Levelstead

A manual-trading panel that sizes the orders you prepare in it from your risk, using MetaTrader's profit calculation for the symbol and an estimated commission learned from your trades or entered by you, and shows the whole order before anything is sent. No signals, no automatic trading.

What Levelstead does

Levelstead is a panel for traders who place their own trades. It does three things on one chart:

1. It describes the market. Trend, ADX and volatility on M5, M15, H1, H4 and D1 from closed bars, the nearest swing-point zones above and below price measured in ATR, the quote age, the spread compared with its usual level, the data state and the trading session.

2. It sizes the trade from your risk. You drag the entry, stop and take-profit lines on the chart. The panel calculates the largest volume whose estimated loss at the stop, plus round-turn commission, plus an optional slippage reserve, stays within your risk. The loss at the stop comes from MetaTrader's profit calculation (OrderCalcProfit) with the broker's symbol settings, and the volume is always rounded down to the broker's step, never up.

3. It shows the whole order before it is sent. Account, symbol, order type, volume, entry, stop, take profit, estimated loss, estimated commission and expiry are listed on one screen. Nothing is sent until you press Confirm. If the lines or the volume change after the review, Confirm is blocked until you review again.

Levelstead does not tell you what to trade. It never opens, modifies or closes a position on its own.

Main features

Risk tab

• Risk as % of balance, % of equity, or a fixed amount
• Market, limit and stop orders, buy or sell, by dragging lines on the chart
• Loss at stop from MetaTrader's profit calculation (OrderCalcProfit) with the broker's symbol settings
• Commission learned from your own closed trades on the symbol (at least 3 complete closed positions are needed)
• Until then, the panel asks once: no commission, or your commission per lot per side. The answer is saved for that trade server, login, account currency and symbol. Once 3 closed positions exist, it is compared with what those trades were charged; if they differ, the higher figure is used and you are told. Both figures are estimates: neither guarantees the charge on the next trade.
• Optional slippage reserve
• Margin required and free margin after the trade
• A warning before high-impact news
• No order without a stop: the panel never sends an order without a stop loss

Daily loss lock (this panel only)

• Set a daily loss limit (default 3%, adjustable).
• Baseline: start-of-day balance (default), or the higher of start-of-day balance and equity.
• Loss used today = closed + floating result since the server day start; deposits and withdrawals are not counted as losses.
• When the limit is reached, the panel's Review / Confirm is locked until the next server day, even if the account recovers.
• The lock applies to this panel only. It does not block trading directly in MetaTrader 5, does not close positions and does not cancel pending orders that were already placed.

Cost meter

• Spread now + round-turn commission per lot, shown as a share of ATR 14 and of the target distance, with a warning above 20% (adjustable). If the commission is not known yet, it shows the spread only and says so.

Market tab

• Five-timeframe table: trend, ADX 14 and volatility
• Market conditions summary: nearest zones, last bar, RSI 14, ATR compared with its 100-bar average
• The text describes conditions only; it never says buy or sell

News tab

• Upcoming events from the MetaTrader 5 economic calendar for the symbol's currencies
• Importance, forecast and previous values, and the actual value when released
• Countdown on the panel and a marker on the chart
• Optional phone alert before high-impact events and when a figure is released

Account tab

• Loss if every stop is hit, pending orders at risk, positions without a stop
• Optional prop-firm mode: daily and maximum loss limits are tracked as estimates from your inputs and cap the volume the panel will size

Watchlist tab

• Up to 30 symbols with trend on H1, H4 and D1, volatility, spread and the next news event

Closing

• Close this symbol or close all, each with a confirmation that lists exactly what will be closed. Only the listed items are closed; anything opened after the list was made is left alone.

Alerts (push, pop-up or sound, each optional)

• Position without a stop loss
• Spread above twice its usual level
• Quotes stopped while the market is open
• 50% and 80% of the prop daily limit

Getting started

1. Attach Levelstead to a chart of the symbol you trade.

2. Sending orders from the panel is OFF by default. To use it, set "Allow sending orders from the panel" to true and enable Algo Trading in the terminal. With it off, the panel is a calculator and a market view only.

3. Open the Risk tab, choose Buy or Sell and the order type, and drag the lines to your levels.

4. Read the volume and the estimated loss, press Review order, check the review, then Confirm.

If the commission cannot be learned yet (fewer than 3 closed positions on the symbol), the Risk tab first asks about it. Answer it once; sizing stays blocked until a commission figure is set, so the panel never sizes with a silent default.

Inputs

Risk and costs

• Risk basis: % of balance, % of equity, or a fixed amount
• Risk per trade
• Starting stop distance for new lines (ATR 14)
• Starting take profit for new lines (R multiple, 0 = none)
• Commission source: Auto (learned from your trades), Manual, or None
• Commission per 1.0 lot per side (account currency; 0 = not set)
• Warn when spread + commission exceed this % of ATR or of the target (default 20)

Daily loss lock (this panel only - MT5 itself is not blocked)

• Lock the panel's Confirm button at the daily loss limit (default: on)
• Daily loss limit, % of the start-of-day baseline (default 3)
• Baseline: start-of-day balance (default), or the higher of start-of-day balance and equity

Orders

• Allow sending orders from the panel (default: false)
• Magic number for orders sent from the panel
• Quote is stale after (seconds)
• Pending order expiry in hours, only if the broker requires a date

Prop firm limits (estimates)

• Track prop limits and cap sizing
• Daily loss limit, % of start-of-day balance
• Maximum loss limit, % of initial balance
• Initial account balance

Economic news

• Minimum importance shown
• Panel warning before a high-impact event (minutes)
• Phone alert before a high-impact event (minutes, 0 = off)
• Alert when a high-impact figure is released

Alerts

• Push notification, pop-up, sound
• Prop daily limit at 50% and 80%, position without a stop, spread above 2x usual, stale quotes

Watchlist

• Symbols (comma separated; empty = Market Watch)
• Maximum symbols (up to 30)

Display

• Show swing-point zones, trade lines, next news marker
• Panel on the left or right side of the chart

Tested on

Demo accounts at Exness (Standard, Raw Spread and Zero) and IC Markets (Raw Trading), hedging mode, on gold (XAUUSD).

Not tested on a netting account. On netting accounts the panel disables sizing while a position is open on the symbol, because a new order would change that position.

Not tested on cent accounts. If you use one, please check the free demo version first.

Important

• Estimates come from your broker's symbol specification and your cost settings. Stops are not guaranteed: gaps and slippage can make a loss larger than planned.
• Prop-firm figures are estimates from your inputs, not your prop firm's own numbers.
• In the Strategy Tester the panel works as a calculator only; no orders are sent there.
• Levelstead gives no trade recommendations and makes no promise of results.