Pipsgrowth EX03016 Grid

Pipsgrowth EX03016 — Gold Scalping Pyramid takes a $100 starting account and aims to scalp breakout continuations on XAUUSD and XAGUSD with progressive position scaling. Unlike a martingale grid, it only adds same-direction legs when every open position is in profit, which means exposure grows with confirmed momentum rather than against a losing streak. The EA runs on a configurable scalp timeframe (default M30) and is built around a multi-timeframe scoring engine, a swing break-of-structure detector, and a dollar-denominated risk envelope.

Signal scoring drives every entry. AnalyzeMarket() reads three RSIs(14) on three different timeframes (scalp, medium, trend) plus ATR(14) on the scalp timeframe, then combines them with a swing break-of-structure test. The default mapping is M30 (scalp) / H4 (medium) / D1 (trend), but each of the three RSI timeframes is a numeric input (1–7 → M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1), so the EA can be retargeted to any combination. RSI extremes contribute ±20 points (scalp oversold/overbought vs InpRSIOversold/InpRSIOverbought, default 30/70), the medium RSI adds ±15 as a momentum cross-check, and the trend RSI adds ±15 as a directional bias. A confirmed break above the most recent swing high — or below the most recent swing low — by at least InpMinBreakoutPoints (50 points) awards ±30. Finally, if current ATR is more than InpATRVelocityThreshold (1.2×) above the 20-bar average, the side currently leading the score gets +20. Any side whose score exceeds the other side and clears the threshold InpMinSignalStrength (50) fires a trade. The dashboard prints the line "BUY: RSI(74.2,55.1,62.3) BOS=1 Str=78" so the exact contributing factors are visible on every bar.

UpdateMarketStructure() rebuilds the swing high and swing low each new bar. It walks the last 3× InpSwingLookback (45 bars by default) on the scalp timeframe and tags any bar whose high strictly exceeds its 3-bar neighbors in both directions as a swing high; the same applies to the lows. The most recent qualifying swing sets the levels CheckBreakOfStructure() compares to current bid/ask. The 50-point minimum breakout size keeps the EA away from noise breaks on a quiet gold session.

The pyramid path is what makes EX03016 different from a vanilla breakout EA. Once a first leg is open, the EA can add up to InpMaxPyramidLegs-1 (2) additional same-direction legs, but only when CanAddPyramidLeg() approves: there must already be an open position of the same direction; if InpRequireAllProfitable is on (default), every open position must be in profit; the most recent position must show at least InpMinProfitForNextLeg ($1.50 default) of profit; and at least 60 seconds must have elapsed since the last trade. When those gates all pass, ExecutePyramidLeg() opens a new entry at a lot size scaled by InpPyramidLotMultiplier^(leg-1) — so with the default multiplier of 1.0, every leg is the same size; raise the multiplier to 1.2–1.5 for proper geometric scaling. Total lot size is hard-capped at InpMaxLotSize (0.05 default for a 100-dollar account), and CalculateLotSize() also shrinks orders automatically if OrderCalcMargin shows the trade would consume more than 80% of the free margin. The first leg is sized from InpBaseLotSize (0.01), normalized to the symbol's lot step and minimum lot, so a 0.01/0.05 configuration gives 1–5 legs before the cap binds.

Risk is expressed in dollars rather than pips. The default configuration is $3 stop loss and $6 take profit per position — a 1:2 reward-to-risk ratio scaled to the lot size of the leg. DollarsToPoints() converts the dollar value into points using the symbol's tick value, tick size, and per-lot notional, so a 0.01-lot gold position gets a wider point stop than a 0.05-lot position, and the dollar risk stays constant. ManageTrailingStops() runs on every tick (not just new bars) once InpUseTrailingStop is on: when a position's profit exceeds InpTrailActivationDollars ($2), the EA ratchets the stop to bid-trailDistance for buys or ask+trailDistance for sells, and only ratchets forward — never backward — and never behind the open price, so the stop locks into profit territory after activation. The static $3 stop and the trailing stop work in concert: the static defines the per-position maximum loss, and the trailing protects open profits once the move is underway.

A 30% trailing-drawdown kill switch sits on top of the position-level stops. IsDrawdownExceeded() tracks g_peakEquity as the high-water mark and computes ((peak − equity) / peak) × 100. If the drawdown crosses InpMaxDrawdownPercent (30%), tradingEnabled flips to false, no new entries are accepted, and the EA only resumes on the next calendar day when CheckNewDay() resets the flag. There is no equity-floor kill switch or daily-loss-limit kill switch — the global DD cap is the single hard stop, which is intentional for a 100-dollar account the EA is configured to grow through breakouts. The OnTick logic also has a per-bar filter: it only processes signals on new bars of the scalp timeframe, runs ManageTrailingStops() on every tick, and respects a spread filter that blocks entries when the symbol spread exceeds InpMaxSpreadPoints (50 points, ≈ 5 pips on a 3/5-digit gold quote).

Session control is opt-in. InpUseSessionFilter defaults to false, so the EA will trade every hour the market is open if you leave the flag alone. Flip it on and IsValidSession() limits entries to London (InpLondonStartHour–InpLondonEndHour, default 8–16 GMT) and New York (13–21 GMT), which for XAUUSD gives a continuous window from 8 GMT to 21 GMT. The on-chart dashboard shows live values: balance, equity, peak equity, drawdown percent, scalp RSI, ATR, current spread, pyramid legs vs. the cap, aggregate dollar P/L, the most recent signal description, and an ACTIVE / HALTED status flag with the day's trade count. Colors are configurable via InpDashColor, InpProfitColor, InpLossColor.

Order handling uses TRADE_ACTION_DEAL with a 50-point slippage allowance and ORDER_FILLING_FOK. TryOrderSend_EX03016() retries up to 3 times with a 200ms sleep on TRADE_RETCODE_REQUOTE, TIMEOUT, PRICE_OFF, and PRICE_CHANGED; any other retcode (insufficient margin, invalid stops, etc.) breaks the loop and returns false so the EA does not hammer the order queue. Positions are identified by symbol + magic 22203016, so the EA will not touch positions opened manually or by other EAs on the same account.

What the backtester needs to know: with InpMinBreakoutPoints at 50, the EA prefers wide swings and will be quiet on the 5-minute chart of gold but reasonably active on M30 and H1, where the 50-point threshold is a much smaller fraction of the bar range. The dollar-based stops scale with lot size, so a backtest on a $100 account and a backtest on a $1,000 account will produce different per-trade dollar P/L but the same pips-equivalent move. The 30% trailing drawdown cap is the single most important portfolio-level risk parameter — drop it lower (15–20%) if you want the EA to be more conservative, or raise it (40–50%) if you want to give the pyramid room to scale on a fast XAUUSD move. The InpInitialBalance input (default 100) is purely a label printed at init — actual sizing flows from AccountInfoDouble(ACCOUNT_BALANCE) — so the field is a comment for the user, not a sizing cap.