Nexfin Donchian Trend

Nexfin Donchian Trend is an implementation of the classic Donchian channel breakout. It enters when a bar closes beyond the highest high or the lowest low of the entry window, and exits either on the shorter opposite channel or on an ATR trailing stop, whichever you choose. Because the entry and exit windows are set independently, the same engine covers faster channel trading and slower position trading.

The channel is measured on the bars before the signal bar, so a breakout is a genuine close beyond the prior range.

Read this before buying

In the published tests the Indices and Forex presets lost money, and so did Balanced on those two markets. The Crypto and Metals presets were profitable in the same tests. If you trade indices or currency pairs, treat those presets as a starting point for your own research, not as ready-made settings.

Presets, and how they work

Crypto, Metals (the default), Indices, Forex and Balanced, all designed for the D1 chart, plus Custom. Each preset sets the entry lookback, the exit window, the ATR multiple and the exit style; Crypto and Metals share the same values. Balanced takes the midpoint of the class presets and the widest ATR stop. It is an option for an instrument that fits no class, not a lower-risk setting.

A named preset applies its own values, including the exit style, and overrides the matching fields in the Inputs window. To choose them yourself, select Custom. The dashboard always shows the values that are actually in force.

Every preset tested, including the ones that lost

Each preset was tested on the market it names, and Balanced on all four. Profit factor, trades and maximum relative drawdown:

Crypto, BTCUSD 2019-2026: PF 1.59, 72 trades, 5.04%
Metals, XAUUSD 2016-2026: PF 2.44, 60 trades, 3.82%
Indices, US100 2020-2026: PF 0.67, 57 trades, 10.78%
Forex, EURUSD 2016-2026: PF 0.83, 49 trades, 14.22%
Balanced on BTCUSD: PF 1.64, 58 trades, 6.38%
Balanced on XAUUSD: PF 2.43, 51 trades, 4.13%
Balanced on US100: PF 0.73, 51 trades, 8.23%
Balanced on EURUSD: PF 0.51, 78 trades, 15.65%

A daily system trades rarely: 49 to 78 trades per row over six to ten years. Samples that small can change noticeably with one more year of data.

Checked on real ticks, on broker symbols

The table above uses 1-minute OHLC modelling on clean data feeds. To see whether that model flatters the presets, every preset was run twice more on a broker's own symbols (Tickmill, January 2025 to September 2026): once on 1-minute OHLC and once on real ticks. A daily system trades only a few times in that window, 1 to 10 trades per run, so compare net results rather than profit factors. Seven of the eight pairs agreed closely, for example Crypto USD 463 against USD 446. The eighth, Balanced on XAUUSD, took one trade on 1-minute OHLC and two on real ticks: with so few trades a single entry decides the result. In this short recent window the Forex presets lost money under both models while the Indices presets made a small profit, a reminder that a short window can disagree with a long one.

Test conditions

MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester, 1-minute OHLC, 99-100% history quality. BTCUSD uses Binance spot data and XAUUSD, US100 and EURUSD use HistData, imported as custom symbols. USD 10,000 starting balance, 1:500 leverage as recorded in the reports, 1% risk per trade, account guard off. These are historical simulations, not live trading, and they do not predict future results. Test on your own broker's data before trading.

A note for funded traders

A trend system holds positions for a long time. If your firm measures drawdown as a trailing limit from the equity high-water mark, giving back open profit on the way out of a trend can reach that limit even on a trade that closes positive. A static drawdown rule suits this style better. The guard handles both and notes in the journal when trailing mode is active.

Funded account guard

The same module as in Nexfin Volatility Breakout: a daily loss limit that can follow the way your firm counts it, an overall drawdown limit in static or trailing form, caps on the floating loss and on the risk of all open positions, a rule-shape selector, a safety margin or your own level for each limit, exposure caps and a news filter. For firms that word their rules differently, the trailing limit can sit a fixed share of the starting balance below the high-water mark or a share of the mark itself, and stop where the firm's own limit stops at the starting balance, keeping its margin above it; the daily floor can be checked on the lower of balance and equity; the reset can fall on any minute; and the news filter can also remove pending orders or close positions before the event. Disabled by default. Gaps, slippage and disconnections can still carry a loss past any threshold.

Prop firms differ on purchased EAs. Several restrict an EA that many traders run, because it opens the same trades in many accounts. Read your firm's rules on third-party EAs before using this EA on an evaluation or funded account.

Dashboard

Channel levels, the distance to a breakout in both directions, position state and running profit or loss, bar meters for daily loss and drawdown, guard status and session statistics.

Try it first

Download the free demo and run it in the Strategy Tester: choose XAUUSD or BTCUSD, the D1 period and a preset, and watch an entry and its exit in visual mode. The demo runs in the tester, not on a live chart.

Technical

Works on any symbol and timeframe; the presets were designed for D1. Adapts automatically to digits, point size, stop level, lot step and filling mode. No DLL calls, no web requests, no external files. Inputs are validated with a clear message.

With risk-based sizing the EA never sends a lot larger than the configured risk allows. On an expensive instrument and a small balance the broker's minimum lot can exceed that risk; the EA then skips the entry and writes 'Entry skipped' to the journal, with the loss the minimum lot would carry. Example: on XAUUSD in 2026, 1% risk at a 0.01 minimum lot needed about USD 26,000 of equity on the daily chart and about USD 12,000 on H4. A larger balance or an instrument with a smaller contract fits the configured risk; raising the risk percent, or switching to the fixed-lot input, means accepting more risk per trade.

Requirements: MetaTrader 5, and a broker whose symbol accepts stop-loss orders. For questions, please use the comments section of this product or send a message through the site.