STr bot

Table of Contents

Prerequisites for ordering a trading robot

Why is it important to have a well-prepared Requirements Specification?

Requirements Specification examples

What is contained in the Requirements Specification?

Where do I get Requirements Specification if I can't create it?

Terms to use

How to write an order description in the Freelance

The general idea of ​​a trading strategy

Description of a setup preceding the signal

Signal description

Signal lifetime

Placing of orders and opening of positions

Management of trading positions/orders

Cancellation of orders and closing of positions

Order lot calculation

Processing trading errors and environment state

Difference between bar-opening and in-bar trading

Tick/scalping strategies

Grid, martingale, averaging and the dark side of these techniques

Important aspects of choosing a developer

What the programmer cannot do for you

Prerequisites for ordering a trading robot

Trading robots are programs, which operate according to underlying algorithms. An algorithm is a set of actions that need to be performed in response to certain events. For example, the most common task in algo trading is the identification of the "New bar" event. When the event occurs, the robot checks the emergence of trading signals and acts accordingly.

Before you decide to program or order a trading robot, you need to formulate a trading system with clear rules, based on which favorable moments to perform trading operations will be defined. The development of any trading system, even the most complex one, begins with the basic things, such as the definition of trading signals for buying and selling. Further, you will be able to add various options for managing and closing deals.

You do not need to have many years' experience of working with the trading terminal, to develop a trading strategy. You may choose among hundreds of proven ideas available on the web. Even if you are not sure about your programming skills, this is not an obstacle. The Freelance service will help you find a suitable developer.

Below are recommended articles, which you may want to read before proceeding with the algo trading techniques:

How to Make a Trading Robot in No Time

A Few Tips for First-Time Customers

How to Order an Expert Advisor and Obtain the Desired Result

How to prepare Requirements Specification when ordering an indicator

Why is it important to have a well-prepared Requirements Specification?

When ordering or developing a trading robot, you need to formulate requirements: tasks to be performed by the robot, conditions under which it will operate, response to incidents and emergency situations, required control methods, etc. Trading robots are programs, which should strictly follow the underlying logic. In order to program the algorithm of actions, you should prepare its detailed description.

Description of a trading strategy is provided in the form of Requirements Specification. The more details you provide, the less misunderstanding will occur between you (the Customer) and the programmer (the order Developer).

The important part of Requirements Specification for an Expert Advisor is presentation of clear formal trading rules. Even if you are not ordering an EA, but want to develop one yourself, you should start with the definition of these rules. Prepare the Requirements Specification and include the EA testing/optimization related points. Add hypotheses, which you will use to check the quality and stability of your trading strategy, describe criteria for selecting the optimal parameters and explain why you consider them important.

Include all EA development stages to the Requirements Specification — this will make the algorithm idea clear for the Developer, and will help you recall the details weeks, months, or even years later. Algo trading is not a hobby, but a thorough research path, all stages of which need to be properly documented. A trading system development diary will be very useful whenever you'll need to test a new idea.

Requirements Specification examples

Here is an example of Requirements Specification for the development of the MACD Sample Expert Advisor, which is available in the MetaTrader 5 standard package.

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.

4. Positions are closed at opposite signals: Buy positions are closed at Sell signals, and Sell positions are closed at Buy signals.

5. Positions are opened at the market price, when a new bar emerges. The Expert Advisor is to be tested using Open prices, so there is no need to add functions for disabling operations inside the bar.

6. Additional filters for opening a position:

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

Confirmation of a sell made by me