Articles on manual and algorithmic trading in MetaTrader 5

This article presents a practical debugging workflow with MetaEditor's integrated AI Assistant and a comparison to the previous external approach. We fix a controlled set of syntax and API errors in a D1 PriceMarker EA, inspect modifications, and recompile. The result is validated in the Strategy Tester, with clear boundaries between compilation success and required runtime checks.

Many traders know what they want to analyze or automate but cannot navigate MetaTrader 5, use MetaEditor, or translate an idea into working MQL5 code. This article shows how the AI Assistant and MCP turn one natural-language prompt into a complete workflow: strategy development, editing, debugging, chart interaction, testing, and permission-controlled trading. We apply the process by building MCP_Accessibility_Assistant.mq5, leaving you with a working, accessible EA and a reusable prompt-driven development method.

The article discusses the Competitive Swarm Optimizer — a swarm optimization algorithm based on an extremely simple idea: agents are randomly paired, and the loser learns from the winner and is drawn toward the center of the swarm. In addition to analyzing CSO, the article describes the modernization of the test bench: visualization of the algorithms’ operation has been moved into 3D space, making it possible to clearly observe the movement of the population on the surface of the test function.

We build an MQL5 program that detects and trades Double Top and Double Bottom patterns from confirmed swing pivots with rule-based logic. The detector matches peaks within a tolerance, derives the neckline, and applies leg-balance and spacing filters to reject weak shapes. It supports entry on a neckline break or an optional pullback, with a stop beyond the extreme and targets by measured move or reward-to-risk.

In this article, we will examine the Dragonfly Algorithm (DA), inspired by the collective behavior of dragonflies in nature — their ability to coordinate flight in a swarm, avoid collisions, follow prey, and evade predators. Let's look at how five simple behavioral rules and an adaptive mechanism for transitioning from exploration to exploitation are implemented in MQL5, and test the algorithm on our test bench.

The article presents a full MQL5 implementation of a multi-symbol trend system: dual EMA crossovers for entries, ADX to avoid ranges, ATR to normalize position size, and a heat monitor to cap total portfolio risk. We explain the architecture, calculation details, and entry/exit logic on daily bars. The result is a practical EA template for systematic, risk-aware portfolio trading.

This article implements a typed message bus over Windows named pipes to replace MetaTrader's untyped GlobalVariables for inter‑EA communication. A broker EA manages the server and registry, serves multiple slave EAs, and responds with a live, per‑symbol‑attributed portfolio risk measure. It also explains the non-blocking accept pattern that preserves terminal responsiveness, and includes a dashboard and a test script.

We convert the Part 15 decision‑forest classifier into a regime‑adaptive Expert Advisor that decouples statistical inference from trading authority. The EA trains on completed bars, scores each new completed bar, and confirms stable bullish, neutral, or bearish regimes before acting. It then applies spread, ownership, risk, and execution checks to authorize opening, holding, closing, or blocking a position.

The article discusses the Butterfly Optimization Algorithm, which is based on modeling foraging using the sense of smell. We will analyze the original formulas, identify and correct errors in motion equations, add a mechanism for maintaining population diversity, and present the test results.

Establishes the persistence foundation for a prop-firm compliance EA in MetaTrader 5. It introduces rule inputs and status enums, separates live account state from stored settings, validates percentages and thresholds, and implements SQLite open/close, schema creation, and prepared save/load operations. Using the account login and server as a composite key, the EA restores existing settings and updates them when inputs change.

The article discusses the Cricket Algorithm, a metaheuristic optimization method that combines elements of the Bat Algorithm and the Firefly Algorithm with the physical laws governing the propagation of sound in the atmosphere. The algorithm simulates the behavior of crickets that navigate by the chirping of their conspecifics, using Dolbear's law and acoustic formulas to guide the search for best solutions.

This article presents a modular position sizing engine for MetaTrader 5 that operates on normalized R-multiples. A layered pipeline combines enriched trade statistics, a generalized Kelly edge estimate, volatility-aware adjustment, Monte Carlo calibration under ruin and drawdown limits, a continuous risk policy, an exposure guard, and a broker-aware lot calculator. The output is a broker-valid lot size with an optional CSV audit trail, providing a transparent prototype for implementing modern risk controls in native MQL5.

The EA now defines risk by percentage, fixed cash, or fixed lot and can measure percentage against balance or equity. It supports market, limit, and stop orders, sizes from the planned entry, and enforces spread‑aware stop minima. Additional safeguards include downward volume rounding, explicit handling when the minimum lot exceeds target risk, and pending‑order distance/expiry checks, organized under a Plan–Validate–Execute structure.

Risk-based lot sizing can still exceed what free margin allows. The article adds a margin-aware cap using OrderCalcMargin(), an optional adaptive cap that scales with ACCOUNT MARGIN LEVEL, and a single pre-trade validation gate that unifies position limits, risk sizing, and margin checks. Readers get concrete code to prevent order rejections and over-committing margin, with clear logs when a trade is reduced or skipped.

The article discusses the ECO optimization algorithm, which is based on ecological concepts: populations are grouped into habitats based on territorial proximity, exchange genetic material within habitats, and migrate between them. Despite its wide range of operators and elegant biological metaphor, the algorithm produced a certain result discussed below.

Part 5 moves risk control from single trades to a basket-level framework. The EA aggregates its own positions, computes volume‑weighted entry, floating P/L including swap, and used margin, then enforces limits on combined loss, margin, position count, and time underwater, while logging maximum adverse excursion. A companion mean‑reversion EA demonstrates target‑based sizing and caps on implied risk that remains hidden when trades are evaluated in isolation.

We build a robust MQL5 detector for double tops and double bottoms that first confirms the H4 trend, then validates six conditions (point equality, neckline placement, ordering, width, height, and ATR‑based tolerances). The neckline break is timed on the chart's timeframe, and a three-state machine ensures each pattern trades once. The measured‑move target translates structure into clear exits.

The article examines the EOSA algorithm, which is inspired by the mechanisms of Ebola virus transmission: short-distance transmission through close contact (exploitation) and long-distance transmission through travel (exploration). An analysis of the original publication revealed critical issues in the mathematical formulas and an epidemiological model that was impractical to implement, which required a significant overhaul of the algorithm to produce a workable implementation.

This part implements risk-based position sizing for the EA. Lot size is derived from account balance, a chosen risk percent, and ATR-based stop distance, then confined and rounded to the broker's volume rules and minimum stop levels. An optional drawdown-aware layer reduces risk during equity declines. Readers get a reproducible sizing function that keeps per-trade risk consistent and orders acceptable to the server.

The ECO (Ecological Cycle Optimizer) algorithm offers an interesting metaphor for applying the concept of the ecological cycle to the field of metaheuristic optimization. The idea of dividing a population into trophic levels — producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers — creates a hierarchical search structure, in which each group contributes to the overall optimization process.

This article develops a market‑structure‑driven intraday breakout system based on Bill Williams fractals. We define session bounds, derive volatility‑scaled stops, use fixed risk and take‑profit multipliers, and limit trades to one per direction. An MQL5 Expert Advisor, visualization and statistics, tick-level backtests, an ORB comparison, and a cross-asset forward test provide a complete, replicable workflow.

The Dandelion Optimizer (DO) turns the simple flight of a seed carried by the wind into a mathematical search strategy. The three phases — vortex rising, drift toward the center of the population, and landing along a Lévy-flight trajectory — form an elegant metaphor that yields interesting results in practice.

This article develops a visual position planning tool in MQL5 for evaluating trade setups before execution. The tool utilizes interactive Entry, Stop-Loss, and Take-Profit lines to calculate the stop distance, risk amount, estimated position size, potential reward, and risk-to-reward ratio directly on the chart. It supports market, limit, and stop order scenarios while keeping the focus strictly on planning and analysis rather than trade execution.

The article presents an adaptation of the Deterministic Dendritic Cell Algorithm (dDCA) for continuous optimization problems. The algorithm, inspired by the immune system's Danger Theory, uses a signal accumulation mechanism to automatically balance exploration and exploitation within the search space.

A robust breakeven implementation for MQL5 is built around live spread sampling and correct pip-to-price conversion by symbol digits. CBreakevenManager moves SL to open_price ± spread ± buffer once a real‑pip activation threshold is reached and prevents duplicate modifications. A demo EA shows the behavioral difference versus a naive breakeven, and a script verifies core calculations.

We build the Matrix Profile for MQL5 from the ground up and keep it numerically stable on real prices. The library includes rolling statistics, a radix-2 FFT powering MASS, and a STOMP self-join, with results matched to stumpy. A compact facade, an indicator that draws the profile and flags discords, and a demonstration Expert Advisor show how to read and use the signal in practice.