Pipsgrowth EX03020 Grid

Pipsgrowth EX03020 GridScalperMA is a trend-following grid that places a full ladder of limit orders whenever a single moving-average trigger fires. It is built around one rule: if the bid is above the EMA(50), fire a buy ladder; if it is below, fire a sell ladder. There is no per-trade stop-loss and no per-trade take-profit. The whole grid is closed as a basket the moment cumulative floating profit reaches a configurable target, or it is force-closed when account drawdown breaches a hard cap. That single design choice — basket management instead of individual trade management — defines the entire character of the EA.

The MA filter is created in OnInit() via iMA(_Symbol, PERIOD_CURRENT, InpMAPeriod, 0, InpMAMethod, PRICE_CLOSE). The default is a 50-period EMA on close, but InpMAPeriod (default 50), InpMAMethod (default MODE_EMA), and InpSignalType (default "MA") are all exposed. The source code only implements the MA branch — the "BOS" branch listed in the input is not wired in the file, so setting InpSignalType = "BOS" produces no signal. Treat it as a placeholder. Signals are evaluated on the closed bar: CopyBuffer(hMA, 0, 1, 1, ma) reads the most recent completed candle, then bid > ma[0] flips the grid long, bid < ma[0] flips it short. The signal only fires when no positions are open (openCount == 0 && !gridActive).

When the signal fires, PlaceGrid() builds a ladder of up to InpMaxOrders (default 8) entries. The first order is a market order: TryBuy_EX03020(lot, 0, 0, 0, InpTradeComment) for longs, TrySell_EX03020(...) for shorts. The remaining InpMaxOrders - 1 orders are pending limits spaced InpGridStep apart. For a buy grid, level i sits at gridBase - i * InpGridStep * _Point; for a sell grid, at gridBase + i * InpGridStep * _Point. gridBase is captured as the ask at the moment of the long trigger, or the bid at the moment of the short trigger. That means the grid always extends against the direction of the trigger, into deeper drawdown — the classic grid profile.

Lot sizing per level is controlled by InpLotMultiply (default false) and InpMultiplier (default 1.5). With multiplication off, every level fires at the same InpLotSize (default 0.01). With multiplication on, level i fires at InpLotSize * pow(InpMultiplier, i) — so a 0.01 start with a 1.5 multiplier produces 0.01, 0.02 (rounded to step), 0.02, 0.03, 0.05, 0.08, 0.11, 0.17. The volume is then clamped against SYMBOL_VOLUME_MIN/MAX/STEP and the lot is floored to the broker step. OrderCalcMargin() is called before each market send; if required margin exceeds free margin, the buy/sell is skipped.

There are no per-position SL or TP values in the order sends — every parameter for SL and TP in TryBuy_EX03020, TrySell_EX03020, TryBuyLimit_EX03020, and TrySellLimit_EX03020 is hard-coded to 0. Risk is controlled at the basket level. The basket take-profit is computed inline in OnTick() as InpTakeProfit * _Point * openCount * InpLotSize * 100. With defaults (60 points × openCount × 0.01 lot × 100), a fully-loaded 8-leg grid closes when basket profit hits roughly 4.80 USD-equivalent (the multiplier assumes 1 USD per 0.01 lot per point — accurate for XAUUSD micro lots on a USD account). As trades are closed and openCount drops, the live target also drops, so a partially-realized grid will exit at a lower floating total. The basket drawdown guard lives one block earlier: if (balance - equity) / balance * 100 > InpMaxDrawdown (default 25%), the EA calls CloseAll() and resets gridActive = false, ending the cycle.

Position lifecycle is split between OnTick() and OnTradeTransaction(). OnTick() runs every quote and is responsible for evaluating the signal, closing the basket, and firing PlaceGrid(). The five order helpers — TryBuy_EX03020, TrySell_EX03020, TryBuyLimit_EX03020, TrySellLimit_EX03020, and TryClose_EX03020 — all wrap the CTrade calls in a 3-attempt retry loop with 200 ms sleeps on REQUOTE, TIMEOUT, PRICE_OFF, and PRICE_CHANGED. CloseAll() is a position-loop that calls TryClose_EX03020 for each open trade and a separate order-loop that calls TryOrderDelete_EX03020 to remove any still-pending limits. OnTradeTransaction() filters for TRADE_TRANSACTION_DEAL_ADD events matching the magic 22203020, accumulates realized P&L into g_realizedToday and g_realizedWeek, and triggers a 30-minute cooldown (default InpCooldownMinutes = 30) the moment the loss counter reaches 3. The cooldown applies as soon as g_consecLossesHD >= 3 regardless of InpMaxConsecLosses, but the blocking gate on the same counter only activates when InpMaxConsecLosses > 0 — so by default the EA cools down for 30 minutes after 3 consecutive losses but will keep trading after that.

The session and no-trade stack is the standard PipsGrowth hardening layer. DetectGMTOffset_EX03020() runs at init and tests offsets from -12 to +12 against the current server time, scoring each candidate by whether it lands on a weekday (score 10) and whether it lands in 07-21 hour-of-day (score 5); the highest-scoring offset becomes g_gmtOffset. InActiveSession_EX03020() then blocks Saturday and Sunday outright and only returns true if the GMT hour falls in either London (07-16 default) or New York (12-21 default). IsSafeToTrade_EX03020() also short-circuits on: equity floor (InpEquityFloor, default 0 = off), realized daily loss ≥ InpDailyLossLimit (default 0 = off), realized weekly loss ≥ InpWeeklyLossLimit (default 0 = off), balance ≥ InpCapitalCap (default 0 = off), g_dailyTrades >= InpMaxTradesPerDay (default 50), and the consec-loss gate described above. The daily/weekly counters roll over inside UpdateDailyCounters_EX03020() when the day-of-month or day-of-week changes. A 40-point spread filter runs on every tick before any other check.

The EA does not ship an OnTester for genetic optimization in the strict sense — it does ship double OnTester(), which returns (profit / maxDD) * (PF > 1 ? PF : 0) provided maxDD > 0 and trades >= 10. Otherwise it returns 0. Combined with the lack of per-trade SL/TP, the natural optimization surface is the grid step, the basket TP, the lot size, and the EMA period — not stop placement.

What to expect in a backtest: on a trending pair, the grid will load quickly in the trend direction and either close on basket TP within a few legs or run deep into a counter-trend reversal. The default 25% drawdown cap is what ends a bad cycle — it is a single number covering the whole account, not a per-grid cap, so running multiple EAs on the same account with the same magic can clash. There is no news filter, no slippage guard beyond the 30-point SetDeviationInPoints, and no time-based exit per individual trade. Two design parameters control the risk curve almost entirely: InpGridStep (tighter = more fills, deeper total exposure before recovery) and InpTakeProfit (lower = faster cycles, more commissions). The XAUUSD pairing is the suggested deployment; the M5 and H1 timeframes are both tested. EURUSD and other FX majors can run with this same source because the price-point math is generic, but the basket TP formula's per-point multiplier of 100 is calibrated to gold micro lots on USD accounts — on a $1-pip FX pair, raise InpTakeProfit accordingly to keep the dollar target equivalent.

The minimum balance recommendation is $100 for the defaults (0.01 lot, 8 levels, XAUUSD), but only because the spread cap of 40 points is generous; a low-spread ECN or RAW broker keeps the ladder from getting chopped. Because the EA has no individual stop-loss, the practical floor is set by InpMaxDrawdown and how much of the account you are willing to lose on a single cycle — set that number before the EA ever trades, not after the first loss.