Fx Craft Example EA: Range Breakout with Pending Orders

Related: Fx Craft Example EA: MA Cross Strategy Explained - another powerful expert for MetaTrader 5 traders.

An educational example of a breakout Expert Advisor that uses pending orders. It demonstrates how to construct a daily price range from M1 bars, place a pair of stop orders, remove the secondary order after a fill, and restore the EA's state after a terminal restart.

Also recommended: Fx Craft Example EA: Bollinger Bands Mean Reversion - similar expert with strong performance on MetaTrader 5.

Strategy

After the defined range period concludes (e.g., 00:00–07:00 server time), the EA determines the High and Low prices from M1 bars and places one set of orders daily:

BuyStop = High + Shift + spread; SL = Low − ShiftSL; TP = entry + RR × (entry − SL),

SellStop = Low − Shift; SL = High + ShiftSL + spread; TP = entry − RR × (SL − entry).

Once one order is executed, the other pending order is automatically deleted. Unfilled orders are removed at the specified cancellation time. An open position can also be closed at a predetermined time.

If the price has already moved beyond a breakout level (indicating a gap), that specific order side is skipped. Ranges that are narrower than the minimum allowed width or wider than the maximum allowed width are also skipped for the day.

Following a restart, the EA examines the current day's order history to prevent placing a duplicate set of orders on the same day.

Code Demonstration

This code illustrates:
- Pending orders (CTrade::BuyStop / SellStop) with Stop Loss/Take Profit levels adjusted to the broker's minimum distance requirement.
- Construction of a trading range from M1 bars, including checks for data availability.
- Utilization of order history (HistorySelect) to restore the EA's operational state.
- Checks for free margin and lot size, spread filtering, and order retry mechanisms.

Inputs

- Range Start / Range End (HH:MM, server time): Default 00:00 / 07:00
- Delete Pending Orders At (HH:MM): Default 20:00
- Close Open Position At Close Time: Default On, Close Time 22:00
- Minimum / Maximum Range Width: Specified in points (0 indicates no limit)
- Entry Shift from High/Low: Default 20 points
- Stop Loss Shift Beyond Range: Default 20 points
- Take Profit RR Ratio: Default 1.0 (1:1)
- Lot Size (Fixed): Default 0.10
- Magic Number: Default 5030
- Maximum Slippage: Default 10 points
- Trading Days: Monday to Friday (each day can be enabled or disabled)
- Maximum Spread: Default 30 points (0 disables this filter)

Important Information

This is an educational example and not a standalone trading system. It is designed to function only on demo accounts and within the Strategy Tester. On live accounts, it will display a message and cease operation. The EA is provided as-is, without any warranty. This is not investment advice. Trading Forex and CFDs carries a high risk of capital loss. License: FxCraft Example EA License (refer to the source code header).

You may also like: Indicator Parameters Usage Example - excellent alternative for expert users on MetaTrader 5.

#property copyright "RobotFX"
#property link "https://robotfx.org"
#property version     "1.00"
#property description "This code is educational. Feel free to use, modify and upgrade as you wish. Visit ROBOTFX.ORG for professional trading tools"
#include <Trade\Trade.mqh>
input group "=== Range (server time) ==="
input string InpRangeStart   = "00:00";
input string InpRangeEnd     = "07:00";
input string InpCancelTime   = "20:00";
input bool   InpUseCloseTime = true;

.......

• 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.