AK Trade Manager
User Guide

Install and get started

AK Trade Manager is a trade entry and position management tool for MetaTrader 5 on Windows. Choose your stop and risk; the expert calculates volume and applies the selected management plan. This guide covers version 2.10.

1. Extract the ZIP. In the destination terminal, select File → Open Data Folder.
2. Copy the package's MQL5 folder into that Data Folder. The expert goes in MQL5/Experts/AK_TradeManager/AK_TradeManager.ex5; the optional news service goes in MQL5/Services/AKTM_NewsService.ex5.
3. Refresh Navigator (Ctrl+N), or restart the terminal if necessary. Open your broker's exact symbol.
4. Attach the expert to the chart. Enable both its Algo Trading permission and the terminal's Algo Trading button. Each chart runs one expert. See MT5's official setup instructions.
5. Review risk, commission, plan and management scope in Inputs, then select OK. Check that the panel title shows AK Trade Manager 2.10.

Activate your licence

1. In MT5 select Tools → Options → Expert Advisors, tick Allow WebRequest for listed URL and add https://akorderflow.com. No DLL imports are needed.
2. Copy your serial (AKFB-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX) from your order page or account on akorderflow.com.
3. Attach the expert, open Inputs and paste the serial into LicenseKey (last group, Licence), then OK. Within a few seconds the panel shows the normal ACTIVE status.

One serial works on two MT5 trading accounts (account number + broker server, demo or live). The licence is lifetime. The expert sends only the serial, a one-way hash of your account number and server, the product name and version to akorderflow.com, never your name, balance, positions or password. It re-checks online about once a day and keeps working offline for up to 7 days after the last successful check. To move the serial to another account, contact support.

Without a valid licence, only new entries are refused (RUN, BUY/SELL, pending lines, Fibonacci). Open positions keep full management: B/E, partials, trailing, closes, pending deletes and the account guard. A licence problem never closes or changes a trade. Panel messages: LICENCE: enter serial, checking..., serial not valid, account limit reached, allow akorderflow.com in WebRequest, server unreachable, retrying. In the Strategy Tester the expert runs without a serial.

The news service is optional while NewsFilter=false.

Starting defaults

Risk: 0.5% of balance. Plan: P1 Standard. News filter: off. Panel: vertical at 80%. Daily loss limit: 4%. Static drawdown limit: 8%. Safety buffer: 10%. Round-turn commission per lot: 0. Adjust these settings to your account. The default management scope includes manual trades and trades opened by this expert.

These defaults are built into the EX5. A matching AK_TradeManager_2.10_Defaults.set is included under MQL5/Presets. Load it through F7 → Inputs → Load when needed; a fresh installation already uses these defaults.

Save settings and upgrade

Use F7 → Inputs → Save to save a settings file; use Load to restore it. Reset restores factory defaults. Back up settings and program data before replacing an installed version. Prefer upgrading with no open positions or pending orders. Reattach the new expert and review your inputs and entry preview. Do not run old and new managers on the same position simultaneously.

Panel size and layout

Quick actions while collapsed

The title's − button keeps SL LINE, RUN, B/E, 50% and CLS ALL visible. Vertical mode pairs SL LINE with RUN, B/E with 50%, and places CLS ALL on the last row; horizontal mode uses one row of five buttons. Current plan/risk, entry preview and action feedback remain visible; hover for full text. Press + to expand. MinimizedQuickActions=true is the default; set it to false for a status-only collapsed view. CLS ALL still requires a second click within four seconds.

Font, button size, width and spacing scale together. Text has a minimum font size of 7 and buttons a minimum height of 22 units. Long text may wrap or shorten; hover to read its tooltip. If the panel does not fit, reduce its size, choose HORIZ or increase chart height.

In F7 → Inputs, PanelLayout and PanelScalePercent set the initial view. FontSize is the base at 100%; PanelRight selects the corner and PanelX/PanelY set edge offsets. View choices are saved for the chart and PanelInstance and survive timeframe changes. Changing the corresponding initial input replaces the saved choice; simply reopening and accepting unchanged inputs does not reset it.

Three ways to enter

Deleting a draft SL also removes its price annotation. A new Fibonacci used for entry is removed after the order is accepted; rejected or uncertain requests retain the drawing for inspection. Removing a draft does not change the stop on an existing position. Analytical Fibonacci drawings already present when the expert starts are preserved.

1. SL LINE and RUN

A stop below Bid selects BUY; a stop above Ask selects SELL. A stop inside the spread is invalid. Entry uses the current market price, not the red line's price. Without a valid stop, RUN cannot send an entry. After acceptance, the preview is consumed so another click does not reuse the same entry.

2. A new Fibonacci drawing sets the stop

With FiboAutoEntry=true, draw a new Fibonacci Retracement and release its final endpoint at the desired stop price. Once the drawing is completed, the expert attempts a market entry with that stop; RUN is not required. The first anchor does not set entry price. Endpoint above Ask → SELL; below Bid → BUY. Risk, funds and broker requirements still apply.

Fibonacci objects already on the chart when the expert starts do not trigger automatic entries. A consumed Fibonacci is not reused for another trade. If importing from several existing Fibonacci objects, select the intended object. Set FiboAutoEntry to false when using new Fibonacci drawings for analysis.

3. Entry lines for pending orders

Choose L BUY or L SELL. Move the white ENTRY and red SL lines; optionally enable and position TP. Review the preview, then click RUN.

Within PendingToleranceP of the relevant market price, the entry becomes a market order; the default tolerance is 5 symbol points. Prices move, so review the order type immediately before RUN. PendingExpiryMin=0 requests good-till-cancelled; a positive value sets an expiry in minutes, subject to broker support.

Read the panel

Button reference

Plans, shared or own risk, and R

The GLOBAL / OWN button beside the plan name selects that plan's risk source. Click it to switch; the amount is displayed directly beneath the plan.

In F7 → Inputs → Plan 1 / 2 / 3, RiskSource selects Global or Own. For Own, choose balance %, equity % or fixed money in RiskMode, the amount in RiskValue and the increment in RiskStep. For example, P2RiskSource=Own, P2RiskMode=Fixed money, P2RiskValue=50 and P2RiskStep=5 gives P2 an independent 50-account-currency budget with increments of 5.

All three plans default to GLOBAL. Source choices and adjusted amounts are saved for the account, symbol and chart, including across timeframe changes. Changing the corresponding amount, mode or source input overrides that setting's saved choice. Switching between GLOBAL and OWN preserves the own amount for later reuse.

1R is the initial price distance between entry and the initial stop. For example, SELL at 80,000 with SL at 80,100 has a 100-price-unit R distance. Management uses the relevant Bid/Ask price.

Automatic partials use the initial cycle volume and account for exits already completed. The manual 50% button uses current volume. Small lots may not permit a valid partial. Example: with minimum and step both 0.01, 0.02 can be reduced to 0.01, but half of 0.01 cannot be closed.

In Inputs, P1Partials=1:50 means “at 1R, close 50%”; 1:30,2:30 defines two separate stages. An empty Partials value disables planned partial exits. TP_R=0 removes the fixed target, BE_R=0 disables automatic B/E and Trail=off disables trailing.

How B/E works

For BUY, the proposed stop is entry plus the offset; for SELL, entry minus the offset. BE_OffsetPoints defaults to 10 symbol points. Prices are aligned to the symbol's permitted tick size.

For BUY, Bid must be sufficiently above the proposed stop. For SELL, Ask must be sufficiently below it. Broker stop and freeze distances are checked, so a small floating profit alone may not be enough.

moved counts successful stop changes; already means the stop is already equal or better; not moved indicates a failed or currently unavailable move. Read the bottom message for the reason and required price.

Configure the expert: F7 → Inputs

Risk per trade

RiskMode chooses balance %, equity % or fixed money; RiskValue sets the base amount and RiskStep the panel increment. CommissionPerLot is round-turn commission per lot in account currency. RiskTolerancePct permits the minimum lot only within that percentage above target risk; set zero to reject this overshoot. MaxLotPerTrade=0 means no additional lot cap.

DefaultSLPoints sets the initial suggested distance; zero uses ATR with DefaultSL_ATRMult, ATRPeriod and ATRTimeframe. These settings do not replace a stop you have deliberately positioned.

Dynamic risk

DynRiskEnabled defaults to false. DynWinsStep/DynLossStep set streak lengths; DynWinFactor/DynLossFactor multiply risk; DynMaxMult/DynMinMult bound the multiplier. Streaks use completed trade cycles within the management scope.

Plan 1 / 2 / 3

RiskSource selects Global or Own. Each plan’s RiskMode, RiskValue and RiskStep apply only in OWN mode. Name is the displayed label; Partials defines staged exits; TP_R is the final target; BE_R triggers automatic B/E. Trail selects off, R step, ATR, points or candle low/high. TrailStart is the activation level in R. TrailValue means the R distance behind the best price, ATR multiplier, point distance or candle bars-back count, according to mode.

Management

ManageScope selects all trades, manual plus this expert, or only this expert's Magic. ManageAllSymbols extends automatic management beyond this chart's symbol. DefaultPlan chooses the initial plan. ManualPlan assigns a plan to managed manual/other trades; zero means guard only. AutoSLForNoSL adds a suggested stop to managed outside trades without one; it does not allow stop-free panel entries.

MaxHoldMinutes sets a time-based close, with zero off. MagicNumber identifies this expert's entries. SlippagePoints sets the order deviation parameter in points. The entry section explains pending tolerance and expiry.

Prop guard

GuardEnabled enables the account guard. DailyBase chooses day-start balance, equity or the higher value. DailyLossMode/Value sets the daily limit. MaxDDMode selects off, static from the initial base, trailing from the equity high, or trailing that stops at the initial balance. MaxDDLimitMode/Value sets its amount. InitialBalance=0 uses the first observed balance. DailyTargetMode/Value sets the profit target that locks the day; zero target disables it.

DayResetHour/Minute uses broker server time. SafetyBufferPct acts before the raw loss limit. MaxTradesPerDay, MaxConsecLosses and MaxOpenPositions are off at zero; the entry count check for MaxOpenPositions includes pending-order reservations. CheckRiskBeforeEntry checks combined risk. FridayClose/Time and NoNewTradesAfter set time restrictions. See Account guard below for scope and enforcement.

News, Fibonacci and journal

NewsFilter enables the optional news block. NewsMinutesBefore/After sets the window; NewsHighOnly chooses high impact only or high plus medium; NewsCurrencies selects currencies. NewsClosePositions separately enables closing before news. FiboAutoEntry controls entry after a fresh completed Fibonacci drawing. JournalCSV records the account deal ledger. Screenshots stores entry/exit images at ShotWidth × ShotHeight. AlertsOn enables lock alerts.

Recovery and execution

KnownDayStartEquity/Date restores a missing historical equity base, using the actual reset-time equity and server date. SlippageReservePoints adds a reserve to sizing; QuoteMaxAgeSeconds limits quote age; NewsCacheMaxAgeSeconds limits calendar-cache age. ShowPreTradeSL displays an initial stop line. PanelInstance separates panel state on the same symbol.

ConfirmedUnexecutedRequest is for recovery of an uncertain request only after the broker confirms it never executed and is no longer processing. It is not a routine error-reset button.

Optional news service

NewsFilter=false is the default for every instrument, including BTC, gold and forex. No news service is needed in that mode; the account guard remains separate.

1. Install AKTM_NewsService.ex5 as described above.
2. In Navigator → Services, right-click the service and choose Add Service. Start the created instance if stopped. One instance per terminal is enough; it does not attach to a chart. See MT5 services.
3. Allow the terminal to obtain calendar data. Check Experts/Journal if necessary.
4. Set NewsFilter=true in the expert, then configure the time window, impact and currencies.
5. Confirm that news cache missing/stale clears. A block around a relevant event is expected.

The service refreshes roughly every 30 seconds. The default maximum cache age is 180 seconds. A failed refresh does not renew the age of old data. Cache files are stored in Data Folder/MQL5/Files/AKTM2/news_*.csv.

An empty NewsCurrencies value uses the symbol's base/profit currencies plus USD; use USD,EUR for an explicit list. NewsHighOnly=false includes medium and high impact events. NewsClosePositions defaults to false and is separate from blocking entries. With news filtering and EnforceLocks enabled, newly observed outside entries or pending orders can also be closed/deleted while blocked.

The service reads the terminal's built-in economic calendar and sends no trades. It needs a connected terminal and available calendar data.

Account guard and multiple charts

The daily loss, daily target and drawdown guard operates across the account. When a guard lock triggers, it requests closure of all positions and deletion of pending orders, including trades outside ManageScope. A 10% safety buffer acts before the raw limit; in a simple 4% daily-limit example, the buffered threshold is 3.6%.

ManageScope and ManageAllSymbols govern plan/stop management. They do not restrict the account-wide guard or the explicit close-all buttons. EnforceLocks=true can close/cancel outside trades observed while blocked; it cannot prevent another program's request before it reaches the server. Turning EnforceLocks off does not disable the closure caused by a guard lock itself.

Use matching shared guard, news and cost settings on charts in the same terminal. Inconsistent settings cause a configuration conflict. Separate terminals or computers do not share this coordination.

Day-start values

Guard schedules use broker server time. A balance day base can be reconstructed from history. EQUITY/HIGHER requires a valid snapshot; otherwise entries are blocked. For recovery, KnownDayStartEquity/Date must contain the actual equity at the reset time and its server date, not current equity. Defined cash flows are adjusted in account calculations.

Netting accounts

A netting account has an aggregate position per symbol. Adding same-direction volume with the same plan can establish a new management basis. Two independent plans are not created on that single aggregate position. Close the existing position before reversing direction from the panel.

Terminal connection

Automatic partials, B/E moves, trailing and guard actions require the expert to run and trade communication to be available. Previously accepted SL/TP orders remain governed by the broker's server rules. Collapsing the panel does not stop management; disabling Algo Trading does not automatically close existing positions.

Troubleshooting

When contacting support, include the version, exact symbol, Hedging/Netting account type, full error text, relevant settings and broker server time. Remove account numbers, names and other private data from screenshots and logs.

Journal and local files

Program data is stored under Data Folder/MQL5/Files/AKTM2. The UTF-16 journal_AK2_*.csv ledger is tied to the account/server and records deals and costs, rather than one row per completed trade. Separate outside cash flows when calculating trading results. Enabled screenshots are saved in AKTM2/shots.

Back up program data and saved settings. Do not delete recovery files or terminal Global Variables to clear an uncertain request. Use the documented recovery process.

Complete default settings

These are the factory defaults for all 110 inputs in version 2.10. A loaded settings file or saved panel state may change your current values. Money amounts use account currency; points use the symbol’s Point value. Names match the terminal’s Inputs.