ALMANAC GOLD - SET FILES AND SETUP GUIDE

ALMANAC GOLD - SET FILES AND SETUP GUIDE

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Download the SET Files Below

You will find six SET files in the attachments at the bottom of this page.

Read this page first, then choose ONE preset for your account.

Not sure where to start? Test 00_DEFAULT.set on demo. It matches the compiled default settings.

Please contact me after purchasing Almanac Gold if you need help with installation, your broker or the settings.

BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE: CHECK YOUR BROKER'S SERVER TIME

This is the single most important check for Almanac Gold, and it is not optional.

Almanac Gold runs fourteen strategies, each with its own session window written in BROKER SERVER TIME. The windows were calibrated on servers running GMT+2 in winter and GMT+3 in summer, which is the most common setup.

If your broker runs a different offset, every window points at a different part of the trading day. The EA will still trade. It will simply be trading a different market than the one it was built for.

How to check, in one minute:

1. Open Market Watch in MetaTrader 5.

2. Read the server time shown at the top.

3. Compare it with the current GMT time.

If the difference is +2 or +3, you are on the calibrated setup. Use any preset.

If the difference is 0, +1 or anything else, read the 05_GMT0_BROKER section below before you do anything.

A quick way to confirm: open a daily chart of XAUUSD and look at the last candle of the week. On a GMT+2/+3 server, the trading week opens on Monday. On a GMT+0 server, the week opens on Sunday evening in server time, and you will see Sunday candles.

WHAT IS A SET FILE?

A SET file loads a saved configuration into the EA.

It does not install Almanac Gold, replace the EA, or guarantee a particular result. It simply saves you from entering each setting by hand.

You only need ONE SET file and ONE chart. Almanac Gold already runs all fourteen strategies from a single chart. Do not attach six presets to six charts unless you intentionally want six EA instances and you understand the combined exposure.

WHICH SET SHOULD I CHOOSE?

00_DEFAULT.set - The Standard Starting Setup

- Lot sizing: 0.01 lot per 1,000 of balance.

- Drawdown control: OFF.

- Direction: Buy and Sell, as designed per strategy.

- Trading days: Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday OFF.

- Maximum spread: 100 points (1.00 in price).

This matches the compiled default settings, with one exception: Sunday is switched off. See the server-time section above for why.

The lot grows with your balance. At 1,000 balance each strategy uses 0.01 lot. At 5,000 it uses 0.05. Exposure grows as the account grows, and so does the size of a losing move.

01_FIXED_LOT.set - No Compounding

- Lot sizing: fixed at 0.01, regardless of balance.

- Drawdown control: OFF.

- Everything else: same as 00_DEFAULT.

Position size never changes on its own. Your risk per basket stays the same whether the account is at 1,000 or 10,000.

This is the preset to use when you want to observe the system's behaviour without compounding distorting what you see. It is also the honest way to compare two brokers or two periods, because the result is not dominated by how large the account happened to be at the time.

Change Fixed lot if you want a different volume. Balance-based settings do not control the lot while fixed mode is selected.

02_LOW_RISK.set - Smaller Size, Earlier Brake

- Lot sizing: 0.01 lot per 3,000 of balance - one third of default.

- Drawdown control: ON at 20% of balance.

- Maximum spread: 60 points.

Smaller positions, and the account-level brake switched on and set early.

Understand the trade-off. A 20% drawdown limit closes baskets sooner, which means some baskets that would have recovered are closed at a loss instead. Lower risk is not the same as higher profit. It means smaller outcomes in both directions.

On a small account the calculated lot may round up to your broker's minimum. The EA reports this in the journal at startup and caps total exposure accordingly, but the risk per trade will still be larger than the setting asks for.

"Low Risk" describes the configuration. It does not mean losses or drawdown are impossible.

03_HIGH_RISK.set - Larger Size, Later Brake

- Lot sizing: 0.01 lot per 500 of balance - double the default.

- Drawdown control: ON at 50% of balance.

This is the aggressive preset. Double the position size, with the brake switched on but set late - it does not act until half the balance is floating in loss.

Be specific with yourself about what that means. On a 2,000 account, this configuration will let a 1,000 floating loss accumulate before it closes anything.

Test this on demo through a full drawdown cycle before you consider it live. It is not a shortcut to faster returns; it is the same system with more exposure.

05_GMT0_BROKER.set - For Servers Outside GMT+2/+3

- Lot sizing: 0.01 lot per 2,000 of balance - half of default.

- Drawdown control: ON at 25% of balance.

- Maximum spread: 60 points.

- Sunday: OFF, same as every other preset.

Read this carefully, because I would rather you understand the limitation than find out later.

Almanac Gold's session windows are written in server time. On a GMT+0 or GMT+1 server, all fourteen windows land two to three hours away from where they were calibrated. Some of them land in the thin hours around the weekly open, which is the worst possible environment for a grid system: low liquidity, wider spreads, and gaps.

This preset does not fix that. Nothing in the settings can - the windows are compiled in.

What it does is reduce what a mismatch can cost you: half the position size and a brake that acts at 25% instead of 40%.

If your server is not GMT+2/+3, my honest recommendation is to use a broker whose server is. If you want to run it anyway, use this preset, keep the size small, and treat the first months as an evaluation rather than a deployment.

IMPORTANT: DRAWDOWN CONTROL

Three presets enable the account-level drawdown control, and three do not.

ENABLED - 02_LOW_RISK at 20%, 05_GMT0_BROKER at 25%, 03_HIGH_RISK at 50%.

DISABLED - 00_DEFAULT, 01_FIXED_LOT and 04_BUY_ONLY. These three match the compiled defaults of the EA.

What the control does: it measures the combined floating loss of all fourteen strategies against your balance, and closes every basket at once when the configured percentage is reached.

What it means when it is OFF: nothing closes a losing basket except its own target. There is no stop loss on individual positions, and the entry-side guards - the exposure ceiling and the projected margin check - can only refuse NEW orders. They cannot close a book that is already running against you. With the control off, a sustained move against open baskets runs until the basket recovers or the broker issues a margin stop out.

I have seen both outcomes in my own testing on the same configuration, on different brokers and periods. Enabling it is a decision about how much floating loss you are willing to carry before something intervenes; disabling it is a decision to carry all of it.

If you are not sure which you want, start with 02_LOW_RISK on demo and watch how often the brake fires. Then decide.

When it does fire, it closes everything - including baskets that were about to reach their target. And like any protection trigger, it is not a guaranteed maximum loss: slippage, gaps, a disconnection or a rejected close request can all push the final result past the level you set.

SETTINGS SHARED BY ALL SIX PRESETS

- Saturday and Sunday: OFF.

- Drawdown threshold value: 40% where the control is disabled, so the setting is ready if you switch it on.

- Panel and matching chart colours: ON.

- Maximum open positions: 100.

- Maximum slippage: 100 points.

- Magic number: 2626.

- Start paused: OFF.

Settings that are compiled in and cannot be changed from the inputs:

- All fourteen strategies enabled.

- Session windows for each strategy.

- Grid step and basket target per strategy.

- NFP Friday filter: ON.

- Friday-night entry cut-off: 22:00 server time.

- FOMC and CPI blackout dates.

These are fixed on purpose. They are the calibration, not preferences.

HOW TO LOAD A SET FILE

1. Download your chosen .set attachment.

2. Open the Almanac Gold properties window in MetaTrader 5.

3. Select the Inputs tab.

4. Click Load and select the SET file.

5. Review the lot settings, drawdown value and magic number before confirming.

Loading a SET file overwrites your current settings. Save your existing configuration first, especially if you already have open positions.

CHECK YOUR MAGIC NUMBER

All six presets use 2626 as the base magic number.

Almanac Gold reserves fourteen consecutive numbers from that base - 2626 through 2639 - one for each strategy. Any other EA using a number in that range will be treated as belonging to Almanac Gold, and vice versa.

If you run another EA on the same account, check that its magic number is outside 2626-2639.

If you change the magic number, use a base that leaves fourteen consecutive numbers free.

Never change the magic number while positions are open. The EA identifies its own positions by magic number alone, and changing it means the existing basket is no longer recognised - it will not be managed, closed at target, or protected by drawdown control.

A custom order comment does not replace the magic number.

HOW THE GRID AND THE BASKET TARGET WORK

Please read this section even if you skip everything else.

When a strategy is wrong about direction, Almanac Gold does not close the trade at a loss. It adds another position at a better price. The whole basket then closes together once price reaches the volume-weighted average entry plus that strategy's target.

Added positions always use the same volume as the previous one. The size never multiplies. This is not martingale.

What this means for you day to day:

- Losses are not realised immediately. They sit on the account as floating drawdown until the basket closes.

- Your balance curve will look smoother than your account actually behaves. Watch equity, not balance.

- Several strategies can hold baskets in the same direction at the same time. Their exposure adds together.

- A basket that has gone several legs deep carries much more exposure than the single entry that started it.

There is no stop loss on individual positions. The only thing that acts on an open basket other than its own target is the account-level drawdown control - see the section above for which presets enable it.

HOW DRAWDOWN CONTROL WORKS

The EA measures the combined floating loss of all fourteen strategies against your balance. When it reaches the configured percentage, every basket is closed.

It is a protection trigger, not a guaranteed maximum loss. Slippage, gaps, a disconnection or a rejected close request can all cause the final loss to exceed the level you set.

It also does not distinguish between strategies. When it fires, everything closes - including baskets that were about to reach their target. That is the cost of having it: some baskets are closed at a loss that would have recovered.

That trade-off is exactly why it is a choice rather than a fixed rule, and why three of the six presets leave it off. Make the choice deliberately, not by accident.

EXPOSURE LIMITS THAT ALWAYS APPLY

Three checks run before every order, first entry and grid addition alike:

Total exposure ceiling. The EA never holds more volume than the sizing model intends for all fourteen strategies combined. This matters on brokers whose minimum lot is larger than the size the model asks for.

Projected margin level. Before sending an order, the EA calculates what the margin level would be after it and refuses the trade if that falls below 200%.

Startup risk audit. If your broker's minimum lot is larger than the calculated size, the journal states how many times the configured risk you are actually taking. Read the journal on the first startup.

YOUR FIRST WEEK: START SMALL

Test your chosen configuration on demo first.

Run it long enough to see at least one basket go several legs deep. That is the behaviour you need to be comfortable with - not the winning baskets. Most baskets close in minutes with one position. The ones that matter are the rare ones that do not.

If you move to a live account, use the smallest size your broker allows and keep it there until you have watched a full drawdown cycle from beginning to end.

Check the journal at startup every time you change brokers. It will tell you about minimum lot rounding and about a server time offset outside the calibrated range.

One week is an initial check, not proof of anything. The market will still be there next month. You do not need to rush your lot size.

DASHBOARD BUTTONS

PAUSE / RESUME - stops new entries. Open baskets continue to be managed, closed at target, and protected by drawdown control.

x button on a strategy row - closes that one strategy's basket immediately, at market.

CLOSE ALL POSITIONS - closes every basket, winners and losers, after confirmation.

Pausing does not close anything. Closing does not pause anything. If you want a full stop, press both.

A NOTE ABOUT BACKTESTING

Use Every tick based on real ticks, with realistic spread and commission, and download the tick history fully before you run. Below roughly 90% history quality the result is not worth reading.

Read the EQUITY drawdown figure, not the balance drawdown. Because losses are carried as open positions until a basket closes, the balance curve of this system always looks far smoother than the account behaves. The equity drawdown is the number that describes what holding it actually feels like.

Backtest results depend heavily on your broker's server time offset, spread, and tick data. Two brokers on the same calibrated GMT offset produce very similar results. A broker on a different offset produces a different system. This is not a flaw in the tester - it is what the session windows mean.

A backtest cannot reproduce the fills, slippage or execution you will get live.

FILES TO DOWNLOAD

- 00_DEFAULT.set

- 01_FIXED_LOT.set

- 02_LOW_RISK.set

- 03_HIGH_RISK.set

- 05_GMT0_BROKER.set

Check your server time offset, decide whether you want drawdown control on or off, choose one preset, and check this page again after future updates.

If anything is unclear, message me before trading. I would rather help you with the setup than see you take more risk than you intended.

Losses and drawdown periods are possible with every preset. Almanac Gold uses grid averaging and carries no stop loss on individual positions. Choose a size you can hold through a difficult month without pressure.