Second Wind – complete guide: Turnaround Tuesday on stock indices, every setting, set files

Second Wind is a Turnaround Tuesday Expert Advisor for stock indices on MetaTrader 5. This post explains how it trades, what every input does, how to set it up on your broker, and what the set files contain. Product page: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/200107

Live account (my own, same strategy, since Feb 2026)*: https://www.mql5.com/en/signals/2372831

1. How Second Wind trades

Turnaround Tuesday is one of the oldest and best documented calendar effects in stock indices. Weekend news often pushes indices lower on Monday. When that happens while the index is already in a pullback, Tuesday has tended to recover. Second Wind trades this effect every week:

1. Monday, from the start time (for example 01:05 server time) Second Wind checks the index once per minute for the whole day.
2. Filter: it buys only while the bid is below the moving average (default: 20-day SMA, current bar). A Monday that starts above the MA can still trigger later in the day, as soon as price falls below it. If price stays above the MA all day, there is no trade that week.
3. Hold: one long position, held overnight into Tuesday.
4. Tuesday, at the close time (for example 23:50) the position is closed. Then Second Wind waits for the next Monday.

At most one trade per week and symbol. Long only. No grid, no martingale, no averaging. Stop loss, take profit, break-even and trailing stop are optional. Open day and close day are inputs, so you can also test Monday to Wednesday or any other weekday pair.

2. Markets and set files

Set files for four indices, all attached to this post and also available in the comments section of the product page:

• All sets: position value 0.5 × balance, no stop loss, no take profit, server time UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer.
• Without a stop loss "Risk %" sets the position value: 50 = a position worth half of the balance.
• Every set has its own magic number, so all four can run on one account without mixing their trades.
• Several indices on one account: they move together, and their risk adds up almost one to one. If you run several index charts on one account, reduce the position value per chart.
• Symbol names: a set file belongs to the market, not to the name. Use the USTEC set on USTEC, NAS100 or US100, the US30 set on US30, DJ30 or WS30, and the DE40 set on DE40 or GER40.

3. Setup in five minutes

1. Open a chart of the index (any timeframe; M15 or H1 is easy to read).
2. Attach Second Wind, tick "Allow Algo Trading", load the matching set file (Inputs → Load).
3. Check your broker's server time. The set files assume UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer. If your broker differs, shift the start and close time by the difference.
4. Check the Experts log. On start Second Wind prints the settings, the lot size, the position value as a multiple of the balance and what a 10 % index drop would cost, so a wrong set shows up at once. It also warns if the start or close time lies outside the symbol's trading session.
5. Keep the terminal online on Monday and Tuesday. A VPS is recommended. After a restart Second Wind reads the history and never buys twice in the same week.

4. All settings explained

The defaults below are the values in the EA itself; the set files change some of them.

General Settings

• Wait for a new daily high (default: off). Buy only once price trades above the previous day's high, after all other filters.
• Trading volume (default: % of balance). Fixed lots, lots per x money (for example 0.01 lot per 1,000 of balance), % of balance or a money amount.
• Fixed lots (default: 0.01) and per x money (default: 1000). Lot size for fixed mode and the step for per-x-money mode.
• Risk % of balance (default: 50). With a stop loss this is the share of the balance lost at the stop. Without a stop loss it sets the position value.
• Risk money (default: 100). The same as a fixed amount.
• Take profit / stop loss (default: off, value 0). Off, % of the entry price or points.

The lot size respects the broker's minimum and maximum lot, the symbol volume limit and the free margin (at most half of it). An order is reduced rather than rejected, and the log says why.

Time Settings

• Trading start – hour / minute (default: 01:05). From this server time on the open day the entry is watched.
• Position close – hour / minute (default: 23:50). Close time on the close day.
• Open day / close day (default: Monday / Tuesday). Any weekday pair can be tested, for example Monday to Wednesday.

Trailing Stop Settings

Break-even (trigger, lock-in above entry) and trailing stop (trigger, distance, step). Off by default. In % of the entry price or points, like the stop loss.

Indicator Settings (moving average filter)

• Use MA filter (default: on). On = buy only while the bid is below the MA (classic). Off = buy every open day at the start time.
• Timeframe (default: D1), periods (default: 20), method (default: SMA), applied price (default: close). The moving average works like the standard MT5 indicator. The value of the current bar is used.

Entry Filter Settings

• Only below the previous day's close ("red day", default: off).
• Latest entry – hour / minute (default: 00:00 = the whole open day, classic). Stop watching at this time.
• Max spread at entry (default: 0 = off, in points). Wait while the spread is wider.

More Settings and Dashboard

Order comment (default: SecondWind), magic number (default: 20261007, unique per chart), maximum slippage (default: 30 points), entry and exit drawn on the chart (default: on). Dashboard on/off (default: on), header label, three themes (Midnight, Graphite, Daylight; default Midnight), full or compact (default: full), any chart corner (default: top left), distance from side and from top or bottom (default: 10 / 22 px).

The dashboard shows the week status (for example WATCHING – ABOVE THE MA, IN TRADE – TURNAROUND), the turnaround window with a countdown, the distance to the MA, the next lot size and position value, the open position, today's result and the track record of the last 24 trades. It only reads; it never sends, changes or deletes an order.

5. What Second Wind does on its own

• One trade per week and chart, never more than one position per chart. If last week's position is still open, the week is skipped.
• Attached on Monday afternoon? It still trades that Monday if the filter is met.
• If the market is closed at the close time (holiday), it closes at the next possible price.
• Works on hedging and netting accounts. On a netting account it never buys into another position on the same symbol and skips the week instead. A hedging account is recommended.
• The Experts log explains every decision, for example "price above the MA – watching" or "no trade this week – …".

6. Backtests

MT5 Strategy Tester, "Every tick based on real ticks", IC Markets data, January 2025 – October 2026, 20,000 USD, fixed 0.1 lot, set values above:

That is a short and strong period for index dips. The 21-year check below is the more sober picture.

Long-term check, January 2005 – October 2026: Python simulation on daily data (index futures for the US indices, DAX cash index), set values above, position value 0.5 × balance, compounding. Spread and one night of swap (0.03 % of the position value) deducted on every trade.

What the long test also shows:

• The moving average filter beats "buy every Monday" on all four indices (profit factor 1.16–1.33 without it).
• Any MA length from 5 to 200 days stays profitable, so the result does not hang on one lucky setting.

• Both halves of the test period are profitable on every index. With doubled costs the profit factor is still 1.34–1.43.
• The returns are modest because the position is only half the balance and the EA is in the market about one day a week. More size means more return and a proportionally deeper drawdown.

Please run your own test on your broker's data with "Every tick based on real ticks".

7. Broker and account

• Index spread at the entry and close time. Second Wind enters and exits at a fixed time, so the spread at that minute is a direct cost on every trade.
• Long swap. The position is held for one night, so the long swap of the index is part of every trade. Check the long swap for your symbol in the symbol specification and compare it between brokers. Triple-swap days do not matter here, because Second Wind holds Monday to Tuesday.
• Server time UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer matches the set files. Otherwise shift the start and close time by the difference.
• Contract size changes the lot size for a given position value. The start log shows both.
• Hedging account recommended, with enough daily history for the moving average.
• Without a stop loss a sharp index drop hits the full position. The start log shows what a 10 % drop would cost with your settings.
• Test every symbol in the Strategy Tester with your broker's data, ideally "Every tick based on real ticks", and on a demo account before trading live.

8. Live account

Live account (my own, same strategy, since Feb 2026)*: https://www.mql5.com/en/signals/2372831

* My own live account since February 2026. It trades the same Turnaround Tuesday strategy with a different EA build, together with a session range breakout and a daily index long on one account. Its result mixes all three strategies and is not a track record of Second Wind's code.

9. Support

Post questions in the product comments or send a private message. Please include your broker, the symbol, the set file and the Experts log lines from the day in question.

Risk warning: trading CFDs involves a high risk of losing money. Past results, including backtests and simulations, do not guarantee future results. The default inputs and set files are examples, not recommendations.