIDYA).
Swaps (Part I): Locking and Synthetic Positions
Swaps (Part I): Locking and Synthetic Positions

Swaps (Part I): Locking and Synthetic Positions

In this article I will try to expand the classic concept of swap trading methods. I will explain why I have come to the conclusion that this concept deserves special attention and is absolutely recommended for study.
Contest of Expert Advisors inside an Expert Advisor
Contest of Expert Advisors inside an Expert Advisor

Contest of Expert Advisors inside an Expert Advisor

Using virtual trading, you can create an adaptive Expert Advisor, which will turn on and off trades at the real market. Combine several strategies in a single Expert Advisor! Your multisystem Expert Advisor will automatically choose a trade strategy, which is the best to trade with at the real market, on the basis of profitability of virtual trades. This kind of approach allows decreasing drawdown and increasing profitability of your work at the market. Experiment and share your results with others! I think many people will be interested to know about your portfolio of strategies.
Movement continuation model - searching on the chart and execution statistics
Movement continuation model - searching on the chart and execution statistics

Movement continuation model - searching on the chart and execution statistics

This article provides programmatic definition of one of the movement continuation models. The main idea is defining two waves — the main and the correction one. For extreme points, I apply fractals as well as "potential" fractals - extreme points that have not yet formed as fractals.
Controlling the Slope of Balance Curve During Work of an Expert Advisor
Controlling the Slope of Balance Curve During Work of an Expert Advisor

Controlling the Slope of Balance Curve During Work of an Expert Advisor

Finding rules for a trade system and programming them in an Expert Advisor is a half of the job. Somehow, you need to correct the operation of the Expert Advisor as it accumulates the results of trading. This article describes one of approaches, which allows improving performance of an Expert Advisor through creation of a feedback that measures slope of the balance curve.
Freelance Jobs on MQL5.com - Developer's Favorite Place
Freelance Jobs on MQL5.com - Developer's Favorite Place

Freelance Jobs on MQL5.com - Developer's Favorite Place

Developers of trading robots no longer need to market their services to traders that require Expert Advisors - as now they will find you. Already, thousands of traders place orders to MQL5 freelance developers, and pay for work in on MQL5.com. For 4 years, this service facilitated three thousand traders to pay for more than 10 000 jobs performed. And the activity of traders and developers is constantly growing!
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Brute force approach to pattern search (Part III): New horizons

Brute force approach to pattern search (Part III): New horizons

This article provides a continuation to the brute force topic, and it introduces new opportunities for market analysis into the program algorithm, thereby accelerating the speed of analysis and improving the quality of results. New additions enable the highest-quality view of global patterns within this approach.
Deep Neural Networks (Part III). Sample selection and dimensionality reduction
Deep Neural Networks (Part III). Sample selection and dimensionality reduction

Deep Neural Networks (Part III). Sample selection and dimensionality reduction

This article is a continuation of the series of articles about deep neural networks. Here we will consider selecting samples (removing noise), reducing the dimensionality of input data and dividing the data set into the train/val/test sets during data preparation for training the neural network.
Raise Your Linear Trading Systems to the Power
Raise Your Linear Trading Systems to the Power

Raise Your Linear Trading Systems to the Power

Today's article shows intermediate MQL5 programmers how they can get more profit from their linear trading systems (Fixed Lot) by easily implementing the so-called technique of exponentiation. This is because the resulting equity curve growth is then geometric, or exponential, taking the form of a parabola. Specifically, we will implement a practical MQL5 variant of the Fixed Fractional position sizing developed by Ralph Vince.
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How to create a simple Multi-Currency Expert Advisor using MQL5 (Part 1): Indicator Signals based on ADX in combination with Parabolic SAR

How to create a simple Multi-Currency Expert Advisor using MQL5 (Part 1): Indicator Signals based on ADX in combination with Parabolic SAR

The Multi-Currency Expert Advisor in this article is Expert Advisor or trading robot that can trade (open orders, close orders and manage orders an more) for more than 1 symbol pair only from one symbol chart.
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Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 21): New order system (IV)

Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 21): New order system (IV)

Finally, the visual system will start working, although it will not yet be completed. Here we will finish making the main changes. There will be quite a few of them, but they are all necessary. Well, the whole work will be quite interesting.
Social Trading with the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Trading Platforms
Social Trading with the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Trading Platforms

Social Trading with the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Trading Platforms

What is social trading? It is a mutually beneficial cooperation of traders and investors whereby successful traders allow monitoring of their trading and potential investors take the opportunity to monitor their performance and copy trades of those who look more promising.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 29): Advantage Actor-Critic algorithm

Neural networks made easy (Part 29): Advantage Actor-Critic algorithm

In the previous articles of this series, we have seen two reinforced learning algorithms. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. As often happens in such cases, next comes the idea to combine both methods into an algorithm, using the best of the two. This would compensate for the shortcomings of each of them. One of such methods will be discussed in this article.
A scientific approach to the development of trading algorithms
A scientific approach to the development of trading algorithms

A scientific approach to the development of trading algorithms

The article considers the methodology for developing trading algorithms, in which a consistent scientific approach is used to analyze possible price patterns and to build trading algorithms based on these patterns. Development ideals are demonstrated using examples.
Using Layouts and Containers for GUI Controls: The CGrid Class
Using Layouts and Containers for GUI Controls: The CGrid Class

Using Layouts and Containers for GUI Controls: The CGrid Class

This article presents an alternative method of GUI creation based on layouts and containers, using one layout manager — the CGrid class. The CGrid class is an auxiliary control that acts as a container for other containers and controls using a grid layout.
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Learn how to design a trading system by OBV

Learn how to design a trading system by OBV

This is a new article to continue our series for beginners about how to design a trading system based on some of the popular indicators. We will learn a new indicator that is On Balance Volume (OBV), and we will learn how we can use it and design a trading system based on it.
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Experiments with neural networks (Part 1): Revisiting geometry

Experiments with neural networks (Part 1): Revisiting geometry

In this article, I will use experimentation and non-standard approaches to develop a profitable trading system and check whether neural networks can be of any help for traders.
Building a Social Technology Startup, Part I: Tweet Your MetaTrader 5 Signals
Building a Social Technology Startup, Part I: Tweet Your MetaTrader 5 Signals

Building a Social Technology Startup, Part I: Tweet Your MetaTrader 5 Signals

Today we will learn how to link an MetaTrader 5 terminal with Twitter so that you can tweet your EAs' trading signals. We are developing a Social Decision Support System in PHP based on a RESTful web service. This idea comes from a particular conception of automatic trading called computer-assisted trading. We want the cognitive abilities of human traders to filter those trading signals which otherwise would be automatically placed on the market by the Expert Advisors.