Hi!
So I have been trying to implement a simple strategy, which I plan to develop further. The first step should work as follows:
- buy at 23:30 and close at 00:05.
I used a simple "if" function with "Hour", "minute" and "seconds", however it does not open any positions.
Could you please help me with this?
Thanks !
void OnTick() { if(Hour()==23 && Minute()==30 && Seconds()==0) { Print("It Works!") } }
If that works, it means the problem is somewhere in the OnTick function. Also Check if thee console doesn't print out any additional errors.
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if(Volume[0]>1) return;
For a new bar test, Bars is unreliable (a refresh/reconnect can change number of bars on chart), volume is unreliable (miss ticks), Price is unreliable (duplicate prices and The == operand. - MQL4 programming forum.) Always use time.
MT4: New candle - MQL4 programming forum #3 (2014)
MT5: Accessing variables - MQL4 programming forum #3 (2022)I disagree with making a new bar function, because it can only be called once per tick (second call returns false). A variable can be tested multiple times.
Running EA once at the start of each bar - MQL4 programming forum (2011) -
res=OrderSend(Symbol(),OP_BUY,1,Ask,3,Ask-5000*Point,Ask+100000*Point,"SEMA",0,0,Blue);
You buy at the Ask and sell at the Bid. Pending Buy Stop orders become market orders when hit by the Ask.
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Your buy order's TP/SL (or Sell Stop's/Sell Limit's entry) are triggered when the Bid / OrderClosePrice reaches it. Using Ask±n, makes your SL shorter and your TP longer, by the spread. Don't you want the specified amount used in either direction?
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Your sell order's TP/SL (or Buy Stop's/Buy Limit's entry) will be triggered when the Ask / OrderClosePrice reaches it. To trigger close to a specific Bid price, add the average spread.
MODE_SPREAD (Paul) - MQL4 programming forum - Page 3 #25 -
The charts show Bid prices only. Turn on the Ask line to see how big the spread is (Tools → Options (control+O) → charts → Show ask line.)
Most brokers with variable spreads widen considerably at end of day (5 PM ET) ± 30 minutes. My GBPJPY shows average spread = 26 points, but average maximum spread = 134 (your broker will be similar).
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if(Hour()==23 && Minute()==30 && Seconds()==0)
What if there are no ticks during that specific second? Code fails. There can be minutes between ticks during the Asian session, use time.datetime tBegin = StringToTime("23:30"), tEnd = StringToTime("00:05"), tNow = TimeCurrent(); if( tNow >= tBegin){ trade(); } else if(tNow >= tEnd){ closeTrades(); }
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When dealing with time, a lot of people use strings; they can not be optimized. Using (int) seconds or (double) hours and minutes can be.
See also Dealing with Time (Part 1): The Basics - MQL5 Articles (2021.10.01)
Dealing with Time (Part 2): The Functions - MQL5 Articles (2021.10.08)int tBegin = 23*3600+30*60, // 23:30 tEnd = 05*, // 00:05 tNow = time();
date/time (2017)
Find bar of the same time one day ago - MQL4 programming forum (2017)
-
For a new bar test, Bars is unreliable (a refresh/reconnect can change number of bars on chart), volume is unreliable (miss ticks), Price is unreliable (duplicate prices and The == operand. - MQL4 programming forum.) Always use time.
MT4: New candle - MQL4 programming forum #3 (2014)
MT5: Accessing variables - MQL4 programming forum #3 (2022)I disagree with making a new bar function, because it can only be called once per tick (second call returns false). A variable can be tested multiple times.
Running EA once at the start of each bar - MQL4 programming forum (2011) -
You buy at the Ask and sell at the Bid. Pending Buy Stop orders become market orders when hit by the Ask.
-
Your buy order's TP/SL (or Sell Stop's/Sell Limit's entry) are triggered when the Bid / OrderClosePrice reaches it. Using Ask±n, makes your SL shorter and your TP longer, by the spread. Don't you want the specified amount used in either direction?
-
Your sell order's TP/SL (or Buy Stop's/Buy Limit's entry) will be triggered when the Ask / OrderClosePrice reaches it. To trigger close to a specific Bid price, add the average spread.
MODE_SPREAD (Paul) - MQL4 programming forum - Page 3 #25 -
The charts show Bid prices only. Turn on the Ask line to see how big the spread is (Tools → Options (control+O) → charts → Show ask line.)
Most brokers with variable spreads widen considerably at end of day (5 PM ET) ± 30 minutes. My GBPJPY shows average spread = 26 points, but average maximum spread = 134 (your broker will be similar).
-
- What if there are no ticks during that specific second? Code fails. There can be minutes between ticks during the Asian session, use time.
-
When dealing with time, a lot of people use strings; they can not be optimized. Using (int) seconds or (double) hours and minutes can be.
See also Dealing with Time (Part 1): The Basics - MQL5 Articles (2021.10.01)
date/time (2017)
Dealing with Time (Part 2): The Functions - MQL5 Articles (2021.10.08)
Find bar of the same time one day ago - MQL4 programming forum (2017)
Thank you for your help! I implemented your advices and most of the code works correctly. It opens an order exactly at 23:30, however it does not modify the order at 00:05 as instructed. Instead the order is modified most of the times between 23:30 and 04:00.
Suprisingly, if I try to modify the order between midnight on the same day, like 23:55, it executes it perfectly. Am I missing something?
double TakeProfit; double LastHigh; double LastLow; int OnInit() { Print("Version 1.0"); return(INIT_SUCCEEDED); } int start() { LastHigh = iHigh (NULL,0,1); LastLow = iLow(NULL,0,1); Print("Previous High/Low =" , iTime(NULL,0,1),",", iHigh(NULL, 0,1),",", iLow(NULL,0,1)); CheckForOpen(); Print ("InsideStartAfterCheckForOpen"); return (0); } void CheckForOpen() { int res; Print ("InsideCheckForOpen"); datetime tBegin = StringToTime("23:30"), tEnd = StringToTime("00:05"), tNow = TimeCurrent(); if (( tNow >= tBegin) && (OrdersTotal() < 1 )) {res=OrderSend(Symbol(),OP_BUY,1,Ask,3,Ask-5000*Point,TakeProfit,"SEMA",0,0,Blue); } for (int b= OrdersTotal()-1; b >= 0; b--) if(tNow >= tEnd) if (OrderSelect(b,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES)) if (OrderSymbol() == Symbol()) if (OrderType() == OP_BUY) if (tNow >= tEnd) { OrderModify (OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),OrderOpenPrice() - (1*_Point),OrderTakeProfit(),0,CLR_NONE); Print ("SL Przesuniety"); } { if(Hour()==0 && Minute()==05 && Seconds()==0) { Print("It Works!"); } } }
I think this answer is related to my first code, not the second one. In the second version I did not write "closeTrades". Instead, I followed your suggestiong with:
if( tNow >= tBegin){ trade(); } (tBegin : 23:30)
then I wrote that if
tNow >= tEnd) (tEnd : 00:05)
and if the open position is Long, then modify SL for this position.
The problem is, that whenever I choose to modify position after 00:00, it does not follow the instructions. If i set the modification time at 23:55, everything works perfectly. I apologise as it is certainly as rookie issue, but I do not know where the mistake in my code is, as everything seems to be coded corectly.
The problem is, that whenever I choose to modify position after 00:00, it does not follow the instructions. If i set the modification time at 23:55, everything works perfectly. I apologise as it is certainly as rookie issue, but I do not know where the mistake in my code is, as everything seems to be coded corectly.
Think about it.
tBegin=23:30
tEnd=00:05
So you are coding
if now >=23:30
open orders
if now >=00:05
modify orders
So at 23:30, it opens orders
Well, if the time is 23:30 then it is also >=00:05 so it will immediately modify the orders.
Think about it.
tBegin=23:30
tEnd=00:05
So you are coding
if now >=23:30
open orders
if now >=00:05
modify orders
So at 23:30, it opens orders
Well, if the time is 23:30 then it is also >=00:05 so it will immediately modify the orders.
Ohhh yes it absolutely makes sense, thank you!
Hey guys!
The code works, it opens a position between 00:05 - 00:10 am and modifies SL and TP between 1:05 - 1:10.
However, in backtesting results i see, that sometimes it does not execute these rules properly (screenshot below in the "error" image).
Although first orders were executed properly (#1-3), #4 order was opened on "2022.01.11 at 00:05" but modified over a month later, on 02.21 at 01:05.
Then again, #7 was opened and modified properly, buy #10 never modified SL.
During these days when the strategy does not modify the position, I receive "error 130" notification. From what I have read online, it shows that the SL or TP price are too close to the currenct price of a security. Do not understand how this is possible, taking into the consideration the distance between where #7 was bought and when it hit SL at #8.
void CheckForOpen() { int res; Print ("InsideCheckForOpen"); datetime tStartBuy = StringToTime("00:05"), tEndBuy = StringToTime ("00:10"), tStartModify = StringToTime ("01:05"), tEndModify = StringToTime ("01:10"), tNow = TimeCurrent(); if (( tNow >= tStartBuy) && (tNow <= tEndBuy) && (OrdersTotal() < 1 )) {res=OrderSend(Symbol(),OP_BUY,1,Ask,5,Ask-5000*Point,TakeProfit,"SEMA",0,0,Blue); } for (int b= OrdersTotal()-1; b >= 0; b--) if((tNow >= tStartModify) && (tNow <= tEndModify)) if (OrderSelect(b,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES)) if (OrderSymbol() == Symbol()) if (OrderType() == OP_BUY) { OrderModify (OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),OrderOpenPrice() - (100*_Point),OrderOpenPrice() - (1*_Point),0,CLR_NONE); Print ("SL Przesuniety"); } { if(Hour()==0 && Minute()==05 && Seconds()==0) { Print("It Works!"); } } }
OrderModify (OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),OrderOpenPrice() - (100*_Point),OrderOpenPrice() - (1*_Point),0,CLR_NONE);
You are setting the TP to be below the buy open price. That can only be done when the market (the Bid) is (2 … 99) points below the OOP. What don't you understand?

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Hi!
So I have been trying to implement a simple strategy, which I plan to develop further. The first step should work as follows:
- buy at 23:30 and close at 00:05.
I used a simple "if" function with "Hour", "minute" and "seconds", however it does not open any positions.
Could you please help me with this?
Thanks !