Turtle Trading Channel Indicator

Related: bars alligator trading advisor - another powerful indicator for MetaTrader 4 traders.

This trend following system is based on the strategy designed by Dennis Gartman and Bill Eckhart, which focuses on breakouts of historical highs and lows for trade entry and exit.

Also recommended: spread indicator for pair trading - similar indicator with strong performance on MetaTrader 4.

The system was taught to a group of individuals, demonstrating its effectiveness in transforming average traders into profitable ones.

The core principle is to 'trade an n-day breakout and take profits when an m-day high or low is breached, where n is greater than m'.

Examples:

- Buy on a 10-day breakout and close the trade when price action reaches a 5-day low.

- Short on a 20-day breakout and close when price action reaches a 10-day high.

In the indicator, the red and blue lines represent the trading signals, while the dotted line indicates the exit signal.

Original system rules:

- Go long when the trading line turns blue.

- Go short when the trading line turns red.

- Exit long positions when the price touches the exit line.

- Exit short positions when the price touches the exit line.

The recommended initial stop-loss is ATR * 2 from the opening price. The default system parameters were 20,10 and 55,20.

This indicator is designed to be used in conjunction with another indicator to represent the same period or the failsafe trading system, providing additional signals in case of stop-outs. Both indicators include trading alerts, which can be enabled or disabled as needed.

To replicate the original turtle rules, set up two indicators:

Main indicator (S1):

- TradePeriod = 20

- StopPeriod = 10

Failsafe indicator (S2):

- TradePeriod = 55

- StopPeriod = 20, using a different color

Entry strategy using S1:

- Buy 20-day breakouts using S1 only if the last signaled trade was a loss.

- Sell 20-day breakouts using S1 only if the last signaled trade was a loss.

- If the last signaled trade by S1 was a win, do not trade, regardless of direction or whether the last signal was traded.

Entry strategy using S2:

- Buy 55-day breakouts only if you ignored the last S1 signal and the market is rallying.

- Sell 55-day breakouts only if you ignored the last S1 signal and the market is falling.

Position sizing strategy:

Once a trading decision is made:

- Enter the market with 2% risk and place a stop-loss 2ATR from the opening price.

- If the position moves in your favor by 1/2ATR, enter again with 2% risk and trail all stop-losses 2ATR from the current price, up to 4 positions.

Exit strategy:

- Exit longs taken using S1 when price action closes below a 10-day low.

- Exit shorts taken using S1 when price action closes above a 10-day high.

- Exit longs taken using S2 when price action closes below a 20-day low.

- Exit shorts taken using S2 when price action closes above a 20-day high.

Money management:

Initial position risk is 2%, adjusted based on account drawdown:

- 10% drawdown: reduce risk by 20% for each trade.

- 20% drawdown: reduce risk by 40% for each trade.

- 30% drawdown: reduce risk by 60% for each trade.

For an n% drawdown, decrease risk by n*2% for each trade.

Additional considerations:

- The TradePeriod must always be higher than the StopPeriod.

- 2026-06-12: Indicator update included enabling the strict mode from the same file.

You may also like: the little whore trading strategy - excellent alternative for indicator users on MetaTrader 4.

#property copyright "robotfx"
#property link "https://robotfx.org"
#property indicator_chart_window
#property indicator_buffers 6
#property indicator_color1 dodgerblue
#property indicator_color2 red
#property indicator_color3 darkslategray
#property indicator_color4 darkslategray
#property indicator_color5 dodgerblue
#property indicator_color6 red

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• This tool is provided for educational and testing purposes only.
• Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Use on a demo account first.
• Results may vary depending on market conditions, broker, and settings.
• We recommend thorough backtesting and forward testing before using with real funds.