Salve a tutti,

Version 1.3 fixed is available in the download page.

We fixed the CPU load: now it’s back to normal but I had to take out the embedded HullMA function that was causing the problem, so we need the “hullMA” indicator to be installed in the “indicators” directory. The automatic installer does that for you as usual.

GMT Shift problems are also fixed, sorry for that… my mistake.

ONE IMPORTANT THING.

The GMT default is back to 0 (it’s a good setting) but thanks to GMT shift fix, the suggested settings now are:

GMT_shift = -1 for GBPUSD

and

GMT_shift = 1 for GBPJPY

I update the best settings page as well.

Also, one more time… GMT_Shift it not related to your platform or to your broker time. This is to tell the EA which “midnight” use for opening its trades. So simply set it to the best settings value and don’t worry about your platform or broker time

Enjoy your trades!

P.S. Next step is fixing IamFX and GallantFX VPS problem then start working on version 1.4 that will be mainly focused on building compounding strategy.

P.P.S. I’m also working on some nice “gift” for Christmas

Salve a tutti,

I think I fixed all the bugs in the previous version… mainly focusing on CPU load and GMT time shift problem.

But before releasing the fixed version I’ll test it till tomorrow market close and if everything is ok, as it should, I’ll make it public in the weekend, probably Saturday already.

Debugging MQL4 is not easy as there’s no debugger in MetaEditor so, sometimes, specially for the most stupid errors, it takes time to realize what’s wrong. What I do it print the code and read it line by line. It may seem strange but I found is the best way (at least for me) to find problems.

Funny that, despite the fact that I spend most of the day in front of my monitors and to READ something for real I have to print it. The same way, specially when I “develop” EAs strategies ideas I have to write them down. I use to draw a lot. I got my “always-with-me” moleskine. Well, lately the iPad is more and more helping me in reading and writing, but I still find “pen&paper” the best creative tools, at least at the very beginning of the creative phase.

Anyway… just to give you an idea of how long it can take sometimes think that Crescendo is actually more than 1700 lines of code (21 printed pages).

I’m testing the fixed version since afternoon, using any possible GMT_shift value and everything seems to work as expected. Tomorrow early morning I’ll also send it to the “beta” testers just to be sure that they have no problems also.

Cheers.

Salve a tutti,

as announced last week, the Crescendo version 1.3 is here and available for you to download. It is more of a version 2 than just a simple upgrade.

We implemented a new trend algorithm that lets us filter the trend strength and trade with a higher probability of profit, leading to fewer trades (almost no need for additional ones), more profits (as we close them earlier) and, most importantly, lower draw downs!

We updated the manual with the new features and added a video specifically for this latest version, describing what’s new in detail.

As a bonus, I also added a set of indicators that are based on the same trend algorithm we are using for the new Crescendo. You can use it for your manual trading and even for the development of your expert advisors. I recorded a video on this also.

With your username and password, you can find everything in the download area that is accessible here:

http://www.forexcrescendo.com/ecg/securelogin.php

As always, we suggest that you keep updated by reading the blog (www.forexcrescendo.com/blog). More and more, the blog is becoming the place where the Crescendo users meet and share their experiences and ideas.

I just set up a page dedicated to the “best settings”, coming from the Crescendo’s team and from some of our other Crescendinos, like you, that are using it. The link is:

http://www.forexcrescendo.com/blog/?page_id=274

We also added a new page dedicated to any suggestions that you may have for the improvement of the Crescendo’s strategy. I call it the “Melting Pot”. The link is:

http://www.forexcrescendo.com/blog/?page_id=272

The Crescendinos community is growing, and the blog is becoming their meeting place. For that reason, we are also adding a “chat” page to the blog where you can talk about anything on your mind, and not just the Crescendo. The link is:

http://www.forexcrescendo.com/blog/?page_id=269

That’s all. So go to the download page now:

http://www.forexcrescendo.com/ecg/securelogin.php

Download the new Crescendo, the new manual, and watch the video about what’s new in version 1.3 to have an in-depth idea of how much it has improved.

P.S. As for every new version, we ask you to test it for a period of time before using it on a live account. We have tested it in many situations, but we can’t test it in all the possibilities. If you spot any problem, please report it to me directly through support@forexcrescendo.com so that we can deal with it asap.

P.P.S: CHECK BEST SETTINGS PAGE for BEST DEFAULT SETTINGS!!

Salve a tutti,

I hope you’re enjoying the weekend.

I want to go more in depth to the different strategies I coded to improve the safeness of version 1.3. Now we have 3 strategies:

1. Trend Filter Magnitude
2. Close On Counter Trend Filter Magnitude
3. Max DD (the same as for the previous versions)

Trend Filter Magnitude

The first should be very clear by now. We have 3 levels of “scoring” the trend (1 – weak, 3 – medium, 5 – strong) and filter entries based on that score. By default we’ll enter only on trends with magnitude 3 (so only long when trend score is +3 or more, and enter short only when trend score is -3 or less).

It is important to stress the fact that by filtering we lower the number of trades, so don’t expect Crescendo to open immediately orders, but check for trend score to see if is strong enough based on your setting.

This first level is important as it lowers the AVERAGE draw down as we’ll trade IN the trend, so it’ll be easier to reach the target_profit and with much lower number of orders. But it’ll still may happen that after our first entry the trend strongly reverses. And that’s where the second strategy comes in.

Close On Counter Trend Filter Magnitude

The second strategy tells Crescendo to close all the open trades and open a new one in the opposite direction if it spots that the trend has changed, meaning that the trend score is above the set value but in the opposite direction of the entry trend.

So for example if you set the “close on counter trend” magnitude to 5, if you entered long with a +3 trend, it’ll close all the open long orders and will open a new short order if if spots a -5 trend. Vice Versa, if you entered short with a -3 trend, it’ll close all the open short orders and will open a new long order if if spots a +5 trend.

In this case it is important to stress that is made WHEN CRESCENDO CHECKS FOR OPENING NEW ORDERS (so not in real time but only on market check, so depending on the “frequency” setting, by default every 12 hours). So in case of a huge drop due to some big event this strategy won’t work unless that happens close to the 12 hours check. What can we do in that dramatic situations? We still have our Max_DD, that is the third safety strategy.

With that second strategy well cut possible loss, avoiding having larger draw downs, so avoiding to have the currency locked into a position waiting for days or weeks for the positions to be closed. If it’s evident that the trend has changed, maybe better to take the loss and have the EA restart trading in the new trend direction.

Max DD

The third level is the “Max_DD”. It is still set by default at 30% but you can decide to set to lower values now, like 20% for example. The above strategy should prevent the maximum DD to increase to worrying levels, but it won’t work in real time. The MaxDD monitors for the DD level in real time and it stops all the orders and the EA from trading, if the set % value is reached. A real safety net.

So, with version 1.3 we passed from one level of safeness to 3. That will reduce the average draw down, reduce the level of the maximum draw down that we may suffer and keep the “black swan” protection.

But there’s another strategy that somehow relates to safeness and it’s something that some of you are already doing “manually” somehow: the draw down level based frequency.

Draw Down Level Based Frequency

With this strategy the “frequency” setting is AUTOMATIC. So Crescendo will adapt it based on level of draw down of the SINGLE currency pair. So we’ll have two pairs trading with different frequencies. It works based on a “dd_step”. This is the percentage step that will be used to calculate the frequency.

The pair will start with a frequency 0 (so real time). So it’ll open a new trade immediately when the conditions are met. Remember that if you set a trend magnitude filter the trend should be of that magnitude or more to open the trend. As soon as the first trade is open the frequency switch to 1 (1 hour) and it’ll automatically adapt based on the “dd_step”.  So if for example we set a dd_step of 2 (%) the frequency will be 1 for a total orders draw down between 0%-2%, frequency 2 for a draw down between 2%-4%, frequency 3 for a draw down between 4%-6%, frequency 4 for a draw down between 6%-8%, frequency 5 for a draw down higher than 8%.

This option won’t be enabled by default as it can lead to open more trades at the beginning and less later making more difficult to close “large” sets of orders.

That’s all for the safety side. Enjoy.

Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

– Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Salve a tutti,

I hope you’re having a nice Sunday.

Version 1.3 programming and debugging it’s taking a little more time than I expected, as usual. In particular spotting the possible problems is not easy as I have to test it on different platforms and while everything run fine on backtests, it’s when using live feeds that problem can come. And in the weekends that can’t be done so I still have to wait a few hours for the market to reopen to have it running live.

I do that as I want to be sure that the version that you’ll have is almost “perfect”.

I got a very few trusted people involved in “beta testing” and I think I’ll ask a few ones more to help me with that to speed up the process. But we are very near

One more thing…. I cannot stop to than you for all the great comments you’re posting. I can’t reply to all of you but I want you to know that I really appreciate them. Reading them during the day gives me a lot of energy. Thanks!