Pipsgrowth EX18089 TrendFollow

EX18089 is a gold-targeted trend-following scalper that requires two independent conditions to agree before any position is opened: a 9-period exponential moving average crossing a 21-period EMA on the previous closed M5 bar, and a manual SuperTrend readout (period 10, multiplier 3.0) pointing in the same direction. The two-condition gate means trend-aligned crosses only — a fresh crossover against the prevailing SuperTrend direction is rejected, and a SuperTrend flip without a fresh EMA cross produces no entry. The result is a low-frequency, high-conviction signal that should not be expected to fire every bar.

The SuperTrend calculation is implemented by hand in CalculateSuperTrend() rather than via iCustom or a built-in handle. Three buffers are pulled per call — highs, lows, closes for HL2, and ATR(10) for band width — and the bands are walked through a classic ratchet: the upper band stays at the maximum of the previous upper band and the new basic upper, the lower band stays at the minimum of the previous lower band and the new basic lower, and the direction (superTrendDirection, stored as +1 or -1) flips only when the prior close breaches one of the bands. Because the ratchet relies on state from the previous bar, the calculation is intentionally restricted to new-bar ticks: OnTick() checks IsNewBar() and only calls RefreshIndicators() and CalculateSuperTrend() when the bar changes. Running the ratchet on every tick would corrupt the recursion — the previous band state is held in static double prevUpper / prevLower and static int prevDir.

The initial stop loss and take profit are both ATR(10)-scaled at the moment of entry. OpenPosition() reads currentATR (refreshed on the new bar) and applies StopLossATRMult = 2 and TakeProfitATRMult = 4, producing a 1:2 risk-to-reward per position by default. A buy at the ask is submitted with SL = ask − 2×ATR and TP = ask + 4×ATR; a sell mirrors. The same ATR value drives the SuperTrend band width, the bracket distances, and the trailing distance, so all three scales move together with volatility — a regime shift in either direction adjusts every layer of the system coherently.

Pyramiding is the strictest part of the design. The default MaxPyramidLevels = 5 allows up to 5 same-direction positions on the same magic, but the gate that has to clear before each new add is unusually tight. First, AllPositionsSecured(SecureProfitPoints = 200) walks every existing same-magic position and confirms that the current stop loss is sitting at least 200 points beyond the open price in the favorable direction — that is, every position already has a SL locked into profit by 20 pips, and no position is still running on its original ATR×2 SL. Second, CheckPyramidOpportunity() requires the most recently opened same-magic position to be in profit by at least MinProfitForAdd = 30 pips. Only when both checks pass does the EA add a 5th level. The size of each pyramid level is GetBaseLot() * PyramidSizeMultiplier, where PyramidSizeMultiplier = 1.0 by default, so all five levels are typically the same size. A daily MaxDrawdownPercent = 5.0 safety sits above all of this as a final backstop.

Trailing runs on every tick from ManageTrailingStops(). The trail distance is currentATR * 1.5 from the current price, and the SL is only ever moved in the favorable direction — the function is a one-way ratchet with no tightening rule and no breakeven step. The TP that was set at entry is never modified by the trailing function. Positions close either at the original 4×ATR target, on a reverse EMA cross (which calls CloseAllPositions() and clears the basket regardless of the pyramid count), or on a server-side stop hit. There is no partial-close logic, no break-even ratchet, and no time-based exit in the code.

Risk sizing uses the proper tick-value formula, not a rough approximation. GetBaseLot() reads SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE and SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE from the symbol, computes the per-lot loss at the ATR×2 SL distance, and divides the dollar risk (1% of balance) by that loss to get the lot size. The result is floored to the symbol's SYMBOL_VOLUME_STEP and clamped to SYMBOL_VOLUME_MIN. With UseMoneyManagement = false, the lot reverts to FixedLotSize = 0.01. The spread filter is a single line in OpenPosition(): it converts the current spread in points to pips via GetPipSize() and rejects the entry if it exceeds MaxSpreadPips = 3.0 — appropriate for gold where spreads can run higher than FX majors.

There is no OnTester, no news filter, no time-of-day session filter, and no information panel in the chart. The EA will trade through Asian, London, and New York sessions equally, and there is no kill-switch for high-impact news. Three-retry wrappers (TryClose_EX18089, TryClosePartial_EX18089, TryModify_EX18089) handle REQUOTE / TIMEOUT / PRICE_OFF / PRICE_CHANGED responses with 200 ms or 100 ms sleeps before giving up. Filling is set to FOK in OnInit(). With a $100 starting balance, a 1% risk per position, and 5 pyramid levels all triggered on 30-pip profits, the EA assumes a minimum of 150 pips of favorable travel on gold to fully load the pyramid — a tighter or more cautious broker margin may not survive a single adverse M5 bar. Backtesting should be done with Every tick based on real ticks to capture the new-bar gating accurately; the bar-driven SuperTrend state in particular cannot be reproduced on Open prices only mode.