Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

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SteveHopwood
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Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by SteveHopwood »

SERIOUS WARNING

* Most Forex traders lose all their money.
* Using the robot posted here in trading Forex does not guarantee success.
* Trading this robot could lead to serious financial loss.
* Trading this robot without understanding its underlying trading strategies guarantees traders will lose their money.
* This is not a set-and-forget ea; there is no such thing and anyone who tries to claim there is, is either stupid or lying. This ea requires frequent manual intervention.
* At best, a trading robot is only 90% as good as the manual strategy it trades. At best. At worst, it can be much less effective. If the strategy is rubbish, so is the robot.
* To trade this robot, you have to understand:
o spiderforex's system at http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost4883867
o hanover's Recent Strength indi at http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=163158



Welcome to Spider.



I have successfully traded this EA on a live account. I do not at the moment, because we lost our way adding umpteen filters at FF. Now, I am leaving Simple Spider to do its job on demo to see what happens.


Visit spiderforex's thread at http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost4883867 for an explanation of the trading system. He asked me to code a robot for it, so I have.


You need the attached indi in your Indicator's folder; load it onto your chart if you want visual confirmation of the signals the bot trades.


There is a Martingale option and a lot multiplier. There are the standard mptm features. TP and SL defaults are pure guesswork. The bot does not close a trade on the appearance of an opposite-direction signal; the code to do this is present and can be resurrected in seconds if this is a feature of the trading that I have missed.

Length, take profit and stop loss
spiderforex wrote this in post 12:
"IMHO, The best settings for the EA for EURUSD is 30M with 30 SL and NO TP with Jumping Stop Loss and Break Even. Length would 8

With Length 8 , 30M time frame is the best for almost all famous pairs."

The attached version of the indi has the length of 8 set by default. Spider also has these defaults except for the take profit, which is also 30 and there is no jumping stop set etc; that is a matter of experimentation.

spiderforex has written some more useful advice in this post: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost4945795

Take profit and trade management in light of subsequent experience
This section is an add-in to the original post, in light of what we have been learning.

It is now possible to have two levels of take profit:

1. FirstTradeTakeProfit applies to the first trade in the sequence, or all trades if Martingale is disabled. It should be multiples of the stop loss, or even no tp if you want to allow Spider to manage the trade.
2. SubsequentTakeProfit applies to Martingale trades and should be the same as the stop loss for M to work properly.
3. AlsoManageMartingaleTrades tells Spider to apply your chosen management functions to the initial trade in the sequence, and not subsequent Martingale trades should the initial trade fail.

Atr take profit and stop loss: some users requested this. Note that I have no intention of using it in live trading. The default AtrPeriod of 0 turns off Atr. If you do not understand the inputs, you probably cannot use Atr.

Filters to help avoid over-trading
You will find all the usual margin filters to avoid overtrading. They do not operate at pending trade-sending time; we need the pendings in place so that they can fill if the market reaches the appropriate price.

* UseZeljko: this ensures that a second trade including one of the currencies already being traded is 'balanced. The easiest way to explain this is with an example:
o Buy GBPxxx open, so only sell GBPxxx. So, if the buy is GBPUSD, then only sell GBPJPY, GBPCHF etc. The rationale is that forex markets are highly sensitive to big movements caused by international events. If something drastic hits the GBP and you are in two sell positions, then both are heading horribly into drawdown. If one of the trades is a buy and the other a sell, then one is going down the tube but its balancing buy is heading for the stratosphere.
* OnlyTradeCurrencyTwice: using the balanced pair example, the GBP is now involved in two balanced trades. Another trade involving the pound will unbalance the trades and leave the trader exposed to a horrible counter-movement. This filter prevents the GBP from being involved in any further trading of different pairs. It also operates at pending-trade sending time and will prevent the pending being sent if it would violate this filter.
* I have included the swap filters for reasons that will become obvious if you trade the high-cost swap pairs in the wrong direction.
* ScoobsMarginCheck: will stop trading if your account margin > your free margin divided by 100
* ForexKiwi: will stop trading if your margin percent drops below your selected input in FkMinimumMarginPercent.

Hanover Recent Strength
Read about this at http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=319709. Spider includes this filter.

All Averages filter
I received this pm earlier today:
"Good Morning Steve - I never cease to be amazed by your continued output of EAs
I look at many of them to see what I can adapt to my own 1 min TF trading in the early European session and I'm currently running Spider with some good results.
However, I feel that it would benefit from a moving average filter to keep out some of its loosing entries.
Would it be possible to add into the inputs box the AllAverages indy - I can send it if you dont have a copy.
And entry would then be limited ..... Buy Price> AA MA; Sell Price < AA MA.......an additional filter of checking for a positive / negative slope of the AA MA would also be helpful.
Eitherway, should you go ahead, I would prefer to remain anonyous
Best regards"

I will say that the sender of this pm is one of the most respected traders and contributors here at FF; only an idiot would take no notice of him.

So, I have added All Averages as a filter, with an input to turn it on or off - defaulting to on. The indi is called All Averages because the MA_Method input allows you to specify the moving average method to use. I have copied the commented list from the head of the indi code, and added it right at the end of this post.

Add the indi to your chart and you will see where it would have filtered out some of the bad trades; it looks like an invaluable addition. For current best-settings for the AA inputs, read this post and those around it - http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost5013925 If downloaded here, the indi has a default MA_Period of 50 to match that of Spider.

And later on....................
I re-read this contributor's email when he sent me All Averages. Here is what he wrote:
"At present, I just let Spider open the trades after FO - off a 1 min chart, with VQ 5,1,1,5 with a 30 pipTP and a 15 pip SL. I then adjust both of these to suite the action / volatility that I'm seeing......so during this morning's Frankies Hour, the TP was 10 pips and SL went to 5 pips ASAP.....2 small losses and 5 winners :-).....then a buy 2 mins after LO ran up 61 pips, so my daily quota is banked"

In light of this, I have turned all the VQ variables into user inputs; you have complete control over the calls Spider makes to VQ.

Have fun





Testing Spider with Hanover
These traders are testing various aspects of Spider trading. I invite others to offer their tests and will attempt to post results as they come in. I suggest testers post results once a week, at the end of the week. Please post immediately with a, "This is what I am testing" post, so I can update here and help others avoid duplication.

* Panamamike: no Martingale. No AllAverages.
o Hanover TimeFrames = H1. SlopeConfirmationCandles = 1.
o Hanover TimeFrames = D1. SlopeConfirmationCandles = 1.
o Results:
* blazko: no Martingale. With AllAverages.
o Hanover TimeFrames = H1. SlopeConfirmationCandles = 1.
o Hanover TimeFrames = D1. SlopeConfirmationCandles = 1.
o Results:


Simple Spider
SS is Spider with everything not in spiderforex's original spec removed, apart from the margin filters. I removed all the extras after this post http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost5104891 and my conclusions in the following one.

If you want to continue experimenting with any of the other features, then use Spider and simply turn off those that you do not need.

Matters of general interest

Read this post:
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost4923611 Newbie traders, read this for inspiration and warning. Those of you who have suffered losses, read it for inspiration.

EA coding
If I code your EA for free, then I will share it here at FF. If you want me to code your EA without sharing, then my fee is $100 payable into my paypal account.

Useful utilities/EA's/scripts

* MaryJane has posted a fabulous utility to allow us to resize EA input windows: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=299017
* Multi purpose trade manager: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=89371
* Account equity analyser: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...16#post4693716 Also at http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost4709098, which includes a template for both USD and the Euro.
* Past-trades display indi by squalou; shows a graphical display of the success/failure of trades in your History tab. Breathtaking piece of work. http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost3830610
* My shell EA – the code I use to produce EA's so quickly. http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3 ... p?f=5&t=15




Most promising trading EA's



All Averages Ma_Method possibilities:
// List of MAs:
// MA_Method= 0: SMA - Simple Moving Average
// MA_Method= 1: EMA - Exponential Moving Average
// MA_Method= 2: Wilder - Wilder Exponential Moving Average
// MA_Method= 3: LWMA - Linear Weighted Moving Average
// MA_Method= 4: SineWMA - Sine Weighted Moving Average
// MA_Method= 5: TriMA - Triangular Moving Average
// MA_Method= 6: LSMA - Least Square Moving Average (or EPMA, Linear Regression Line)
// MA_Method= 7: SMMA - Smoothed Moving Average
// MA_Method= 8: HMA - Hull Moving Average by Alan Hull
// MA_Method= 9: ZeroLagEMA - Zero-Lag Exponential Moving Average
// MA_Method=10: DEMA - Double Exponential Moving Average by Patrick Mulloy
// MA_Method=11: T3 - T3 by T.Tillson
// MA_Method=12: ITrend - Instantaneous Trendline by J.Ehlers
// MA_Method=13: Median - Moving Median
// MA_Method=14: GeoMean - Geometric Mean
// MA_Method=15: REMA - Regularized EMA by Chris Satchwell
// MA_Method=16: ILRS - Integral of Linear Regression Slope
// MA_Method=17: IE/2 - Combination of LSMA and ILRS
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Read the effing manual, ok?

Afterprime is the official SHF broker. Read about them at https://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=175790#p175790.

I still suffer from OCCD. Good thing, really.

Anyone here feeling generous? My paypal account is always in the market for a tiny donation. [email protected] is the account.

To see The Weekly Roundup of stuff you guys might have missed Click here

My special thanks to Thomas (tomele) for all the incredible work he does here.
indy360
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Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:09 pm
Location: Manchester, England

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by indy360 »

Hi Steve,

Great site here.

I have had simple spider on a small demo (£1000 Alpari UK) since 07/11/2011. Only on EU 30min, VQ length is 8 and all other settings OOTB.

Account stands at £1208 as of now with a trade currently open which is + 20 pips and it has been trading a starting lot of 0.10. I had a couple of loosing (2 levels) right at the start and they didn't ever recover as I accidently shut down my terminal and haddn't realsied! It has been trading 24 hrs. Max level has been L4 (0.80 lots).

Pretty good performance so far, if it keeps up like this for another couple of weeks i'll be putting it on my live account. :D

Cheers,

Jon
User avatar
SteveHopwood
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Posts: 9754
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:43 am
Location: Misterton - an insignificant village in England. Very pleasant to live in.

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by SteveHopwood »

indy360 wrote:Hi Steve,

Great site here.

I have had simple spider on a small demo (£1000 Alpari UK) since 07/11/2011. Only on EU 30min, VQ length is 8 and all other settings OOTB.

Account stands at £1208 as of now with a trade currently open which is + 20 pips and it has been trading a starting lot of 0.10. I had a couple of loosing (2 levels) right at the start and they didn't ever recover as I accidently shut down my terminal and haddn't realsied! It has been trading 24 hrs. Max level has been L4 (0.80 lots).

Pretty good performance so far, if it keeps up like this for another couple of weeks i'll be putting it on my live account. :D

Cheers,

Jon
Fantastic Jon.

If you do go live, I really, really, really recommend a 0.01 starting lot. 0.1 gets pretty scary when L6/7 is reached.

:D
Read the effing manual, ok?

Afterprime is the official SHF broker. Read about them at https://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=175790#p175790.

I still suffer from OCCD. Good thing, really.

Anyone here feeling generous? My paypal account is always in the market for a tiny donation. [email protected] is the account.

To see The Weekly Roundup of stuff you guys might have missed Click here

My special thanks to Thomas (tomele) for all the incredible work he does here.
indy360
Trader
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:09 pm
Location: Manchester, England

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by indy360 »

SteveHopwood wrote:
indy360 wrote:Hi Steve,

Great site here.

I have had simple spider on a small demo (£1000 Alpari UK) since 07/11/2011. Only on EU 30min, VQ length is 8 and all other settings OOTB.

Account stands at £1208 as of now with a trade currently open which is + 20 pips and it has been trading a starting lot of 0.10. I had a couple of loosing (2 levels) right at the start and they didn't ever recover as I accidently shut down my terminal and haddn't realsied! It has been trading 24 hrs. Max level has been L4 (0.80 lots).

Pretty good performance so far, if it keeps up like this for another couple of weeks i'll be putting it on my live account. :D

Cheers,

Jon
Fantastic Jon.

If you do go live, I really, really, really recommend a 0.01 starting lot. 0.1 gets pretty scary when L6/7 is reached.

:D
I can imagine! What was the max level you saw when you were trading it live?
User avatar
SteveHopwood
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Posts: 9754
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:43 am
Location: Misterton - an insignificant village in England. Very pleasant to live in.

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by SteveHopwood »

indy360 wrote:
SteveHopwood wrote:
indy360 wrote:Hi Steve,

Great site here.

I have had simple spider on a small demo (£1000 Alpari UK) since 07/11/2011. Only on EU 30min, VQ length is 8 and all other settings OOTB.

Account stands at £1208 as of now with a trade currently open which is + 20 pips and it has been trading a starting lot of 0.10. I had a couple of loosing (2 levels) right at the start and they didn't ever recover as I accidently shut down my terminal and haddn't realsied! It has been trading 24 hrs. Max level has been L4 (0.80 lots).

Pretty good performance so far, if it keeps up like this for another couple of weeks i'll be putting it on my live account. :D

Cheers,

Jon
Fantastic Jon.

If you do go live, I really, really, really recommend a 0.01 starting lot. 0.1 gets pretty scary when L6/7 is reached.

:D
I can imagine! What was the max level you saw when you were trading it live?
I think it was L7. It wasn't Simple Spider, so I think the extra bells and whistles got in the way a bit.

Spider makes some pertinent comments at http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread. ... ost5116640

:D
Read the effing manual, ok?

Afterprime is the official SHF broker. Read about them at https://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=175790#p175790.

I still suffer from OCCD. Good thing, really.

Anyone here feeling generous? My paypal account is always in the market for a tiny donation. [email protected] is the account.

To see The Weekly Roundup of stuff you guys might have missed Click here

My special thanks to Thomas (tomele) for all the incredible work he does here.
DragosDanescu
Trader
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:18 pm
Location: Oradea, Western Romania

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by DragosDanescu »

Huge, Indy, huge...stopped Martingale at 1.28 with 0.01 starting lot. In ranging market it's a killing! Still testing different settings for VQ...Also tried using 2 VQ's, instead of AA, a longer VQ, like 35, to get the general trend direction...still not acceptable results.
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indy360
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Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:09 pm
Location: Manchester, England

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by indy360 »

Thanks for the heads up Dragos, i'll keep it on demo for a bit longer!
lavista4u
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:12 am

Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by lavista4u »

Thanks Steve for making a thread on Spider...I will try to add as many info as possible to make the system better. As i said before, play around with length, that is the most imp thing that is required for testing, others will follow suit...thanks
DragosDanescu
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Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by DragosDanescu »

Khalaad wrote:Steve,

I would like to test Spider as follows:

• without any current filter, but with a new one – VQ 55 length
• no Martingale

I would be extremely grateful for the VQ 55 length filter to be added to the code.

Thank you.

Khalid
Here it is...all the filters can be disabled, even the 2nd VQ.
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DragosDanescu
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Re: Spider: an auto-trader for spiderforex's VQ system

Post by DragosDanescu »

Khalaad wrote:
DragosDanescu wrote:
Khalaad wrote:Steve,

I would like to test Spider as follows:

• without any current filter, but with a new one – VQ 55 length
• no Martingale

I would be extremely grateful for the VQ 55 length filter to be added to the code.

Thank you.

Khalid
Here it is...all the filters can be disabled, even the 2nd VQ.
Thank you so very much.

I shall initially run Spider_2VQ without SL and TP; then calculate every favourable and adverse excursion to eventually arrive at evidence-based numbers for these.

And report here regularly.

Khalid
You're very welcome!
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