Articles on trading system automation in MQL5

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Read articles on the trading systems with a wide variety of ideas at the core. Learn how to use statistical methods and patterns on candlestick charts, how to filter signals and where to use semaphore indicators.

The MQL5 Wizard will help you create robots without programming to quickly check your trading ideas. Use the Wizard to learn about genetic algorithms.

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Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 8): Load testing and handling a new bar

Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 8): Load testing and handling a new bar

As we progressed, we used more and more simultaneously running instances of trading strategies in one EA. Let's try to figure out how many instances we can get to before we hit resource limitations.
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Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 16): Impact of different quote histories on test results

Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 16): Impact of different quote histories on test results

The EA under development is expected to show good results when trading with different brokers. But for now we have been using quotes from a MetaQuotes demo account to perform tests. Let's see if our EA is ready to work on a trading account with different quotes compared to those used during testing and optimization.
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MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 69): Using Patterns of SAR and the RVI

MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 69): Using Patterns of SAR and the RVI

The Parabolic-SAR (SAR) and the Relative Vigour Index (RVI) are another pair of indicators that could be used in conjunction within an MQL5 Expert Advisor. This indicator pair, like those we’ve covered in the past, is also complementary since SAR defines the trend while RVI checks momentum. As usual, we use the MQL5 wizard to build and test any potential this indicator pairing may have.
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Markov Chain-Based Matrix Forecasting Model

Markov Chain-Based Matrix Forecasting Model

We are going to create a matrix forecasting model based on a Markov chain. What are Markov chains, and how can we use a Markov chain for Forex trading?
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Introduction to MQL5 (Part 22): Building an Expert Advisor for the 5-0 Harmonic Pattern

Introduction to MQL5 (Part 22): Building an Expert Advisor for the 5-0 Harmonic Pattern

This article explains how to detect and trade the 5-0 harmonic pattern in MQL5, validate it using Fibonacci levels, and display it on the chart.
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Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 09): Custom events

Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 09): Custom events

Here we'll see how custom events are triggered and how the indicator reports the state of the replay/simulation service.
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Developing a Replay System (Part 26): Expert Advisor project — C_Terminal class

Developing a Replay System (Part 26): Expert Advisor project — C_Terminal class

We can now start creating an Expert Advisor for use in the replay/simulation system. However, we need something improved, not a random solution. Despite this, we should not be intimidated by the initial complexity. It's important to start somewhere, otherwise we end up ruminating about the difficulty of a task without even trying to overcome it. That's what programming is all about: overcoming obstacles through learning, testing, and extensive research.
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Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 15): Preparing EA for real trading

Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 15): Preparing EA for real trading

As we gradually approach to obtaining a ready-made EA, we need to pay attention to issues that seem secondary at the stage of testing a trading strategy, but become important when moving on to real trading.
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From Novice to Expert: Backend Operations Monitor using MQL5

From Novice to Expert: Backend Operations Monitor using MQL5

Using a ready-made solution in trading without concerning yourself with the internal workings of the system may sound comforting, but this is not always the case for developers. Eventually, an upgrade, misperformance, or unexpected error will arise, and it becomes essential to trace exactly where the issue originates to diagnose and resolve it quickly. Today’s discussion focuses on uncovering what normally happens behind the scenes of a trading Expert Advisor, and on developing a custom dedicated class for displaying and logging backend processes using MQL5. This gives both developers and traders the ability to quickly locate errors, monitor behavior, and access diagnostic information specific to each EA.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 78): Decoder-free Object Detector with Transformer (DFFT)

Neural networks made easy (Part 78): Decoder-free Object Detector with Transformer (DFFT)

In this article, I propose to look at the issue of building a trading strategy from a different angle. We will not predict future price movements, but will try to build a trading system based on the analysis of historical data.
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MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 43): Reinforcement Learning with SARSA

MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 43): Reinforcement Learning with SARSA

SARSA, which is an abbreviation for State-Action-Reward-State-Action is another algorithm that can be used when implementing reinforcement learning. So, as we saw with Q-Learning and DQN, we look into how this could be explored and implemented as an independent model rather than just a training mechanism, in wizard assembled Expert Advisors.
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From Novice to Expert:  Extending a Liquidity Strategy with Trend Filters

From Novice to Expert: Extending a Liquidity Strategy with Trend Filters

The article extends a liquidity-based strategy with a simple trend constraint: trade liquidity zones only in the direction of the EMA(50). It explains filtering rules, presents a reusable TrendFilter.mqh class and EA integration in MQL5, and compares baseline versus filtered tests. Readers gain a clear directional bias, reduced overtrading in countertrend phases, and ready-to-use source files.
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Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 11): Birth of the SIMULATOR (I)

Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 11): Birth of the SIMULATOR (I)

In order to use the data that forms the bars, we must abandon replay and start developing a simulator. We will use 1 minute bars because they offer the least amount of difficulty.
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MQL5 Trading Tools (Part 31): Creating an Interactive Tools Palette in MQL5

MQL5 Trading Tools (Part 31): Creating an Interactive Tools Palette in MQL5

We turn the Tools Palette sidebar from a static shell into an interactive MQL5 system. The article implements flyout menus per category, a chart event handler, a multi-click drawing engine (one-, two-, and three-click tools), and mouse interactions including drag, bottom-edge resize, scrolling, hover states, and live theme toggling. You will be able to select a tool and place chart objects directly from the palette for analysis
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Neural networks made easy (Part 45): Training state exploration skills

Neural networks made easy (Part 45): Training state exploration skills

Training useful skills without an explicit reward function is one of the main challenges in hierarchical reinforcement learning. Previously, we already got acquainted with two algorithms for solving this problem. But the question of the completeness of environmental research remains open. This article demonstrates a different approach to skill training, the use of which directly depends on the current state of the system.
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Larry Williams Market Secrets (Part 15): Trading Hidden Smash Day Reversals with Market Context

Larry Williams Market Secrets (Part 15): Trading Hidden Smash Day Reversals with Market Context

Build an MQL5 Expert Advisor that automates Larry Williams Hidden Smash Day reversals. It reads confirmed signals from a custom indicator, applies context filters (Supertrend alignment and optional trading‑day rules), and manages risk with stop‑loss models based on smash‑bar structure or ATR and a fixed or risk‑based position size. The result is a reproducible framework ready for testing and extension.
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Trading with the MQL5 Economic Calendar (Part 8): Optimizing News-Driven Backtesting with Smart Event Filtering and Targeted Logs

Trading with the MQL5 Economic Calendar (Part 8): Optimizing News-Driven Backtesting with Smart Event Filtering and Targeted Logs

In this article, we optimize our economic calendar with smart event filtering and targeted logging for faster, clearer backtesting in live and offline modes. We streamline event processing and focus logs on critical trade and dashboard events, enhancing strategy visualization. These improvements enable seamless testing and refinement of news-driven trading strategies.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Dual Clustering of Multivariate Time Series (DUET)

Neural Networks in Trading: Dual Clustering of Multivariate Time Series (DUET)

The DUET framework offers an innovative approach to time series analysis, combining temporal and channel clustering to uncover hidden patterns in the analyzed data. This allows models to adapt to changes over time and improve forecasting quality by eliminating noise.
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Optimizing Trend Strength: Trading in Trend Direction and Strength

Optimizing Trend Strength: Trading in Trend Direction and Strength

This is a specialized trend-following EA that makes both short and long-term analyses, trading decisions, and executions based on the overall trend and its strength. This article will explore in detail an EA that is specifically designed for traders who are patient, disciplined, and focused enough to only execute trades and hold their positions only when trading with strength and in the trend direction without changing their bias frequently, especially against the trend, until take-profit targets are hit.
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Category Theory in MQL5 (Part 22): A different look at Moving Averages

Category Theory in MQL5 (Part 22): A different look at Moving Averages

In this article we attempt to simplify our illustration of concepts covered in these series by dwelling on just one indicator, the most common and probably the easiest to understand. The moving average. In doing so we consider significance and possible applications of vertical natural transformations.
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Creating Custom Indicators in MQL5 (Part 5): WaveTrend Crossover Evolution Using Canvas for Fog Gradients, Signal Bubbles, and Risk Management

Creating Custom Indicators in MQL5 (Part 5): WaveTrend Crossover Evolution Using Canvas for Fog Gradients, Signal Bubbles, and Risk Management

In this article, we enhance the Smart WaveTrend Crossover indicator in MQL5 by integrating canvas-based drawing for fog gradient overlays, signal boxes that detect breakouts, and customizable buy/sell bubbles or triangles for visual alerts. We incorporate risk management features with dynamic take-profit and stop-loss levels calculated via candle multipliers or percentages, displayed through lines and a table, alongside options for trend filtering and box extensions.
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Cross-validation and basics of causal inference in CatBoost models, export to ONNX format

Cross-validation and basics of causal inference in CatBoost models, export to ONNX format

The article proposes the method of creating bots using machine learning.
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MetaTrader 5 Machine Learning Blueprint (Part 14): Transaction Cost Modeling for Triple-Barrier Labels in MQL5

MetaTrader 5 Machine Learning Blueprint (Part 14): Transaction Cost Modeling for Triple-Barrier Labels in MQL5

The article replaces hardcoded cost assumptions in triple-barrier labeling with measured inputs. An MQL5 script captures spread distribution, swap rates, and symbol metadata from your broker, and a Python model converts them into a broker-calibrated min ret you can pass to get events. Labels then reflect the actual round-trip friction for your instrument and holding period.
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Exploring Conformal Forecasting of Financial Time Series

Exploring Conformal Forecasting of Financial Time Series

In this article, we will consider conformal predictions and the MAPIE library that implements them. This approach is one of the most modern ones in machine learning and allows us to focus on risk management for existing diverse machine learning models. Conformal predictions, by themselves, are not a way to find patterns in data. They only determine the degree of confidence of existing models in predicting specific examples and allow filtering for reliable predictions.
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Feature Engineering for ML (Part 3): Session-Aware Time Features for Forex Machine Learning

Feature Engineering for ML (Part 3): Session-Aware Time Features for Forex Machine Learning

The article addresses the loss of temporal information in ML pipelines by encoding periodic time variables with Fourier harmonics and adding forex session structure. It implements session and overlap flags, lagged session volatility, and calendar effects, then prunes features by timeframe. The get time features function returns an index‑aligned, ML‑ready set of time features suitable for integration with price‑based signals.
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Larry Williams Market Secrets (Part 3): Proving Non-Random Market Behavior with MQL5

Larry Williams Market Secrets (Part 3): Proving Non-Random Market Behavior with MQL5

Explore whether financial markets are truly random by recreating Larry Williams’ market behavior experiments using MQL5. This article demonstrates how simple price-action tests can reveal statistical market biases using a custom Expert Advisor.
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MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 49): Reinforcement Learning with Proximal Policy Optimization

MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 49): Reinforcement Learning with Proximal Policy Optimization

Proximal Policy Optimization is another algorithm in reinforcement learning that updates the policy, often in network form, in very small incremental steps to ensure the model stability. We examine how this could be of use, as we have with previous articles, in a wizard assembled Expert Advisor.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Contrastive Pattern Transformer

Neural Networks in Trading: Contrastive Pattern Transformer

The Contrastive Transformer is designed to analyze markets both at the level of individual candlesticks and based on entire patterns. This helps improve the quality of market trend modeling. Moreover, the use of contrastive learning to align representations of candlesticks and patterns fosters self-regulation and improves the accuracy of forecasts.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Controlled Segmentation (Final Part)

Neural Networks in Trading: Controlled Segmentation (Final Part)

We continue the work started in the previous article on building the RefMask3D framework using MQL5. This framework is designed to comprehensively study multimodal interaction and feature analysis in a point cloud, followed by target object identification based on a description provided in natural language.
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Propensity score in causal inference

Propensity score in causal inference

The article examines the topic of matching in causal inference. Matching is used to compare similar observations in a data set. This is necessary to correctly determine causal effects and get rid of bias. The author explains how this helps in building trading systems based on machine learning, which become more stable on new data they were not trained on. The propensity score plays a central role and is widely used in causal inference.
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Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 14): Birth of the SIMULATOR (IV)

Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 14): Birth of the SIMULATOR (IV)

In this article we will continue the simulator development stage. this time we will see how to effectively create a RANDOM WALK type movement. This type of movement is very intriguing because it forms the basis of everything that happens in the capital market. In addition, we will begin to understand some concepts that are fundamental to those conducting market analysis.
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MQL5 Trading Tools (Part 9): Developing a First Run User Setup Wizard for Expert Advisors with Scrollable Guide

MQL5 Trading Tools (Part 9): Developing a First Run User Setup Wizard for Expert Advisors with Scrollable Guide

In this article, we develop an MQL5 First Run User Setup Wizard for Expert Advisors, featuring a scrollable guide with an interactive dashboard, dynamic text formatting, and visual controls like buttons and a checkbox allowing users to navigate instructions and configure trading parameters efficiently. Users of the program get to have insight of what the program is all about and what to do on the first run, more like an orientation model.
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Creating Custom Indicators in MQL5 (Part 3): Multi-Gauge Enhancements with Sector and Round Styles

Creating Custom Indicators in MQL5 (Part 3): Multi-Gauge Enhancements with Sector and Round Styles

In this article, we enhance the gauge-based indicator in MQL5 to support multiple oscillators, allowing user selection through an enumeration for single or combined displays. We introduce sector and round gauge styles via derived classes from a base gauge framework, improving case rendering with arcs, lines, and polygons for a more refined visual appearance.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 51): Behavior-Guided Actor-Critic (BAC)

Neural networks made easy (Part 51): Behavior-Guided Actor-Critic (BAC)

The last two articles considered the Soft Actor-Critic algorithm, which incorporates entropy regularization into the reward function. This approach balances environmental exploration and model exploitation, but it is only applicable to stochastic models. The current article proposes an alternative approach that is applicable to both stochastic and deterministic models.
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The MQL5 Standard Library Explorer (Part 4): Custom Signal Library

The MQL5 Standard Library Explorer (Part 4): Custom Signal Library

Today, we use the MQL5 Standard Library to build custom signal classes and let the MQL5 Wizard assemble a professional Expert Advisor for us. This approach simplifies development so that even beginner programmers can create robust EAs without in-depth coding knowledge, focusing instead on tuning inputs and optimizing performance. Join this discussion as we explore the process step by step.
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Graph Theory: Traversal Depth-First Search (DFS) Applied in Trading

Graph Theory: Traversal Depth-First Search (DFS) Applied in Trading

This article applies Depth-First Search to market structure by modeling swing highs and lows as graph nodes and tracking one structural path as deeply as conditions remain valid. When a key swing is broken, the algorithm backtracks and explores an alternative branch. Readers gain a practical framework to formalize structural bias and test whether the current path aligns with targets like liquidity pools or supply and demand zones.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Hybrid Graph Sequence Models (Final Part)

Neural Networks in Trading: Hybrid Graph Sequence Models (Final Part)

We continue exploring hybrid graph sequence models (GSM++), which integrate the advantages of different architectures, providing high analysis accuracy and efficient distribution of computing resources. These models effectively identify hidden patterns, reducing the impact of market noise and improving forecasting quality.
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Neural Networks Made Easy (Part 86): U-Shaped Transformer

Neural Networks Made Easy (Part 86): U-Shaped Transformer

We continue to study timeseries forecasting algorithms. In this article, we will discuss another method: the U-shaped Transformer.
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MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 24): Moving Averages

MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 24): Moving Averages

Moving Averages are a very common indicator that are used and understood by most Traders. We explore possible use cases that may not be so common within MQL5 Wizard assembled Expert Advisors.
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Price Action Analysis Toolkit Development (Part 45): Creating a Dynamic Level-Analysis Panel in MQL5

Price Action Analysis Toolkit Development (Part 45): Creating a Dynamic Level-Analysis Panel in MQL5

In this article, we explore a powerful MQL5 tool that let's you test any price level you desire with just one click. Simply enter your chosen level and press analyze, the EA instantly scans historical data, highlights every touch and breakout on the chart, and displays statistics in a clean, organized dashboard. You'll see exactly how often price respected or broke through your level, and whether it behaved more like support or resistance. Continue reading to explore the detailed procedure.