I know some of you would like this thread, or my comments to die off and go away, but as long as the testing continues I am still very interested in this robot.
I just recieved this in a PM from anouther member,
I enjoyed your detailed comments on the Steinitz HAS MTF. (I've had the same concerns.) By coincidence, Don Steinitz called me last night and said that a member of their users' forum has written code to close the Steinitz HAS MTF after a profit of 10 to 15 pips (dollars? I can't remember what he said...) and then re-open another trade. Don said that that profit goal is reach after just 1 to 3 days.
I would be interested to know if this would solve your complaints about the HAS MTF lack of a real exit strategy.
...
The problem with the Steinitz isnt a lack of exit strategy. There are plenty of exit options available, but they're not used in the default settings. For what reasons??
They hurt the bottom line. They create automatic losses, as a properly run mechanical system should. Mechanical trading is a game of odds, not perfection.
I believe what Don was saying, and its evident from PipCop's testing results, is that the robot is capable of taking a targeted profit, and immediately opening anouther trade. Rather than the conventional thinking where it opens a trade on a signal, then closes on a signal or a take profit, and waits for the next signal to open a new trade. It can now take a targeted profit and immediately open anouther trade as long as the original signal hasnt been disrupted.
This results in a string of quick trades, until the final one catches a reversal and stays in open limbo, with no preset exit strategy. I would think that a simple qualifier to close any existing open positions on an
indicator 
color change would sufice. If this was done one time frame higher, which is available, it would give that last trade a chance to reach the profit target without an immediate loss, but it would definately create more closed losses.
Closed losses are part of any good trading system. Attempting perfect track records is not. Holding them open on a long term effort to reach profit only works if there is a full sucession of supporting
trend lines, up several time frames above the operating time frame, and only if you've got an unlimited account balance to put at risk. Further, holding open trades interferes with the robots ability to open new trades.
(And no the robot does not require all the higher time frames to be in support, only as high as you specify. It will search downward from whatever time frame you choose, and lock onto the first counter
trend it senses. It will then open a trade after that counter
trend reverses. Counter to the counter
trend , but with the main
trend .)
This robot can be run succesfully. But, it takes a trader with an understanding of moving average systems, and a willingness to actively manage and optimize the robot. As you can see from the comments here, and on other sites, EA traders dont want that responsibility, or level of involvement.
I find this kind of strange, well not really. It simply implies that most EA traders, are not really traders. They want the same thing out of a robot that they want out of a managed account. Total seperation from the trading proccess and a scapegoat to blame whenever their comfort zone is breached.
We are getting to the
point where robots like this will be available. There is no reason other than sophistication and knowledge, the combining of intelects between traders and programers, and the willingness and interest in puting the effort in, and creating a product of this quality. It will come to be, but for now its open season for all the EA marketers, and we're the prey.
The bottom line, again, the Steinitz is a simple multiple moving average robot. I dont believe it has any other useful indicators in its program. The easiest movement in the market is based on
trend and
range so this should work on some level, and it does, quite well in fact. All it needs to do is manage its positions better. In lieu of that, any good trader can manage a position, and any person who is thinking of putting real money behind one of these robots had better understand what it bases its decisions on, and how to mange it manualy.
I dont own this robot. I am interested, there is a lot I like about it, but it has a lot of problems, and there are many things I would like to see improved. For instance, the smoothed moving average is an ok
indicator to determine long term
trend , but it is a horibbly lagging
indicator for trading signals. An exponential average is much better at focusing on the current price movement.
And dont make any mistakes about the Heiken Ashi
indicator , its a beautiful
indicator , but he dosent use it as anything more than a colorful moving average crossover system. The same thing could be done with a
simple moving average . This is mostly marketing, people like fancy looking indicators with colorful bars, no one really wants to pay for a moving average system. And thats all this is.
It does not read the bars for volitility and avoid opening positions near the end of a
trend . It does not compare the
indicator to the real price before opening a trade and avoid the big divergences and overextended moves. However it does capture enough of a move, over and over again, to make an interesting scalper, with a series of take profits, and a final exit strategy.
Enough said, I know its been said, but I enjoy working on this one. There is potential here. It needs refinement and managment, but it has great potential.
??For those of you who have this robot. Is there any other
indicator , other than the Heiken Ashi smoothed, in this program and available to us, that we might use to time trades better? Are the parameters for the Heiken Ashi
indicator that it uses open to us? Can we change the smoothing ratios?
Does anyone know where I can download the lower Heiken Ashi indicators? I have the upper price bar Heiken Ashi and Heiken Ashi Smoothed indicators, but I like the lower MTF bar indicators that he uses, they seem like they could be an interesting time saver. Simply running a Guppy Multiple Moving Average of the Heiken Ashi Smoothed can do the same thing, but it get too congested to read easily. Seperating them into individual bars is nicer.
It is the user controls that make this a potentialy valuable robot.
Ken
..., I've posted this under the Steinitz thread. Its only really worthwhile for me to take the time for this sort of commenting if I can share it publicaly and get feedback. I have no real interest in individual messaging.
Likewise, if or when I set up this robot and work on optimizing and managing it, I will run it on demo and live accounts of my own, and post any results for all to see. I really dont need funding, only a willingness to take the risks, and the time to get set up. Almost all of my money and my trading is in IRA's, and I havent rolled any of those to a Forex accesible location yet. I've only had a Meta Trader account for 2 months now, and my only other Forex account is just an attachment to an options and equities account and only has a very small balance, just so I could work and test ideas. Things are moving more rapidly now, knowledge and experience, and I hope to be setting up and funding permanent accounts soon. Its just everything takes time, and I keep finding new things to test.
Forex Killer works well, and FAPS Turbo is working very well, but its only been one day.
Be smart! Read the 
- I'll stop beating the dead horse now 
Better leave that testing to me and save your money! 
It's only money eh? 
Linear Mode
