Hello, traders, I found a cool trade management EA. It’s a break even Expert Advisor for the free MetaTrader 4 Forex trading platform. This EA allows you to set an amount, in pips, to trigger the EA to move your stop loss to break even, which helps with money management.
I use this break even Expert Advisor all the time, so I thought you guys might find it useful.
Unlike any other break even EA that I tried, this one allows you to set a custom break even point (lock in pips). You can lock in positive or negative pips.
This is useful because most break even expert advisors don’t allow you to factor in the spread cost. With this EA, you could lock in +3 pips, for example, to cover your spread and/or commission costs.
In the picture below, I have the EA set to move my stop loss 2 pips into profit once the “trigger” or 40 pips of profit is reached.
LockInPipsAt – This is the amount of pips you want price to move into profit before the EA moves your stop loss to break even.
LockInPips – This is the setting that I spoke of that allows you to lock in your desired amount of pips once the break even action has been triggered.
Note: As I mentioned earlier, you can also lock in negative pips. For instance, you could set this EA to lock in -4 pips once break even event has been triggered.
I don’t personally do this, but I know of other traders that sometimes adjust their stop losses, while not quite bringing them to break even. The idea is to leave the trade more room to move while taking some of the risk off of the table.
Trades – With this setting, you can scale out of your trade. A setting of 1 means that your stop loss will be moved to break even only. A setting of 2 will close half of your position when the stop loss is moved to break even, and the other half when your “LockInPipsAt” value is reached again. You can adjust this value up to 3 at the most.
Example: You set “LockInPipsAt” to 40 and “Trades” to 3. If price moves 40 pips in your favor, the break even event is triggered and half of your positions is closed. If price moves an additional 40 pips (80 pips in total) in your favor, half of the remaining position is closed. If price moves an additional 40 pips in your favor (120 pips in total) the remaining position is closed out.
A text message with your chosen trigger, profit lock, and (if activated) scale out values is displayed at the top of the chart. The FontSize and FontColour values control the visibility of the message.
Before anyone asks, I’m not entirely sure what ModifyTrades and ModifyTrade3 do. I’ve tried adjusting these both before, but I haven’t noticed any difference in how this break even Expert Advisor works.
I only use this break even EA to move my stop loss to break even (+2-3 pips), according to the rules of my trading system. I never use it to scale out, so you may have to experiment a bit to fully understand all of its features.
In order for the BreakEven_v2 EA to alter your trades automatically, you must make sure that “Allow live trading” and “Allow DLL imports” are checked under the Common tab of the break even EA (see the image above).
You can check these settings when you drag the indicator onto your charts, or you can pull up your EA “Properties” (Right-Click > Expert Advisors > Properties or F7) if the break even Expert Advisor is already attached to your chart.
To make sure these setting are always checked by default when you add any new EA, go to your MT4 “Options” (Tools > Options or Ctrl+O). Make sure “Allow automated trading” and “Allow DLL imports . . .” are checked.
Finally, make sure the “AutoTrading” button is activated (Ctrl+E) at the top of the platform. If everything is working correctly, you should see a smiley face next to the name of the EA in the top-right corner of your chart.
Installation Instructions:
- Download and extract the BreakEven_v2 EA.
- Place it in your “Experts” folder (File > Open Data Folder > MQL4 > Experts).
- Restart MT4.
- Open your “Navigator” window, if it’s not already open (Ctrl+N).
- Drag the break even EA onto your chart.
- Adjust the settings (see the instructions above) and colors, if needed, and hit the “OK” button.
- Make sure Auto Trading is enabled (Ctrl+E).
The beauty of this break even EA is that you can apply it to your chart and walk away. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I hate to sit in front of my charts for too long. That is one of the reasons I switched my main trading system to Day Trading Forex Live.
No matter what timeframe you trade on, this break even Expert Advisor can help save you time and effort while keeping your trading system as accurate and mechanical as possible. I hope you guys find this free break even and trade management EA as useful as I have over the years. Please share and comment!
This is a perfect tool for me. I only have one problem. Could you please alter it to include a stop loss as well when I enter a trade? Thanks in advance!
Kind regards – Jan
Jan, thanks for your comment. I agree this is a great EA. I use it all the time. Unfortunately, I did not write the EA, and I don’t yet know how to edit and write these. Your idea would be a good addition to the script.
You could take this script to a freelance work site (like Vworker.com or Elance.com), and have an expert on Metatrader 4 EAs or MQL programming customize it for you.
Hi,i want to know if it will work during news releases.?
Yes. I’ve used it during news releases. The EA will work, as long as your broker allows it.
Thanks for providing info about this EA and the drag and drop SL/TP EA. I really appreciate it.
All the best to you,
Greg
Thanks for the kind words, Greg. I’m glad I could help you.
Thank you Chris for sharing this
Does it still work fine with you ?
Yes, sir. Still works.
That’s strange. I’ve never run into that issue. If you’re having trouble getting this EA to work correctly for you, you might try https://www.fxdayjob.com/drag-and-drop-levels-mt4 (Edit: this page no longer includes an EA).
Hi.
Do you know any EA which is able to move break even into negative?
Thank you
Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, Rob, but this EA will lock in negative pips.
hi, i have just downloaded this EA to use but it will not let me attatch to any charts? Also, i have looked and compled it in Metaquotes editor to check for issues and it tells me that “use of decompiled EA’s is prohibited”/
Any help on resolving this issue would be most welcomed.
Thanks
Ian
I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ve never run into this issue, and thousands have downloaded this EA with no problems.
Does your broker allow the use of EA’s? Not all of them do. Also, if you edited anything while looking around in the Metaquotes editor, you would have to recompile the code before it would work (assuming you didn’t edit out any of it’s functions). You might try downloading the EA again.
Well, I got this one working now. I’m still working on the others.
What is the purpose of ModifyTrades and ModifyTrades3?
Thanks for your sharing
It has to do with the scaling out feature. I don’t personally use this feature in my own trading, because in DTFL we just shoot for 2:1 reward-to-risk (typically 40-50 pips).
I always leave both of these set to “true”.
Hi there, i have placed this ea in my expert files of the mt4 but cant figure out what to do next. You talk about making sure the settings are correct but where do i find this. You also say we can drag and drop this on the chart. Can you explain how to do this please
Many thanks
If you’ve put the files in the right folder, you should be able to open MT4 and see BreakEven_V2 in your experts folder on the left. If you see it, simply click and drag it onto your chart. That’s when the options will pop up for you.
Make sure your “Experts” button at the top of MT4 is on, and it should work. If not, you may have to go to Tools > Options and make the adjustments that I mentioned above. Hope this helps.
Hi there
i have downloaded the ea and put it in my experts folder on mt4 but dont know where to go from here, can anyone run me through step by step please? the directions above are not that clear.
Thank you for the EA! If I have several trades open, in different pairs, and I attach this to EU, will it only move the SL on the EU trades? The pips value is input in the same manner for both 4 and 5 digit brokers? For example, value of 20, for really 20 pips? (some EA’s need adjustment, otherwise, it’d use 2 pips instead of 20). Thank you
You’ve probably already found out for yourself by now, but the answer to your first question is: yes, this EA only affects the chart you have it attached to.
As for your second question, I lost the ability to us this EA when I updated MT4. I don’t remember if there is a setting for that or not. You’ll have to mess around with it.
Edit: This EA is working fine with current MT4 versions.
I can’t attach to graphics, I don’t know why I use several EA , this is the only one that I can’t use. MT4 Version 4.00 build 1260 year 2020
Thanks for the input! But I’m having a problem!
I want the EA to close half of my position after a
certain amount of pips in my favour and move SL to breakeven. Sometimes it
seems to work. But other times it does something weird. It closes the first half
like I ordered, but immediately scales the remaining half in a few more
positions and closes them right after. Doesn’t let the second half position
opened and the SL in the breakeven.
Can anyone help?
Thank you!
I’m not sure about that. This EA could be conflicting with your version of MT4. Like I mentioned above, I lost the ability to use this when I updated to the 600+ builds. With that in mind, if you like these old EAs and indicators, don’t update!
Edit: This EA is working fine with current MT4 versions.
hi..thanks for sharing.does the ea will make virtual top loss ??my broker will not allow to make stop loss more than10 pips above..this.ea will be perfect if the stop loss made virtually..so OP will close by ea
If you can get this old EA to work (you’re using an old MT4), then yes, this would work for you, because it does not drop a stop loss in until a predetermined amount of pips are made (that you set). This EA doesn’t work on the new builds of MT4 though. Sorry.
Edit: This EA is working fine with current MT4 versions.
Usually the most simple EA´s are the best. Tnx for sharing this one, very usefull. By the way I have MT4 build 765 and it works perfectly..
Awesome, Jp! I’m glad it works for you. This EA is one of those that I recompiled a while back, but I had some problems with it in a later build, so I gave up on it. Maybe it’s working for everyone again.
Merci.
You’re welcome.
Chris, Can you please tell me how will know if the advisor is working apart from the smiling face on the upper right side of the graph. How do I find how many live trades the system made and if necessary how do I close them manually..
Is there any way to find how much profit the system made.
Ra, this EA is not a trading robot. It will not enter any trades for you. It is only a money management tool.
Hi Chris, your EA is perfect! 🙂
Thanks a lot
Regards
Just one thing.. Do you know what are the options “ModifyTrades” & “ModifyTrade3”?
Thanks
Regards
Thanks for commenting Paolo. I’m glad you found this EA useful. I didn’t create this, I just found it useful at one point. I haven’t used it in a while either. I don’t remember what “ModifyTrades” and “ModifyTrades3” does. I was thinking it had something to do with scaling out, but I don’t remember for sure. I never used that feature.
I have a silly question guys. If I enter a position on my mobile device through MT4 will this auto stop loss breakeven EA work? I’m assuming not because I know most years don’t work if you place the trades on your mobile device.
I won’t work if you’re only using the mobile MT4, but it may work if you have it on a real MT4 chart and then open a trade using the mobile MT4. Not sure if that’s what you mean or not. I’ve never tried that, BTW. I’ve never used the mobile MT4. It could work, though. Let us know if it does.
Hello Cris,
would this EA work with another EA, or it is only meant to handle manual trading? would it work on multiple pairs?
Thanks
Like all EAs, it will work on multiple pairs at a time, but you can only place one EA per chart. Sorry, no stacking of EAs yet.
Hi Chris,
Simple and great EA, thats sure! But I wonder how the EA can run on multiple pairs without “magic number”.
How the EA can manage the open trades if there is no different magic number for each chart?
Thank you so much in advance.
Frank
I’m not sure that would matter, unless you’re trading multiple time frames of the same symbol – all of them with the same EA applied.
I never did that with this EA, so I’m not sure how it handles it. I also rarely have more than one trade open at once. I depends on the system that I’m using.
Hey there,
Nice script, one question, when price gets near my numbers it makes an annoying squeaking sound, how do I stop this?
I have unchecked alerts inside the properties but ti still makes this terrible noise.
Hear from you soon.
Thanks
Dane
Hello Dane,
Sorry that I missed this one. I get a lot of spam, and haven’t been too diligent lately. I haven’t used this indicator in a while. When I did, it was because I was going to be away from the computer while a trade was on, so I’m not sure if I ever noticed what you described.
I’m making a note to try this out next week. You might be able edit the file to remove the code that causes the alert, if nothing else works.
Well, I did use this indicator on the one trade that I took last week. It worked like it should, and I immediately remembered the squeaking sound.
It only happened once for me, because I had it setup to move my stop to +3 pips after my trade got to 1:1. It never made another sound for me. I had the alerts checked (I left everything default other than my break even rules).
Like I said before, you might just have to edit out code for the alert sound, if you can’t live with it. I actually found this EA to be pretty useful as is. I’ll probably start using it again.