# ACG User Manual

> Trading involves substantial risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always backtest and run on a demo account before going live.

- 0 — Before You Start: Is ACG Right for You?

  Read this before touching any settings. 5 minutes here will save you weeks of confusion.

  ## 👤 Who Is ACG Built For?

  ACG is a systematic, rule-based trading tool — not a passive income machine. Past results do not indicate future performance.

  Profile | Fit
  --- | ---
  $500 account, learning phase | ✅ Can be used — Fixed Lot = 0.01 recommended
  $1,000+ account, serious trader | ✅ Recommended starting point
  Prop firm trader (FTMO, FundedNext, etc.) | ✅ Rule-based logic suits structured environments
  Someone who expects positive performance every week | ❌ Not a realistic expectation for any trading system
  Someone who will panic at the first red week | ❌ Likely to make emotional decisions that hurt results

  ## 📊 How to Evaluate ACG Performance

  After completing a full usage cycle (minimum 3 months), here is the correct way to assess whether ACG is performing as expected:

  ✅ Step 1 — Compare A → B (Your Start vs Your Now)

  Look at your account from the moment you started running ACG to today. Do not judge individual weeks in isolation. The only meaningful comparison is:

  Metric | What To Look At
  --- | ---
  Equity curve | Overall direction over the full period — not daily swings
  Win/Loss distribution | Spread across the full sample of trades, not cherry-picked weeks
  Max Drawdown | Peak-to-trough over the full period
  Recovery behavior | Did the system recover after drawdown periods?

  ✅ Step 2 — Compare Against Our Live Account

  ACG's performance on your account should be broadly consistent with our published live account results.

  ✅ Step 3 — Compare with Other Users

  The ACG community includes users running the same bot across different brokers and account sizes. If your results are significantly different from the majority of users over the same period, it is worth checking your setup before drawing conclusions about performance.

  ❌ What Not to Do

  > "I ran it for 2 weeks and it had 3 losing days — I'm stopping."

  This is the most common mistake. Two weeks is not enough data to evaluate any systematic trading tool. You would need hundreds of trades across varying market conditions to draw a statistically meaningful conclusion.

  Stopping during a drawdown based on 1–2 weeks of data is the equivalent of judging an entire season by the first two games.

  The right question to ask after 3 months is not:

  > "Did I have losing weeks?"

  It is:

  > "Did the system behave consistently with how it was designed — and how other users experienced it over the same period?"

  ## 🧠 Think in Seasons, Not Days

  No trading system produces a straight upward line. All systematic approaches go through natural cycles:

  📈 Active Phase → Setups trigger, trades execute
  📉 Drawdown Phase → Equity pulls back temporarily
  ↔️ Recovery Phase → System resets, conditions improve

  Martingale-based tools may appear consistently green — but carry a much higher risk of catastrophic account damage.
  ACG is built differently: it absorbs short-term pullbacks as part of a longer-term process.

  > Past results do not indicate or suggest future performance of any kind.

  ## 📅 The 3-Month Minimum: Why Timing Your Judgment Matters

  Evaluating any trading system too early — especially during a drawdown period — does not reflect how the system is designed to operate. A fair assessment requires:

  What | Why It Matters
  --- | ---
  200+ trades | Statistically meaningful sample size
  3 months minimum runtime | Exposure to varying market conditions
  At least one full DD + recovery cycle | Demonstrates system resilience over time

  If ACG enters a drawdown in your early weeks, this is a normal and expected part of the process — not a signal that something is broken. Exiting during a drawdown lock in negative performance and removes any possibility of recovery.

  This is why a 3-month period is strongly recommended before drawing any conclusions.

  ## ⚠️ What to Realistically Expect

  Metric | What To Expect
  --- | ---
  Monthly performance | Variable — some months favorable, some may not be
  Drawdown | May occur at any time; depth varies with market conditions
  Recovery timeline | Cannot be predicted; depends entirely on market behavior
  Equity curve shape | Irregular stair-step pattern — not a smooth upward line

  > Trading involves significant risk. Capital may decrease in value. Only allocate funds you are fully prepared to have at risk.

  ## 💬 One Line to Keep in Mind

  > "ACG is not designed to win every trade. It is designed to follow a consistent, rule-based process — and that process is best measured over months, not days."

- 1 — Introduction & Minimum Requirements

  ## What is ACG Quad?

  ACG Quad is an automated Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5 that trades XAUUSD (Gold) using a momentum breakout strategy based on key historical price levels.

  ## Minimum Requirements

  Requirement | Detail
  --- | ---
  Platform | MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
  Symbol | XAUUSD (Gold)
  Timeframe | M15
  Minimum Account | $500 USD
  Recommended Account | $1,000+ USD

  > Note: $500 accounts have important caveats around lot sizing. See Module 5.

- 2 — Installation & Initial Setup

  ## Step-by-Step Setup

  ### Step 1 — Attach the EA to the correct chart

  - Log in to the MQL5 account that purchased the bot on your MT5 platform.
  - Open MT5 and navigate to the XAUUSD chart.
  - Set the timeframe to M15.
  - Drag and drop the ACG Quad EA onto the chart.
  - In the EA settings window, go to the Common tab and check:
    - Allow Algo Trading
    - Allow modification of Signals settings

  ### Step 2 — Check your broker’s quote format

  What you see | Quote Type | Action Required
  --- | --- | ---
  2345.67 (5 digits) | 2-digit broker | Keep Max Spread = 60
  2345.678 (6 digits) | 3-digit broker | Change Max Spread = 600

  > Important: If you skip this step on a 3-digit broker, the EA will almost never place trades because all real spreads will appear larger than 60.

  ### Step 3 — Whitelist the news URL in MT5

  1. Go to Tools → Options → Expert Advisors. (Ctrl + O)
  2. Check “Allow WebRequest for listed URL”.
  3. Click + and add exactly:

      https://nfs.faireconomy.media

  1. Click OK.

  ### Step 4 — Enable Algo Trading

  - Make sure the Algo Trading button in the MT5 toolbar is green.
  - The EA should show a blue hat on the top-right of the chart when running correctly.

- 3 — Time Settings

  ## Parameters

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Begin Hour / Begin Minute | 01:05 | EA starts looking for trades at this server time
  End Hour / End Minute | 23:55 | EA stops placing new orders after this time
  Friday Close | true | Automatically closes all trades and cancels pending orders on Friday
  Friday Close Hour / Minute | 22:00 | Time on Friday when everything is closed

  ## Notes

  - Keep Friday Close enabled. Gold can gap hard over the weekend.
  - These settings use broker server time, not your local time.

- 4 — Filter Settings

  ## Parameters

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Allow Buy | true | Allow Buy Stop orders
  Allow Sell | true | Allow Sell Stop orders
  Max Spread (points) | 60 | Skip new orders if spread is wider than this
  Entry Price Variance (points) | 0 | Adds a small random offset to the entry price

  ## Spread Setup

  Broker Type | Example Price | 1 Point = | Correct Max Spread
  --- | --- | --- | ---
  2-digit | 2345.67 | 0.01 | 60
  3-digit | 2345.678 | 0.001 | 600

  How to check: Look at the price displayed on your XAUUSD chart.

  - If it shows 5 decimal places like `2345.67` → you are on a 2-digit broker, keep `60`.
  - If it shows 6 decimal places like `2345.678` → you are on a 3-digit broker, change Max Spread to `600`.

    If you leave this wrong on a 3-digit broker, the EA will almost never trade because real spreads will always appear larger than 60.

  ## Notes

  - Leave both Allow Buy and Allow Sell enabled unless you want one-direction trading only.
  - Entry Price Variance can stay at 0 for most users.

- 5 — Lot Size & Position Sizing

  ## Parameters

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Lot Sizing Method | Risk % | How the EA calculates trade size
  Fixed Lot | 0.01 | Used only when method = Fixed
  Risk % per Trade | 1% | Used only when method = Risk %
  Money per Trade ($) | 80 | Used only when method = Money

  ## Lot Sizing Methods

  - Fixed: Always trade exactly the lot size you enter. Simple, predictable. Good for testing.
  - Money: Risk a fixed dollar amount per trade cycle, and sizes each accordingly.
  - Risk %: Risk a percentage of your current balance per trade cycle. The most dynamic option — lot size grows as your account grows.

  ## Minimum Lot Warning

  Example — $500 account, 1% risk, Gold at $4,000:

      1% of $500 = $5.00 to risk
      Lot size calculated = 0.005 lots
      Minimum lot allowed = 0.01 lots  ← EA must round up

  Because the EA is forced to trade 0.01 lots (double what was needed), and the SL is fixed, the actual loss if stopped out will be more than your 1% setting.

  The EA will show a warning popup when this happens so you are aware before trading starts.

  ## What to do:

  | Account Size | Recommendation |
  | $500 | Use Fixed lot = 0.01, do not use Risk % |
  | $1,000 | Risk % starts to work but still slightly overshoots |
  | $2,000+ | Risk % works as intended |

- 6 — Risk Management Settings

  ## Parameters

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Max Daily Loss (%) | 0 (off) | If your account drops by this % in one day, the EA closes everything and stops trading until tomorrow. Set to `0` to disable.
  Account Margin Limit (%) | 70 | If margin used exceeds this %, the EA will not place new orders and will cancel all pending orders for the symbol
  Symbol Exposure Limit (%) | 20 | If Gold already uses more than this % of your account margin, no new trades are placed

  ## Recommended Setup

  - Set Max Daily Loss to 3 or 5 as a safety net.
  - Keep Account Margin Limit at 70 unless you have a specific reason to change it.
  - Keep Symbol Exposure Limit at 20 to avoid over-concentration in Gold.

- 7 — News Filter

  ## Parameters

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  News Filter | false | Enable/disable automatic trading pause around USD news events
  Pause Window (minutes) | 4 | How many minutes before AND after a news release to pause
  Remove SL/TP during news | false | If enabled, removes Stop Loss and Take Profit from open positions while news is active, then restores them after

  ## Why It Matters

  Gold reacts extremely violently to major USD news such as CPI, NFP, and FOMC.

  ## Recommended Setup

  - Set News Filter: true.
  - Set Pause Window: Choose your window: 4 minutes means the EA pauses 4 min before the release and resumes 4 min after. For very volatile news (NFP, CPI, FOMC) consider 10–15.
  - Remove SL/TP option: When enabled, the EA temporarily removes SL and TP from your open trades during news to avoid being stopped out by the spike. After the window closes, SL/TP are restored — and if price already moved past your level during the news window, the trade is closed immediately.

    > Recommended: Enable `News Filter = true` and `Remove SL/TP = true` for XAUUSD. Gold reacts extremely violently to USD news (CPI, NFP, FOMC). A 4-minute window is the minimum; 10 minutes is safer.

    ### News data refresh rate

    The EA refreshes the news calendar at most once every 10 minutes. This is intentional — the FFC server will block (rate-limit) IPs that request data too frequently. Do not try to force more frequent updates. Once per 10 minutes is enough since economic releases are always scheduled in advance.

  ## News URL Requirement

  Make sure this URL is whitelisted in MT5:

      https://nfs.faireconomy.media

- 8 — General, Panel & Debug Settings

  ## General

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Magic Number | 10008 | Unique ID for this EA’s orders
  Comment | ACG | Label attached to orders

  > Important: If running multiple charts, use a unique Magic Number on each chart.

  ## Panel

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Show Panel | true | Display the live info panel on the chart
  Panel X / Y | 10, 30 | Position of the panel on screen

  The panel shows balance, equity, open buy/sell count, daily P&L, and news filter status.

  ## Debug

  Parameter | Default | Description
  --- | --- | ---
  Debug Log | false | Print detailed internal logs to the Experts tab. Only enable when troubleshooting — it creates a lot of output

- 9 — Quick Start Checklist

  ## Pre-Launch Checklist

  - Attached EA to XAUUSD chart on M15
  - Checked broker quote digits
  - Set Max Spread correctly
  - Chosen the correct lot sizing method
  - Enabled Friday Close
  - Enabled News Filter
  - Enabled Remove SL/TP during news
  - Whitelisted the news URL in MT5
  - Set Max Daily Loss to 3 or 5
  - Set a unique Magic Number if needed
  - Confirmed Algo Trading is active

- 10 — FAQ & Troubleshooting

  ## Common Issues

  ### EA is not placing trades

  - Check whether Algo Trading is enabled.
  - Check whether Max Spread is too low for your broker type.
  - Check whether trading time is within Begin/End Hour.

  ### News Filter is not working

  - Confirm the WebRequest URL is whitelisted.
  - Confirm MT5 has internet access.
  - Wait up to 10 minutes for the next refresh cycle.

  ### Actual loss is bigger than expected

  - The account may be too small, forcing the EA to round up to minimum lot size.

  ### Multiple EA charts are interfering

  - Assign a unique Magic Number to each chart.

- 11 — Back testing Guide

  ## Steps

  1. Open View → Strategy Tester or press Ctrl+R.
  2. Select ACG Quad.
  3. Set Symbol = XAUUSD and Timeframe = M15.
  4. Choose a date range of at least 6 months.
  5. Use Every tick based on real ticks.
  6. Click Start.

  ##