Thunderbird EA

1. The idea of the trading system is as follows: market entries are performed when MACD's main and signal lines intersect in the current trend direction.

2. Trend is determined based on the Exponential Moving Average with the specified period (InpMATrendPeriod). If the current EMA value is greater than the previous one, the trend is seen as growing (ema_current > ema_previous). Alternatively, if current EMA is below the previous one, the trend is considered to be falling (ema_current< ema_previous).

3. Trading Signals:

• Buy signal: the main MACD line crosses the signal line upwards (macd_current>signal_current && macd_previous<signal_previous).
  
• Sell signal: the main MACD line crosses the signal line downwards (macd_current<signal_current && macd_previous>signal_previous). The below figure shows Buy and Sell cases.
  
  

  
  

The absolute value of MACD's main line will be used to filter out weak signals: the signal is only confirmed if this value is greater than open_level (in points). Signal confirmation conditions are as follows:

• Confirmation of a buy signal: Abs(macd_current)>open_level
• Confirmation of a sell signal: macd_current>open_level

7. Additional filters for closing a position:

The absolute value of MACD's main line will also be used to confirm position closure: the signal is confirmed if this value is greater than close_level (in points). Close signal confirmation conditions are as follows:

• Confirmation to close Buy positions — macd_current>close_level
• Confirmation to close Sell positions — Abs(macd_current)>close_level

8. Close by Take Profit — during position opening, a Take Profit level is set at a fixed distance from the open price, specified in points. The value is set in the InpTakeProfit input parameter.

9. Position management

TrailngStop is used to protect profit. Stop Loss is set if profit in points exceeds the value specified in the InpTrailingStop parameter. If the price continues to move in the profit direction, Stop Loss should be trailed at the given distance. Stop Loss cannot be moved towards the loss direction, i.e. the Stop Loss value cannot be increased. If none of protective orders (Take Profit or Stop Loss) triggers, the position should be closed by an opposite signal. No other position exit methods are available.

What is contained in the Requirements Specification?

Trading idea

Describe the general underlying idea in the first part of the Requirements Specification. Example: "If the price approaches the resistance level twice and rolls back from it, the next time it is likely to break resistance." Here you can add a chart with the resistance/support lines, indicators and explanatory notes. Exact numbers or calculation algorithms are not required in the idea description. So, in this example we do not need to explain how to determine:

• resistance level,
• level breakout,
• the concept of "is likely to".

Some abstraction at the initial stage will help focus on the idea rather than on technical details. This way you can generate multiple modifications of your trading strategy by replacing or combining strategy blocks, indicators and filters. With the common general idea, you will use different input parameters for your trading robots.

Next, you need to describe all terms and concepts contained in the idea description. If trend is important for your strategy, clearly define what indicator should be used to determine the trend direction and strength. The numerical characteristics of these definitions form the basis of Expert Advisor's input parameters, and can be optimized in the Strategy Tester. So, the first section of the Requirements Specification is "The Trading Idea".

Terms and definitions

It is recommended to create a separate section in the Requirements Specification for explaining related terms and definitions. Explain terms in separate paragraphs. Use bold font to highlight the key concepts of your trading strategy. Where applicable, you may add an image. Input parameters of the desired EA can be written in italics