LotSmith — MT5 Risk-Based Lot Calculator

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1. What is LotSmith?

LotSmith is a risk-management Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5. It does NOT generate trading signals. Instead, it:

• Calculates the exact lot size you should trade based on how much money you're willing to risk.

• Lets you set your stop loss by points, ATR, candle, or a draggable line.

• Shows you a live preview of the trade (lots, risk, R:R, margin) before you click.

• Sends the trade with a single click.

• Provides quick management buttons (Close All, Breakeven, etc.).

Ideal for:

• Manual traders who want consistent 0.5%–2% risk per trade.

• Traders switching between Forex, Gold, Indices, and Crypto — LotSmith handles all instrument types correctly.

• Users of the MQLicense.com risk-management suite (PropGuard, TradeGate, RiskRadar).

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2. Installation

Step 1 — Copy files

Place these files in the correct folder:

Method	File locations
Recommended (Include)	LotSmith.mq5 → MQL5/Experts/ MQLicense_Common.mqh → MQL5/Include/
Alternative (same folder)	Both files → MQL5/Experts/

Step 2 — Compile

1. Open MetaEditor (F4 in MT5).

2. Open LotSmith.mq5.

3. Press F7 (Compile).

4. You should see: 0 errors, 0 warnings.

Step 3 — Attach to a chart

1. In MT5, open any chart (e.g., EURUSD H1).

2. Drag LotSmith from Navigator → Expert Advisors onto the chart.

3. Make sure Algo Trading button is green.

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3. First Launch

When you attach LotSmith for the first time, an Inputs dialog appears. The defaults are tuned for a retail trader with a 1% risk mindset:

Input	Default	Meaning
Risk basis	% of Balance	Risk 1% of your balance per trade
Risk percent	1.0	1%
SL mode	Fixed	SL by fixed points
SL points	200	200 points below/above entry
TP mode	Risk:Reward	TP by R:R ratio
R:R	2.0	2× the risk
Magic number	20241101	Unique ID for LotSmith trades
Panel theme	Dark	Dark panel

Click OK. The panel appears in the top-left corner.

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4. Panel Overview

text

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  LotSmith | MQLicense.com                    [_] │  ← Title bar (drag to move)
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Risk basis:                                     │
│  Risk: 1.00% Bal                                 │  ← Current risk setting
│  SL: 1.0850                                      │  ← Computed Stop Loss
│  TP: 1.0950                                      │  ← Computed Take Profit
│  Lots: 0.45                                      │  ← ★ Your lot size
│  Risk $: 98.50 (0.99%)                           │  ← Money + % of equity
│  R:R: 2.00                                       │
│  Margin: 197.00                                  │  ← Required margin
│  Spread: 12.5 pts                                │
│                                                  │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐             │
│  │     BUY      │  │     SELL     │             │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘             │
│  ┌────────┐┌────────┐┌────────┐                 │
│  │CloseAll││CloseBuy││CloseSell│                │
│  └────────┘└────────┘└────────┘                 │
│  ┌────────┐┌────────┐┌────────┐                 │
│  │ BE All ││ DelPend││Reverse │                 │
│  └────────┘└────────┘└────────┘                 │
│  ┌────────┐┌────────┐┌────────┐                 │
│  │ Basis  ││SL Mode ││TP Mode │                 │
│  └────────┘└────────┘└────────┘                 │
│  MQLicense.com                                   │  ← Footer
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Panel elements

Element	Function
Title bar	Click-drag to move the panel (planned for future release)
_ button	Minimize / restore the panel
Risk basis line	Shows the current risk configuration
SL / TP line	Computed prices based on your mode
Lots line	★ The recommended lot size
Risk $ line	Expected loss in money and % of equity
R:R line	Reward-to-risk ratio
Margin line	Required margin for this trade
Spread line	Current spread in points
Warning line	Red text if anything is wrong (spread too high, insufficient margin, etc.)
BUY / SELL	Send the trade with the computed lots, SL, and TP
CloseAll / CloseBuy / CloseSell	Close matching positions (LotSmith's magic only)
BE All	Move all SL to breakeven (entry price)
DelPend	Delete all pending orders with LotSmith's magic
Reverse	(Reserved for future — currently no action)
Basis	Cycle through the 5 risk bases
SL Mode	Cycle through the 4 SL modes
TP Mode	Cycle through the 4 TP modes

Colors:

• 🟩 Green BUY button — long positions

• 🟥 Red SELL button — short positions

• 🟧 Orange warning text — action required

• 🟩 Green warning text — all OK

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5. Risk Basis Explained

LotSmith computes lots based on how much money you're willing to lose if the SL is hit.

5 risk bases (click Basis button to cycle)

#	Mode	Formula	Use case
1	% of Balance	Risk = Balance × RiskPercent / 100	Classic fixed-fractional. Stable even with floating loss.
2	% of Equity	Risk = Equity × RiskPercent / 100	More conservative when in drawdown.
3	% of Free Margin	Risk = FreeMargin × RiskPercent / 100	Aggressive — risk grows when no positions are open.
4	Fixed Money	Risk = InpRiskMoney	Exact dollar amount. Good for prop-firm rules.
5	Fixed Lot	Ignores risk — uses InpFixedLot	Legacy manual trading.

Example:

• Balance = $10,000, risk = 1% → risk amount = $100

• SL distance = 50 points on EURUSD

• Loss per lot at SL ≈ $50 (5 digits, 1 standard lot)

• → Lots = $100 / $50 = 2.00 lots (before clamping)

Important: LotSmith uses OrderCalcProfit() — the broker's own calculation — so it's accurate for every instrument:

• Forex majors, minors, exotics

• XAUUSD, XAGUSD

• Indices (US30, NAS100, GER40)

• Crypto (BTCUSD, ETHUSD)

• Stocks CFDs

• Non-USD accounts

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6. Stop Loss Modes

Click SL Mode to cycle through 4 modes:

Mode 1 — Fixed points

mql5

InpSLMode = SL_FIXED
InpSLPoints = 200   // 200 points below (BUY) or above (SELL) entry

Simple. Consistent.

Mode 2 — ATR-based

mql5

InpSLMode = SL_ATR
InpATRPeriod = 14
InpATRTimeframe = PERIOD_H1
InpATRMult = 1.5

SL = 1.5 × ATR(14, H1). Adapts to volatility. Good for gold and indices.

Mode 3 — Draggable line

mql5

InpSLMode = SL_LINE

A red horizontal line named LotSmith_SL appears on the chart. Drag it to set your SL. The preview updates live (<200 ms).

If the line is deleted, LotSmith falls back with a warning: "SL not defined".

Mode 4 — Candle-based

mql5

InpSLMode = SL_CANDLE
InpCandleCount = 3
InpCandleBuffer = 20   // points

• BUY: SL = lowest low of last 3 closed candles − 20 points

• SELL: SL = highest high of last 3 closed candles + 20 points

Classic swing-trader approach.

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7. Take Profit Modes

Click TP Mode to cycle through 4 modes:

Mode 0 — None

No TP is sent. You manage the exit yourself.

Mode 1 — Fixed points

mql5

InpTPMode = TP_FIXED
InpTPPoints = 400

Mode 2 — Risk:Reward (recommended)

mql5

InpTPMode = TP_RR
InpRR = 2.0   // 2:1 reward-to-risk

TP = entry + (2 × |entry − SL|) for a BUY.

This is what most professional traders use.

Mode 3 — Draggable line

A green horizontal line named LotSmith_TP appears. Drag it to set your TP. Preview updates live.

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8. Pending Orders Mode

Enable with:

mql5

InpUsePending = true

A gold horizontal line (LotSmith_ENTRY) appears. Drag it where you want to enter.

When you click BUY or SELL, LotSmith auto-selects the correct pending type:

Entry line vs price	BUY becomes	SELL becomes
Entry below Ask (BUY) / above Bid (SELL)	Buy Limit	Sell Limit
Entry above Ask (BUY) / below Bid (SELL)	Buy Stop	Sell Stop

Optional expiration:

mql5

InpExpiryMinutes = 60   // 0 = GTC

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9. The Preview Block

Every value in the preview is live — it updates on every tick (throttled to 200 ms) and on every line drag.

Field	What it means
Risk	Your current basis (e.g. "1.00% Bal")
SL	Computed Stop Loss price
TP	Computed Take Profit price (or "none")
Lots	★ The lot size LotSmith will send
Risk $	Real money at SL (uses OrderCalcProfit) + commission
R:R	Reward-to-Risk ratio
Margin	Required margin (OrderCalcMargin)
Spread	Current spread in points
Warning	Empty (green) = OK. Orange/red = problem.

Example warnings:

• "Spread too high"

• "Insufficient margin"

• "SL inside stops level or wrong side"

• "Min lot risk exceeds requested"

• "Lots exceed max cap"

• "Max positions reached"

• "Max total risk exceeded"

• "Lots auto-reduced"

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10. Safety Limits

All configurable inputs:

Input	Default	Effect
InpMaxLot	100	Hard cap on lot size
InpMaxPositions	10	Max open positions per symbol with this magic
InpMaxTotalRiskPct	5%	Total open risk (all symbols) must stay below this
InpMaxSpreadPts	50	Reject trade if spread is wider than this
InpMinFreeMarginPct	200%	Margin level floor
InpMarginBufferPct	20%	Safety buffer on top of required margin
InpAllowOverRiskAtMinLot	false	If true, allows risk > requested when min lot forces it
InpAutoReduceLots	true	If margin is insufficient, reduce lots instead of rejecting

Auto-reduce example: You want 2 lots, but free margin only supports 1.2 lots. If InpAutoReduceLots = true, LotSmith sends 1.2 lots and shows "Lots auto-reduced".

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11. Quick Action Buttons

CloseAll / CloseBuy / CloseSell

Closes all LotSmith-magic positions on the current symbol, or only BUY / SELL.

• Uses partial-close-safe logic (hedging: per-ticket; netting: opposite deal).

• Shows a confirmation popup if InpConfirmActions = true.

BE All

Moves SL of all LotSmith-magic positions to breakeven (entry price). Offset is currently 0 points. Future versions will let you set an offset.

DelPend

Deletes all pending orders with LotSmith's magic on the current symbol.

Reverse

Reserved for future release. No action at the moment.

Basis / SL Mode / TP Mode

Cycle through the modes at runtime. The panel updates immediately.

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12. Keyboard Shortcuts

Enable with:

mql5

InpKeyboard = true

Key	Action
B	Send BUY market order
S	Send SELL market order
C	Close all LotSmith positions (asks for confirmation)

⚠️ Warning: Only enable when you are confident. The keys fire immediately.

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13. Suite Integration

If you own other MQLicense.com EAs, LotSmith can honor their trading blocks:

mql5

InpRespectSuite = true

When true, before sending a trade LotSmith checks:

• MQLic_PropGuard_<login>_LOCK — if 1, trade is blocked ("PropGuard LOCK active")

• MQLic_TradeGate_<login>_BLOCK — if 1, trade is blocked ("TradeGate BLOCK active")

The reason is shown in the notification. No data is written — LotSmith only reads.

Order of publishing (recommended):

1. LotSmith (this EA) — works standalone

2. TradeKeeper

3. PropGuard

4. RiskRadar

5. TradeGate

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14. Common Scenarios

Scenario 1 — "I want to risk exactly $50 on Gold"

1. Set InpRiskBasis = RISK_MONEY

2. Set InpRiskMoney = 50

3. Set InpSLMode = SL_LINE

4. Drag the SL line where you want

5. Read "Lots" in the panel

6. Click BUY or SELL

Scenario 2 — "I want 1% risk with ATR-based SL on H1"

1. InpRiskBasis = RISK_PERCENT_BALANCE, InpRiskPercent = 1.0

2. InpSLMode = SL_ATR, InpATRTimeframe = PERIOD_H1, InpATRMult = 1.5

3. InpTPMode = TP_RR, InpRR = 2.0

4. Click BUY or SELL

Scenario 3 — "I want a pending Buy Limit 20 points below price"

1. InpUsePending = true

2. Drag the gold entry line 20 points below Ask

3. Click BUY → LotSmith sends Buy Limit automatically

Scenario 4 — "PropGuard locked me — LotSmith shouldn't trade"

• Just leave InpRespectSuite = true

• You'll see: "Blocked by suite: PropGuard LOCK active"

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15. Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
"Preview invalid: SL not defined"	SL line was deleted	Recreate the line by switching to another SL mode and back
"Insufficient margin"	Not enough free margin	Reduce risk % or use auto-reduce
"Spread too high"	Market condition	Wait or raise InpMaxSpreadPts
Panel not appearing	InpShowPanel = false or chart not refreshed	Set true and press F5
"Trading not allowed on symbol"	AutoTrading off or symbol restricted	Check AutoTrading, symbol trade mode
Lots = 0.00	SL distance too small, or risk money too low	Increase risk or widen SL
Order sent with fewer lots than expected	Auto-reduce, or step-clamp	Check warning line and InpAutoReduceLots
Line drag not updating lots	Panel blocked or timer frozen	Wait a tick; check journal
MT5 crash	Unrelated — MT5 quirk	Restart terminal; state persists via GlobalVariables

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