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Trade Manager for Metatrader

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The Visual Trading Console features a unique ticket-based trade manager module that offers the following:

  • Fully customizable, profile based trade manager strategies
  • Automatic Trade Manager feature
  • Initial SL / TP setting
  • 13 types of trailing stops
  • Five level stepping stop
  • “Break even + ” feature for SL & TP (when in profit or in loss)
  • 5 level profit taking feature
  • 5 level stop loss feature
  • Robust Add to position feature
  • Timed stop functionality for individual trades

All of the listed features can be combined for building personalized trade management strategies, which can be used at any time by applying the previously defined and saved trade management profile to a selected trade.

Multiple trade management strategies can be put to work simultaneously to automatically manage your Metatrader trades. Since trade management is conducted on a per-ticket basis, you can select individual strategies for selected orders, while leaving other trades intact.

Building trade manager profiles

Trade manager profiles are built and managed using the “Trade Manager Profile Editor” of the Visual Trading Console:

The editor tab uncovers a view showing 8 different trade manager tasks organized into tabs having green & red icons beside tab names, which indicate whether a given task is active or not.

Trade manager tasks can be combined to work together as a complete trade management strategy. This is done by configuring selected tasks and saving them as a trade management strategy under a unique profile name. A special control panel is located to the right of the trade manager grid. It is used to Load, Save, and Delete profiles as well as Apply and Clear trade manager profiles for selected trades.

The “Apply settings to trade” list box is used to select an existing ticket and quickly apply the currently viewed profile to this trade or clear any previously assigned trade manager tasks, which disables the trade manager for the selected order ticket.

Trade manager profiles for a selected ticket can also be manipulated using the [View/Edit] buttons located in the “Trade Manager” column on “Market Orders” and “Pending Orders” girds.

Saved profiles can be utilized by the “Automatic Trade Manager” feature available in the Visual Trading Console. Please visit the following link to learn more about this feature:

Automatic Trade Manager Feature →

Specifying the trade management tasks

The trade manager module in the Visual Trading Console for Metatrader can perform the following tasks, which can be grouped together to create, store, and use custom trade manager profiles. Please read the text below to learn more about each task, how it is defined, and how it performs.

All grid cells with a light yellow background are editable. The values in these cells can be entered by double-clicking the selected cell or by using the cursor keys to highlight a selected cell and starting to type. Each entry should be confirmed by pressing ENTER.

Initial SL/TP

This trade manager task is used to set the initial Stop Loss & Take Profit values for the managed trade. The operation is executed only once when the trade manager profile is applied to a trade, which is indicated by “Done!” in the Execution Status column.

Stop values can be entered in regular pips or price values. Before entering values, proper units should be selected from the Units drop-down list.

Initial SL / TP operation is only performed if the trade does NOT have  SL and/or  TP  values set!  Current stop values other than ZERO will not be modified.

The “Enabled” checkbox field is used to enable/disable a given entry – useful when using a previously defined trade manager profile where we don’t want to use one of the previously defined tasks.

Trailing Stop

A trailing stop is used to gradually trail the stop loss level by a selected factor such as the number of pips behind your high watermark for the floating P/L value.

This function works similarly to the Trailing Stop feature built into Metatrader, but instead of trailing your stop right away by a fixed number of pips (when you reach your trailing stop value), it can be set to start at a certain number of pips in profit or a specified price level using various trailing stop methods.

This parameter is controlled by selecting the “Units (in profit)” value and setting the “Start trailing at” field. The default setting of “0 pips” will enable the trailing stop as soon as the trade is in profit.

Once this value is set, it is time to choose a trailing stop method, which should be used. This is done by clicking on one of the trailing method tabs:

The available trailing stop types include:

  • Trailing by a defined number of pips
  • Trailing by a multiple of the ATR value on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by ATR Exit indicator value on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by the High or Low value of the last X number of completed bars on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by a moving average value on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by the Parabolic SAR value on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by Fractals on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by Super Trend indicator reading on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by Ichimoku indicator reading on a selected chart period
  • Trailing by Heiken Ashi indicator’s high/low reading on a selected chart period
  • Trailing using the proportional SL algorithm
  • Trailing by a percentage of your TakeProfit size
  • Trailing by Bollinger Bands indicator’s high/low band reading on a selected chart period

The setting illustrated above utilizes an ATR-based trailing stop, that will be calculated from the last completed candle on the selected “Chart periodicity” using the setting of 14 periods ATR multiplied by 2.5. Additionally a “Pip padding” value can be added to the calculated ATR value (a setting of 2 would add or subtract an extra 2 pips to the calculated ATR value depending on the position type; short or long). Parameters can be fully customized to suit every trader’s individual preferences.

The “Perform calculation on chart periodicity” setting can be chosen from the drop-down list or typed in manually in situations when non-standard chart periods are used. For example M2, M6, M33, etc. Please note that the selected non-standard chart must be open in MT4 for the trailing stop to properly calculate the values.

The current state of execution will be displayed in the “Execution” column.

The “Enabled” checkbox field is used to enable/disable a given entry – useful when using a previously defined trade manager profile where we don’t want to use one of the previously defined tasks.

Stepping Stop

Stepping stop is used to perform the same stop management feature as the trailing stop, but instead of performing a linear action (advancing the stop each time the price reaches a new profit level), it moves the stop in predefined steps at specified profit level points.

The example above illustrates a 4 point stepping stop which will move the stop in 4 steps:

  1. When the trade is 5 pips in profit, our stop will be moved 15 pips behind the order entry price (it will tighten our initial stop)
  2. When the trade moves 10 pips into profit, our stop will now be set to 1 pip in profit (so we have a “free trade”)
  3. When the trade moves 15 pips into profit, our stop will now secure 5 pips of profit
  4. When the trade moves 20 pips into profit, our stop level will be placed 10 pips in profit.

The setting of individual stepping stop levels is done by modifying the values in the 2nd and 4th columns of the Stepping Stop table view.

When pips are used as units, a negative number in the “Move stop to” cell represents a stop level  “behind” the order’s entry price. This is mainly used to “tighten” the initial stop after the trade reached a certain profit level.

The current state of execution will be displayed in the “Execution” column.

The “Enabled” checkbox field is used to enable/disable a given entry – useful when using a previously defined trade manager profile where we don’t want to use one of the previously defined tasks.

Break Even

The break-even task is used to set the stop to break even when a specified profit (or loss) level is reached. The levels can be defined by the number of pips from entry or using a certain price level. The units used can be selected from the drop-down list in the “Units (profit/loss)” column.

The “break-even” mechanism in Visual Trading Console also adds an optional “padding” parameter “Set stop to break even + [ ] pips“, which can be used to cover transaction costs, so that when price action hits the break-even point, at least some amount of profit is secured to cover transaction costs or even make a bit extra.

The value entry table consists of two rows, one for setting the stop loss value to break even (green) and one for setting take profit to break even (red) when the price reverses against our favor by a number of pips in the negative or when it reaches a predetermined price level.

These values can be used together (to cover both sides of the trade), or independently. The function will be completed when either one of the two conditions is met, so the stop will only be moved to break even once.

When using “pips” as the desired units, the value entry field should be filled with pip values relative to the entry price.

The current state of execution will be displayed in the “Execution” column.

The “Enabled” checkbox field is used to enable/disable a given entry – useful when using a previously defined trade manager profile where we don’t want to use one of the previously defined tasks.

Multi-level Profit Taking

This trade manager task is used to scale out profit from a trade at up to 5 different levels (closing out a defined percentage of the trade at each level).

Two parameters are used to define each level. These are “Target level at” (entered in pips, price, or SL/TP percentage), which is used to calculate the price level at which a defined percentage of our trade will be closed out. This parameter is defined by the value entered into the “Close” cell.

Every time we define a new level, the “Remaining: %” indicator below the “Close” column will reflect the percent of the trade that should be left open once all target levels are hit.

Example case scenario:

If we would open a sell order on the EURUSD for 1 lot (with a 15 pip SL and 30 pip TP) and apply the trade manager entry defined in the illustration above, the following actions would take place:

  1. When the price hits the 1.22331 level (5 pips of profit), the trade manager would close out 0,2 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,8 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  2. When the price hits the 1.22281 level (10 pips of profit), the trade manager would close out 0,2 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,6 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  3. When the price hits the 1.22231 level (15 pips of profit), the trade manager would close out 0,2 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,4 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  4. When the price hits the 1.22181 level (20 pips of profit), the trade manager would close out another 0,2 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,2 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  5. At this point, the trade manager is done with our trade and we still have 0,2 lots open, which will be closed out by our SL or TP parameters. It would be useful to set our SL to “break-even” at this point (this can also be automated using the trade manager).

The Multi-level Profit Taking feature is designed to work together with Multi-level Stop-Loss. When one of the targets is hit the other side is automatically updated to function correctly if the trade reverses.

Multi-level Stop Loss

This trade manager task is used to scale out of a losing trade at up to 5 different levels (gradually closing out a defined percentage of the trade at each level).

Two parameters are used to define each level. These are “Stop level at” (entered in pips, price, or SL/TP percentage), which is used to calculate the price level at which a defined percentage of our trade will be closed out. This parameter is defined by the value entered into the “Close” cell.

Every time we define a new level, the “Remaining: %” indicator below the “Close” column will reflect the percent of the trade that should be left open once all target levels are hit.

Example case scenario:

If we would open a sell order on the EURUSD for 0.1 lots and apply the trade manager entry defined in the illustration above, the following actions would take place:

  1. When the price hits the 1.31115 level (10 pip loss), the trade manager would close out 0,01 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,09 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  2. When the price hits the 1.31215 level (20 pip loss), the trade manager would close out 0,02 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,07 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  3. When the price hits the 1.31315 level (30 pip loss), the trade manager would close out 0,03 lots of our trade and leave the remaining 0,04 lots open and managed using the same profile (The Execution column would display “Hit!”)
  4. Finally, when the price hits the 1.31415 level (40 pip loss), the trade manager would close out completely.

The Multi-level Stop Loss feature is designed to work together with Multi-level Profit Taking. When one of the targets is hit the other side is automatically updated to function correctly if the trade reverses.

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Comments

  1. fernando piñero  August 5, 2012

    Hi,

    I use Visual Trading Console, it is a very useful plugin for MT4. IMO there is one thing that the virtual console should permit to do, which is place buy orders at bid and sell orders at ask. Currently, there are many forex borkers who pay you for adding liquidity (like the one I use) They pay you a fee for your filled limits orders. I use a couple of scripts to do this, it is easy. I really miss this feature in your virtual console.
    Please, think in adding this capacity to your software.

    Thank you.

    reply
    • admin  August 6, 2012

      Hi, I believe you’re talking about stop & limit orders. Some brokers indeed pay for providing liquidity.
      You can use “pending orders” functions in VTC to place stop & limit orders.
      Please use the contact form to provide a link to your broker’s platform plus more details about your specific type of order placement so I can check if there is anything more that can be enhanced in the console to help you with your trading.

      reply
  2. Hans  August 31, 2012

    Hi,

    Can you add lines to the SL and TP whenn a position is taken to move them around
    Can you add always on top ( on / of )
    I use renkocahrts if i place an order the minimized chart pops up and pending orders also
    activate the renko ea chart , i would like them to show on the offline chart
    TIA

    reply
  3. POCHI  February 27, 2013

    is there “hidden” or “stealth” option for TP and SL?

    reply
  4. Quinn Ronin  April 3, 2013

    I can’t find a reference to “SL & TP modification lines” on the page you gave to Hans. Perhaps it’s on a different link.

    After setting up a stealth SL &TP, can a catastrophic SL and a large TP limit order be sent to the broker also? This would be desirable in the event the trading terminal is disconnected for some reason. The orders on your brokers server would be there to protect your position. If those orders are filled can the stealth orders be automatically cancelled?

    reply
  5. Pip  October 30, 2013

    Does the console connect directly to MT4 broker server or it needs an EA to attached to a chart? In addition, does it require MT4 to be running?

    reply
    • admin  November 4, 2013

      The application connects to MT4 via EA (MT4 must be running), which is the only legal way to bind to MT4 servers. Any other way is done by hacking into the server which is forbidden by Metaquotes (creators of MT4).
      Brokers can also treat any direct connections as manipulation, so it is not recommended for security & legal reasons.

      reply
  6. Mindert  January 9, 2014

    Is it possible to add a name to the Account?
    Now I see more account numbers and I do not know their names.

    Is it possible to set a ‘Sell stop’ while the current price is lower then the ‘Sell stop ‘ price.
    I want the order only be executed, when the Entry price will be hit from above.
    Offcourse the same way with ‘Buy stop’ entries and then from underneath.
    So I also want to give a parameter ( pips above/underneath)
    f.e.: pips above = 10, the the order must be executed, when the Entry price = highest price – 10
    (between time of setting the pending order and current time) otherwise no execution

    reply
  7. Jack Hudson  August 7, 2014

    Hi,
    I’m interested trying a moving average trailing stop. My understanding is that if say I used a 21 day EMA I would be stopped out when price touched it. What does the “shift” function associated with this type of stop refer to? I’m guessing does it add to the amount of pips price can go beyond the touch?

    Thanks

    reply
    • admin  August 7, 2014

      The moving average settings are identical to the settings you use in Metatrader when you set up a moving average:

      reply
      • Jack Hudson  August 7, 2014

        Thanks for your rapid response. Love the trade manager.

        reply
  8. Jack Hudson  August 13, 2014

    Hello,
    Another trailing stop question. When choosing “Trailing by the High or Low value of the last X number of completed bars on a selected chart period”

    Would this mean the high minus the low of the last x number of completed bars on a selected chart period?

    Thanks

    reply
    • admin  August 14, 2014

      This means that the highest high of the last x number of completed bars will be used to trail sell orders
      and the lowest low of the last x number of completed bars will be used to trail buy orders.

      reply
  9. Sean  November 19, 2014

    Hi

    I’m curious if your trade manager work with Renko type charts on MT4 ???

    Blessings

    Sean

    reply
    • admin  November 19, 2014

      Yes, all charts are supported. Even these on non-standard time frames.

      reply
  10. Anthony  December 16, 2014

    Hi,

    does your trademanager allow for my stop size to be a different size than the initial size? Fi. when a long trade gets stopped out due to market going south, can the size of the stop be twice the size of the initial trade so that the movement to the other side can be benefitted from?
    Look forward to your response,

    Kr. AD

    reply
    • admin  December 16, 2014

      Are you referring to the Stop & Reverse function?

      reply
  11. Leofitz  December 31, 2014

    Your trade manager looks t o have many helpful functions. I don’t see it listed as a SL option, but have you considered including the Kijun-sen line as a trailing SL level? I’ve found it very efficient particularly on higher time frames. Optional settings could be to choose which time chart to use (ie; 4H Kijun for SL while trading on 1H chart), and a buffer in pips from the Kijun-sen (ie Kijun-sen + 10 pips = trailing SL) Thanks.

    reply
    • admin  January 3, 2015

      I’ll add the Ichimoku Tenkan-sen and Kijun-sen as trailing stop options in the upcoming release.
      Please let me know if there are any other trailing stop methods, that you would like to see added to the product.

      reply
      • Lon  January 3, 2015

        Great, when do you anticipate the new release?
        Also wondered how the manager is designed to interact with the built-in MT4 ‘One-click trading’ tool? Can you set and move STP, LMT and TP lines using both the MT4 One-click and levels set by the manager? Do they update each other?
        Thanks

        reply
        • admin  January 7, 2015

          You can either use MT4’s built-in options for moving the lines or choose to use VTC for this.
          You’ll need to select “Use ‘alt’ key to drag trade levels” in MT4, so both methods don’t interfere with each other.

          The new release is still being updated so it will be a while, before it is out.
          So far, I’ve added Ichimoku as a trailing method to the trade manager.

          reply
  12. Lon  January 3, 2015

    Is it correct that your trade console is a stand alone floating app that plugins into open MT4 accounts? Or does it have to be loaded onto a chart page in MT4? What RAM is required to run it? On my VPS I notice that one MT4 account with ten charts needs about 700MB. If I had additional MT4 accounts open what would your trade console require to run smoothly?

    It was mentioned that your version is compatible up to MT4 v650 I believe (April2014). Is it updated to run with the current MT4 v765 ?

    In the main page screenshot I see the “Instant Entry” tab page open. Is there a tab page that displays the most critical info like current P/L for each account, and latest trade close, etc.? Is idisplayed in a larger typeface so it can be read when 5-6 ‘ from the monitor? This would be helpful for all-day monitoring of the general trade status.
    Thanks, LK

    FYI – the Captcha code is buggy

    reply
    • admin  January 7, 2015

      VTC is a stand alone application, but uses an EA on an MT4 chart for VTC <-> MT4 communication. It will function correctly on a VPS with 1GB of RAM with about 2 MT4 terminals. The amount of required RAM will of course depend on the number of managed trades as the application alone uses around 50MB (the new version will use around 100MB). Values taken from task manager on Wiindows7.

      The current version of VTC is fully compatible with all latest MT4 builds. It has a separate “Account Summary” tab and a basic weekly statistics window for each account.
      The font is standard size, and current P/L is of closed orders only. It does not display the current floating P/L. The upcoming version will have the current floating P/L for each account.

      reply
  13. Marius  June 24, 2015

    Is this program separate from MT4 or does it run in MT4?
    I have 7 accounts, how would it be setup and do all the accounts need to be open to place an order in all of them?

    reply
    • admin  May 5, 2016

      The trade manager is a stand alone application, but it needs MT4 terminals to be open and each running a communication EA (included with VTC).

      reply
  14. Jeff  October 15, 2015

    I am unable to get the ATR trailing stop to work. I trade using the percentage risk which means I must first enter some value for the Stop. But once I am in a trade I can’t get the ATR trailing stop to function.

    reply
    • admin  October 15, 2015

      Please note that trailing stop algorithm will only advance your stops, if the ATR calculation generates a tighter stop than your current stop loss. The idea her is to tighten, not to widen, the current stop.
      Also please check which chart is ATR calculated on. The values are re-calculated on every new bar.

      reply
      • Jeff  October 15, 2015

        Ahhhh . . . . now THAT makes sense!

        reply
  15. Eli  February 22, 2016

    Can the trade manager be used with other products such as equities?

    reply
    • admin  April 8, 2016

      Yes, you can also use the console with equities. Generally any instrument that is available in MT4 can be managed by the trade manager.

      reply

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