This document explains the settings of the FAP Turbo robot when trading in "scalper" mode.
STRUCTURE of DOCUMENT
#. <Parameter-Name> [<Default-Value>]
Description: <Description>
Depends On: <other-paramaters>
Scalper Settings
1. UseScalperStrategy [true]
Description: Used to select the strategy mode the FAP Turbo operates in.
Note: This value, when set to true, indicates to FAP Turbo that the user wants the EA to operate in Scalper Mode. However, setting this value to true will not guarantee that FAP Turbo will necessarily operate in Scalper Mode. In order for Scalper mode to become active the EA must have been dropped into a chart with suitable Symbol and Timeframe (Timeframe: M15; Pair: EURCHF, EURGBP, GBPCHF or USDCAD). Don't worry - you'll get an error message if you drop FapTurbo into a bad chart.
Depends On: -none
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2. Scalper_Lots [0.1]
Description: How many lots should the EA use for each trade. Don't confuse this with the FAPTurbo_Lots further down, the latter is not a Scalper parameter!
Depends On: Scalper_UseMM=false, UseScalperStrategy=true
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3. Scalper_UseMM [true]
Description: When set to true directs the EA to select the optimal number of lots for each trade, instead of the user having to specify the number of lots via the Scalper_Lots param. To calculate the number of lots FAP Turbo uses the Scalper_LotsRiskReductor parameter (see below).
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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4. Scalper_LotsRiskReductor [5]
Description: The (rather cryptic) description of this value in the manual is as follows: "Percent of free margin used to open new order." What this means is that if you look at the top of the "Trade" tab in your "Terminal" window in MT4 you will see something like:
"Balance: 10 000.00 Equity: 9 991.20 Margin: 27.77 Free Margin 9963.43"
Take the value Free Margin and use this formula:
(Free Margin) * Scalper_LotsRiskReductor / 100 = Lots
This will give you the amount (in deposit Currency, which is usually USD for most brokers except some European brokers in which case it may be EUR or perhaps GBP for British brokers) used to open new trades. In this case it will be $9963.43 * 5 / 100 = $498.17. So you will have $498.17 available for your trade. Because none of the allowed Scalping symbols is of the xxxUSD type (where it is easy to calculate the lots as each lot costs exactly $10), the exact number of lots that will be allocated will depend on the currency pair you are trading.
Depends On: Scalper_UseMM=true, UseScalperStrategy=true
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5. Scalper_MaxLots [10]
Description: As FAP Turbo keeps trading and increasing your equity it will also gradually increase the amount of Lot it trades with, so that it can trade bigger lots and bring in bigger profits. This parameter will cap the Lot size so it never grows over this value. This is useful because bigger lots will (naturally!) mean not only bigger gains but also bigger losses when FAP Turbo places a losing trade.
Unless you are trading with a LOT of money this parameter will not be an immediate issue for a new trader.
A good practical approach would be to call your broker and ask them what is the maximum number of lots for which they guarantee instant execution (in "normal market conditions") and set this parameter to this value.
Based on the Fap Turbo manual it looks like this parameter is in effect regardless of whether the Money Management is on (Scalper_UseMM=true) or off.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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6. Scalper_UseAutoGMToffset [false]
Description: Set this to true to have FapTurbo calculte your server's GMT Offset automatically.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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7. Scalper_ManualGMToffset (a.k.a Scalper_GMTOffset) [?]
Description: This used to be one of the most important (if not THE most important!) parameter of Fap Turbo. While you could, in theory, leave all the other parameters at their default values and still have Fap Turbo trade reasonably well this one parameter you absolutely MUST setup... at least that's how it used to be until Fap Turbo ver.47 introduced the Scalper_UseAutoGMToffset parameter which directs Fap Turbo to calculate your GMT offset automatically.
So this parameter is not as crucial as it used to be since you can now set Scalper_UseAutoGMToffset=true and have the EA do all the timezone calculations automatically. Alternatively you can set your GMT offset manually. For once the Fap Turbo manual actually does a pretty good job explaining how to calculate the offset yourself (p.43) so if you feel adventurous you can read the manual and follow the instructions to calculate this value. Or just use the auto setting and save yourself some trouble.
This parameter is in hours, so can not be less than 0 or greater than 23.
Note: This parameter is called Scalper_GMTOffset in the manual.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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8. Scalper_StartWorkTimeHour [21]
Description: Using the Scalper_StartWorkTimeHour, Scalper_StartSessionMinute, Scalper_EndWorkTimeHour and Scalper_EndSessionMinute parameters one can limit their Fapturbo trading times. Please keep in mind that Fap Turbo was designed to trade during GMT-night time, when markets are not very active. Forcing the FapTurbo Scalper strategy to work when markets are active and volatile may have unpredictable and unfavourable result! read the manual or the [TODD - enter the link to your extended strategies page here] section before manipulating these times.
Note: Scalper_StartWorkTimeHour and Scalper_EndWorkTimeHour limit the time when the EA is allowed to OPEN trades. This does NOT mean that the EA will close open trades when Scalper_EndWorkTimeHouris it.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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9. Scalper_EndWorkTimeHour [1]
Description: See Scalper_StartWorkTimeHour.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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10. Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit [6]
Description: The value of Take Profit for the EURGBP trades. Keep in mind that if your broker uses 5-decimal places in the quotes you will have to append one more zero to the normal values of this parameter (since it is in pips), e.g. a 36-pip stop loss should be expressed as 360 on 5-digit brokers.
Setting this parameter to 0 will disable the take profit (for the EURGBP pair).
Make sure you use the correct ..._TakeProfit and ..._StopLoss parameter, i.e. it will not do you any good to set the Scalper_EURCHF_TakeProfit value if in the USDCAD chart.
Note: The defaults for these values are changed from time to time in new versions of FT so don't rely on the default values to be correct - check the numbers inside the robot.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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11. Scalper_EURGBP_StopLoss [36]
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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12. Scalper_EURCHF_TakeProfit [5]
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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13. Scalper_EURCHF_StopLoss [53]
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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14. Scalper_GBPCHF_TakeProfit [10]
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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15. Scalper_GBPCHF_StopLoss [75]
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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16. Scalper_USDCAD_TakeProfit
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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17. Scalper_USDCAD_StopLoss
Description: See Scalper_EURGBP_TakeProfit.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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18. Scalper_StealthMode
Description: Directs Fap Turbo to append "fake", server-based SL and TP values to all trades. These values serve two purposes:
a) They mislead the broker to think that your Stop Loss and Take Profit values are at this level (which is greater than the actual SL and TP used internally by the program) thus protecting your account from broker manipulation which usually happens when the currency comes close to your SL level.
b) in case of a system failure the will actually protect your account from excessive losses because these are actually real server-side stop-loss and take-profit values. The only thing that's "fake" about them is that under normal FT operation they will never be hit, because FapTurbo's algorithm watches and closes trades far before these values are reached.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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19. Scalper_ProfitLimit [$0]
Description: ProfitLimit and LossLimit work similarly and both cap the Profit (or Loss, respecitvely) for the current session. Both represent dollars (or whatever your deposit currency is), not pips. When the ProfitLimit or LossLimit value is reached FAP Turbo will stop opening new trades.
[TODD Based on the manual and the forum postings it is nto clear whetehr the robot will stop trading, PERIOD or whether it will start trading again if your equity improves, i.e. if a bad trade starts gaining]
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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20. Scalper_LossLimit [$0]
Description: See Scalper_ProfitLimit,
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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21. Scalper_UseCustomLevels [true]
Description: The Scalper_UseCustomLevels setting is one of the most interesting and useful parameters of FT! Custom Levels directs FAP Turbo to close trades for a smaller profit (or even a small loss!) when the trades have been hanging around for a while.
Since trades are expected to close in profit quickly (hence the "Scalper" name of the strategy) the longer a trades oscilates without being able to close in profit the higer the chance that it will eventually turn into a loser. That is why (if Scalper_UseCustomLevels is ON) FAP turbo will gradually "lower" its expectations (i.e. lower it's take profit value) and will eventually even settle for closing the trade at a small loss rather than waiting for it to turn into an unlikely winner and at the same time risking your equity.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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22. Scalper_RelaxHours [0]
Description: Directs FAP Turbo to "take a break" - when it executes a bad trade (reaches the Stop Loss leve) it will stop trading for this number of hours.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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23. Scalper_SimpleHeightFilter [true]
Description: This parameter, when set to true, is used to detect volatility in the market and to prevent opening new trades in case the market is too volatile.
The Scalper_SimpleHeightFilter checks the market conditions every 15 minutes (at the beginning of each new bar) so a market which was considered too volatile 15 minutes ago may not be regarded as volatile by the robot when it does its calculations again after 15 minutes.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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24. Scalper_TrendFilter [true]
Description:Turns the Scalper strategy Trend Filter ON/OFF. The filter is based on Moving Averages and helps FT trade with the trend.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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25. Scalper_TradeFriday, [false]
26. Scalper_TradeMonday, [true]
Description: Controls whether trading is allowed on Friday and Monday.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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27. Scalper_OneTrade [0]
Description: If Scalper_OneTrade is 1 then FT will take at most one trade per session per currency pair - meaning it opened one USDCAD trade it will still be allowed to open another EURGBP position (and another EURCHF.. etc).
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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28. Scalper_OneOpenTrade [false]
Description:Similar to Scalper_OneTrade but more restrictive - if set to true then FapTurbo will be allowed to open only 1 position at any given time. No, it will not be able to open another opsition in a different currency pair. One trade at any given time. Period.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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29. Scalper_ReverseTrade [0]
Description:Since some folks have been complaining that FT takes "the opposite" trade of what it should have (e.g. opens a Buy when it should have opened a Sell) the developers have added this parameter which will allow people to test these (rather ungrouned) assumptions.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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30. Scalper_UseFilterMA
Description: The ...FilterMA parameters allow Fap Turbo to use the Moving average indicator as a filter.
The rest of the Filter MA parameters provide exact values for the MA indicator.
There is no clear description of how this filter functions neither in the FAP Turbo manual not in the forum, although Donna (donnaforex) had run some tests and had found out that the end Balance result is a little better with the filter OFF but trading is a less risky with the filter turned ON.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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31. Scalper_PeriodFilterMA
Description: See Scalper_UseFilterMA.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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32. Scalper_PriceFilterMA
Description: See Scalper_UseFilterMA.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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33. Scalper_MethodFilterMA
Description: See Scalper_UseFilterMA.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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34. Scalper_MaxSpread [5]
Description: If this parameter is non-zero it will temporarily disable trading when the spread of the currency exceeds this value. This is done to prevent the robot from opening trades in times when volatility is high, such as during high impact economic announcements.
Suitable values, according to the manual are:
EURGBP <= 5 pips; other symbols <= 10 pips.
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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35. Scalper_Slippage [6]
Description: Scalper_Slippage prevents
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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36. Scalper_ExpertComment
Description:
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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37. Scalper_MagicNumber
Description:
Depends On: UseScalperStrategy=true
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