📖 Overview
Step Ahead automates a straightforward yet powerful strategy: it records the high and low of a configurable time range, then places stop orders at the extremes to capture the breakout. Trade management — breakeven, partial take profit, and trailing stop — handles the rest automatically.
The strategy requires a Stop Loss on every trade. It does not use martingale, grid, or averaging. When running multiple instances across different symbols, the built-in daily drawdown check allows all instances to communicate and stop trading together — ideal for prop firm challenges.
🔧 Installation
Follow the standard MQL5 product installation guide. If you received the EA directly from Trade't, refer to the Trade't EA installation guide instead.
⚙️ A. Range Settings
These settings define the time range the EA monitors to build the high/low, and when it places and closes trades.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Range Start Hour / Minute | Time when the EA starts recording the range high/low. |
| Range End Hour / Minute | Time when the range is locked — stop orders are placed at the high and low at this moment. |
| Range Close Hour / Minute | Time when all open trades and pending orders from this range are closed/deleted. Set to 0 to disable. |
| Buffer Type | Choose whether the stop entry is placed using the current spread or a fixed point value as a buffer above/below the extremum. |
| Fixed Buffer in Points | The fixed buffer size in points (used only when Buffer Type is set to Fixed). |
ℹAll times are based on your
broker's server time, visible in the Market Watch (Ctrl+M). Use
worldtimebuddy.com to convert between your local time and broker time.
🔁 B. Double Trade
When enabled, if price returns into the range after triggering the first breakout order, the EA places a second trade with its own configurable risk and criteria.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Activate Double Trade | Enables the second-entry logic when price re-enters the range. |
| Double Trade Criteria | Conditions that must be met before placing the second trade (e.g. minimum retrace distance). |
| Double Trade Volume Type | Volume sizing method for the second trade — independent from the main trade sizing. |
| Double Trade Volume Value | The lot size or risk percentage/amount for the second trade. |
🚪 C. Trade Closure
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Order Expiry in Minutes | Cancels a pending stop order after this many minutes if it has not been triggered. 0 = no expiry. |
| Delete Opposite Order on Trigger | If true, when one stop order (e.g. buy stop) is triggered, the opposite pending order (sell stop) is automatically deleted. |
💰 D. Order Size
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Volume Type | Fixed Lot (set lot size manually), Risk From Balance (% of account balance), or Risk In Money (a fixed dollar/currency amount). |
| Volume Value | The lot size (Fixed) or the percentage/amount for dynamic sizing. A Stop Loss must be configured for risk-based sizing to work. |
🛡️ E. Stop Loss
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| SL Type | Fixed in Points or Percentage of Range (SL = range size × percentage). |
| SL Value | The point distance or percentage, depending on the selected type. |
🎯 F. Take Profit
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| TP Type | Fixed in Points or Percentage of Range. |
| TP Value | The point distance or percentage, depending on the selected type. |
| Activate Partial TP | Enables a partial take profit that closes a portion of the trade at a specified time. |
| Partial TP Time (Hour / Minute) | The time at which the partial close is executed. |
| Partial TP Percentage | What percentage of the running position to close at the partial TP time. |
⚖️ G. Breakeven
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Breakeven Type | Fixed in Points or Percentage of Range — defines when the SL is moved to entry. |
| Breakeven Trigger Value | The point distance or percentage that triggers the BE move. |
| BE Buffer in Points | A small buffer added above/below the entry price to cover trading commissions. |
🔄 H. Trailing Stop
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Trailing Stop Trigger Type | Fixed in Points or Percentage of Range — defines when the trailing stop activates. |
| Trailing Trigger Value | The point distance or percentage of range that must be in profit before the trail activates. |
| Trailing Step Type | Fixed in Points or Percentage of Range — defines how tightly the trail follows price. |
| Trailing Step Value | The step size for the trailing stop (points or % of range). |
📊 I. Volatility Filter
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Activate Volatility Filter | Enables the ATR-based daily volatility check. |
| ATR Period | Period used for the ATR calculation. |
| Min ATR Value | If the current daily ATR is below this value, no trades are taken (market too quiet). |
| Max ATR Value | If the current daily ATR is above this value, no trades are taken (market too volatile). Set to 0 to disable the maximum cap. |
📈 J. Trend Filter
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Trend Filter Type | Disabled, Force Direction (always buy or always sell only), Previous Day Momentum (trade in the direction of yesterday's close vs. open), or Multi-TF Moving Average (directional bias from a moving average on a higher timeframe). |
| Forced Direction | When Force Direction is active: Buy Only or Sell Only. |
| MA Timeframe | The timeframe used for the multi-TF moving average. |
| MA Period | The period of the moving average. |
| MA Method | The averaging method (SMA, EMA, SMMA, LWMA). |
| MA Applied Price | The price source for the MA calculation. |
📅 K. Day Filter
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Use Day Filter | Enables day-of-week trading restrictions. |
| Trade Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday | Set each day to true or false to allow or block trading on that day. |
📉 L. Daily Drawdown Control
When running multiple Step Ahead instances across different symbols, this feature allows all instances to share a drawdown limit. Once any instance detects that the daily drawdown has been exceeded, all instances stop trading for the day.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
| Activate DD Control | Enables the daily drawdown monitoring across instances. |
| Max Daily DD % | The maximum drawdown (as a % of account balance) before all instances halt for the day. |
| Consider All Account Trades | If true, the drawdown calculation includes all trades on the account, not just those opened by Step Ahead. |
💡For prop firm challenges, enable DD Control on every Step Ahead instance running on the account. All instances share the same limit, so a bad run on one symbol won't endanger the overall account drawdown limit.
📋 Disclaimer
The products and software provided by Trade't are tested in certain market conditions and technical environments. Trade't is not responsible for any loss, error, or misuse of the provided software. Users are invited to do their own testing in a demo environment before using any tools in a live setting with real money — this decision is their sole responsibility and at their own risk.
Past performance is no indication or guarantee of future performance. Trading forex involves a significant risk of loss. Always do your due diligence before making any investment decision.
