# Trend Trail Panel User Manual

Version 1.12 · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · @Daniel

Trend Trail Panel is on the MQL5 Market: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/206807

## What Trend Trail Panel is

Trend Trail Panel is an Expert Advisor (EA) for MetaTrader 5. It shows which way four timeframes are leaning, then manages your exit: breakeven at a set profit and a trailing stop after that. You place the trade from the same panel, which also has a news window and tested supply and demand zones on the chart.

- **You decide every entry.** The panel never opens a trade on its own.
- **Auto-manage is optional and off by default.** When you switch it on, it only tightens stops (breakeven, trailing) and closes trades before the weekend.
- **It only touches its own trades** on the chart's symbol (and, if you choose, trades you opened by hand). Positions from other EAs are never modified.
- **It runs entirely inside your MT5.** No server, no DLLs, no web requests, no account password shared.

## Installing and attaching

Trend Trail Panel needs the MT5 desktop terminal on Windows (or a Windows VPS); it does not run in the MT5 phone apps.

1. Buy it, or download the free demo, on its MQL5 Market page or in MT5 from Toolbox > Market. MT5 installs it under Navigator > Expert Advisors > Market. The free demo runs in the Strategy Tester only.
2. If it does not show up, right-click Expert Advisors in the Navigator > Refresh.
3. Open a chart of the symbol you want to trade (any timeframe; M5 shows the EMA lines best).
4. Drag Trend Trail Panel onto the chart. On the Common tab tick **Allow Algo Trading**; set any inputs (see Settings reference), then OK.
5. Turn on the **Algo Trading** button in the MT5 toolbar. Without it the panel shows prices but refuses orders.
6. Open the **Calendar** tab in MT5's Toolbox once so the news data downloads.
7. The default distances are set for XAUUSD (stop 12.00, breakeven at +5.00, trail by 5.00 after +10.00, all in price). On another symbol, set the stop and the auto-manage distances before your first order.

**After an update:** MT5 does not reload a changed EA by itself, and changing the timeframe does not reload it either. Right-click the chart > Expert Advisors > Remove, then drag Trend Trail Panel on again. Your panel settings come back (see Settings are saved).

## The panel at a glance

The panel reads top to bottom: context first, then the order ticket, then trade management.

| Row | What it shows or does |
| --- | --- |
| Header | Symbol and current spread (in price), then three buttons: ≡ settings menu, ? manual and help, – minimise |
| Trend strip | EMA direction per timeframe (green ▲ rising, red ▼ falling) and a summary: ALL ▲, ALL ▼ or MIXED |
| News | The next listed release and countdown, or a red warning while inside a release window (server time, "srv") |
| LOTS / STOP / TARGET | Position size (in risk modes the caption reads RISK and shows the lots it works out to), then the stop and target distance from the fill, in price (0 = none) |
| SELL / BUY | Open a trade at market at the bid / ask shown; grey when news blocking is active |
| BREAKEVEN / CLOSE ALL | Move the stop to entry / close the panel's trades on this symbol |
| AUTO-MANAGE | Rules ▴/▾ shows or hides the rule rows; ON / OFF is the master switch for the automatic rules |
| Rule summary | The rules that are on (e.g. BE +5.00 · Trail 10.00 / 5.00 · Fri 23:45). With auto-manage off, what the first rule is worth at the next order's size ("Price moves: +5.00 = $10.00 at 0.02 lot"); with it on, trades managed, "locked" (stop at or past entry) and trailing |
| BE / TRAIL / FRIDAY | Each rule's own switch (blue = on) and distances |
| Positions | Panel trades open, their floating P&L, and today's closed P&L |
| Message line | Result of the last action: a fill, a stop move, or why an order was refused |

**Minimise.** The – button folds the panel in two steps: first to the trading controls (order fields, SELL/BUY, BREAKEVEN/CLOSE ALL, positions), then to the header alone. + brings the full panel back.

**Help.** The ? button shows the manual link to select and copy (Ctrl+C) into your browser. The panel does not open web pages itself. The link is an input (Panel > Manual / help page).

## Settings are saved

Values you type or switch on the panel (size, stop, target, rule switches and distances, auto-manage, rules folded or not) are saved per symbol and come back the next time the EA is attached, also after a terminal restart. The ≡ menu shows this and has **BACK TO DEFAULTS**, which returns everything to the EA's inputs. To change the defaults themselves, edit the inputs (F7 on the chart).

## Supply and demand zones

Zones are drawn on the chart behind the candles, not inside the order panel. Green demand levels appear below price; red supply levels appear above it. Labels show timeframe, qualifying test count and, where applicable, **flipped**.

The detector groups repeated swing turns near a level, with ATR-based movement and tolerance rules. Tests must be at least six bars apart. Two consecutive closes beyond a level's break threshold break it. A tested level can flip once, but must receive a qualifying retest from the new side before it is shown again. A second break removes it. Levels currently touching/crossing the last closed price are not shown.

The default level timeframe is **M5**, independently of the chart timeframe. Automatic test thresholds are **2**, or **4 on M1**. The default history is **400 closed bars**, or **1,500 on M1**, and a level must have been tested within **72 hours**. Change these in the EA's **Supply / demand** inputs. Zones rebuild on a new bar in the selected level timeframe; their right edge extends with the chart.

These are historical price levels for context, not order signals. Supply and demand zones never open trades. Different history and settings may produce different levels; no qualifying levels is a normal result.

## Placing and managing trades

One click on BUY or SELL sends a market order with the stop and target already attached, so the trade is protected from its first moment.

**Size modes** (input *Position size mode*):

- **Fixed lots:** the Lots box is the volume.
- **Risk money:** the box is how much you lose if the stop is hit, in account currency. The stop distance is required.
- **Risk %:** the same, as a percentage of balance (capped at 10%).

In both risk modes the panel prices the stop with MT5's own profit calculation, so the size is right for any symbol and account currency. It rounds down to the broker's lot step and refuses if the result is below the minimum lot.

**Stop and target.** Type distances in price units (for gold, 12.00 = $12 per ounce). After the fill, both are moved to the same distance from the actual fill price, so slippage does not shift them. On netting accounts they stay at the quoted price.

**Typing values.** A value that is not a number is rejected rather than read as 0, so a typo can never remove your stop.

**Double clicks.** A second click within one second is ignored.

**BREAKEVEN** moves the stop on every panel trade to its entry price, once price is far enough past entry for the broker to accept it. It never loosens a stop that is already better.

**CLOSE ALL** closes every panel trade on this chart's symbol. Trades from other EAs and hand trades are left alone.

## Trend strip, EMA lines and arrows

These show which way the market has been leaning on four timeframes; they are context for your decision, not buy or sell signals.

- **Trend strip:** for each timeframe (default M5, M15, M30, H1), the EMA20 of the last closed bar compared with the bar before. Rising = green ▲, falling = red ▼. It never uses the bar still forming, so it does not flicker.
- **EMA lines on the chart:** the same four EMAs, thinnest for M5 and thickest for H1, labelled at their right end. Each piece is green where the line rose and red where it fell. A higher timeframe's line only moves when its bar closes, so it never shows a value before it existed. Timeframes lower than the chart's are not drawn.
- **Arrows:** ▲ under a bar where all four EMAs had just started rising at that bar's close; ▼ above a bar where all four had just started falling. Hover an arrow for its tooltip. They are exactly what the strip showed live at that moment, not hindsight.

EMA period, timeframes, how far back to draw (default 300 bars), and whether lines and arrows are drawn at all are inputs.

## News window

Trend Trail Panel reads MT5's built-in economic calendar and marks a window around big releases, by default 30 minutes before to 60 minutes after.

- **Which releases:** USD events whose name contains CPI, Nonfarm Payrolls, Fed Interest Rate Decision, FOMC Press Conference, PCE Price Index, PPI m/m, Retail Sales m/m or GDP q/q. They are matched by name because MT5's own "high importance" flag also covers minor events most days. Currencies and names are inputs.
- **Outside a window:** the panel shows the next release and a countdown.
- **Inside a window:** the news line turns red and says when the window ends.

| Mode | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| Off | No news line |
| Warn (default) | Red warning; BUY and SELL still work |
| Block | BUY and SELL grey out and refuse orders inside the window. If the calendar cannot be read, entries are blocked too |

Open trades are never closed or changed by the news window. All times are MT5 server time, marked "srv", which may differ from your computer's clock. If the panel says the calendar is empty, open MT5's Toolbox > Calendar tab once so it downloads.

## Auto-manage

Auto-manage applies your exit rules to trades you opened; it is off every time the EA is attached until you click **AUTO-MANAGE** (or set *Auto-manage ON when attached*).

When it is on, each managed trade goes through these stages as it moves into profit (defaults shown, all editable on the panel):

1. **Breakeven** at +5.00: the stop moves to the entry price (plus an optional lock amount set in the inputs).
2. **Trailing** from +10.00: the stop follows 5.00 behind price, and only ever moves in your favour.
3. **Weekend close-out** (FRI) at 23:45 server time on Friday: managed trades are closed. While this is due, new panel entries are refused.

Each rule has its own switch (BE, TRAIL, FRIDAY); blue means on. The summary line counts trades managed, "locked" (stop at or past entry) and trailing.

**Price or money.** By default the rule distances are price moves, the same at any lot size: on gold, +5.00 is a $5 per ounce move, which is $10 at 0.02 lots. The panel shows that conversion while auto-manage is off. Set *Rule distances are in* to account money per trade to type the distances as money instead; they are converted per position with the terminal's own profit calculation. A rule that cannot be priced is skipped rather than fired.

**What it will and won't do:**

- It only tightens stops and closes before the weekend. It never opens a trade and never moves a stop further away.
- If you move a stop further away by hand, it tightens it again the next time a rule applies.
- You can still close any trade yourself at any time.
- It acts at most once every 2 seconds per trade and skips stop moves smaller than 5 points ($0.05 on gold).
- **Which trades:** by default only panel trades. Set *Which trades it manages* to include hand trades (magic 0), such as those placed from the MT5 phone app. Positions from other EAs are never touched.
- Switching it off leaves every stop where it is.

## Settings reference

Inputs are set when attaching the EA (or later: right-click chart > Expert Advisors > Properties). Values typed on the panel override them and are saved per symbol; ≡ > BACK TO DEFAULTS returns to the inputs.

| Group | Input | Default | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Orders | Magic number | 770001 | Marks the panel's trades; keep it different from other EAs |
| Orders | Position size mode | Fixed lots | Fixed lots, Risk money, Risk % |
| Orders | Size | 0.02 | Lots, money or %, per mode |
| Orders | Stop distance | 12.0 | Price units; 0 = no stop (fixed lots only) |
| Orders | Target distance | 0.0 | Price units; 0 = no target |
| Orders | Max slippage | 30 | Points |
| Trend | EMA period | 20 |  |
| Trend | Timeframes 1-4 | M5, M15, M30, H1 |  |
| News | News window mode | Warn | Off, Warn, Block |
| News | Currencies | USD | Comma separated |
| News | Releases | CPI, Nonfarm Payrolls, ... | Event name contains any of these |
| News | Minutes before / after | 30 / 60 |  |
| Panel | X / Y offset | 10 / 30 | Pixels from the chart's top-left |
| Panel | Manual / help page | MQL5 profile | The link the ? button shows |
| Chart | Draw EMA lines | On |  |
| Chart | Alignment arrows | On |  |
| Chart | How far back | 300 | Chart bars |
| Supply / demand | Draw levels | On | Zones appear behind candles |
| Supply / demand | Level timeframe | M5 | Or select another timeframe / current chart |
| Supply / demand | Required tests | 0 (automatic) | 4 on M1, otherwise 2; positive values override |
| Supply / demand | Maximum age | 72 hours | Since last qualifying test |
| Supply / demand | History bars | 0 (automatic) | 400, or 1,500 on M1; positive values override |
| Supply / demand | Fill colours | Dark green / dark red | Configurable demand / supply fills |
| Auto-manage | ON when attached | Off | Off = click to activate |
| Auto-manage | Which trades | Panel only | Or panel + hand trades (magic 0) |
| Auto-manage | Rule distances are in | Price distance | Or account money per trade |
| Auto-manage | Breakeven rule / at | On / 5.0 | Price (or money) in profit |
| Auto-manage | Breakeven lock | 0.0 | Stop = entry + this |
| Auto-manage | Trailing rule / after / by | On / 10.0 / 5.0 | Price (or money) |
| Auto-manage | Weekend close / time | On / 23:45 | Friday, server time HH:MM |

## Troubleshooting and safety

| Symptom | Cause and fix |
| --- | --- |
| "Algo Trading is off" | Turn on the Algo Trading toolbar button and tick Allow Algo Trading in the EA's Common tab |
| Old version still running after an update | Remove the EA from the chart and drag it on again; a timeframe change does not reload it |
| "calendar empty: open Toolbox > Calendar" | Open the Calendar tab in MT5's Toolbox once so it downloads |
| BUY/SELL grey | Block mode is on and a news window is active, or the calendar is unreadable |
| "Stop/target must be at least ... away" | The broker's minimum stop distance is larger than your SL or TP |
| "Size is below the minimum" | In a risk mode the risk is too small for the broker's minimum lot at that stop |
| Auto-manage does nothing | It is off (grey button), the rule is switched off, the trade is not yet far enough in profit, or it is a hand trade and the scope is panel only |
| Nothing works in the Strategy Tester's news features | The economic calendar does not exist in the tester (also where the free demo runs); Block mode refuses every entry there |
| Panel keeps old values after changing inputs | Panel values are saved per symbol; use ≡ > BACK TO DEFAULTS |

**Mobile.** The MT5 phone apps cannot run Expert Advisors, so the panel is not available on a phone. Two ways to combine them:

- Keep MT5 desktop (or a Windows VPS, such as MT5's built-in virtual hosting) running with Trend Trail Panel attached, and set *Which trades it manages* to panel + hand trades. Trades you open on your phone are then managed by auto-manage.
- Trades opened from the panel stay protected by their server-side stop and target even when the computer is off; only auto-manage needs the terminal running.

**Safety notes.**

- Every trade is your decision; Trend Trail Panel is a tool, not a signal or advice service. The trend strip and arrows are not buy or sell recommendations.
- Test on a demo account first, with the default 0.02 lots.
- Auto-manage only works while MT5 is open and connected.