Turtle Classic

Turtle Classic Gold Trend EA

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Turtle Classic - a trend-following gold expert advisor for MT5 with built-in daily and overall drawdown protection, position scaling, and a live dashboard.

FULL DESCRIPTION

Intro Turtle Classic is a trend-following expert advisor for MetaTrader 5, built for XAUUSD (Gold). It is inspired by the classic 1983 Turtle Traders' breakout methodology, adapted and risk-managed for modern market conditions. The EA identifies developing price trends, scales into them gradually as they confirm, and manages risk with multiple layers of built-in protection - making it a practical tool for traders who want a rules-based, trend-following gold EA without manual monitoring.

How It Works (Concept Overview)

• Detects breakouts from recent price ranges on two different timeframes of its own internal logic - one for catching shorter-term trends and one as a slower backup for larger moves.

• Uses a volatility-adjusted method to size every position, so trade size automatically adapts as the market gets calmer or more volatile.

• Adds to a winning position in controlled steps as the trend develops, rather than placing one fixed-size trade.

• Applies a trend-direction filter so entries are weighted toward the prevailing market direction.

• Uses a confirmation rule on signals to reduce false, single-tick breakouts.

• Exits losing trades on a volatility-based stop, and locks in profit on winning trades with a trailing mechanism as price extends in its favor.

Built-In Risk Management

• Per-trade risk sized automatically as a percentage of account balance (volatility-adjusted), or a fixed manual lot option.

• Daily drawdown circuit breaker that halts new trading for the day if a daily loss limit is reached.

• Overall account drawdown kill-switch that closes all positions and stops the EA permanently if a maximum drawdown threshold is breached.

• Staged risk reduction: position size automatically shrinks as account drawdown grows, before the hard stop is ever reached.

• Maximum position count cap to prevent uncontrolled exposure.

Protection and Session Settings

• Spread filter: new trades are withheld automatically if the live spread is wider than an acceptable threshold, and retried once conditions normalize.

• Margin check before every new trade, to avoid rejected orders.

• Broker trading-session awareness: the EA checks that the symbol is actually open for trading before sending an order, and backs off automatically after a "market closed" rejection instead of retrying repeatedly.

• A per-bar entry limiter prevents abnormal repeated order attempts from ever occurring.

Dashboard and Monitoring A built-in on-chart panel displays, in real time: account balance and equity, current daily and overall drawdown status, spread condition, trend bias, open position status for both of the EA's internal trading systems, profit-lock status, and live floating profit/loss - so the EA's state is visible at a glance without opening the terminal journal.

Technical Specifications

• Supported pair: XAUUSD (Gold)

• Works on any attached chart timeframe; all strategy calculations run on their own fixed internal timeframe for consistency

• Requires a hedging-type trading account (the EA opens multiple same-direction positions as part of normal operation)

• Fully standalone: no external DLLs, no external files required

• Runs in the Strategy Tester and live, with no third-party dependencies

Configuration The EA is fully configurable through its Inputs tab, including:

• Three lot-sizing modes: fixed manual lot, automatic risk-percentage sizing, and an aggressive risk-percentage mode

• Adjustable maximum position count and maximum lot cap

• Adjustable daily and overall drawdown limits, with the staged risk-reduction behavior switchable on/off

• Adjustable trend filter and signal-confirmation behavior on/off

• Adjustable spread tolerance

• On-chart dashboard can be repositioned or disabled

Backtest / Testing Methodology Tested in the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester on XAUUSD, Daily timeframe, using the "Every Tick based on Real Ticks" modeling mode (the highest available quality), from January 2025 to August 2026, starting with a $10,000 deposit:

• Net profit: $4,612 (+46.1%)

• Profit Factor: 21.72

• Maximum equity drawdown: 4.31%

• Win rate: 87.5%

• Total trades: 24

Past performance shown above is from historical backtesting and does not guarantee future results. Market conditions change, and live/demo results can differ from backtest results.

Recommendations Test the EA on a demo account first to confirm it suits your broker's execution and your own risk tolerance before trading live. Use a broker offering a hedging-type account, as this is required for the EA to operate as designed. Running the EA on a VPS is recommended for uninterrupted, low-latency operation, but is not strictly required.

Updates and Support Questions, feedback, and support requests are welcome via the MQL5 product comments or chat. Updates will be posted through the MQL5 Market product page.

Disclaimer Trading foreign exchange and CFDs, including Gold, carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. This product does not guarantee profits. Always test thoroughly on a demo account before committing real funds.

INPUT PARAMETER GUIDE

• Lot Sizing Mode: Choose fixed lot, automatic risk %, or aggressive risk %

• Fixed Lot Size: Lot size used in manual mode

• Risk % (Standard): Account risk % per trade in automatic mode

• Risk % (Aggressive): Higher risk % per trade in aggressive mode

• Maximum Lot Cap: Upper limit on any single position size

• Allow Minimum Lot Fallback: Use broker's minimum lot if calculated size is smaller

• Max Risk for Minimum Lot: Safety cap when minimum-lot fallback is used

• Strategy Timeframe: Internal timeframe the EA bases its decisions on

• Volatility Measurement Period: Period used to measure market volatility for sizing/stops

• Stop Distance Multiplier: Stop-loss distance as a multiple of market volatility

• Position-Add Step: Favorable-move distance before adding to a position

• Maximum Positions: Cap on total simultaneous positions per side

• Fast Signal (enable / entry / exit / repeat-win skip): Shorter-term trend-detection signal and its exit rule

• Slow Signal (enable / entry / exit): Longer-term backup trend-detection signal

• Trade Direction: Allow long only, short only, or both

• Trend Filter (enable / periods / timeframe): Filters entries to the prevailing trend direction

• Confirmed Signals Only: Requires signal confirmation before entry

• Profit Lock (enable): Enables trailing profit protection

• Trail Distance Multiplier: Trailing distance as a multiple of market volatility

• Minimum Add Distance: Minimum room required before adding to a position

• Trail Step: Minimum improvement before the trailing stop updates

• Max Spread ($): Maximum acceptable spread before pausing entries

• Daily Drawdown Limit (%): Daily loss limit before halting for the day

• Daily DD Mode: Count only closed losses vs. net daily P/L

• Max Overall Drawdown (%): Permanent stop threshold from peak equity

• Staged Risk Reduction (enable): Shrinks new-trade risk as drawdown grows

• Risk Reduction Start (%): Drawdown level where risk reduction begins

• Minimum Risk Multiplier: Floor for risk reduction at maximum drawdown

• Dashboard (show / position): On-chart panel visibility and placement

• Magic Number: Unique ID to separate this EA's trades

• Max Slippage (points): Maximum allowed execution slippage