Smart Zone Trader MT5

SMART ZONE TRADER – draw the zone, the EA handles the execution

HOW A TRADE HAPPENS

1. Draw a zone. Click DRAW in the dashboard and drag a rectangle on the chart – or press R – or click the High/Low field and then click on the chart. Choose the direction: Any, Demand (long only) or Supply (short only). Zone edges can be dragged on the chart afterwards.

2. The zone becomes armed when price enters it. A signal needs at least one bar of the entry timeframe that closed after the zone was armed, so a freshly drawn zone never fires on old bars.

3. Setup A – Reversal (inside the zone): price is in the zone → a bar closes beyond the last swing against the approach (break of structure, BOS) → optional context filter → price retests the break level → market entry.

4. Setup B – Continuation (out of the zone): price leaves the zone → a bar closes outside → either a market entry after the next BOS, or a limit order at the zone edge (or at the breakout close) waiting for the retest. The limit expires after N bars if not filled.

5. Stop loss beyond the zone and/or beyond the last swing (your choice) plus a tick buffer. Take profit at a fixed R multiple of the initial risk. Position size from fixed lots, a fixed risk amount or a percent of equity.

6. Trade management: breakeven after X R, swing trailing behind new swings, cooldown per zone, max trades per zone per day, daily loss/profit halt.

Both setups can run alone or together (Trade Mode: Reversal / Continuation / Both), with a direction filter (Both / Long only / Short only).

FEATURES

Zones

• Up to 6 independent zones per chart, each with its own direction, enable switch and state (Inactive / Armed / BOS / Retest / Trade / Cooldown)

• Draw by click-and-drag, set High/Low by clicking on the chart, or keyboard: 1–6 select zone, L set low, H set high, E enable on/off, D cycle direction, R draw mode, ESC cancel

• Colored zone rectangles with labels, entry/SL/TP lines drawn by the EA, swing markers on the chart

• Minimum zone height in ticks – smaller zones are ignored

Entries

• Reversal: break of structure inside the zone, then retest of the break level; BOS confirmed by bar close or by high/low; retest buffer and timeout; optional "strict zone" (retest must happen inside the zone)

• Continuation: breakout confirmed by bar close or wick; entry mode Market (after BOS) or Limit Retest (limit at zone edge or breakout close, buffer in ticks, timeout in bars)

• Context filter: long reversals only after lower highs and lower lows, short reversals only after higher highs and higher lows (lookback configurable)

• Direction filter and trade mode switchable at any time

Stops and targets

• Stop mode: beyond the zone, beyond the last swing, or the wider of both – plus SL buffer in ticks

• Take profit = entry ± R multiple × initial risk; 1R is fixed at entry and stays the reference for the whole trade

• Breakeven at X R with buffer; trailing modes Off / Breakeven only / Breakeven then swing trail / Structure trail only

• Separate swing sensitivity for entries (Swing N) and for trailing (Trail Swing N); trailing only reacts to swings formed after the entry and only tightens, never loosens

• Broker minimum distances (stops level, freeze level, spread) are respected automatically

Risk

• Lot mode: Fixed lots / Risk amount in account currency / Risk % of equity – calculated with the broker's own contract math (OrderCalcProfit), rounded DOWN to the volume step, never up

• Capped by your min/max lots, the symbol volume limit and free margin; if the budget does not cover the minimum lot, the trade is skipped

• Daily loss limit and daily profit target (account currency, measured from the day's starting equity): when hit, the EA closes all its positions and orders and stops until the next day. Optionally shared across all charts of the account.

• One Position: only one trade at a time across all zones, pending orders included (enforced automatically on netting accounts)

• Max trades per zone per day, cooldown per zone in minutes, optional 1 Trade/Day per zone

• Flood guard: max entry attempts per signal plus cooldown in seconds – no order bursts on rejections

• Optional spread filter in ticks

• FLAT: closes all positions and orders of this chart. FLAT ALL: closes every Smart Zone Trader instance on the terminal, all symbols. Both close by ticket – hedging-safe.

Prop-firm compatible

• Daily loss limit with automatic flat and stop for the day – set it below your firm's daily drawdown and the EA enforces it for you

• One position only, no grid, no martingale, no averaging, no hedging of your own positions – every order carries a stop loss

• Risk per trade in money or percent of equity, rounded down; FLAT ALL closes every instance on the terminal with one click

• Works on hedging and netting accounts, with any broker's MT5 server – the EA does not need a specific broker

• Optional shared daily halt: one limit across all charts of the account

Dashboard

• Zone tabs Z1–Z6 (color shows off / active / in trade), zone config (name, enable, direction, high, low, DRAW, CLR), state, trades today, zone height, BOS levels long/short, continuation status, pending limit

• Active trade block: entry, SL, TP, P&L, current R, breakeven status

• Status bar: realized and unrealized daily P&L, balance, equity, margin, status IDLE / TRADE / HALT, FLAT and FLAT ALL

• CFG panel: every strategy switch and parameter, changeable while the EA runs – no restart

• Movable (drag the header), minimizable, scalable 0.75–2.0, custom colors and font size

Keeps its state

• Zones, open trades, pending orders, dashboard settings, panel position and the daily baseline survive timeframe changes, parameter changes, recompiles, template loads and terminal restarts (backup every 30 seconds). Cleared only when you remove the EA from the chart.

• Positions of the EA that lost their zone (e.g. after re-attaching) are adopted and managed again

• If you change Risk per trade or Lot mode in the inputs, the new input overrides the stored dashboard value

Broker handling and transparency

• Digits, tick size, volume step/min/max/limit, stops level, freeze level and filling mode (FOK/IOC/Return) are read from the symbol – nothing is hard-coded

• Hedging and netting accounts, any symbol, any timeframe

• Every decision is written to the Experts journal, including every skipped entry with its reason ("waiting for retest", "flood guard", "spread", "one position only", "daily halt"…)

• Pop-up alerts and push notifications for trade open, trade close and daily halt

• All chart objects use the prefix SZT_ and are removed when the EA is removed; changed chart properties are restored

CFG PANEL – SWITCHES (click to cycle)

• Trading ON/OFF – master switch. OFF: zones are tracked, no orders are sent.

• Direction – Both / Long / Short: global direction filter on top of the zone direction.

• Trade Mode – Reversal / Continuation / Both: which setups may trigger.

• Reversal ON/OFF – enables the reversal setup.

• Continuation ON/OFF – enables the continuation setup.

• Entry Mode – Market Exit (market order after BOS outside the zone) / Limit Retest (limit order at the zone edge).

• Context Filter ON/OFF – reversal only against the prior swing structure (LH+LL for longs, HH+HL for shorts).

• Stop Mode – Under Zone / Under Struct / Min Both: where the initial stop goes.

• Trail Mode – Off / Breakeven / BE + Trail / Structure.

• One Position ON/OFF – one trade at a time across all zones.

• Strict Zone ON/OFF – reversal retest must happen inside the zone.

• BOS Confirm – Close / High-Low: what confirms the reversal BOS.

• Cont Confirm – Close / High-Low: what confirms the continuation BOS (market mode).

• Cont Break – Close / High-Low: what confirms the zone breakout (limit mode).

• Cont Limit – Zone HL / Break Close: where the limit order is placed.

• New Swing Only ON/OFF – trailing reacts only to swings formed after the entry.

• Lot Mode – Fixed Lots / Risk Amount / Risk % Equity.

• Daily Limits ON/OFF – daily loss/profit halt.

• Spread Filter ON/OFF – block entries above Max Spread.

• 1 Trade/Day ON/OFF – after a trade the zone is locked until midnight.

CFG PANEL – PARAMETERS (buttons -- - + ++)

• R Multiple (R) – take profit as multiple of the initial risk. Default 2.0.

• BE Trigger (R) – profit in R at which the stop moves to breakeven. Default 1.0.

• BE Buffer (ticks) – distance of the breakeven stop from the entry. Default 2.

• SL Buffer (ticks) – buffer behind the zone or swing for the initial stop. Default 2.

• Trail Buffer (ticks) – buffer behind the trail swing. Default 2.

• Max Trades – trades per zone per day. Default 1.

• Cooldown (minutes) – lock per zone after a trade closes. Default 5.

• Swing N (bars) – bars left and right that define a swing for BOS detection. Default 2 (higher = fewer, stronger swings).

• BOS Buffer (ticks) – how far the swing must be exceeded. Default 1.

• Max Spread (ticks) – used only with Spread Filter ON. Default 4.

• Retest Timeout (bars) – how long the EA waits for the retest / limit fill. Default 30.

• Retest Buffer (ticks) – tolerance at the BOS level for the retest. Default 1.

• Cont Timeout (bars) – how long a continuation stays armed after the zone exit. Default 30.

• Cont Buffer (ticks) – distance of the limit order from the zone edge. Default 1.

• Risk Amount (account currency) – risk per trade in Lot Mode "Risk Amount". Default 100.

• Max Daily Loss / Max Daily Win (account currency) – daily halt levels. Default 1000 / 1500.

• Trail Swing N (bars) – swing sensitivity for trailing. Default 2.

"Ticks" = the smallest price step of the symbol (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE), "bars" = bars of the entry timeframe. Tick values differ per symbol: index CFDs usually need larger buffers (10–40) than Forex (5–20). Check them once per symbol.

EA INPUTS (properties window)

General

• Entry timeframe – timeframe for swings, BOS and bar closes. Current = chart timeframe. Recommended: one step below the timeframe you draw zones on (zone on H1 → entry M15). M1 only for very tight scalp zones.

• Magic number – unique per chart.

• Minimum zone height (ticks) – smaller zones are ignored.

• Context filter lookback (bars) – window for the swing structure check.

Risk

• Lot mode – Fixed lots / Risk fixed amount / Risk percent of equity.

• Risk per trade (account currency) – for the amount mode.

• Risk per trade (% of equity) – for the percent mode.

• Fixed lots – for the fixed mode.

• Minimum lots (0 = broker minimum), Maximum lots.

• Share daily halt across charts – daily loss/profit halt is shared by all charts of the account.

Flood Guard

• Flood guard active, Max entry attempts per signal, Flood guard cooldown (seconds).

Notifications

• Alert on trade open, Alert on trade close, Push notifications (MetaQuotes ID).

Logging

• Verbose journal logging – detailed WHY_NOT lines; critical events are always logged.

Dashboard / Colors

• Show dashboard, scale (0.75–2.0), swing markers on chart, panel/header/text/accent colors, font size, zone and swing colors.

Strategy Tester

• Auto-place demo zones in Strategy Tester when none are set.

REQUIREMENTS

• MetaTrader 5, hedging or netting account, any broker, any symbol, any timeframe

• Intended for M1–H1 zone trading on Forex, indices, metals and crypto CFDs

• A VPS or a running terminal – the EA manages trades only while it is running

SUPPORT

Questions and requests in the product comments. Updates are released through the Market with a version history.