Wave Rider EA v6.0
Welcome, and thank you for choosing Wave Rider! This guide covers the current commercial settings, including ten strategies, four recovery choices, per-strategy Advanced Risk, the dashboard and drawdown protection. Wave Rider is a multi-strategy Expert Advisor designed for Gold (XAUUSD/GOLD) on MetaTrader 5. It can manage your entries with either grid recovery or a single position with SL/TP. Take a few minutes to read this guide before your first launch.
Current line-up update: Update only while all Wave Rider baskets are flat. Start from the current defaults and save a fresh preset: S01-S10 are the commercial strategies and all ten default on; Slingshot is S10 with Magic 77710. Older S10 Range Breakout and S17 Slingshot presets require translation because strategy ownership follows the slot.
Historical 5.71 note: If you see Waiting for calendar, check the WebRequest permission and restart instructions in the News Filter section below. Existing-position and grid recovery management continue while new entries wait. If you are upgrading from an older version, also follow the 5.70 guidance below.
Product page: Wave Rider on MQL5 Market
Important: Updating from 5.x
- Update only when all Wave Rider positions are closed. Do not disable a strategy or change its Magic Number while it still has an open basket.
- [S05] Smart-Money Volume is BUY-only. Version 5.70 switched it off by default; since 6.00 it is enabled by default again, like all ten commercial strategies. Start from the current defaults and save a new set.
- Review Drawdown calculation mode. The existing percentage selection now means Percentage of starting balance. To retain the previous equity-based calculation, select Percentage of daily peak equity. Absolute money amount is unchanged.
- [S04] M5 Bounce SELL confirmation is always strict. The old SELL precision switch has been removed. The BUY precision setting remains available.
- The dashboard now starts enabled. Previously saved on/off choices are respected. It stays hidden in non-visual backtests and optimizations.
- Three-decimal gold is now supported automatically. Back-test your broker's exact symbol and try it on demo before live use; correct quote scaling does not guarantee identical results across brokers.
⚠️ Important: Upgrading from 4.x
If you are upgrading from 4.x, the move to the 5.x strategy and input layout requires these additional steps:
- Upgrade only when all Wave Rider positions are closed. Version 5.0 uses a new strategy lineup, new input names, and new Magic Numbers. Updating while an older basket is open can prevent the new version from identifying that basket correctly.
- Do not load an old 4.x set file into 5.70. Some renamed inputs will not bind to their old names. Start from the current defaults and recreate only the changes you actually need.
- Current commercial Magic Numbers are 77701-77710. If you run more than one Wave Rider instance on the same account, every instance must use its own complete set of ten Magic Numbers.
- The old Entry Strictness input was replaced by Risk Profile. Risk Profile changes strategy selectivity. Auto Risk Level controls lot sizing. They are separate controls.
⚡ Before You Start
A quick checklist of what Wave Rider expects from your setup. Getting these right from day one makes everything that follows much smoother:
- Platform: MetaTrader 5 on a hedging account. Grid recovery requires separate positions and is not designed for netting accounts.
- Symbol: Gold. Common names such as XAUUSD, XAUUSD with a broker suffix, and GOLD are detected automatically. Both two- and three-decimal gold quotes are supported: one Wave Rider gold pip represents a 0.10 price move in either format. No manual pip-size adjustment is needed for these formats. Contract sizes, spreads and execution still differ, so back-test the exact symbol and try demo before live use.
- Chart timeframe: Any. Each strategy reads its own internal timeframes; changing the chart timeframe does not change its signals.
- Account type: A low-spread RAW/ECN account is strongly preferred. Spread, commission, slippage, stop distance, leverage, and tick history all affect results.
- Cent accounts: Not recommended. Balance-based sizing and the tested grid assumptions are intended for standard account units.
- VPS: Recommended. The terminal must stay connected for virtual basket targets, new trailing updates, filters, and recovery management to keep running.
- Capital: There is no universal safe minimum deposit. Required margin depends on lot size, leverage, broker contract size, trade direction, and how deep a basket becomes. Test those exact conditions first.
Risk warning: We want you to trade with open eyes. Grid recovery can hold several positions during a sustained move. The matched recovery choices reduce unsafe configuration mistakes but do not guarantee recovery. Drawdown protection, broker stop levels, and news filters can reduce exposure; they cannot remove market, gap, slippage, connection, or execution risk.
🚀 Installation and First Launch
Setting up Wave Rider takes just a few minutes. Follow these three steps and you'll be ready to go:
Step 1 — Allow Algorithmic Trading
- Open MT5 and select Tools > Options > Expert Advisors.
- Enable Allow algorithmic trading.
- Add https://nfs.faireconomy.media/ to Allow WebRequest for listed URL. This lets Wave Rider use the ForexFactory calendar feed.
- Restart MT5 after changing WebRequest permissions.
Step 2 — Attach Wave Rider
- Open your broker's Gold chart.
- Drag Wave Rider from Navigator > Expert Advisors onto the chart.
- Confirm Allow Algo Trading on the Common tab.
- Review the Inputs tab. For a first test, start from the current commercial defaults.
- Click OK and confirm that MT5 AutoTrading is enabled.
Step 3 — Verify the Setup
- Read the Experts log for the detected pip size, enabled strategies, calculated lot size, time offset, and news source.
- The dashboard is enabled by default. Confirm its ten strategy rows or cards, position size, risk labels and news status. The status beside Close All Positions explains whether the EA is running or waiting.
- Run a broker-specific backtest with recent high-quality tick data before live use. A result from another broker does not prove that your symbol feed will behave identically.
🧠 How Wave Rider Operates
Here's the big picture of what Wave Rider is doing on your chart. Ten independent strategies look for different market structures — think of them as ten specialists, each watching for its own kind of setup. By default, only one strategy may own an open basket at a time. When the complete Wave Rider basket closes, the EA waits through its global cooldown before evaluating new entries. Closing one recovery leg does not start the pause, and any remaining pause is restored after changing inputs, changing timeframe, or reloading the EA.
- Recovery (Grid): The first strategy entry opens normally. If price moves against it, additional positions may be added at the configured distances. The basket is managed from its weighted breakeven price.
- Single Position (SL/TP): One position is opened with a broker stop loss and take profit. No recovery positions are added.
- Entry filters: Time, spread, ATH, news, cooldown, and single-strategy rules block new strategy entries. They do not abandon existing positions.
- Open-position management: Grid management, profit closure, trailing, and protection checks continue even when new entries are blocked by time or news.
📊 The Ten Commercial Strategies
Meet the team. Each strategy has its own personality and its own conditions for stepping into the market:
- [S01] Support & Resistance: Finds swing zones and can enter a confirmed breakout-retest. Its filters avoid chasing extended moves and weak rebounds near important highs when the shorter-term structure has begun to fail. The strategy's internal support/resistance guides stay hidden to keep the chart cleaner.
- [S02] Pullback: Looks for momentum pullbacks and recoveries across several timeframes, with checks against exhausted or deteriorating trends.
- [S03] Trend Breakout: Looks for directional breakouts using momentum, volatility and trend context. It does not start new baskets during July or August; existing baskets continue to be managed.
- [S04] M5 Bounce: Looks for short-term bounce and rollover setups. SELL entries always require strict bearish candle confirmation; BUY precision remains adjustable. Summer BUYs receive an additional overextension check.
- [S05] Smart-Money Volume: BUY-only and enabled by default. Looks for fading selling pressure and signs that buyers are absorbing a decline. It does not open SELL trades, regardless of Risk Profile or Trade Direction.
- [S06] Momentum Continuation: Trades both directions through separate BUY and SELL engines. It can recognise a strong new trend while the hourly trend filter is still catching up, or wait for a pullback and renewed momentum. Existing checks against weak and overstretched moves remain active.
- [S07] Impulse: BUY-only and enabled by default. After a strong larger-timeframe move, it looks for a controlled pullback and recovery. Additional checks help it avoid exhausted moves and weak rebounds near recent highs. Its dedicated Recovery target is 12 pips; see Grid Settings for the deeper-basket exception.
- [S08] Crest: BUY-only and enabled by default. Looks for strong London-morning continuation while avoiding weak or exhausted day-high entries.
- [S09] Undertow: SELL-only and enabled by default. Looks for a failed rebound after a mature downside impulse.
- [S10] Slingshot: BUY-only and enabled by default. Looks for a failed breakdown that sweeps a recent low and reclaims it inside a rising hourly trend. Its safety checks avoid rare cases where directional movement is strongly against the trend, price is chasing an intraday volatility spike, or a sharp rebound begins too close to the prior day's low.
Direction transparency: Trade Direction is a global permission, but it cannot make a strategy trade a direction it does not implement. [S04] M5 Bounce and [S06] Momentum Continuation can trade both directions. [S09] Undertow is SELL-only. S01-S03, S05, S07, S08 and S10 are BUY-only. All ten commercial strategies are enabled by default.
🛠️ Input Parameters Explained
This is your reference section. You don't need to memorize it — the defaults are the tested configuration, so feel free to start with those and come back here whenever you want to understand or adjust a specific input.
▶ Main Settings
- Enable UI Dashboard (default: true) - Shows the performance, settings, strategy, news and position-management panel on live/demo charts and visual backtests. It stays hidden in non-visual backtests and optimizations. The panel includes Close All Positions and a color-coded status showing whether the EA is running, waiting for trading hours, paused for news, cooling down, halted by protection, or blocked by a high spread. HIGH SPREAD (62/50) (red) means the current spread (first number, in points) is above Max spread (second number), so no new basket is opened; it clears on its own when the spread narrows. If it stays red for long periods, your account type has a wider spread than the setting allows (common on standard accounts): raise Max spread to suit your broker, or use a raw/ECN account.
- Trade Mode (Recovery/Single) (default: Recovery (Grid)) - Selects grid recovery or one position with SL/TP. Recovery settings are ignored in Single Position mode; Single Position settings are ignored in Grid mode.
- Trade Direction (BUY/SELL) (default: BUY and SELL) - Allows BUY only, SELL only, or both. Strategy-specific direction limits still apply.
- Enable only one strategy open at time (no parallel trading) (default: true) - Prevents several Wave Rider strategies from holding baskets simultaneously. Turning it off can materially increase margin use and overlapping exposure.
- Enable automatic currency conversion to USD (default: false) - For non-USD accounts, converts the account balance to an estimated USD equivalent before Auto Risk or Custom Scale lot calculation. It does not convert account funds and does not affect Fixed Lot Size. If live conversion symbols are unavailable, the EA uses an approximate fallback rate and logs a warning.
- Max spread (points) (default: 50) - Blocks new strategy entries when spread is too wide. On supported two- and three-decimal gold, 50 means a 0.50 difference between Ask and Bid. Wave Rider automatically converts this to the broker's quote precision; do not multiply the input by ten for three-decimal gold. These points are not the same as Wave Rider's gold pips. Set 0 to disable the limit.
- Trade comment (default: Wave Rider) - Text written to each order comment.
- Append strategy code to comment (e.g. [S01]) (default: true) - Adds S01-S10 to the comment so orders are easier to identify.
▶ Position and Risk
One thing worth understanding early: Risk Profile and Auto Risk Level do different jobs. Risk Profile changes selected strategy-entry thresholds. Auto Risk Level changes lot size only when the Automatic size method is selected. Keeping these two apart in your mind will make the rest of this section much clearer.
The [INFO] Risk Profile row above the selector summarizes Cautious, Balanced, and Aggressive. It is help text only: editing or saving it cannot change entry behavior or lot size.
- Risk Profile (default: Balanced) - Selects the tested strategy behavior:
- Cautious - More selective strategy settings and normally less activity.
- Balanced - Default compromise between activity and stability.
- Aggressive - Allows more activity and can increase drawdown and basket frequency. It does not automatically increase the lot size.
- Size Method (default: Automatic) - Chooses Fixed Lot Size, Automatic by risk level, or Custom Scale by balance.
- Fixed Lot Size (default: 0.01) - Used only with Fixed Lot Size. The broker's minimum, maximum, and volume step are still applied.
- Auto Risk Level (default: Very low risk) - Used only with Automatic sizing:
- Very low: 0.01 lot per 4,000 balance units
- Low: 0.01 lot per 2,000 balance units
- Medium: 0.01 lot per 1,500 balance units
- High: 0.01 lot per 800 balance units
- Very high: 0.01 lot per 500 balance units
- Custom: Scale by Balance (default: 1000) - The balance interval used by Custom Scale.
- Custom: Base Lot Size (default: 0.01) - Custom Scale formula: Base Lot Size x balance / Scale by Balance.
▶ Advanced Risk for S01-S10
Every commercial strategy has its own Advanced Risk group. Leave a field on Inherit global setting to use the product-wide choice, or override that strategy without changing the others:
- Recovery Spacing - Inherit, Wide (Slow), Wide (Fast), Static, or Hybrid for this strategy. An own choice changes spacing and recovery timing only; the global recovery package still supplies the basket target, deep-basket target policy, and lot progression.
- Size Mode - Inherit, Fixed, Automatic, or Custom Scale for this strategy's first entry.
- Auto Risk Level - Used when that strategy's Size Mode is Automatic.
- Fixed Lot Size - Used when that strategy's Size Mode is Fixed.
- Custom: Scale by Balance and Custom: Base Lot Size - Used together in Custom Scale mode.
Recovery positions grow from the lot that actually opened, so lot progression and the automatic basket-volume ceiling follow the strategy's effective starting lot. Invalid active override values pause new entries for that strategy while existing positions remain managed.
▶ Strategies
- [S01] Enabled (Support and Resistance) [BUY] (default: true)
- [S01] Magic Number (default: 77701)
- [S02] Enabled (Pullback) [BUY] (default: true)
- [S02] Magic Number (default: 77702)
- [S03] Enabled (Trend Breakout) [BUY] (default: true)
- [S03] Magic Number (default: 77703)
- [S04] Enabled (M5 Bounce) [BUY/SELL] (default: true)
- [S04] Magic Number (default: 77704)
- [S05] Enabled (Smart-Money Volume - VSA) [BUY only] (default: true)
- [S05] Magic Number (default: 77705)
- [S06] Enabled (Momentum Continuation) [BUY/SELL] (default: true)
- [S06] Magic Number (default: 77706)
- [S07] Enabled (Impulse) [BUY] (default: true)
- [S07] Magic Number (default: 77707)
- [S08] Enabled (Crest) [BUY] (default: true)
- [S08] Magic Number (default: 77708)
- [S09] Enabled (Undertow) [SELL] (default: true)
- [S09] Magic Number (default: 77709)
- [S10] Enabled (Slingshot) [BUY] (default: true)
- [S10] Magic Number (default: 77710)
Magic Numbers are position ownership IDs, not risk settings. Never assign the same Magic Number to unrelated EAs. If two Wave Rider instances run on one account, change all ten numbers for the second instance, for example to a separate unused range. Use a fresh preset after the S10/S17 slot move; historical presets that describe S10 Range Breakout or S17 Slingshot require translation.
▶ Grid Settings
First, what "recovery" actually means
When Wave Rider opens a trade and price moves against it, the EA can open more trades in the same direction at better prices. Together, those trades form one basket.
The basket is managed as a single unit. Rather than each trade having to recover on its own, they share one average price, and the whole group closes together once that average moves into profit. That is why a basket can finish green even while some individual trades inside it are still red — and it is why price only has to come back part of the way, not all the way to your first entry.
What Recovery Spacing controls
Recovery Spacing decides how far price has to move against you before the next trade is added to the basket. It sounds like a small setting. It is actually the single biggest decision you make in Grid mode:
- Trades placed close together — the basket fills quickly, pulls its average price down fast, and often closes sooner. The cost is that you end up holding more trades, and you get there faster if the move keeps going.
- Trades placed far apart — you hold far fewer trades, and a basket only goes deep if the market really keeps running. The cost is patience: a deep basket can stay open longer while it waits for price to come back.
Here is the part most grid EAs get wrong. Spacing is not the only thing that has to change. Trade sizes, the profit target, the pause between additions and the safety limits all have to match the spacing you chose — widen the gaps but leave everything else alone, and a deep basket can no longer pull its own average back to price.
So Wave Rider does not ask you to tune those individually. You pick one of four complete, tested setups, and every value inside it was chosen to work with the others.
The four choices
- Wide (Slow) — the default, and the right starting point for almost everyone. Spacing follows how much gold has actually been moving recently instead of a fixed number of pips, and the EA waits at least ten minutes between additions. Expect fewer recovery trades and a more patient basket.
- Wide (Fast) — everything Wide (Slow) does, except the first recovery trade arrives sooner. In testing it traded more and earned more — and it also drew down more. Choose it on purpose, not by accident.
- Static — starts with fixed spacing of 22 pips for buys and 35 pips for sells, with a smaller profit target. Its built-in progression widens later gaps as a basket deepens; spacing does not adapt to market volatility. This is the classic grid behaviour from earlier Wave Rider versions.
- Hybrid — a middle ground. Static's fixed distances act as a floor that spacing can never fall below, but when the market speeds up, the gaps are allowed to open wider than that floor.
Not sure which one? Leave it on Wide (Slow), back-test it on your own broker's history, and only change it once you have a reason to. If you would rather not use recovery at all, set Trade Mode to Single Position — that switches the whole system off and trades one position with a normal stop loss and take profit.
The two [INFO] rows sitting just above Recovery Spacing are a short reminder of these differences. They are help text only — editing or saving them cannot change how the EA trades.
Limits on how far a basket can go
Maximum Grid Orders (default: 10) caps how many trades one basket can hold, counting the first one. The basket-volume ceiling is calculated automatically from the selected recovery package, the effective first lot, and the volume required by that package's planned ladder at Maximum Grid Orders. It blocks unexpected excess volume without silently shortening the configured ladder.
Show TP Line on Chart (default: true) controls the Dark Orange dash-dot guide. When basket trailing is enabled, the guide includes the trailing-start distance and shows the approximate price where trailing can begin. Crossing it does not force an immediate close: Wave Rider first protects the basket target with a real stop, then lets that stop trail as price moves further. If trailing is disabled, the guide shows the fixed closing target. The TP value on the strategy card remains the basket's underlying target.
Show Next Grid Line on Chart (default: true) controls the thin white dash-dot guide for the next calculated recovery price. Turn it off if you prefer a cleaner chart; the Next price remains available on the strategy card, and the Dark Orange TP guide is unaffected. Next is an upcoming calculation, not an order guarantee. Recovery cadence, maximum positions, basket-volume limits, market hours, margin checks, and broker execution rules still decide whether a position may actually open.
Both chart guides follow the dashboard switch. If Enable UI Dashboard is off, neither line is drawn and any existing Wave Rider TP or Next guide is removed.
Reduce TP in deeper baskets by 25% (Wide Recovery only) (default: true) — A deep basket has already been fighting the market for a while. Rather than stubbornly holding out for the full original target, Wave Rider lowers what it asks for as the basket grows, so it can take the exit and move on. From the third trade onward, each additional trade cuts the target by a quarter, and it never drops below 9 pips:
- 1 or 2 positions: 24 pips (unchanged)
- 3 positions: 18 pips
- 4 positions: 13.5 pips
- 5 positions: about 10 pips
- 6 or more positions: 9 pips
What those pips are worth in your account currency depends on the basket's total volume, so a deeper basket can still close for more money than a shallow one. The reduced target is measured the same way as the full one — floating profit, swap, and the recorded entry commission are all counted before the basket is allowed to close. Once a basket has stepped down, closing part of it does not step the target back up; the ladder resets only when the basket is completely flat. Turn the switch off to keep the strategy's full base target at every depth. This applies to Wide (Slow) and Wide (Fast); Static and Hybrid are unaffected either way.
[S07] Impulse is the exception to the 24-pip Wide target. It uses its own 12-pip Recovery target in all four spacing choices. With deeper-basket TP reduction enabled in either Wide choice, its target becomes 9 pips from the third position onward. With that switch off, or with Static or Hybrid, it stays at 12 pips. This target is fixed in the customer build. Single Position mode ignores this exception and uses the shared Single Position settings below.
Apart from the visible switches described above, the basket target and recovery mechanics cannot be edited separately. Hiding a chart guide changes presentation only; broker-confirmed trailing protection remains enabled for every choice. Slow and Fast describe relative recovery activity; they do not guarantee a particular drawdown. No choice removes grid risk, so back-test your broker, lot sizing, leverage, and deposit before live use.
Upgrading from an earlier 5.x version: update only when all Wave Rider positions are closed. Most old grid-tuning names are intentionally ignored, while Maximum Grid Orders keeps its earlier input name and may load a value from an older set. Saved Wide, Static and Hybrid selections keep their identity; Wide (Fast) is a separate choice. The current S10 Slingshot / S17 Range Breakout slot ownership also means old strategy fields and Magics must be translated. Review Recovery Spacing, Maximum Grid Orders and every strategy override, back-test on your broker, then save a fresh set.
▶ Single Position Settings
These settings are used only in Single Position (SL/TP) mode.
- Stop Loss (pips) (default: 250) - Intended broker stop distance. Gaps, slippage, and execution conditions can produce a larger realized loss.
- Take Profit (pips) - safety net (default: 50) - Broker take-profit distance.
- Enable Trailing Stop Loss (default: true) - Advances the real broker SL after activation.
- Start trailing after (pips profit) (default: 12) - Profit distance required before trailing starts.
- Trailing step (pips) (default: 3.0) - Minimum favorable step before another SL update. Invalid or frozen stop levels are deferred and retried rather than forcing a close.
▶ Time Management
Wave Rider is picky about when it trades — and that's by design. Its day-specific and strategy-specific windows must both allow a new entry. Times are anchored to the configured broker winter offset and automatically normalized for the broker's summer-time shift.
- Base GMT offset, auto-adjusts for DST (ICM, VT, Fusion, BlackBull) (default: 2) - Broker winter offset used when the schedules were configured. The EA detects the live server offset and compensates for the normal GMT+2/GMT+3 seasonal shift. Change it if your broker uses a different winter server offset.
- Enable Monday-Thursday time filter (default: true) - Controls only the Monday-Thursday entry windows. Friday, weekend, holiday, strategy, news, spread, cooldown, and protection rules remain independent.
- Monday-Thursday start times (default: 01:15;14:35;15:45)
- Monday-Thursday end times (default: 14:20;15:20;22:30) - The defaults form three paired windows: 01:15-14:20, 14:35-15:20, and 15:45-22:30.
- Enable Friday trading (default: false) - Friday entries are off by default. Switch it on to use the Friday window below.
- Friday start time (default: 01:30)
- Friday end time (default: 10:00) - When Friday trading is enabled, entries are limited to this morning window by default.
- First-Friday NFP protection - Wave Rider blocks new entries for the entire first Friday of every month. This calendar rule is independent of the News Filter, which also handles the actual NFP event according to its configured full-day rule.
- Last-Friday protection - New entries are also blocked on the final Friday of every month. Month-end flows make that session behave differently from an ordinary Friday, and a basket opened into it has the least time to resolve before the weekend.
- Summer Friday protection - Throughout the July-August window, Wave Rider takes no new Friday entries at all. Thin summer liquidity produced the widest broker-to-broker differences in testing.
- Christmas holiday filter (no new trades Dec 20 - Jan 7) (default: true) - Blocks new entries during that date range. Existing positions continue to be managed.
For multiple windows, the number and order of start values must match the end values. Use 24-hour HH:MM format and separate pairs with semicolons.
The three Friday calendar rules — first Friday, last Friday, and the July-August window — have no on/off switch in this build. They are deliberately fixed, so expect several Fridays each month with no new entries. Baskets already open are unaffected: recovery orders, exits, trailing stops and drawdown protection all keep running normally.
▶ Protection Manager
These are your safety nets — the systems watching your account while you're away from the screen:
- Enable Drawdown Protection (default: true) - Monitors the combined floating loss of positions belonging to this Wave Rider instance on the chart symbol. At the selected limit, it requests closure of its positions and pauses new trading for the rest of the server day.
- Drawdown calculation mode (default: Percentage of starting balance):
- Percentage of starting balance - Compares Wave Rider's floating loss with the account balance recorded when the EA starts or a new broker day begins. It does not subtract other EAs' floating losses or used margin from that balance.
- Percentage of daily peak equity - Preserves the previous calculation: Wave Rider's floating loss divided by the highest account protection equity recorded that day. Other EAs can affect this equity base, but their losses are not added to Wave Rider's floating loss. This is not the account's total fall from its equity peak.
- Absolute money amount - Compares Wave Rider's floating loss directly with a limit in the account currency.
- Drawdown threshold (% or money) (default: 35) - Means 35% in either percentage mode or 35 account-currency units in Absolute money amount mode. Actual losses can exceed the limit during gaps or delayed execution.
- Include Broker Credit in Protection Base (default: false) - Excludes separately reported positive broker credit from both percentage bases. If enabled, the starting-balance snapshot includes its captured credit, while daily peak equity uses credit-inclusive equity. Removing included credit reduces the applicable allowance. New intraday credit does not enlarge the starting-balance snapshot. Money mode is unaffected.
- Show Equity SL Line on Chart (default: true) - Shows a Crimson dash-dot estimate labelled Equity SL (est.) at the price where Drawdown Protection would be expected to trigger. It follows the selected balance, equity or money calculation and broker-credit setting. The line appears only while the dashboard, Drawdown Protection and this setting are on and a meaningful basket price can be calculated. It stays hidden when opposing exposure nearly offsets or the estimate falls outside a useful chart range. It is a visual estimate, not a broker stop order.
- Prevent trading close to All-Time High (default: false) - Blocks all new strategy entries when price is within the configured distance of the calculated symbol high. Existing baskets continue to be managed.
- ATH calculation timeframe (default: W1)
- ATH lookback periods (default: 100) - With W1, this is approximately 100 weekly bars.
- Distance from ATH threshold (%) (default: 0.25) - Entry block begins when price is within this percentage of the tracked high.
- Dynamic Exit (close all on rapid adverse move) (default: false) - Monitors a rapid move against the dominant Wave Rider position direction. When triggered, it requests closure and pauses trading for the rest of the day.
- Dynamic Exit (price move % to trigger) (default: 0.5)
- Dynamic Exit (lookback window in seconds) (default: 120) - The default looks for an adverse 0.5% move over approximately two minutes.
What counts as floating loss? Wave Rider combines the open price profit/loss of positions matching its registered Magic Numbers and chart symbol; open profits offset open losses. This calculation does not include realized losses, swaps or commissions. The starting balance is still the account's balance, including results already booked by other EAs; it is not a separate Wave Rider-only allocation.
When does starting balance refresh? The snapshot is captured when the EA initializes and at the next broker-day reset. Closed trades, deposits and withdrawals do not change it during that session. Restarting the EA captures a new snapshot from the then-current balance.
Example: With a 10,000 starting balance and a 35% threshold, the balance-based floating-loss limit is 3,500. Another EA's open loss does not reduce that calculation base. It can still reduce actual equity and free margin, so broker margin checks and stop-out remain separate risks.
Protection transparency: These systems react after prices and broker state are received. They are not guaranteed fills and cannot cap loss exactly during gaps, disconnections, rejected requests, or extreme slippage.
▶ News Filter
Gold reacts strongly to news, so the News Filter is one of your most valuable tools. It blocks new strategy entries. It does not stop management of an existing basket. ForexFactory is tried first when WebRequest permission is available; otherwise Wave Rider falls back to the native MQL5 Economic Calendar. Calendar names and impact ratings can differ between sources.
- Forex Factory: Allow This URL in MT5 WebRequest Settings - The first row shows the address to allow in MT5. It is a setup reminder only; editing its text does not change the news feed or trading rules.
- Enable News Filter (ForexFactory, MQL5 Calendar) (default: true)
- Filter High Impact events (default: true) - Applies the ordinary before/after window to relevant high-impact events.
- Filter Medium Impact events (default: false) - When enabled, all relevant medium events also use the ordinary window.
- Minutes before news to stop trading (default: 120)
- Minutes after news to resume trading (default: 120)
- Also Watch These News Currencies (USD by default) (default: USD) - Comma-separated additional currencies. Wave Rider also derives relevant currencies from the attached symbol. USD remains explicit because it is the primary news currency for Gold.
- Other Medium Events to Treat as High (default: empty) - Optionally add event-name keywords to Wave Rider's protected Medium-event list. Entries are case-insensitive and comma-separated.
- Other News for the Full Day Block (default: empty) - Optionally add event-name keywords to Wave Rider's protected full-day list.
- Full Day Block (FOMC, NFP, CPI) (default: true) - A matching high-impact event blocks new entries for its broker-server date only. Trading can resume at 00:00 on the next server date if no other rule blocks it.
- Don't Trade on USD Bank Holidays (All Day) (default: true) - Blocks the USD bank-holiday server date only. It does not block the following day.
Wave Rider keeps its required news names internally so an old saved set cannot restore an obsolete list. These protected terms cannot be removed through the two Other fields; those fields only add your own terms. Nonfarm, ISM, and weekly Unemployment Claims events follow the impact rating supplied by the active calendar source. A provider-rated High Unemployment Claims release is still blocked normally. To block Medium-rated claims too, enter Unemployment Claims under Other Medium Events to Treat as High. Official High-impact NFP remains in the protected full-day list, including both Nonfarm and Non-farm title spellings. Actual Federal Reserve rate decisions, statements, projections, and press conferences receive the event-day-only block. FOMC meeting minutes keep the normal two-hour-before and two-hour-after window. A Medium-impact Forex Factory ADP event is not promoted and therefore does not receive the full-day block. Repeated custom keywords are ignored safely. If an older set contained your own custom news names, enter only those extra names in the new Other fields.
The dashboard distinguishes NEWS for ordinary minute windows, NEWS DAY for the Full Day Block, and USD BANK HOLIDAY (ALL DAY) for a holiday block. Hover the status for the source event time and expected end of the pause.
Waiting for calendar: If the news calendar cannot be read reliably, Wave Rider pauses new strategy entries and retries automatically. Normal news checks resume when the data recovers; this is not a daily halt. Existing baskets, recovery orders, exits and trailing remain managed throughout. Keep the News Filter enabled. If the message persists, open Tools > Options > Expert Advisors, enable Allow WebRequest for listed URL, and add https://nfs.faireconomy.media/ . Restart the EA after changing permissions. If it still waits, check the terminal connection and Experts log; allowing the URL cannot resolve a provider or connection outage by itself.
▶ [S01] Support & Resistance Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 01:15)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 22:30)
- Enable trading on 15min timeframe (default: true)
- Enable trading on 30min timeframe (default: true)
- Breakout-Retest: buy the pullback to a broken swing high (default: true) - Adds the tested BUY retest path. It waits for a breakout to arm, then requires a controlled pullback instead of buying the initial spike.
▶ [S02] Pullback Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 01:15)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 13:00)
▶ [S03] Trend Breakout Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 06:00;16:30)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 11:00;21:00) - Paired windows are 06:00-11:00 and 16:30-21:00.
▶ [S04] M5 Bounce Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 06:00)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 21:00)
- [BUY only] More precise entries (fewer trades) (default: false) - Requires stronger bounce-candle confirmation. It can reduce entries and does not guarantee better results on every feed.
- Enable additional trades from the M10 timeframe (default: false) - Adds the M10 signal profile. Leave off unless you have tested the change on your broker.
- [BUY only] More trade opportunities (higher drawdown) (default: false) - Also allows BUY bounce setups that the hourly trend check would block, as long as the 4-hour trend is not against the trade. Expect more entries and possibly deeper baskets; leave off unless you have tested it on your broker.
SELL confirmation is always strict in 5.70. There is no customer switch to relax it; old saved SELL-precision choices are ignored. The BUY precision input above is unchanged.
▶ [S05] Smart-Money Volume Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 07:00)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 20:00)
▶ [S06] Momentum Continuation Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 01:15)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 20:00)
▶ [S07] Impulse Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 01:15)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 20:00)
▶ [S08] Crest Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 00:00)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 23:59)
▶ [S09] Undertow Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 01:15)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 20:00)
▶ [S10] Slingshot Strategy
- New Trades Allowed From (default: 08:00)
- New Trades Allowed Until (default: 19:59)
Commercial signal thresholds remain locked to their tested defaults. Enable, Magic Number, entry-window and Advanced Risk controls remain available for every S01-S10 strategy.
▶ Dashboard Appearance
- Scale override (0=auto, typical 1.0-1.5) (default: 0) - Keep 0 for automatic DPI scaling. Use a manual value only if the panel is unsuitable on a specific remote-desktop or display setup.
- Font name (default: Calibri) - Must be installed in the Windows environment running MT5.
- Base font size (default: 9) - Changes dashboard body text. Very large values can cause clipping even when automatic panel scaling is correct.
- Show strategies as a compact table (false = cards) (default: true) - Lists the ten strategies as a compact table. Set false to show the strategy cards instead.
The dashboard supports high-DPI displays and shows a color-coded EA status beside Close All Positions. It is visible by default on live/demo charts and visual tests, but hidden during non-visual tests and optimizations. Trading protection, grid management and trailing updates take priority over routine dashboard refreshes.
An active strategy card shows TP: price | Next: price | BE: price. Next is the latest recovery level calculated by the live grid path and is also shown as a thin white dash-dot line on the chart. Once that level is filled, its line is removed and the following level appears after the new position is confirmed. The Dark Orange TP and white Next chart guides use the same dash-dot pattern and are drawn behind the dashboard so they do not cross its panel. Next is informational and does not bypass pacing, position or volume limits, market hours, margin checks, or broker execution rules. The dashboard's Closed P/L is calculated from history belonging to the configured strategy Magic Numbers; a new Magic range correctly starts at zero when no matching history exists. Each strategy's daily profit is also restored from today's closed-trade history after the EA reloads, including after an input or timeframe change, and refreshes when a trade closes.
💡 Recommended First-Use Process
There's no rush to go live. The traders who get the best long-term results with Wave Rider are the ones who take this path patiently:
- Use the current defaults and the Balanced Risk Profile.
- Choose a lot-sizing method that you understand. On a non-USD account, decide explicitly whether USD-equivalent conversion is required.
- Backtest the exact broker symbol with recent high-quality tick data. Check maximal equity drawdown and the deepest baskets, not only profit or win rate.
- Run on demo and compare spread, number of entries, grid depth, and execution with the backtest.
- Change one setting at a time. A lower trade count does not automatically mean lower risk, and a higher profit factor does not prove a safer grid.
- Keep Algo Trading, internet access, and the terminal running whenever Wave Rider positions are open.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
The questions we hear most often from Wave Rider users, answered honestly:
Why is Wave Rider not opening trades?
This is the most common question, and it almost always has a simple answer. The market may be outside the global or strategy window, spread may be too high, another strategy may own a basket, cooldown may be active, the H1/strategy filters may reject the setup, or news/ATH/holiday protection may be blocking new entries. If it is a Friday, check the calendar rules first: Friday trading is off by default, and when it is enabled Wave Rider still takes no new entries on the first or last Friday of any month, on any Friday in July or August, or outside the Friday morning window. Read the Experts log and dashboard status before changing settings.
Why did price touch the Next line without opening another position?
The Next line shows the currently calculated recovery price; it is not a pending order. Wave Rider still waits for the configured recovery cadence and checks maximum positions, total basket volume, market hours, margin, the live quote, and broker execution conditions. If any gate is active when price touches the line, no request is sent. The line remains useful as the upcoming level and is recalculated before the EA can act.
Why did price cross the Profit Target line without closing immediately?
With basket trailing enabled, the Dark Orange line includes the trailing-start distance and marks the approximate point where trailing can begin. At that point Wave Rider protects the underlying basket target with a real stop and then trails it as price improves. The basket normally closes only after price returns to that stop, so crossing the guide is not an instant market-close instruction. The TP shown on the strategy card remains the underlying basket target.
Is the Crimson Equity SL (est.) line a broker stop loss?
No. It follows the selected starting-balance, daily peak-equity or money limit and current net Wave Rider exposure. It can move as the applicable base, spread, conversion rates or basket changes. Wave Rider still needs MT5 connected and running to request the actual protection close.
Why did my deeper basket close for fewer pips than the target?
That is the Reduce TP in deeper baskets switch, and it applies to Wide Recovery only. The ordinary 24-pip target reduces from the third position to 18, then 13.5, then about 10, never below 9. [S07] Impulse starts at its own 12-pip target and reduces to 9 from the third position. Switch the policy off to retain the strategy's base target at every depth. A shorter target is not a guarantee of a better money result.
Why is S07 inactive in SELL-only mode?
S07 is deliberately BUY-only. S06 now has separate BUY and SELL engines and can trade in SELL-only mode.
Can another EA trigger Wave Rider's Drawdown Protection?
Its open losses are not counted as Wave Rider losses. In the default starting-balance mode, another EA's floating loss or used margin does not change the calculation base either. The optional daily peak-equity mode does use an account-wide equity base, so other EAs can affect that allowance. Previously closed results are already part of account balance, and other EAs can still use margin or contribute to a broker stop-out.
Why can account equity differ from the protection base?
The default mode uses a saved starting balance, not current equity. The optional equity mode uses a daily peak rather than the current figure. Positive broker credit is excluded by default in both percentage modes. Check the chosen mode and the protection log's percentage base before comparing numbers.
Does a news or time block stop grid management?
No. These filters stop new strategy entries. Existing Wave Rider positions continue through grid, target, trailing, and protection management.
Does a back-test verify live news protection?
Only partly. Standard Strategy Tester runs cannot load the live economic calendar or use WebRequest. Fixed trading schedules, Friday rules and USD bank holidays from the embedded tester calendar still apply, but timed releases and the live Full Day Block are not reproduced. Check the live news source, dashboard and Experts log separately; a back-test cannot guarantee the same live trades or fills.
Can I attach the EA to M1, M5, or H1?
Yes. The chart timeframe is only the display timeframe. Strategy calculations use their own configured timeframes.
Can I use a broker suffix such as XAUUSD.a or XAUUSD-ECN?
Yes, common XAU/GOLD names and suffixes are supported. Version 5.70 also keeps the intended gold distances on both two- and three-decimal quotes without manual adjustment. Contract sizes, spreads and execution can still differ, so back-test that exact symbol and try demo before live use.
Can I run multiple instances on one account?
Yes, but every instance needs a separate ten-number Magic range. Avoid any collision with other EAs. Also remember that several instances can multiply total account exposure even when each instance allows only one strategy basket.
Is Wave Rider a martingale?
Static recovery uses flat lots. Wide recovery uses a bounded, internally matched progression with both per-leg and total basket-volume limits. Its multiplier is managed automatically and is not exposed as a separate input.
What remains protected if MT5 disconnects?
Broker-accepted SL/TP levels remain at the broker. Logic that requires new ticks or new requests cannot update while MT5 is offline, including virtual basket closure, later grid management, and further trailing steps. Use a stable VPS.
What happens when Drawdown Protection or Dynamic Exit triggers?
Wave Rider requests closure of its positions and disables new trading for the rest of the server day. Actual closing prices depend on broker execution.
Can I use old 4.x set files?
No. Start from the current commercial defaults and recreate the choices you need. Renamed inputs and the changed strategy/Magic layout can otherwise cause silent fallback to defaults or duplicate Magics.
Can I reuse grid settings from an earlier 5.x set?
The rest of the set can still load, but most old grid-tuning names are ignored. Maximum Grid Orders is the exception and keeps its earlier input name, so review the loaded value. Select Recovery Spacing, confirm Maximum Grid Orders, and save a fresh set so TP, spacing, lot behavior, and cadence remain matched.
Have a question this guide didn't answer? You're not on your own — reach out through the Wave Rider MQL5 product page and the developer will be glad to help.
Disclaimer: Trading leveraged products carries a high level of risk. Past performance and backtests do not guarantee future results. Broker feeds, spreads, swaps, commissions, slippage, liquidity, and execution differ. Test on demo, use conservative sizing, monitor free margin, and never trade money you cannot afford to lose.
