Plimsoll MT5

Plimsoll is a basket Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5 built around one idea: a floor under the loss. It fades an extreme of a window oscillator with a basket of equal-size legs, closes the whole basket at its average price plus a target, and, when you set the loss stop, closes a side when its floating loss reaches your chosen share of the balance.

• Loss stop per side, set by you: a side is closed when its floating loss reaches a set share of the balance, by the EA and by a server stop loss on every leg. It ships OFF (100 %, which acts exactly as 0 %); we strongly recommend setting it to 25 % or less once all baskets are closed (see Requirements).
• No martingale: every leg of a basket has the same size.
• Exits held on the server: the target, the trail and, when it is on, the loss stop are held as TP / SL on every leg.

The name comes from the Plimsoll line on a ship's hull: the mark a loaded ship must never sink below.

LIVE SIGNAL: https://www.mql5.com/en/signals/2394546

SET FILE: plimsoll_xauusd.set

Set file holds exactly the default inputs. Load it with the Load button in the Inputs dialog to return to the defaults at any time. If your broker names gold differently (for example XAUUSD.m or GOLD), attach the EA to that symbol's M15 chart; the start-up line in the journal shows the symbol and timeframe the EA is trading.

HOW IT TRADES

1. Signal. On its own timeframe, the EA builds an oscillator from the closes that set new highs and new lows inside a rolling window. A large positive reading means that price sits high in its window; a large negative reading means that it sits low.
2. Entry. When the reading crosses the entry level on a closed bar, the EA opens one leg against the extreme: a SELL at a high, a BUY at a low. It makes one decision per bar, on a fresh cross only.
3. Basket. Later signals on the same side add legs of the same size, spaced from the last leg by a fraction of the daily ATR. No leg is ever larger than the first.
4. Exit. The basket closes as a whole at its volume-weighted average plus the target, or by a trail. The target narrows as the basket ages, so an old basket asks for less. Because the target and the trail are mirrored to the server, the exit stands even if your terminal goes offline.
5. Both sides. A long basket and a short basket can run at the same time.

PROTECTION: THE PLIMSOLL LINE

• Loss stop, one setting. Per side, the EA computes the price at which that side's floating loss equals the set share of the account balance and closes the side there. The same price is the stop loss of every leg on the server, so the stop holds even when your terminal is offline. The level moves only when a leg is added or the balance changes. 0 % and 100 % both mean OFF: no level, no close by the EA and no server stop loss. Between them, a side whose level would lie at or below zero (a small lot on a large balance) gets no stop, and the EA says so in the journal. The default is 100 %, so updating from 1.104 never closes a basket that is already open; until you lower it, only your broker's stop-out limits a losing side.
• No halt after a stop. The closed side is flat and waits for a fresh signal.
• PAUSE button. One click on the panel, confirmed by a second, stops new baskets on both sides. A pause closes nothing: open baskets are managed to completion, and the loss stop, when it is on, stays armed.
• Entry governor. Repeatedly refused orders on one side pause new entries and notify you, instead of retrying blindly.
• Funds check. A leg is refused when the free margin would not cover its own margin.
• Push notifications on every loss-stop close, every stop-out and every basket alert (a MetaQuotes ID must be set in the terminal).
• A pause survives a terminal restart.
• Trading-session hours and an optional flat book before the weekend.

REQUIREMENTS

• Account: hedging. On a netting account, the EA runs one basket at a time and says so in the journal; it is designed and tested for hedging.
• Symbol and timeframe: XAUUSD (gold), M15 chart. The EA trades the chart it is attached to, so attach it to an XAUUSD M15 chart. The default inputs are the calibrated gold configuration and are not calibrated for any other symbol or timeframe.
• Stop Loss and Deposit: the loss stop ships OFF; we strongly recommend setting it to 25 % or less once all baskets are closed, with a deposit of 2,500 USD per 0.01 lot. Measured in the Strategy Tester (XAUUSD M15, real ticks, March 2025 to August 2026, 0.01 lot, 1:500): with 2,500 USD and the loss stop at 25 %, no side was closed by the loss stop and there was no stop-out; the lowest equity was 2,323 USD and the deepest floating loss about 457 USD per 0.01 lot, inside the 625 USD that 25 % of 2,500 USD allows. Below about 1,830 USD per 0.01 lot (derived as 457 / 0.25, not measured; the 457 includes swap, which the stop level does not) a 25 % stop closes the deepest baskets at a loss, and that loss is part of your results.
• VPS: recommended, because the EA manages open baskets on every tick (the server stop loss holds the loss stop while it is offline).
• Dependencies: none. No DLLs, no external indicators, no internet access and no external files.

MAIN INPUTS

• Lot rule: a fixed lot (default 0.01), or auto step (one base lot per chosen balance step, capped by "Max lot").
• Signal: the oscillator timeframe, period and entry level.
• Basket: the target in points, the target fade by age, both sides on or off, and the leg spacing as a fraction of the ATR.
• Trail: the arm distance, the trail distance and the step.
• Loss stop: one input, the share of the balance a side may lose (0 or 100 = off; the default is 100, off).
• Broker-side mirrors: a server TP / SL on every leg.
• Session: the trading hours (server time) and a flat book before the weekend.
• Execution: the maximum deviation and the maximum spread to enter.
• Dashboard: an on-chart panel with the status, the PAUSE / RESUME button, each basket's floating result, age, legs and target countdown, the period results and warning colour bands. It can sit in any of the four corners.
• Diagnostics: a CSV decision log with one row per decision and its reason.

Every configuration prints an 8-character fingerprint on the panel, in the start-up line and in the log. Quote it when you contact support, so that the exact configuration can be identified.

RISK

Plimsoll is a grid-style averaging strategy: a basket can stay open for days while the price moves against it. The loss stop, when you set it, limits how much of the balance one side can take; it does not prevent the loss, and when it closes a side, the loss is realised. As shipped it is off, and only your broker's stop-out limits a losing side. Past test results do not predict future results. Trade only money you can afford to lose, and start on a demo account.

STRATEGY TESTER

The EA runs on every tester model. The optimiser's Custom criterion is 1,000,000 minus the maximal equity drawdown in money, so "Custom max" ranks the smallest drawdown first. Please test on real ticks before trading.

SUPPORT

Send questions through the product page on MQL5.com. Please quote the build number and the fingerprint from the start-up line, the symbol and the timeframe.