Pipsgrowth EX18069 TrendFollow

Pipsgrowth EX18069 is a T3 (Tillson) trend-following EA built around a single smoothing engine that the source code constructs from scratch, without any external indicator file. The author chose to inline T3 inside the EA rather than call it via iCustom, and the build reflects that decision end to end. The core smoothing formula is the generalized-difference form: GD(P) = EMA(P)*(1 + v) − EMA(EMA(P))*v, and T3 is computed as GD(GD(GD(P))) — three nested applications of the GD operator. After the third pass, the result is combined with the Tillson coefficients c1 = −b³, c2 = 3b² + 3b³, c3 = −6b² − 3b − 3b³, c4 = 1 + 3b + b³ + 3b², where b is the volume factor (InpT3VolumeFactor, default 0.7 — Tillson's standard). Because the source rebuilds the entire chain from a single native EMA(price, 14) call (g_hEMAc0 on the chart TF and g_hEMAh0 on the HTF), the EA needs only 1 + 1 = 2 EMA handles plus the regime stack (ATR, ADX, Bollinger) — no iCustom, no chart-attached child indicator, no .ex5 dependency.

The signal is a direction flip on the last closed bar. T3Signal() reads T3DirectionChart(1) and T3DirectionChart(2) and returns +1 when the latest closed T3 slopes up after sloping down, −1 for the reverse, and 0 when there is no flip. The flip is the only event that can fire the engine; slope-only continuation is ignored by design. To filter noise, ConfirmSlope() demands that the most recent InpT3SlopeBars (default 2) closed bars all slope in the same direction as the signal — a tighter, multi-bar consensus check that prevents triggering on single-bar wiggles that can occur with T3 near horizontal. ConfirmHTF() then checks that the higher-timeframe T3 (default HTF = 8 input, which falls through MapTimeframeInt to PERIOD_H1) slopes in the same direction. ConfirmPriceSide() finally requires the close of the last closed bar to be on the correct side of the chart-T3 value at that bar, so the price is moving with the curve, not just the curve tilting while price drifts sideways.

Entries are gated by a six-state regime classifier (ClassifyRegime), but only three of those states are actually tradeable. The classifier uses ADX(14) and a 50-bar ATR(14) percentile together with a Bollinger(20, 2.0) band-width ratio (current width / prior width). STRONG_TREND is the gate where ADX ≥ InpMinADX (20) and ATR-percentile ≥ InpATRPctMin (30%) — this is the primary mode. WEAK_TREND is the same idea with relaxed thresholds (0.7× ADX, 0.5× ATR-pct), letting the EA still take swings in early-trend development. EXPAND is fired when the Bollinger band-width grows more than 10% in one bar (bbRatio > 1.10), catching volatility bursts even when ADX is still climbing. The other three states — REG_RANGE, REG_COMPRESS, REG_BREAKOUT — are explicitly excluded by RegimeAllowsEntry(). In other words, the EA will not fire on a flat tape, a squeeze, or in the immediate aftermath of a band-width explosion. This is a deliberate narrowing of the trade universe: trend-mode or volatility-expansion-mode only.

Risk is enforced at three levels. The per-trade risk is InpRiskPercent (default 0.5% of effective capital) divided by the SL distance in price, then converted to lots via tick-value math in CalcLotsByRisk. Capital is gated by a cap that is OFF by default — InpCapitalCapAmount defaults to 0.0, in which case the EA uses the full equity as effective capital. When the cap is enabled, the effective capital becomes min(cap, equity) and any new entry is blocked if the resulting cap would drop below InpCapitalCapFloor (50 USD by default). On top of that, a daily loss limit (3% of effective capital) and a weekly loss limit (6% of equity at the start of the week) both block new entries once tripped. The realised PnL for the daily and weekly checks is computed inside the EA by walking the deal history (HistorySelect) and filtering on DEAL_MAGIC and DEAL_SYMBOL — so the limits are EA-magic-specific, not account-wide.

The stop and target are both ATR(14)-anchored. InpSLATR = 1.5 and InpTPATR = 3.0, giving a hard R:R of 1:2 at the ATR baseline, with a ConfirmRR() check that rejects the trade if ATR-shrinkage has pushed the realised R:R below InpMinRR (1.5). Both distances are also clamped to the broker's SYMBOL_TRADE_STOPS_LEVEL so that micro-trades are not sent with SL/TP inside the freeze zone. SL and TP placement is price-relative (Ask/Bid at execution), and any retry on TRADE_RETCODE_REQUOTE, _TIMEOUT, or _PRICE_CHANGED is preceded by RefreshRates() and a re-pull of Ask/Bid. Margin is pre-checked via OrderCalcMargin before the order is sent, so a free-margin shortage returns INSUFFICIENT_MARGIN rather than triggering a broker-side reject.

Once a position is open, ManagePosition() walks through the active trade every tick. Partial TP fires at InpPartialTPR (1.0R) closing InpPartialTPPct (50%) of the volume — but only if the remaining volume stays at or above the broker's minimum lot, otherwise the partial is skipped to avoid orphaned sub-minimum positions. The one-shot break-even at InpBreakevenAtR (1.0R) moves SL to the open price, again respecting the stops level by clamping the new SL to stopsLevel + 1 point away from the current Bid/Ask if the move would otherwise sit inside the freeze zone. The trailing stop is ATR(14) * InpTrailATR (2.0x) away from price, with a 0.5x ATR minimum ratchet (InpTrailATRStep) to suppress micro-wobble. The trailing only moves forward, never backward. Beyond that, ManagePosition() also implements a regime-change exit (RANGE or COMPRESS, soft mode — only triggered when the position is currently losing) and an opposite-signal exit (T3 flips against the open position). The time-based exit InpMaxBarsInTrade is wired into the same function but defaults to 0, so it is disabled unless the operator explicitly turns it on.

For deployment, the EA targets XAUUSD on the M5 chart (and is marked broker-portable for gold and FX majors), opens within a 7–21 server-time session window, blocks entries on weekends and after 20:00 on Friday, and rejects any signal when the live spread is above 3.0 pips. The default state is DryRun = true, so the EA logs intended orders instead of sending them until the operator turns trading on. KillSwitch is a separate hard-stop input. Order comment is the hard-coded Psgrowth.com Expert_18069 string, and OnTester returns (netProfit * profitFactor) / (1 + balanceDrawdown) with a 30-trade floor, so the strategy optimizer ranks candidates on a combined profit-and-stability metric rather than net profit alone.