NovaBot Trading Interface
Welcome to the world of NovaBot, your gateway to enhanced trading experiences! Whether you're harnessing the power of NovaBot in a semi-automated or manual manner, mastering the Trading Interface is paramount. In this section, we unveil the secrets behind each element, shedding light on their unique functions and the valuable information they convey. Get ready to unlock the full potential of NovaBot and embark on an exhilarating journey toward financial success. Let's dive in!
Lot Adjuster Panel
Introducing the Lot Adjuster panel, a crucial trading interface element. This feature-packed panel enables active trade management and offers essential session insights. Explore each element in detail to grasp their functions. Maximize your trading efficiency and stay informed with the Lot Adjuster panel as your trusted companion.
Lots/MaxRisk Toggle
This switch governs whether the LotAdjuster is initiating new trades and managing trade increments in terms of Lots, or operating based on the maximum permissible risk setting.
Plus/minus buttons and lot size
Lots Mode
When there are no open trades, the buttons on the Lot Adjuster panel function similarly to the default cTrader Quicktrade buttons (assuming Quicktrade is enabled in settings). By clicking the "+" button, a buy order is executed, while clicking the "-" button triggers a sell order. You can customize the trade size in lots, and the default size when the bot is activated is determined by the value in Settings.
Furthermore, the take profit (TP) and stop loss (SL) levels, measured in pips, are also based on the settings values. However, once there is an open trade, these buttons modify the existing trade by the specified number of lots displayed in the black window.
It's important to note that if you enter a lot size that is too large or attempt to add too much to a trade, NovaBot prioritizes the percentage risk you have defined. It prevents you from exceeding the risk limit based on your set TP and SL levels. This feature ensures that your trading activities align with your specified risk management strategy.
MaxRisk Mode
In MaxRisk mode, the functionality of the '+' and '-' buttons on the Lot Adjuster panel is adapted to follow a risk-based approach.
When there are no open trades, clicking the '+' button will execute a buy order, and clicking the '-' button will trigger a sell order. The lot size of this trade is calculated based on the 'Max Risk' setting, which is a percentage of your account balance. This calculated lot size ensures the risk for the trade corresponds to your 'QuickTrade SL' setting.
Once a trade is open, clicking the '+' button adds lots to the existing trade to maximize the risk according to your 'Max Risk' setting. However, it's crucial to note that NovaBot respects your current Stop Loss (SL) level. If the SL has been moved manually and is already representing the maximum risk, clicking '+' will not add more lots to the trade.
In contrast, the '-' button does not affect open trades in 'Max Risk' mode. If users wish to subtract from an open trade, they would need to switch back to 'Lots' mode and then use the '-' button as per the standard functionality.
In all operations, NovaBot is designed to prioritize your defined maximum risk. This risk-based feature ensures that your trading activities are always aligned with your specified risk management strategy.
Quick Profit Button
The following feature will only be visible if it has been enabled in the NovaBot Settings and if the current trade has reached the specified "Quick Profit Pip Threshold" as defined in the Settings. This feature offers an excellent method to secure profits within a trade while maintaining a constant lot size.
Essentially, it executes an immediate sell and buy of the specified lot amount, resulting in an instant profit while simultaneously adding to the existing trade. This approach allows you to have a clear view of your overall breakeven point, even after taking profits. It's a powerful feature that ensures you can lock in gains while still monitoring your trade's performance with ease.
Current PnL
The displayed value represents the Profit and Loss (PnL) since the activation of NovaBot. It encompasses all closed trades and is expressed as a percentage of your overall trading account balance. This percentage-based representation is commonly preferred by traders as it helps reduce emotional reactions associated with seeing the monetary value directly.
By focusing on percentages, traders can maintain a more objective and rational mindset, detached from the influence of specific monetary amounts. This approach allows for a clearer evaluation of the performance and progress of their trading strategy. However, if desired, you can enable the display of both monetary value and percentage in Settings to have a comprehensive view of your PnL.
Unrealized PnL
The displayed value represents the Unrealized PnL of the open trade if there is one. It is separate from the Current PnL and will be instantly added (or subtracted) to it once the trade is closed. This value specifically reflects the unrealized gains or losses of the ongoing trade.
Typically, traders focus on percentage-based PnL to maintain a more objective perspective and minimize emotional reactions. However, if desired, you can enable the display of both monetary value and percentage of the account balance in Settings.
Drawdown (%)
This information holds utmost importance, especially if you are attempting to meet the requirements of a funded challenge with stringent daily drawdown limits. The figure presented represents the maximum percentage of the account balance that has been drawn down since NovaBot was activated, encompassing all trades, including those that are currently open.
Let's consider an example: Suppose your first trade in the session experiences a drawdown of 0.5% before eventually closing with a profit of 1%. In this case, the figure would indicate a negative value of 0.5% (displayed in red). However, for the subsequent trade to push this figure further into the negative, it would need to undergo a drawdown exceeding 1.5% (which includes the 0.5% drawdown from the first trade and the 1% realized profit from the first trade).
It is worth noting that in Settings, you have the option to specify a percentage limit and activate it. Once this limit is reached, NovaBot will automatically halt all trades and enter pause mode, ensuring compliance with your defined risk threshold.
Current Lot Size
Displayed here is the lot size of any open trades. When a trade is active, you have the option to increase or decrease its size using the plus and minus buttons located at the top of the Lot Adjuster Panel. However, it's important to note that NovaBot has a built-in safeguard to prevent you from adding to a trade if doing so would exceed the maximum percentage risk you have specified in the Trading Panel.
In the upcoming section dedicated to the Trading Panel, we will delve deeper into this topic, providing further details on how NovaBot ensures adherence to your defined risk parameters.
Current Pips
This display indicates the pips realized by the current open trade, represented by positive values in green and negative values in red. It provides a clear visual representation of the achieved pips, offering insight into the performance of the ongoing trade.
Close
By clicking this option, you can instantly close any open trade with a single action. It provides a convenient and efficient way to promptly exit a trade, ensuring swift execution of your decision.
Reverse
Enabling this function allows for the instantaneous reversal of any open trade. However, it's worth noting that if you are adhering to predefined entry criteria for each trade (which we highly recommend for maintaining trading discipline), utilizing the "Reverse" feature may undermine your overall trading strategy. To support your trading discipline, the option to disable this button entirely can be found in the settings, ensuring that you have full control over its usage.
Trading Panel
The Trading Panel, positioned at the center of the Trading Interface, encompasses crucial functionality that we will now elucidate in detail. This essential component plays a vital role in your trading activities and warrants thorough understanding. Let's delve into the comprehensive explanation of its significant features and capabilities.
% Risk
The "% Risk" feature allows users to customize the value while NovaBot is actively running. When NovaBot's automated trading functionality is enabled (details to follow), this figure is utilized alongside the calculated stop loss to determine the lot size for each trade executed by NovaBot.
In the event that a trade reaches its predetermined stop loss level, the "% Risk" value represents the corresponding percentage of loss incurred. Furthermore, when there is an ongoing trade and you intend to add to it, NovaBot ensures that this predefined risk percentage is not exceeded, maintaining adherence to your risk management strategy.
State
Paused
Active
The "State" of NovaBot determines its behavior in relation to automatically taking trades when the specified trade parameters, as defined in the Settings, are met. When the state indicator is green, NovaBot is in a paused state, and no trades will be executed automatically. However, when the button is clicked and turns orange, NovaBot is actively running and will autonomously execute trades based on the defined parameters.
It's worth noting that even when NovaBot is in a paused state, you can still utilize the Quicktrade buttons to initiate new trades or modify existing trades by adding or subtracting from them. This provides flexibility in manual trading actions.
If you decide to let NovaBot take trades automatically by changing its state to active, it is of utmost importance that you familiarize yourself with NovaBot's trade entry criteria. A comprehensive description of these criteria is available in the “Valid Trade” subheading in the “Setting” section of this website, enabling you to make informed decisions and understand the trade execution process.
Pause on Execute
When the checkbox is selected and NovaBot is in "Active" mode, it will automatically revert to "Pause" mode after the next trade is executed. This serves as a safety measure, ensuring that further automatic trades are temporarily halted until the State is manually changed back to "Active". This feature provides an additional layer of control and allows you to carefully manage the frequency of automatic trades according to your trading preferences and strategy.
Info Panel
The Info Panel, positioned on the far right of the Trading Interface, provides essential information to enhance your trading experience. It delivers key insights about the asset you're trading, risk statistics for your trade, and valuable details about the asset's price action. Additionally, it helps you determine whether the asset is trending or range-bound.
Current Asset Price
This is the current value of the asset you are trading rounded to the nearest pip.
Current 5 min period
Throughout the rigorous testing and development of NovaBot, our focus was on the 100 tick chart and we advise running NovaBot on this chart to maximize its effectiveness. However, it's important to understand that the indicator we're about to discuss operates independently of the chart you choose for NovaBot.
This powerful indicator relies on real-time data extracted from the current 5-minute bar, ensuring you are always taking into account info from a time interval which is crucial to most serious day traders. It instantly portrays market movements: green represents bullish movement in pips, while red indicates bearish movement. During robust price action, the indicator reacts swiftly, capturing rapid changes. However, during pullbacks, it temporarily halts until further movement surpasses the defined thresholds. Essentially, it provides you with comprehensive insights into the ongoing 5-minute period, empowering you to make informed decisions about the asset's current dynamics.
Previous 5 minute period
This indicator operates similarly to the previous one, as it also draws data from the 5-minute timeframe. However, there are a few key distinctions. Instead of examining the current 5-minute period, it focuses on the previous one. Additionally, it doesn't consider the entire range of price action during that period. Instead, it looks solely at the net movement within that timeframe.
To illustrate, let's assume the asset experienced a positive movement of 30 pips and a negative movement of 30 pips during the previous 5-minute period. However, by the end of that period, it only ended up 10 pips positive. In this case, the overall range of the asset would have been 60 pips, but this indicator would only display the 10 pips positive movement as green.
This approach is crucial because its primary goal is to filter out trading ranges. It focuses solely on the actual net movement of the asset during the previous 5-minute period, disregarding the fluctuations within that timeframe. By doing so, it provides you with a clearer understanding of the asset's true momentum, enabling you to make more informed trading decisions.
Sum of the two 5 minute periods “Break Point”
This final indicator holds immense significance for your trading success and plays a pivotal role in NovaBot's automated trading decisions. It combines the information from the previous two indicators, resulting in a comprehensive overview of the assets overall momentum. When the indicator reaches a predefined "Break Point" pip value, as set in NovaBot's settings, the background color changes to blue in either direction.
Let's delve into an example to understand its functionality. Imagine you've set the Break Point at 20 pips, and the previous 5-minute period closed with a gain of 19 pips. As the new period begins, the asset swiftly moves 19 pips in the opposite direction, resulting in a net sum of zero. Consequently, the indicator reads 0, and the background remains black.
However, if the asset subsequently undergoes a sudden positive movement of 20 pips, the indicator now calculates the sum as 19 (previous gain) minus 19 (current loss) plus 20 (current gain), resulting in a total of 20. At this point, the Break Point of 20 pips is reached, causing the indicator to display 20, and the background color changes to blue. Even if the asset retraces slightly, the background will persist as blue, indicating a cumulative gain of 20 pips, unless the asset reverses beyond the 20-pip threshold. In such a case, the indicator value would dip below 20, and the background would revert to black.
This indicator plays a pivotal role in determining whether an asset is in a trending phase or within a trading range. In conjunction with other factors, it significantly influences NovaBot's automated trading decisions. These aspects will be further explored in the section dedicated to NovaBot's automated trading capabilities.
Countdown Timer
This shows the time left until the next 5min period. It is very import as this has a direct influence on the “Break Point” pips.
Current Stop Loss Risk %
This indicator represents the percentage loss to your trading account if your current stop loss is hit, taking into account your current lot size. When there is no trade open, it indicates the risk associated with the next trade to be taken by NovaBot, based on your current "Valid Trade" settings (more details in the Settings section). If you manually adjust your stop loss while a trade is running, this value will change accordingly. Tightening your stop loss will reduce the risk percentage, while widening it will increase the risk.
Important to note, if the value shown here is lower than the risk percentage displayed in the trade panel, NovaBot allows you to add to a trade until this value is reached. However, manually widening your stop loss may exceed your current risk setting, which is not recommended.
Current Take Profit %
This indicator functions similarly to the previous one, but instead, it represents the percentage profitability of your current or future trade if the Take Profit (TP) level is reached. Widening your TP level will increase the potential profitability of your trade, while tightening the TP level will reduce it.
Just like with the Current Stop Loss % indicator, any adjustments made to a running trade, such as adding or subtracting from it, will instantly impact this figure.
Reset
When the "Reset to Default" button appears, it indicates that the current settings deviate from your default risk setting in the trading panel. Clicking this button will revert the risk settings back to the default value. However, it's important to note that this action is only relevant when there is no trade running. This feature is only relevant if you are using the Incrementer fucntionality.
If you click the button while there is an open trade, the figures will instantly return to display the actual risk/reward values specific to the current trade. Therefore, it's advisable to use the "Reset to Default" button when there are no active trades to ensure accurate representation of the risk setting.