Clickalgo Knowledge Center
Return to Website

How the MA Trading System Works

It is probably best to explain how this system works so there is no confusion when you are analysing the charts.

 

Do I need the indicators on the chart?

You do not need to add the standard cTrader MA indicators to the charts for this trading system to work as it uses them in memory, but most traders do place them on the charts for reference and to make sure the system is working correctly, also, this system is semi-automated so you will need to do your chart analysis and manage your trades.

 

A common mistake with chart indicators

One of the most common mistakes when analysing your trade entries and exits is that the indicator values for the Fast and Slow MA's in the cBot do not match the settings for the indicators on the chart if you wish to check your trades then make sure that you use the same settings for both the indicator and the cBot.

 

How Trades are Opened

This is a standard moving average trading strategy and it works by opening a buy order when the fast MA crosses above the slow MA. In reverse, it opens a  sell order when the fast MA crosses below the slow MA.

The signal to open the orders are not checked until the candle closes and it looks 1-bar back, the reason for this extra logic is to make sure that across has actually occurred and the two MA's did not tickle each other, even with this check you may notice that some trades open and closed quickly, this can be fixed by using better periods for the indicators to smooth out the crossover of the lines.

 

How the Trades are Closed

There are various methods to close a trade and they are listed below.

  • Close on crossover - this will close a buy when there is a sell signal and close a sell when there is a buy signal.
  • Stop-loss & take profit targets.
  • Trailing stop loss.
  • Human interaction.
  • 3rd party robots that manage trades.