LookAtTrend V2 EA Configuration Guide

Overview

The LookAtTrend V2 EA is an advanced trading tool that automates trend-following strategies, providing flexibility, control, and efficiency. This EA is suitable for traders at all levels and includes robust risk management and trade execution features.

We recommend using the default input values for a seamless experience, but all settings are fully customizable to fit your specific trading goals.

• Purpose: Specifies the proportion of your account balance to risk on a single trade.

• Range: A positive decimal value between 0.0 and 1.0, where 1.0 represents 100% of your account balance.

• Explanation: Increasing the risk percentage can amplify potential returns, but it also significantly raises the likelihood of larger losses. It is essential to choose a risk level that aligns with your risk tolerance and trading strategy.

• Example: Suppose your account balance is $10,000, and you set riskAmountPctg to 0.01 (1%). In this case, the EA will risk $100 per trade. If the stop loss is triggered, the loss will be approximately $100, although actual results may vary slightly due to factors such as slippage or position size rounding (see MQL5 position sizing discussion).

2. Timeframe

• Purpose: Specifies the chart timeframe used for analyzing market trends and generating trading signals.

• Explanation: The selected timeframe determines the level of detail the EA uses to identify trends. A Daily (D1) timeframe provides a broader and more stable view of market trends, making it ideal for medium- to long-term strategies. Shorter timeframes, such as H1 or M15, can capture more frequent, intraday trends but are often more prone to market noise.
  Additionally, using shorter timeframes can result in a significantly higher number of trades. While this may increase opportunities, it also raises trading costs due to higher spreads and commissions, which can erode overall profitability.

• Example:  Daily (1440), H4 (240), H1(60), etc

• Note: During backtesting, set the period to Daily.

3. Max Trades Per Bar (maxTradesOnTheSameBar)

• Purpose: Limits the number of trades the EA can open for a given instrument in a single bar (Day, H4, H1, etc).

• Range: Any positive integer (e.g., 1, 2, 5, etc.).

• Explanation: Setting a limit on trades per bar helps maintain trading discipline and reduces the risk of over-trading, especially in volatile market conditions. A lower value, such as 2, focuses on high-quality trade opportunities, making it a conservative and risk-averse choice. On the other hand, a higher value allows the EA to capture more trading opportunities, which may increase potential profits. However, this also comes with higher exposure to losses, as more trades inherently mean more chances of encountering unfavorable outcomes. It’s essential to strike a balance that aligns with your trading strategy and risk tolerance.

• Example: Suppose you set the period to 1440 (daily) and maxTradesOnTheSameBar to 2, then it means at most 2 trades will be placed per day for a given instrument (eg, XAUUSD)

4. Look-Back Bars (lookBackBarCnt)

• Purpose: Determines the number of historical bars the EA analyzes to identify trends.

• Range: Any positive integer (e.g., 5, 10, 20, etc.).

• Explanation: The look-back period plays a critical role in shaping the EA’s sensitivity to market trends. A shorter look-back period (e.g., 5 bars) allows the EA to respond more quickly to recent price movements, resulting in more frequent trades. While this may capture more opportunities, it can also lead to higher trading costs due to increased commissions and spreads, and potentially more losses if market conditions are choppy.
  Conversely, a longer look-back period (e.g., 20 bars) smooths out market noise and focuses on stronger, more established trends. This typically results in fewer trades, reducing trading costs but potentially missing out on shorter-term opportunities. 

Backtesting Recommendations

To evaluate the EA’s performance, we recommend testing it with the following instruments:

• XAUUSD (Gold)

• BTCUSD (Bitcoin)

• JPN225 (Nikkei 225)

• GBPJPY

For a complete list of tested portfolio symbols and configurations, purchase the EA and contact us via direct message.

Contact us at:  haylookatus@gmail.com

Checkout our product here.