SteadyMartinGear V1.0 User Manual English 20151118 Steady Martin Gear

User Manual: Pdf

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 41

Download
Open PDF In Browser	View PDF

SteadyMartinGear EA
V1.0
User Manual
An EA developed by a trader himself

Copyright Information
Reproduction or selling this Expert Advisor without prior written permission of the
author is unlawful. Please read the License Agreement at the end of this manual before using the EA.
Copyright

2015 – http://steadywinner.com

Ming and Henry, SteadyWinner Development Team

Website:

http://steadywinner.com

Email:

steadywinner@gmail.com

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 1

Honesty is our Policy

Disclaimer and Risk Warnings
Trading any financial market involves risk. This manual, the EA and the content of our
website and all related correspondence are neither a solicitation nor an offer to purchase
or sell any financial instrument.
Although every attempt has been made to assure accuracy, we do not give any expressed
or implied warranty as to its accuracy. We do not accept any liability for error or omission.
Examples are provided for illustrative and educational purposes only and should not be
construed as investment advice or strategy.
No representation is being made that any account or trader will or is likely to achieve
profits or losses similar to those discussed. Past performance is not indicative of future
results.
(This user manual was last modified on 2015.11.18)

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 2

SteadyMartinGear V1.0 Release Note
SteadyMartinGear is a combination of three words: "Steady", "Martingale" and "Gear". Martingale is a
kind of money management system which increases the lot size after losing. It seems to be paradoxical
to link this word with "steady" because for long, traders consider martingale a risky system.
SteadyMartinGear is an attempt to merge the two with a gearbox so that the risk becomes manageable.
In short SteadyMartinGear is to put martingale under control and make it into a stable and contained
EA

The main features of SteadyMartinGear V1.0
1.

A universal money management and account parameters reading system transplanted from our
flagship product, SteadyWinner.

Can Trade two currency pairs: EURUSD and USDJPY.

CapitalShare parameter controls the portion of account balance used for trading (by percentage
or as a fixed amount).

GearSteps parameter controls the number of steps when increasing the lot size (4 steps or 5
steps).

Users can change the colors of the text on the control panel so that they are visible on a dark or
light background.

Thank you for supporting SteadyMartinGear. We hope you love the EA and enjoy a long lasting happy
trading life. If you have any question, please feel free to email us at
steadywinner@gmail.com

To existing users of SteadyWinner EA (including Small Account version)
SteadyMartinGear is neither an upgrade nor a replacement for SteadyWinner. It is a different EA.
Please do not use the same mindset and method to mange it. Since it is a martingale EA, the risk is a lot
higher than that of SteadyWinner. It demands more monitoring and control action such as profit
withdrawal.

Existing users of SteadyWinner can skip the first chapter and the two appendices of this manual. Please
read all the other chapters. Most parts of this user manual, though look familiar, are completely
rewritten for SteadyMartinGear.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 3

Chapter 1 - Introduction
SteadMartinGear (V1.0) – User Manual
This document will attempt to introduce you to the possibilities of automated forex
trading, and it will also guide you through the setup of the SteadyMartinGear EA (V1.0).

What is Forex?
The foreign exchange (Forex or FX) market is by far the largest market in the world, in
term of cash value traded. It includes trading among large banks, central banks, currency
speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial institutions.
The trade happening in the Forex markets across the globe currently counts in trillions a
day. Retail traders are a small part of this market.

Characteristics of the Forex market
Enormous trading volume
Low minimum investment
Very high liquidity
Geographically decentralized
Long trading hours - 24 hours a day (closed on weekends)
Large variety of factors affecting currency exchange rates.

How can I participate?
There are hundreds of retail Forex brokers online. Some have their own trading platforms, but many
use the MetaTrader 4. Individuals can open a standard, mini or micro forex trading account with a
broker and take part in the market. Free demo accounts are usually offered. Here below are some
reputable brokers.

FXCM (UK) - http://www.fxcm.co.uk
Pepperstone (Australia) - http://www.pepperstone.com/
FXDD (Malta)- http://www.fxdd.com/

What is a Trading Platform?
A trading platform is the software that you have to install on your computer in order to be able to
interact with the trading desk. It usually has a place for live market quotes, charts and your account
information. You use the trading platform to open or close trades, adjust take profit and stop loss levels
and so on.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 4

What is MetaTrader 4?
MetaTrader 4 is a free trading platform developed by a company called Metaquotes software
(www.metaquotes.net) and is one of the most popular trading platforms among retail forex brokers.
MetaTrader gives a trader the ability to write a program which completely automates the trading
operations of the MT4 platform, using the MQL4 programming language.

What is an Expert Advisor?
An Expert Advisor (EA) is a program written in the MQL4 programming language, which has the
ability to automate the opening and closing of live trades on the MetaTrader 4 forex trading platform. It
can also manage Stop Loss, Take Profit and Trailing Stop levels according to preprogrammed
parameters. Every EA trades differently. A well-tested, solid EA can be left unattended to trade a live
trading account, hoping that the balance will grow as a result of the program’s logic to enter the market.

Requirements for setting up an automated trading system
- A computer
- An Internet connection
- MetaTrader 4 (Free download)
- An Expert Advisor program (like the SteadyMartingGear EA)
- A demo or live account with a forex broker
- You may need a VPS later on if you don’t want to switch on your computer 24 hours a day, 5 days a
week.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 5

Chapter 2 - The trading logic of SteadyMartinGear V1.0
SteadyMartinGear is a trend following martingale EA. It is composed of two parts: [1] trading signals
and [2] a 5-step martingale system. The trading signals provide an analysis on market conditions and
set the trading direction, while the 5-step martingale system controls the lot size and ensures that the
risk is manageable

Trading signals
Trending or Ranging?
The traditional way of understanding the market is to divide it into the trending market and ranging
market. Different markets call for different strategies. A single strategy might wins in one but fail in
another. But the question is how we can tell which market we are in. The method we use is Bollinger
Bands + Envelope. The red lines in the diagram below are Bollinger Bands, while the blue lines
represent Envelope. When the blue lines embrace the red lines, it is ranging market. When any one of
the red lines (the upper line or the lower line) breaks out, it is the trending market.

We stop trading when the market is ranging, because the market direction is not clear. It is easy to lose.
In trending markets, the direction is clear. If the trend lasts for some time, the chance to win is high. We
use the same principle to monitor the market conditions on different timeframes.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 6

Market Direction Indicator
The charting software we are using has an obvious drawback. When we use a high timeframe, we
cannot see detail movements. When we use a low timeframe, we lost the whole picture. We have to flip
between timeframes if we want to see both. The concept behind the indicator called "Market direction
indicator" is to help traders to see the market conditions of 4 frequently used timeframes say (D1, H4,
H1 and H30) at a glance. It shows four dots on the upper right corner each stands for one timeframe.
The dots can have three colors: [1] Green, buy. [2] Red, sell. [3] Grey, wait. Here are two examples.

Example 1 - This is a chart on EURUSD. From left to right the first two dots (D1, H4) are green,
which means an upward trend on higher timeframes. The third dot is red, which means a down trend in
medium timeframe. The last dot (M30) is green, which means an upward trend in lower timeframe.

Example 2 - This is a chart on USDJPY. From left to right the first dot (D1) is green, which means an
upward trend. The other three (H4, H1, M30) are grey, which means the market is ranging.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 7

The Market direction indicator is for human eyes. It is drawn here only for illustrating the general
trading logic. An EA does not need to see the colors of the indicator. We can simply input the readings
of the indicator and make it into an EA.

5-Step Martingale System
Martingale
In forex, the word "martingale" usually means a double-up system. After losing, the trader increases the
lot size by 100%, such as 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 and so on. The increment ends only when the trader finally
wins. This kind of money management system has a bad reputation because if the trader did not win
after several attempts, the lot size would rocket up and finally blew up the trader's account. However,
the definition of "martingale" can be extended to cover all kinds of systems that increase lot sizes after
losing. We called them "increments". The increments do not have to be 100%. They can be milder, like
50% or smaller. We have done a research with a simulator. Even a 20% increment can make the
backtest curve go up smoothly.

The chart on the left below is the win/lose ratio (the yellow line). We can see that on the whole we do
not have any luck. If the lot size is fixed, we will lose. But when we use increments, we can win with a
bad win/lose ratio. The green line on the right shows the balance when we use an increment of 20%
after losings, and a decrement of 20% after winnings. To make the green line straight, 20% seems to be
the minimum requirement. We have lower values, it worked but the green line is not that smooth.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 8

It works even if the increment is 0.01. Here below is an example. The lot size is increased by 0.01 after
losing and reduced by 0.01 after winning. In the long run, it forms an upward curve. But it is not
smooth and sometimes, it can take so long to recover from heavy drawdowns that most traders will lose
confidence and give up after falling into the dip.

The win/lose results of the simulator is by random. In extreme cases, there can be 20, or even 40 losses
in a row. However, this is very rare in forex, if we believe that forex is not random.

What’s the difference between SteadyMartinGear & traditional martingale EAs?
Traditional martingale EAs pay little attention on market directions. Basically it is just a simple money
management machine. It looks alright at normal times, but cannot stand difficult market conditions.
Those extreme market situations are like typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Though not common,
they will surely strike. That is why martingale EAs cannot be used for long. They blow up accounts.
Usually martingale EA venders can only show short-term results and prey on inexperienced traders.
Some of them are scammers who put cheating code in the EA, making the EA stop trading on historic
losing days. Actually there is a way to find out even if we do not have the source code. It is by
changing the date of the historical data to a few weeks earlier or later, and you will see the difference.

We are honest developers. To make SteadyMartinGear works, we put a lot of attention on monitoring
the market directions. This helps to reduce the chance of consecutive losses. Also, we use 99% tick data
backtest to ensure that the account is safe in all testing years, and the drawdown level is acceptable.

Here are two backtest reports. The capital share was fixed at US$1000 and the base lot size is fixed at
0.01. This is to help readers to see clearly the maximum drawdown both in value and in percentage.
(SteadyMartinGear’s lot sizes can grow with account balance and this will be discussed in Chapter 5:
Money Management.)

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 9

EURUSD, 2010/1/1–2015/9/30, CapitalShare=-1000, GearSteps=5

USDJPY, 2010/1/1–2015/9/30, CapitalShare=-1000, GearSteps=5

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 10

Base Lot Size 1X
If we want to lower the drawdown, an increment and decrement of 20% will be enough. Since the
smallest trading lot size of MetaTrader 4 is 0.01, to have an increment/decrement of 20%, the smallest
lot size must be 0.05. But many traders might not have enough capital to implement this strategy. For
example, if a trader has only US$1000 in his account, to start with 0.05 lots, he will over trade. To cater
for small accounts, we will use a base lot size of 0.01.
To cater for different capital amounts, SteadyMartinGear will calculate the optimum lot size from the
available balance and stop loss so that the loss of a trade will not exceed 1% of the account. We called
this 1X. In MetaTrader 4 the minimum value of 1X is 0.01 (or Min Lot).

Multi-Step Increment / Decrement
SteadyMartinGear will start with the lot size of 1X. When it loses, the lot size of the next trade will be
doubled. When it wins, the lot size of the next trade will be halved, until it goes back to 1X. Though we
try very hard to avoid, sometimes there will be losing streaks. If we let the lot size increase indefinitely,
it could grow beyond control and blow up the account. Therefore, there must be a stop to protect the
account. The way to do it is to limit the number of increments.
While SteadyMartinGear always start with lot size 1X in a new account, on a 5-step increment
setup, the lot size will varies between 1X, 2X, 4X, 8X, and 16X. If you find this too risky, you can
choose a 4-step increment (1X, 2X, 4X, 8X) instead.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 11

Important notes when using the SteadyMartinGear EA
Though we have tried all means to prevent busting our accounts, there is no way to eliminate that
possibility. According to Murphy`s law, whatever can go wrong will go wrong. The only thing we
can do is to use the EA with great care. Here are some rules users should observe
1.

SteadyMartinGear is a high risk EA. Do not put all you money on it. As explained by many
investment theories, a healthy portfolio should consist of high-risk, medium-risk, and low-risk
investments. High risk investments should be limited to 10-20%. Most of our money should be
put on EAs that will never bust your account (such as SteadyWinner).

Use a separate account for SteadyMartinGear so that it will not affect others. SteadyMartinGear
can trade EURUSD and USDJPY, so we can use two charts and set CapitalShare to 50%. (Please
see Chapter 4: Parameter settings for detail.)

The smallest lot size of MetaTrader 4 is 0.01. With the existing stop loss, users should have at
least US$1000 to run SteadyMartinGear. If a user wants to trade both EURUSD and USDJPY, the
initial capital should be doubled (US$2000). According to backtests, it can trade both pairs at the
same time so please do not take the risk of running two currencies with only the money for one.

Withdraw regularly. At least users should withdraw their initial capital before accumulating. For
example, if the initial capital is US$1000, please withdraw (in one lump sum or by several
partials) US$1000 of profit. After retrieving the initial capital, we still recommend frequent
withdrawals, at most leaving half of the profit to accumulate and achieve the compound effect.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 12

Chapter 3 - How to set up SteadyMartinGear V1.0
1. Download and install MetaTrader 4 from your chosen broker or from MetaTrader4 website
http://www.metatrader4.com/en/download if you have not selected a broker yet.
2. When you run MT4 for the first time, it will prompt you to open a demo trading account. Do so. It is
free. Some demo accounts expire in three months. Demo accounts at some brokers never expire. Of
course, if you have a live account, you can set up SteadyMartinGear on it.
3. Unzip " SteadyMartinGear V1.0-Build*.zip ". Right click the unzipped folder "MQL4", and then
click "Copy". * represent an 8 digit date code of the EA’s final compilation date which changes from time to time
4. Open target folder. For MetaTrader 4 -Build 600 and newer versions, target folder is:

To find your broker’s MT4 data folder, select from the menu bar File Open Data Folder

Every instance of MT4 will generate an independent Data Folder, the name of which is some strange
combination of numbers and letters.

Right click the blank space in the folder, click "Paste". You will see 3 message boxes saying target
folder already exists, one for MQL4, one for Expert, one for Indicators. Click "Yes" to all of them.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 13

5. Close and then restart MT4. Choose "View" and the "Navigator". Now you should see the EA
already installed. (See diagram below)

6. Open a EURUSD H1 or USDJPY H1 chart. Drag-and-drop the EA to the chart you want to run it on.
This will result in a pop-up box. Make sure you click on "Allow live trading" under the 'common' tab of
that box so that the EA will work. Click OK. If you did
everything right, you will see a tiny smiling face at the top right hand corner of the chart. Your
automated trading system is now up and running.

NOTE: SteadyMartinGear can read data from various timeframes. It does not matter which
timeframe the user put it on, the result is just the same.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 14

If the little face is not smiling (if it is a frown), it means you did not check the "allow live
trading" check box when you attached the EA. To fix this, simply right click anywhere on
the chart, and select "expert advisors" from the drop down menu and then "properties"
to get to the current EA’s properties. Once there, on the common tab, click to “allow live
trading” and click “OK”.

If there is still no smiling face, try to check if you have clicked the “Expert Advisor”
button on top and make it green. That is it !

This button should be green.

The smiling face

Note：
For the EA to work, you must switch on your computer 24 hours a day, Monday to
Friday. If you find this too troublesome, you can put it on a VPS (Virtual Private Server).

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 15

Chapter 4 - SteadyMartinGear V1.0 Screen Display and
Parameter Settings
Screen display
All customers please read this section very carefully to understand the definition of each display
items and the use of various parameters.

Attention：
：SteadyMartinGear V1.0 Demo Version can be used on Demo accounts only.
V1.0 Full Version has no limitation.

SteadyMartinGear uses a simplified display panel. Here is a list of abbreviation used:
Acc Type = Account Type:

Account Type can be Demo or Real

Currency = Account Currency:

Base currency used when opening the account

Acc Bal = Account Balance:

Current balance of the account

Gear Steps = Gearbox Steps:

Number of Steps in increment

Min Lot = Minimum Lotsize:

Minimum lot size of the account

Min Bal = Minimum Balance:

Minimum initial balance required by the EA

Cap.Share = Capital Share:

Percentage or value of capital used by the EA
(See Parameter Settings for detail)

Max Spread = Maximum Spread: Maximum spread allowed.
If current spread > Max Spread, the EA will stop trading
Avl Bal = Available Balance:

Balance that can be used by the EA. It is affected by
Account Balance and Capital Share

1X Lot = Base Lotsize:

Minimum lot size controlled by Money Management

Max Lot = Maximum Lotsize:

Maximum lot size controlled by Money Management & Gear Steps

Next Lot = Next Trading LotSize: The lot size of next order
Cur Spread = Current Spread:

Current spread

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 16

Parameters Settings
Follow these steps to open the inputs tab: right click anywhere in the chart – when you see the menu,
choose Expert Advisor – then properties – then click Inputs tab.
The parameters of SteadyMartinGear can be divided into [1] Personalization settings, [2] Trade
management settings, and [3] Color settings. We will explain each of them below.

Personalization Settings (parameters in the red box)

MagicNumber - Default is 338822. (We highly recommend you change it)
MagicNumber is used by an EA to track and manage its own orders. By using different Magic
Numbers for EAs you use, all EAs can “live peacefully” together and will not mess with orders from
other EAs. We recommend you change it, so each SteadyMartinGear customer uses different magic
numbers and make those market makers difficult to corner us.

Comments - Default is Trader-SMG. (We highly recommend you change it)
Comment is written by EAs mostly for human users to recognize the EA’s order. MT4 will frequently
modify the comments. For example, MT4 will add [sl] to the end of comment if the order was closed
by a StopLoss hit or add [tp] if the order was closed by a Take Profit hit. For similar reason like
MagicNumber, we recommend changing the default to something only meaningful to you.

LicenseKey - Please enter the order number on the confirmation letter when you buy the EA.
License Key won’t be checked during the refund window period. After that period, you will receive an
updated that contains your private license. After the update, your License Key will unlock the EA.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 17

Trade Management Settings (parameters in the blue box)

CapitalShare – Default is 100 (100%), this parameter can be used in two ways:
Input a positive number indicates a percentage of account balance available to the EA. The
maximum is 100 (100%)
For example: enter 50 means we want SteadyMartinGear to use 50% of the account balance.
Input a negative number, the number after the “-” sign will be used as the maximum dollar
amount available to the EA
For example: enter -1000 means you want SteadyMartinGear to use at most 1000 dollars for trading.
Of course, this function will be effective only if you have more than 1000 dollars in the account.
Attention: if you enter 0, the system will reset it to the default value, 100 (100%).

GearSteps – default is 4, can be set as 4 or 5
GearSteps control the lot size increment steps of SteadyMartinGear.
Enter 4: there will be 4 steps - 1X, 2X, 4X, 8X.
Enter 5: there will be 5 steps - 1X, 2X, 4X, 8X, 16X.
Please see Chapter 5 – Money Management for details.

MaxSpread – default is 4.0, range is 1.0 – 4.0
If entered a non-zero number, SteadyMartinGear will compare this value with the current spread before
opening a trade. If current spread is higher than the value, SteadyMartinGear will not open trade. This
can prevent the EA to open trade when spread is too high.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 18

EURUSD and USDJPY are pairs with high liquidity so spreads should be very low. If your broker’s
spread offers on the 2 pairs are constantly higher than 4, you should consider switching to another
broker.
Note:
You should only set MaxSpread to 1.0-2.0 when your account has super low spread (the low spreads
usually come at a price of fixed commissions). Setting the MaxSpread too low could completely stop
SteadyMartinGear from trading.

Color Settings (parameters in the green box)

Some customers use bright color backgrounds in their charts. In SteadyMartinGear V1.0 you can
change the colors of the display text to better suit your chart backgrounds. Double click the text you
want to change, click the pull down menu/triangle and you can use the palette to choose the colors you
want.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 19

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 20

SteadyMartinGear's requirement on brokers
Technically, the money management of SteadyMartinGear v1.0 is very advanced. It can run on all
brokers be it 4 or 5 digit brokers, nano, micro, mini, or standard accounts, normal broker or ECN
broker. It can calculate lot size correctly for accounts based on US Dollars, Euros, British Pounds,
Australian dollars, JapaneseYens, and so on. SteadyMartinGear can recognize the difference and make
the necessary adjustment. No extra setting is needed.

However, we recommend you open your account with a regulated broker in a country with a sound
legal system (such as Britain). In case the broker fails, the regulator will arrange takeover and
liquidation. There is still a chance to retrieve all or part of your capital. We have experienced such a
process and eventually recover all our capital with the help of the liquidator. Leveraged forex is a high
risk game plus SteadyMartinGear is also a high risk EA. Please find a safer broker to run it.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 21

How much capital is required to run SteadyMartinGear?
The minimum capital requirement of SteadyMartinGear is calculated by StopLoss Pips, Pip Value and
Min Lots of the account. The table below shows the minimum capital requirements of common account
types. The figures in green show the minimum capital requirements for all account types. If your
account currency is not US dollar, SteadyMartinGear will automatically calculate the equivalent of the
minimum funding requirement, and remind you when your balance falls below safety levels.

Notes:
1.

If you have limited capital, you should use a broker with Micro accounts. (Theoretically a Nano
account would be more ideal, but currently few brokers provide Nano accounts and because the
lot size settings are different, liquidity could be low. The EA might have difficulty opening and
closing trades. If you find a good Nano broker, please let us know.)

The above table shows SteadyMartinGear's minimum capital requirements when you trade a
single pair. We suggest you put in 20-30% more capital as a buffer. This can help the EA
withstand the most adverse market conditions.

If you trade both EURUSD and USDJPY pair, please double the Minimum Capital amount, but
one set of buffer, says 30% or above, should be enough.

When the available balance falls within the range of 50% -99% of the minimum funding
requirement, SteadyMartinGear will prompt you with a yellow alert (EA ALERT), which tells
you to add money or increase CapitalShare as soon as possible.

When the available balance falls below 50% of the minimum funding requirement,
SteadyMartinGear will prompt you with a red alert (EA STOPPED) and stop trading. You must
now add money or increase CapitalShare.

In order to give SteadyMartinGear enough room to maneuver during adverse market conditions
and help it recover earlier losses, we cannot make the fund control too tight, but please do not
exploit this loophole by trading two currency pairs with money for one. It is very, very dangerous.
You’ve been warned.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 22

Chapter 5 - Money Management
SteadyMartinGear's initial lotsize (1X)
SteadyMartinGear is a martingale EA. In order to reduce the threshold of capital requirements, in the
design of money management systems we first considered the lowest lot size (Min Lot). The EA will
double up the lot size of the next trade after a losing trade, while after a winning trade that lot size will
be halved.

In a typical Micro account, if SteadyMartinGear loses a few trades in a row, the lot size will rise from
0.01 to 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.16. At 0.16, the EA will stop double up, as it is already the upper limit.
Further increments will likely blow up the account. If the EA wins a few consecutive trades, the lot size
will reduce from 0.16 to 0.08, 0.04, 0.02 and 0.01. At 0.01, the EA will stop to reduce because it is
already the lower limit; and cannot go any lower. The above example of consecutive win / lose is an
extreme case. Under normal circumstances, SteadyMartinGear will win and lose alternately and the lot
size will go up and down like the gear changing in a car. Here is a simplified example:

Order

Lot size

Win/lose

Order

Lot size

Win/lose

Order

Lot size

Win/lose

0.01

Win

0.16

Lose

0.01

Lose

0.01

Lose

0.16

Win

0.02

Lose

0.02

Lose

0.08

Win

0.04

Win

0.04

Win

0.04

Win

0.02

Lose

0.02

Lose

0.02

Win

0.04

Win

0.04

Lose

0.01

Win

0.02

Win

0.08

Lose

0.01

Win

0.01

Win ...

However, the use of 0.01 as a starting lot size only applies to small accounts. If the user has a big
account (for example $20,000), this starting lot size will become too small. Since most EAs use
percentage in money management control, we begin with a trade that would only loss 1% of the
Account Balance if it was stopped out. We calculate the exact lot size for that trade and call it Lot Size
1X, or just 1X. The formula is 1X = (Account Balance * 1%) / (Stop Loss Pips * Pip Value per Lot)

With this 1X as the starting lot size, the usable lot size increments depend on user input to the
GearSteps parameter and all lot sizes are multiples of 1X:
If GearSteps is 4, the usable lot sizes will be 1X, 2X, 4X, 8X (four steps)
If GearSteps is 5, the usable lot sizes will be 1X, 2X, 4X, 8X, 16X (five steps)

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 23

The minimum capital requirement of SteadyMartinGear
As mentioned above, SteadyMartinGear's starting lot size is 1X. If the order closes by stop loss, we will
lose 1% of our balance. Also, this 1% cannot be less than the account's minimum lot size (Min Lot). We
can then treat this amount as 1 % of the minimum capital. If we multiply this number by 100, we can
get the minimum funding requirement. Here is the formula:
Min. Capital Requirement = Min. Lot Size * (Stop Loss in Pips * Pip Value per Lot) * 100
Take the classic Micro account as an example. Since the minimum lot size is 0.01, applying the formula
described above, its minimum capital requirement is 0.01 * (100 pips * US$10) * 100 = US$ 1,000.

SteadyMartinGear's Money Management
Since SteadyMartinGear is a martingale EA, the trading lot size cannot be simply calculated using N%
of account balance. It start trading with the base lot size 1X that will cause 1% capital loss if that trade
get stopped out. All martingale increment will base on multiples of 1X. As the account balance grows,
1X grows with it.

We continue to use a classic Micro account as an example. Suppose the available balance for the EA is
US$1,000, since 0.01 is smallest possible lot size, the next increment must be 0.01. When the available
balance reaches US$2,000##, 1X will become 0.02 and the increments will be 2X=0.04, 4X=0.08,
8X=0.16, 16X=0.32. The earning power of the EA is doubled (so is the risk.). The next trigger point is
US$3,000, 1X=0.03. Theoretically, the time to reach this next trigger point will be halved. The process
of accumulation will become faster and faster.

What happen if the user has a starting capital of $ 10,000? For a start, 1X = 0.10, when his available
balance reaches $ 11,000, 1X will jump to 0.11, which means his balance only needs to increase by
10% to trigger the jump. Of course, this is to assume he is also using a Micro account. If he uses a Mini
Account in with minimum lot size 0.1, then he has to wait for the available balance to grow 100% to
trigger the first jump. This is similar to an account with $1,000 and a minimum lot size of 0.01.

Remark:
## In the above example of Micro account, we could have used conventional Rounding method, so that when available balance
reaches $ 1,500, 1X becomes 0.02. But SteadyMartinGear already uses 100% martingale, we want to avoid too much risk in
other areas, so we use the Round Down method, which requires available balance to fully reach $ 2,000 before 1X become 0.02.

Now let us look at some backtest reports.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 24

EURUSD, 2010/1/1–2015/6/30, Initial Capital US$1000, CapitalShare 100%, Gear steps 4

EURUSD, 2010/1/1–2015/6/30, Initial Capital US$1000, CapitalShare 100%, Gear steps 5

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 25

USDJPY, 2010/1/1–2015/6/30, Initial Capital US$1000, CapitalShare 100%, Gear steps 4

USDJPY, 2010/1/1–2015/6/30, Initial Capital US$1000, CapitalShare 100%, Gear steps 5

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 26

Some observations:

Maximal drawdown dollar value would increase when we use Gear Steps 5 instead of Gear Steps
4. But the increase of Max DD% in USDJPY pair was indeed very gentle.

When using Gear Steps 5, the Profit Factor of both currencies improves. Again, the increase in
USDJPY pair was milder.

At the time of finalizing this manual, USDJPY equity curve just suffered an equity curve dip but
bases on past bacttested pattern, we believe it will climb out from that valley soon. If that makes
you worry, please just don’t trade this pair for now.

We must declare we will not advocate the use of Gear Steps 5. First of all, different traders have
different attitudes towards risk. Second, when confronted with extreme market conditions,
SteadyMartinGear with Gear Steps of 4 can withstand 2-3 more losing trades. Probably, this could save
you from account blow-up.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 27

Chapter 6 – SteadyMartinGear Setup and Management
SteadyMartinGear is a martingale EA. No matter what we do, we cannot eliminate the possibility of
accounts blow up. The chapter serves as a reminder of risk and our suggestions on Setup and
Management of SteadyMartinGear

Stage 0 - Mental Preparation
Let me be honest, in a worst case scenario, a user can encounter extreme market conditions
immediately after he started SteadyMartinGear and suffer several losing trades in a row making his
available balance quickly fell below 50% of Minimum Capital Requirement and triggered the EA’s
emergency stop. Although we did not see this in backtesting, we must always get prepared for the worst.
Please ask yourself questions below. If you answer NO to any of the question below, you should not
use SteadyMartinGear in your account:
1.

Can you afford to lose (all) the money you use as capital for SteadyMartinGear? You should
consider feeling of yourself and your family.

Are you sure you won’t need the money in the foreseeable future, say 1-2 years?

SteadyMartinGear’s equity curve can dip into a valley from time to time (unfortunately, this is true
for all Martingale EA) and can sometimes take several months to recover. Do you have the courage
and patience to wait and see it recover?

Can you follow the strategy we suggest? No hurry, you may need to finish reading the rest of this
chapter to answer this final question

Stage 1 - Initial Setup
When you fully understand the risk and you are ready to run SteadyMartinGear, please follow
these steps for initial setup:
1.

Prepare at least US$1,000#, find a popular, regulated broker in a country with a sound legal
system and open an independent Micro Lot accounts to run SteadyMartinGear (if you find a good
broker which offers Nano accounts, please inform us).

If you open an account with only $1,000#, you can trade EURUSD on H1 chart, because it was
the better pair in our backtests. If you have $2,000#, you can trade both EURUSD and USDJPY*.
Set the CapitalShare parameter to 50 on both EA instance, so that each one occupy half of the
funds in the account. If you have $3,000, you can change the CapitalShare percentage for each
pair as long as each pair has an Available Balance meeting the Minimum Capital Requirement.

Set GearSteps to 4 or 5 according to your risk preference. Backtest results show that UERUSD
had a violent equity curve, while USDJPY* had a relatively gentle curve. You can be conservative
by setting GearSteps of both pair to 4 or aggressive by setting both of them to 5. If you want a
balanced medium, setting GearSteps 5 for USDJPY* and 4 for EURUSD pair sounds good.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 28

# Please note the figures above are just Minimum Capital Requirement for a Micro account. In adverse market condition,
adding 20-30% buffer capital would be very helpful. If you are trading 2 pairs, 1 set of buffer capital, say 30%, should be
enough. If you have Mini or Standard Account, the Minimum Capital Requirement can be found in Chapter 4. Please
adjust your capital amount proportionally.
* At the time of finalizing this manual, USDJPY equity curve just suffered an equity curve dip but bases on past bacttested
pattern, we believe it will climb out from that valley soon. If that makes you worry, please just don’t trade this pair for now.

Stage 2 - Ongoing Management
The following strategy will initially slow down the growth but it can maximize the protection of
funds. Please follow them:
1.

Whenever the cumulative profit reach 20% of the principal, withdraw all the profit, if you want the
account to grow faster, you can take out half of the profit (10% of the initial capital). Insist on
doing so until you have withdrawn the entire principal. Note that some brokers have service charge
on withdrawal that frequently doing so can erode your profit. If withdrawal is free for you, or you
have a large account, you should begin withdrawal when profit reaches 10% of the principal.

After withdrawing your principal we still recommend you regularly withdraw half of your profit
(or a percentage of it). Some traders might think they are now playing with pure profit, that was
someone else’s money, and don’t care about upcoming loss. I would say, if you really want to
become a successful trader that accumulates wealth, please treat all your profit as your own money
and manage them with caution.

To implement this set of strategies, the biggest struggle is a choice between withdrawing earned profit
or leave it in the account to accelerate compound effect. When I face similar situation in the past, I tried
many times to test my luck, and leave the funds in the account. Each time the market taught me a hard
lesson and I blew up several accounts. The market began to reward me until I learned to become
cautious. We know that some people will not listen as they would rather try their luck. Remember,
you’ve been warned!

Can SteadyMartinGear trade with fixed lot size?
SteadyMartinGear is a martingale EA so we cannot directly enter a fixed lot size. But the user can input
the negative value of the EA’s Minimum Capital Requirement (as shown on the EA display) in the
CapitalShare parameter which has the effect of fixing the base lot size 1X and force SteadyMartinGear
to use a fixed set of lot sizes when opening trades. This can help users testing the EA or management of
other trading accounts.

For example, in a Micro account, you set CapitalShare parameter to -1000 and force the EA to
trade with a fixed set of lot sizes (0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.16).

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 29

Closing remark
Thank you for your support. We have prepared two appendices for your reference. Please feel free to
email us at any time. (steadywinner@gmail.com)

Ming & Henry
SteadyWinner Development Team

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 30

Appendix A - Backtesting
How to perform a conventional MT4 backtest properly
Backtesting in Metatrader is not as easy as we first thought. Please follow the steps below and you will
get better results. Historical data is essential in backtesting, you must download them from reliable
sources. If you are new in backtesting, please start by downloading historical data from Tools –Hisotry
Center – Forex – EURUSD – Download. It may take a few minutes as the files are very big. The
download screen should look like the picture below:

Please make sure you download all M5, M15, M30, H1 data because SteadyMartinGear uses multiple
timeframe prices to calculate indicator values. Otherwise, you cannot test properly. Because the data
are renewed very often, it is hard to collect data of the same period. We suggest you do the download
during the weekends when the servers are less busy.

Before you start backtesting, make sure you enter a spread, otherwise, MetaTrader 4 will use your
account’s current spread and your backtest results are likely to be different every time. After setting the
spread, you may enter a date range and then click [Start]. We usually use 2 pips (20 points for 5-digit
quote) for backtesting spread as this is higher than normal spreads of most popular brokers.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 31

Note:
If you want to backtest with different parameters, may be GearSteps=5 and see what would happen,
you can Expert properties panel, click the input tab. Change the value from 4 to 5 and click [OK]. You
can change other parameters as well.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 32

After the test, you can click the Results tab shows the details of each transaction.

Clicking the Graph tab shows the equity curve

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 33

The Report tab is a summary, showing Profit Factor, Maximum and Relative Drawdowns.

We can save the report by Right Click anywhere on the summary and select “Save as
Report” from the pop-up menu. Here is a sample tester report:

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 34

More Precise Backtesting with Tick Data
The historical data above are from Metaquotes, which are downloadable no matter which broker you
use. Though far from perfect, the Metaquotes data is widely used since it is free. It is good for testing
mid to long term strategies. But starting from SteadyWinner 5.0, we started to use a more precise Tick
Data system for backtesting.

To understand why, let’s look at a 1 minute candle. A candle only tells us the Opening, Highest,
Lowest, Closing price within that minute. But it doesn’t tell us whether the price reached the Highest
point first or the Lowest point first. The diagram below shows 2 possible price movement patterns
within 1 minute that would produce exactly the same M1 candle. However, to an EA seeking only a
few pips, such difference could mean live or death.

Assume the EA opened a BUY order with Entry Price at the orange line, Stop Loss at the red line and
Take Profit at the green line. If the price hit the Lowest point first, the order would be closed by Stop
Loss (the left blue circle). But the order could be closed with a Take Profit if the price hit the Highest
first (the right blue circle).

We need a set of data that simulate every movement within the minute and that is where tick data
backtesting come in as it gives a more accurate picture of how an EA would have performed in history.
The backtesting process is the same, but with tick-by-tick data, the modeling quality is better. All the
backtest reports we used in this manual are Tick Data backtesting reports (you can tell by the 99%
modeling quality).

Recently, MetaTrader 4 no longer allows backtest using outside data source. So we need a tool to
overcome this limitation. We are using Birt’s Tick Data Suite from EA review dot net. Since this is a
commercial product, we are not going to discuss details here. If you want to do your own Tick Data
backtesting and are interested in Tick Data Suite, please visit Birt’s website:
http://eareview.net/tick-data

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 35

Backtesting focus for SteadyMartinGear
SteadyMartinGear is a new product. We put special focus on the following criteria when doing
backtests

1. Profit Factor (PF)
Profit Factor = Sum of dollar won / Sum of dollar lost (in the test period)
It is the simplest and most reliable Performance Indicator of an EA. A Profit Factor of 2 means for
every 1 dollar we lose, we expect to gain 2 dollars back. The Profit Factor of SteadyMartinGear is close
to but still under 1.5. 1.5 is the benchmark we will try to achieve.

2. Maximal Draw Down
The maximum drawdown MAX DD indicates how much % of capital we could lose according to
history backtest if we start at the worst point and suffer many losses. For SteadyMartinGear, the
Maximum Draw Down is around 20%, which is acceptable.

3. A respectable Equity Curve
We don’t believe in silky-smooth or straight-line equity curve. An EA trading for months without a
single loss is incredible. We think a natural Equity Curve of an EA should have some drawdowns, but
we try to make sure the EA does not take too long to recover from such a drop. Interestingly, EAs with
a good PF usually have nice Equity Curves.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 36

Appendix B – Resources to learn forex and MQL4
If you like to know more about forex trading, you can learn from the following sources:

For Forex beginners
http://www.babypips.com/school/

Learn how to use Metatrader (Metaquote Official Website)
http://www.metaquotes.net/en

Popular Forex forums
http://www.mql4.com/
http://www.forexfactory.com/
http://www.forex-tsd.com/
http://www.donnaforex.com/
http://indo-investasi.com/

Learning how to code MQL4
MQ4 is very similar to the C programming language. Once learned, you can code your own EA or
customize existing ones. Below are some resources to learn MQ4. It would be much easier if you have
programming experience in C.

[1] The MQ4 course by Coder Guru. This is the first book I read, but the English is sometimes
unreadable.
http://www.forexmt4.com/_MT4_Tutorials/Mql%204-%20Metatrader%204%20Develo
pment%20Course.pdf

[2] A book by S. Kovalyov at http://forum.mql4.com/12929
This book is free on http://www.mql4.com/ but is difficult for beginners.

[3] “MQ4 for Traders” by David M. Williams. This is an easy book, but you have to pay for it. The
author also offers a free email course on his website. I suggest you read this
book first. http://www.iexpertadvisor.com/metatrader-mql-expert-advisor.htm

[4] There is a new book called “Expert Programming” by Andrew R. Young. It is the first
comprehensive guide to MQL programming. The author is an experienced coder, and he gives in-depth

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 37

analysis on building complicated EAs. Source code is included. You can buy it from Amazon or other
online book stores.

[5] There are some courses on MQL4 in Udemy, you can visit the website do a keyword search for
“MQL4”. https://www.udemy.com/

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 38

Where to buy SteadyMartinGear?
SteadyMartinGear V1.0 Demo is free, but can only be used on demo accounts. SteadyMartinGear V1.0
has no limitation. It can be purchased at our website: http://www.steadywinner.com. The price is
US$50.
Our product is very much underpriced. If you like it, please support us by buying your own license.

Refund Policy
We assume that you have run the demo version for some time before making any purchase. However,
if for any reason you cannot run the EA or find it unsatisfactory, a refund is possible. The distribution
is through ClickBank. They will hold the money for 60 days in case customers have complaints. We
are honest EA developers. Any claims for refund will be handled according to the rules set by
ClickBank.

Unfortunately, we found some abuse on this policy. Usually, these are users who know very little about
backtesting. For example they buy the EA on Saturday and backtest it without knowing how to correct
the weekend high spread. Some of them even do not bother to download the historical data. Of course,
the results were disappointing. They thought they were scammed and asked for a refund on Sunday or
Monday. Such misunderstanding could be avoided if they try our demo version first and contact us if
they have questions.

That is why we want to set a restriction that we will entertain request for refund after 40 days. One or
two weeks are too short a time to judge an EA. We will not ask for your trading records, but we do
hope that you have used it for some time, live or demo. Also, if you can, please state a specific reason
for refund, this will help us improve our products in the future.

Disclaimer and Risk Warnings

Trading any financial market involves risk. This manual, the EA and the content of our website and all related correspondence
are neither a solicitation nor an offer to purchase or sell any financial instrument.

Although every attempt has been made to assure accuracy, we do not give any expressed or implied warranty as to its accuracy.
We do not accept any liability for error or omission. Examples are provided for illustrative and educational purposes only and
should not be construed as investment advice or strategy.

No representation is being made that any account or trader will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed.
Past performance is not indicative of future results.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 39

License Agreement for SteadyMartinGear Product
This License Agreement (hereinafter the “Agreement”) is a binding legal agreement between you as an
individual or single entity (hereinafter the “Licensee”) and SteadyWinner Development team
(hereinafter the “Licensor”) for the use of the SteadyMartinGear product including the EA and user
manual together with all prior and/or subsequent versions, and all updates thereto (hereinafter the
“PRODUCT”).

By using the PRODUCT, the Licensee agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If the
Licensee does not agree to any part of the terms of this Agreement, THE LICENSEE CAN NOT
INSTALL, USE, DISTRIBUTE, OR REPLICATE IN ANY MANNER, ANY PART, FILE OR
PORTION OF THE PRODUCT, OR USE THIS PRODUCT FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSES.
LICENSE GRANT.
The PRODUCT is licensed, not sold. Upon acceptance of this Agreement the Licensor grants the
Licensee a personal, nonexclusive, nontransferable, royalty-free license to use the PRODUCT on the
trading account registered on the Licensee’ name for a live time.
DESCRIPTION OF OTHER RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS.
1. Limitations on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, and Disassembly.
The Licensee may NOT reverse engineer, decompile, create derivative works, modify, translate, or
disassemble the PRODUCT, and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by
applicable law notwithstanding this limitation. The Licensee agrees to take all reasonable, legal and
appropriate measures to prohibit the illegal dissemination of the PRODUCT or any of its constituent
parts and files to the fullest extent of all applicable local, federal and international laws and treaties
regarding anti-circumvention, including but not limited to the Geneva and Berne World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) Diplomatic Conferences.
2. Transfer.
The Licensee may NOT rent, lease, or lend the PRODUCT. The Licensee may NOT permanently or
temporarily transfer ANY of his/her rights to any individual or entity. Only the Licensee has the right
to use the libraries, redistributables, or other files of the PRODUCT (or any portions thereof) for
autotrading with the PRODUCT. In particular, the Licensee may NOT share copies of the PRODUCT
with other users. The Licensee may NOT reproduce or distribute any PRODUCT documentation
owned by the Licensor without the Licensor explicit permission. The Licensee may NOT distribute the
PRODUCT, in any format, to other users for any purpose.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 40

LIMITATION ON AND EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES.
The Licensee can recover from the Licensor only direct damages up to the amount the licensee paid for
the PRODUCT. The Licensee cannot recover any other damages, including consequential, lost profits,
exchange trade loses, special, indirect, incidental or any other damages. This limitation applies to
claims for breach of contract, breach of warranty, guarantee or condition, strict liability, negligence, or
other tort to the extent permitted by applicable law. It also applies even if repair, replacement or a
refund for the software does not fully compensate the Licensee for any losses; or the Licensor knew or
should have known about the possibility of the damages.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES.
The Licensor will provide the Licensee with technical support services related to the PRODUCT
("Support Services”) within the version line (e.g. V3.) and license type. Use of Support Services is
governed by the terms and conditions of this agreement, Licensor’s policies and terms described in the
user manual, in "on line" documentation and/or other Licensor provided materials.
COPYRIGHT.
All title and copyrights in and to the PRODUCT (including but not limited to any images, algorithms,
settings, demos, source code, intermediate files, packages, photographs, animations, video, audio, text
and "applets" incorporated into the PRODUCT, the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of
the PRODUCT and its parts) are owned by the Licensor. The PRODUCT is protected by copyright
laws and international treaty provisions.
TERM AND TERMINATION.
The Agreement becomes effective when the Licensee agrees to the terms and conditions of this
Agreement by downloading, using, accessing or manipulating the PRODUCT, and this Agreement will
terminate immediately upon notice to the Licensee of the fact the Licensor knows the Licensee
materially breaches any term or condition of this Agreement. Starting from this notification the
Licensee cannot use the PRODUCT and ask Licensor for further support and assistance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
THE LICENSEE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT HAS READ AND UNDERSTANDS THIS
AGREEMENT AND AGREES TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS. THE LICENSEE FURTHER
AGREES THAT THIS AGREEMENT IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF
THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE LICENSEE AND THE LICENSOR, AND SUPERCEDES
ANY PROPOSAL OR PRIOR AGREEMENT, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATER OF THIS AGREEMENT.

SteadyMartinGear EA V1.0 – User Manual

Page 41

Source Exif Data:

File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.3
Linearized                      : No
Page Count                      : 41
Producer                        : Nitro PDF PrimoPDF
Create Date                     : 2015:11:18 14:05:30-08:00
Modify Date                     : 2015:11:18 14:05:30-08:00
Title                           : Microsoft Word - SteadyMartinGear V1.0 User Manual - English 20151118
Creator                         : PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com
Author                          : HenryCGLin

EXIF Metadata provided by EXIF.tools

SteadyMartinGear V1.0 User Manual English 20151118 Steady Martin Gear

Navigation menu

Versions of this User Manual:

Views

Navigation