Welcome to the Traders Laboratory Forums.
Forex Trading Laboratory Discussion forum for Forex traders - all forex pairs

Reply
Old 11-27-2011, 04:42 AM   #1

Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 42
Ignore this user

Thanks: 7
Thanked 14 Times in 10 Posts

Lightbulb Dollar Cost Averaging Spreadsheet: an Alternative Method to Single Trade Risk

The spreadsheet was originally designed to assist with determining the best order placement and position sizing for an EA that I assisted developing. There has been debate on whether or not martingale or any form of cost averaging can assist traders in becoming more profitable. This is difficult to determine at the level of the mind, since there seems to be a lot of negative points of view towards terms like "martingale", "averaging down" etc. So to help objectively prove that dollar cost averaging strategies, I am releasing the workbook to public. Feedback and discussion of course is appreciated. I would love to hear how the spreadsheet or other similar tool assists traders in using some sort of position sizing. When used wisely can quickly increase equity, without the use of mystic indicators or some exotic recipe. Although it should be noted that, statistically speaking a betting strategy of any kind requires an edge. It does not have to be a large one. But it has to be an edge of some kind in order to consistently multiply profits.

The file format is excel xls, which should be compatible for most people that have access to MS Office 2000 or greater.. There should be no problems importing into Open Office, but no guarantees. There are two spreadsheets in the workbook. The best thing to do is to watch the videos to get up to speed on how to use the excel spreadsheet.
The second-best thing is to just play around with the spreadsheet, only change the cells specified in the videos. Any cell with a formula, do not touch. Save a separate copy of spreadsheet for each pair/scenario you work out and find useful.

note: for nano lot accounts, divide the pip value (F2) and the Exchange rate (F5) by 10. There is a video on this.

Although this spreadsheet will still do the job for many, there is another version of the spreadsheet that is very similar to the one presented, but uses a macro to auto-fill in the rows that you would have to manually type in. It makes testing different strategies much faster and less stressful (shades), and even generates a text file to copy values into Expert Advisor which is the next logical step with a tool like this. This newer version of the spreadsheet will only be made available to those that are subscribed for updates at AwarenessForex.com

update 11/26/2011: new version of spreadsheet adjust the martingale calculator to force 2 digit rounding. metatrader 4/5 only accepts 0.01 as lowest trade lot size #.

update 11/27/2011: added row for margin level for each scenario. Change B8 (Starting equity) and everything else will recalculate. Many forex brokers have 2 different margin levels: margin call and stop out level. Basically they will alert you / liquidate some or all of your positions when you reach these levels.
Attached Files
File Type: xls AF Cost Averaging Worksheet.xls (616.5 KB, 75 views)

Last edited by 4EverMaAT; 11-27-2011 at 04:52 AM.
4EverMaAT is offline  
Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to 4EverMaAT For This Useful Post:
bobcollett (05-24-2012), henryduncan12 (11-28-2011), pathfinder62 (01-18-2012)
Old 11-28-2011, 04:35 AM   #2

Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: STAMFORD
Posts: 171
Ignore this user

Thanks: 9
Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts

Re: Dollar Cost Averaging Spreadsheet: an Alternative Method to Single Trade Risk

I download this spreadsheet and checked. There was good and useful data for me. Thanks to share it with us.
henryduncan12 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 11-28-2011, 04:47 AM   #3

Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 42
Ignore this user

Thanks: 7
Thanked 14 Times in 10 Posts

Re: Dollar Cost Averaging Spreadsheet: an Alternative Method to Single Trade Risk

Quote:
Originally Posted by henryduncan12 »
I download this spreadsheet and checked. There was good and useful data for me. Thanks to share it with us.
Cool. It goes a long way to becoming more objective about entry and exit, regardless of triggers/predictions. Really places much more emphasis on the position sizing, which is mainly what we do have control over. We have no control over the market direction.

Did you find the videos helpful in explaining how it works?
4EverMaAT is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2011, 04:21 AM   #4

Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: STAMFORD
Posts: 171
Ignore this user

Thanks: 9
Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts

Re: Dollar Cost Averaging Spreadsheet: an Alternative Method to Single Trade Risk

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4EverMaAT »

Did you find the videos helpful in explaining how it works?
Yes, it much helped to understand excel spreadsheet.
henryduncan12 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2011, 10:17 AM   #5

Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 42
Ignore this user

Thanks: 7
Thanked 14 Times in 10 Posts

Re: Dollar Cost Averaging Spreadsheet: an Alternative Method to Single Trade Risk

Quote:
Originally Posted by henryduncan12 »
Yes, it much helped to understand excel spreadsheet.
ok, good. I did my best to make sure they were not confusing.
4EverMaAT is offline  
Reply With Quote

Reply

Tags
forex risk of ruin, martingale calculator, profit simulator

Thread Tools
Display Modes Help Others By Rating This Thread
Help Others By Rating This Thread:


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Whats Your Risk Percentage Per Trade? asiaforexmentor Forex Trading Laboratory 58 05-06-2012 03:12 PM
Using Daily Charts to Trade W/ Thales H,L,HL Method brownsfan019 The Candlestick Corner 22 02-09-2010 09:54 AM
Risk Per Trade for Intraday Trading? stockmarcus Beginners Forum 9 01-05-2010 12:14 PM
How much should one risk per trade? Jacob Beginners Forum 18 12-16-2009 01:07 AM
Risk Free Trade wsam29 Money Management 12 08-26-2008 10:15 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:23 AM.
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
CS to VB integration by DeskLancer
©2006-2011 Traders Laboratory, All Rights Reserved.