MATTRIX v2.02

Header Bar

News Ticker

A live economic-calendar strip runs along the top of the dashboard, above the header bar. It reads MetaTrader 5's built-in calendar for the Big8 currencies and shows what is coming up, so a scheduled release never catches you out.

Main Grid — 28 Pairs

Each row represents one currency pair with the following columns:

MATTRIX Strength Panel (Right Side)

Shows all 8 currencies ranked by their MATTRIX Strength, strongest on top. Each row displays: rank, currency name, Strength (a continuous %-value — the mean signed %-move of that currency across its 7 pairs since the day open; the eight values sum to zero by construction — the "Secret of Zero"), Coh(D) Coherence (how many of the 7 pairs agree with the currency's net direction, shown as X/7 — a breadth / conviction reading; 7/7 is highlighted amber as exhaustion-risk), COT score, session pips, today pips, and W2D pips. Below the 8 currencies: RON and ROFF(inv) basket pip sums, and the FIX row showing the sum of all 28 pairs (FBT INDEX).

Basket Buttons (Footer)

Currency basket buttons for EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, USD, CAD, CHF, JPY — each with BUY, SELL, CLOSE. Plus RON and ROFF basket buttons (8 pairs each). Spread is shown per basket; buttons are grayed out when basket spread is too high.

The FIX button (gold) trades all 28 pairs simultaneously — the FBT INDEX. This represents the full RiskON cascade (EUR > GBP > AUD > NZD > USD > CAD > CHF > JPY). BUY = all 28 pairs long, SELL = all 28 pairs short. FIX requires a two-click confirmation: first click shows "SURE?" in yellow, second click within 3 seconds executes. Total spread of all 28 pairs is displayed; buttons are blocked when total spread exceeds 3.5× MaxBasketSprd.

Info Panel

Trail status shows four states: OFF (disabled), WAIT (no lock reached), LOCK USD50 (lock active, trail waiting for last lock), USD50 (trailing active, floor rises with profit).

Hide Info / Show Info: Hides the Info Panel and LotB/LotS columns — useful when sharing screens or recording. All analytical data (scores, pips, signals, OrdB, OrdS, P/L) remains visible. Header P/L and all column headers stay visible.

Commission: All P/L values include estimated roundturn commission (entry commission × 2, retrieved from deal history). A trade closed at exact entry price shows a small negative P/L reflecting the true trading cost. Locks, Portfolio TP/SL, Kill Switch, and all dashboard P/L values are calculated after commission — what you see is what you net.

Dashboard Sorting

When enabled (Sort pairs = true), the 28 pairs are sorted by the selected column with the strongest on top. Available sort columns: 0=Spread, 1=PipW, 2=PipD, 3=PipS, 4=PipE, 5=BStr, 6=Score, 7=COT, 8=MTF, 9=ADR%. Sorting refreshes every N seconds (configurable) to avoid visual jumping. All button clicks remain correctly mapped to the displayed pair.

Trigger Filters

Each filter can be enabled/disabled independently. A trade is only opened when ALL active filters agree.

COT Scores

All COT scores default to 0. You must enter these manually based on the latest CFTC Commitment of Traders report. Use the Claude AI prompt (see FAQ #2a and #9a in Discord) to generate scores. The EA validates COT scores on load: sum must equal 0, no duplicates, no zeros, range −4 to +4. Invalid scores trigger a warning in the Expert tab and may block the COT filter.

Trade Management

TP / SL

Profit Locks

Locks protect your profit at the portfolio level. When portfolio profit reaches the "At" value, the profit floor is set to the "Lock" value. If profit falls back to the floor, all trades are closed.

The Trail feature continues moving the floor up after the last lock is reached. Info panel shows: OFF (disabled), WAIT (enabled, no lock reached yet), ACTIVE $50 (trailing from $50 floor).

Sessions

StopProfit and StopLoss (default: 1 each) control how many profitable/losing portfolio cycles are allowed per session before auto-trading stops.

Daily Kill Switch

Daily risk control. Monitors P/L against day-start equity (includes floating P/L and commissions) and resets at midnight broker time. All limits are expressed as a percentage of day-start equity, so they scale automatically with the account — no manual re-tuning when the balance changes.

Display

Step 1: Enter Your Scores

Open the EA settings (F7) and enter COT scores for each currency (-4 to +4, unique, no zeros, sum = 0). The Score and BasketStrength columns in the dashboard update immediately. Use the Claude AI prompt (Discord FAQ #2a) to generate a score proposal, then verify against your charts.

Step 2: Read the Dashboard

Look for pairs where multiple columns align: high BStr, strong Scr differential, low ADR%, and acceptable Sprd. A green BUY or red SELL signal indicator appears when all active filters agree.

Step 3: Open the Chart

Click on any pair name in the dashboard to open that pair's chart with your configured template and timeframe. Click on a currency label (EUR, GBP, ...) in the basket buttons to open the synthetic currency index chart (#EUR, #GBP, etc.).

Step 4: Execute

Per-pair trading: Click BUY or SELL on any pair row. The trade opens immediately with your configured lot size or $/pip setting.

Basket trading: Click BUY on a currency label (e.g. EUR) to buy all 7 pairs where EUR is the base. Click SELL for the inverse. RON and ROFF baskets trade 8 pairs each. The FIX basket trades all 28 pairs — two-click confirmation required.

Spread Protection

The EA automatically guards every entry with spread checks. Per-pair buttons are grayed out and disabled when the pair's spread exceeds MaxSpread. Basket buttons are grayed out when the basket's combined spread exceeds MaxBasketSprd. You cannot override this — it protects you from expensive entries.

No Hedging

The EA does not allow simultaneous BUY and SELL positions on the same pair. If you have an open BUY on EURUSD and click SELL, the EA will not open a counter-position. Close the existing trade first.

Pyramiding

When UsePyramid = ON, the EA can add multiple entries per pair (up to MaxTradesPerPair). Pyramiding is filter-independent — it triggers based on profit and spread, not on score/BStr signals. The engine runs in SMART mode with the Aggressive profile (both fixed in this build), MinProfit 6 pips, BE buffer 2 pips. Important: Only enable pyramiding during explosive event moves with your finger on CLOSE ALL. Never pyramid swing trades — see the Trading Playbook for details.

Pyramid flow: Trade 1 opens → grows to +6 pips → BE-move shifts Trade 1 SL to entry+2 pips → Trade 2 opens with fresh SL/TP → both run independently. This satisfies prop firm rules that require existing risk to be neutralized before adding positions.

Closing Positions

Two-click confirm: CLOSE ALL, CLOSE PROFIT and CLOSE LOSS each require confirmation. The first click turns the button amber and shows "CONFIRM?"; a second click within 3 seconds executes. If you don't confirm, the button reverts automatically — this prevents an accidental bulk close.

RESET EA

Performs a soft reset: clears all Locks, resets Cycle counters, recalculates ADR, resets session/weekly pip references. Does not close any open trades. Use this after manually closing all positions to start a fresh analysis cycle.

AUTO ON / AUTO OFF

Clickable toggle button in the bottom-right corner with a DEMO or LIVE indicator. AUTO ON trades automatically; AUTO OFF means signals only (the manual buttons still work).

AUTO always starts OFF. For safety, live trading never auto-resumes: after every MT5 restart, profile or template change, recompile or input (F7) change, AUTO is forced OFF and must be armed again consciously. (In the Strategy Tester AUTO is always ON so backtests can trade.)

Arming requires confirmation. Turning AUTO ON is a two-click action — the first click shows "CONFIRM?" (amber), a second click within 3 seconds arms it. Turning AUTO OFF is instant: an emergency stop is never delayed. CLOSE ALL, CLOSE PROFIT and CLOSE LOSS also set AUTO OFF, as do all Kill Switch triggers.

Concept

Pending Basket Orders let you set a price level on any synthetic chart and have the EA automatically execute the full basket when the level is reached. This combines the precision of chart-based analysis with the speed of automated execution — you define "where", the EA handles "when".

Available for all 11 baskets: EUR GBP AUD NZD USD CAD CHF JPY RON ROFF FIX

Pending Panel

Located below the MATTRIX Score Panel on the right side of the dashboard. Shows all 11 baskets with live BID prices from the synthetic charts.

Order Types (BUY/SELL)

Setup Workflow

Execution

When the trigger price is reached, the EA executes the basket immediately using async bulk execution (same speed as Close All). An alert popup and push notification are sent. The BUY/SELL button shows the fill count (e.g. "7/7") for 30 seconds.

Safety Features

Persistence

CLS orders are stored in MT5 GlobalVariables and survive F7 settings changes, EA restarts, and PC reboots. BUY/SELL pending orders survive F7 but are cleared on EA restart (safety — market conditions may have changed). All data is cleared when the EA is removed from the chart.

Multiple Pending Baskets

You can arm multiple baskets simultaneously (e.g. EUR BUY + GBP BUY + AUD BUY). When they trigger, the EA processes them one per tick in sequence. On each execution, all standard safety checks apply per pair:

Overlapping pairs between baskets are automatically handled. For example, EURGBP appears in both EUR and GBP baskets — the first basket opens the position, the second basket's attempt on EURGBP is blocked by anti-hedge. This is correct behavior.

Concept

The Breakout Engine is an automated straddle system built into the Pending Panel. Instead of manually setting a BUY STOP or SELL STOP, you switch a basket to BO mode — the EA then arms a straddle on the reference candle (High = BUY STOP, Low = SELL STOP) and triggers whichever side price breaks first.

How It Works

Each basket slot in the Pending Panel cycles through directions: BUY → SELL → CLS → BO → BUY. When set to BO, the engine runs in 4 phases:

Settings

Stale Breakout Guard

If price has already moved beyond the reference candle's range when the straddle arms (e.g. gap open), Phase 1 detects this and skips directly to the next candle. This prevents false triggers on stale levels.

Spread Guard

The breakout trigger checks spread before execution. If spread is too wide (e.g. during rollover), the trigger retries on the next tick rather than entering with a poor fill.

Use Cases

FIX Breakout

When the FIX basket is set to BO mode, the trigger executes BuyAllPairs() or SellAllPairs() — opening all 28 pairs simultaneously in one direction. This is the broadest possible market exposure and should only be used with extreme caution.

Concept

CLS (Close) is a pending close order for an open basket. Set a price level on the synthetic chart, and the EA automatically closes all positions in that basket when the level is reached. This is your basket-level SL/TP — managed visually in the chart.

CLS Direction

Click DIR until you see CLS (gold), then click TYPE to choose the direction:

Auto Basket SL/TP

When enabled in settings (F7), the EA automatically sets a CLS order after every basket execution — both manual clicks and pending triggers.

Example: EUR BUY @ 1.37000 with Auto SL = 0.2%, Auto TP = 0.5%:

Panel shows: CLS ▼ @ 1.36726 (SL, 0.2% below entry). Internally monitored: TP @ 1.37685 (0.5% above entry). First trigger wins — SL or TP, whichever is reached first.

Chart Lines

The Basket Strength indicator reads the CLS levels from GlobalVariables and draws interactive lines directly on the synthetic chart:

Bidirectional Sync

All chart lines are draggable. When you drag a line to a new price, Basket Strength writes the new level back to a GlobalVariable. The EA reads the change on the next tick and updates the Pending Panel automatically.

CLS Execution

When a CLS trigger fires, the EA uses async bulk close — all pairs in the basket are closed simultaneously in one burst (same mechanism as the Close All button). Alert + push notification are sent. The CLS is not blocked by the Kill Switch — closing positions is always allowed.

Manual Override

You can disarm any auto-CLS and set your own level. Click the ARM button to disarm, change the level, re-arm. The auto-CLS will not overwrite an existing armed CLS on the same slot.

Overview

The Smart Pyramid Engine automatically calculates the minimum profit required before adding a new position, based on market conditions. It replaces the fixed MinProfitToAdd with a dynamic formula.

Mode & Style (fixed in this build)

Pyramid Mode and Style are no longer F7 inputs — they are fixed internally (parked on standby). This build always runs SMART mode with the Aggressive tightening profile.

Formula

Required Profit = Base × LevelFactor ÷ GapBoost

Where:

Gap direction filter: BUY requires Gap > +0.05, SELL requires Gap < -0.05. If the gap points against your trade direction, pyramiding is blocked regardless of profit.

Style Comparison

How Auto Trading Works

When AUTO ON (via dashboard button) and the current time is within an active session, the EA evaluates all 28 pairs on every tick. If ALL active filters agree on a direction, the trade opens automatically.

The execution flow on each tick:

Session Control

Auto trading only operates during active sessions. Outside session hours, the EA displays data but does not trade. When a session ends and CloseAllSession is enabled, all open positions are closed automatically.

Cycle Limits

StopProfit = 1 means: after one profitable portfolio cycle (all trades closed with net profit), auto trading pauses until next session or RESET EA. Same logic for StopLoss. Set to 0 for unlimited cycles.

Four Layers of Protection

Layer 0 — Daily Kill Switch (Account Level): Monitors your total daily P/L (realized + floating) against configurable thresholds. Resets automatically at midnight (broker time). Three independent triggers protect your account:

Layer 1 — Pair Level: Each individual trade has a PipSL safety stop (default 50 pips). This is the last line of defense — it prevents any single trade from running away.

Layer 2 — Portfolio Level: PortfolioTP and PortfolioSL monitor the combined P/L of all open positions. When triggered, all trades close at once.

Layer 3 — Profit Locks: The most sophisticated layer. As portfolio profit grows, locks progressively raise the floor. If profit retraces to the floor, everything closes — locking in the guaranteed minimum.

Profit Lock Example

Trailing

When Trail = ON and the last configured lock is reached, the floor keeps moving up with profit (minus trail distance). This allows unlimited upside while protecting the profit already made.

Exposure Control

MaxExposure = 3 means no currency can appear in more than 3 open trades. This prevents over-concentration. With 8 currencies and 28 pairs, uncontrolled exposure can quickly spiral.

Purpose

The Daily Kill Switch is an account-level safety mechanism that prevents catastrophic daily losses. While Portfolio TP/SL and Profit Locks operate per trading cycle, the Kill Switch monitors your entire day — all sessions, all cycles, all trades combined.

Three Trigger Levels

How Daily P/L is Calculated

At midnight broker time, the Kill Switch records your account balance as the day-start reference and saves it to a GlobalVariable (persistent storage that survives EA restarts, recompiles, MT5 crashes, and even PC reboots). On every tick, it calculates: Daily P/L = Current Equity − Day-Start Balance. This includes all floating P/L and commissions — exactly what your broker (or prop firm) sees.

Persistence & Safety

The day-start balance is stored as MATTRIX_KillDayBal_{MagicNumber} in MT5 GlobalVariables. This means:

Behavior Details

Each trigger fires once per day. After firing, it does not repeat — no alert spam. The TP Soft Kill and SL Warning only block new trade openings; your existing positions continue to run and can still be managed manually. The SL Hard Kill is the nuclear option — it closes everything immediately and the trading day is over.

When any Kill Switch trigger is active, pyramiding is also blocked — you cannot add to existing positions.

All triggers reset automatically at midnight broker time (day change).

Notifications

When a trigger fires, you receive four simultaneous notifications:

Recommended Settings

Concept

The FIX Index represents all 28 major forex pairs traded simultaneously in one direction. It follows the RiskON cascade: EUR > GBP > AUD > NZD > USD > CAD > CHF > JPY. When you BUY the FIX, every pair where the base currency ranks higher than the quote currency is bought — which happens to be all 28 pairs in their standard notation.

The #FIX synthetic chart shows the arithmetic sum of all 28 pair prices (JPY pairs divided by 100 for scale normalization). When #FIX rises, the natural currency hierarchy is strengthening (Risk-On). When it falls, the hierarchy is breaking down (Risk-Off).

Synthetic Charts

Three custom symbols are created by the SyntheticCharts EA:

Dashboard Integration

The gold-colored FIX block in the basket area provides:

The MATTRIX EA works alongside a family of dedicated indicators and utilities. Most are available free or paid on the MQL5 Market — refer to each listing for full feature details, screenshots, and input parameters.

Foundation (free on MQL5)

Analysis (paid on MQL5)

Execution (paid on MQL5)

Discord-only Tools

Tools not currently on MQL5 — distributed via the Forex Basket Traders Discord channel:

BasketBreakout (v1.11)

Attach to any synthetic chart. Draws session breakout diamonds when the basket moves significantly from the session open.

EA Won't Load

No Trades Opening

Daily P/L Shows Wrong Value

PipD ≠ PipS in Session 1

Both should be identical in Session 1 because they both reference 00:00. If they differ, the EA was loaded before M1 history was synchronized. The deferred initialization (v2.00+) fixes this automatically. If you still see differences, restart the EA — check Experts tab for "Deferred init — session/week/day bids loaded from M1 history" message with "28/28 from history".

Dashboard Missing or Cut Off

Adjust Dashboard X/Y origin in settings. On smaller screens, move origin closer to (10, 50). The dashboard requires approximately 1250px width and 600px height for full display.

Synthetic Charts Empty

The Synthetic Chart EA (free on MQL5) must be running on a separate chart. History is built on the first tick after attaching — wait for market hours. Check Experts tab for "11/11 synthetic symbols ready".

Dashboard Text Sizes Wrong (DPI Scaling)

On laptops with Windows display scaling above 100% (e.g. 125%), MT5 objects may render at wrong sizes — text overlaps, buttons misaligned, fonts too large or too small.

Getting Help

Post in the Discord #bug-reports channel with a screenshot of the Experts tab (Ctrl+T → Experts) and your issue description. Include your broker name and account type (demo/live).