Trade Setup

The Trade Setup turns indicator lines into trades. Gates decide when to enter and when to exit; the Execution card decides how to enter and where the stop and target are. Open it with Setup in the Strategies panel (F6) or the Trade Setup tab of the Strategy Lab. Every change is saved with the active strategy.

#Prepare the indicators

The Trade Setup can only use lines of indicators that belong to the strategy. Make the strategy active in the Strategies panel, then add indicators with F3. Each indicator gets a technical name such as EMA1, EMA2 or RSI1 (Settings of the indicator → Tech Name), and the lines show up as EMA1 for the main line or RSI1 · signal for a named output. The outputs of every indicator are listed on its page under Indicators.

#Gates

The left card, Signals · triggers, filters, exits, lists the gates. + Gate adds one; the first gate becomes a trigger, later ones become filters. Each gate has:

• Role – Trigger starts an entry when its rule becomes true, Filter must agree, Exit closes the open position when its rule becomes true.
• Line – the indicator line it reads.
• Rule – see the table below, with its values.
• Side – Both, Long or Short: which entries a trigger may start, which entries a filter checks (the other side passes), which positions an exit closes.
• A checkbox to switch it off and × to remove it.

Against suits oscillators you fade (long when RSI is low), With follows them (long when momentum is high). Compare works like a sentence: EMA1 > EMA2, RSI1 < 30, REL kill = 1.

#When gates are checked

Everything is decided at the close of a candle:

• A trigger fires on the candle where its rule becomes true – true now, false on the candle before. A Compare trigger EMA1 > EMA2 therefore fires on the candle where EMA1 crosses above EMA2, not on every candle while it stays above.
• Filters are checked at the trigger candle. All active filters must pass. While a line has no value yet (for example at the start of the data), a filter lets entries through, and a trigger or exit doesn't fire.
• An exit closes the position at the close of the candle where its rule becomes true for the position's side.
• Lines of indicators on higher timeframes only count once their candle has closed.

If long and short triggers fire on the same candle, ChartRider takes no entry.

#What the gates report

After a Backtest (F5) each gate shows how often it fired (fired) or how many entries it blocked (blocks), and the card shows Last F5: triggers → entries, plus the reasons for skipped triggers, for example blocked by filters, position or order open, or cooldown, SL/TP on the wrong side of the entry, target below min R or limit not filled in time. A gate marked ⚠ repaints reads a line that uses later candles for its values – in a backtest it would look into the future, so don't rely on it.

#Execution

The right card, Execution, sets how trades are placed.

Entry

• Market (close of the trigger candle) – the position opens at the close of the candle on which the trigger fired.
• Limit (at a price line) – a limit order at an indicator line, active from the next candle on. A long limit must lie below the close, a short limit above it.

Long / Short lines – for each side choose an indicator price line:

• SL – the stop: below the entry for a long, above for a short. Required; without it the side takes no trades.
• TP – the target: above the entry for a long, below for a short. Optional if an exit gate covers that side (— none (exit gate) —).
• Limit – the limit price (limit entries only).

Only lines on the price chart are offered – oscillators such as RSI can't be stops or targets. Lines are read at the trigger candle, so the stop and target stay fixed for the trade.

Values

R is the distance from entry to stop. A target 2 R away earns twice what the stop would lose.

The card warns when a side can't trade, for example Long: set an SL line – otherwise no entries on that side. Without any indicator that has price lines, it suggests adding one (for example REH / REL) with F3.

#Risk and position size

Every Trade Setup trade risks 1 % of the simulated account between entry and stop. The leverage is the one set in the trading panel for the chart's market, or the Leverage step if you vary it; without either, ChartRider uses the smallest leverage that allows the 1 % risk. Only one position is open at a time. Details: Backtest engine.

#Example

A trend long with two EMAs, an RSI and the REH / REL indicator. Add them with F3 and give EMA2 a longer length than EMA1; they get the names EMA1, EMA2, RSI1 and REHREL1.

1. Trigger: EMA1 Compare > the line EMA2, side Long – fires on the candle where EMA1 crosses above EMA2.
2. Filter: RSI1 With, center 50, x 0 – only while the RSI is at least 50.
3. Execution: Market, Long SL REHREL1 · REL (the nearest equal lows below the close) with SL buffer % 0.1, Long TP REHREL1 · REH (the nearest equal highs above), Min R 1.5.

Press F5 to see the trades on the chart, then vary a value with Step 1 and use Run strategy.

#Steps

Gate values (center, x, min, max, and the value of a Compare against a value) and every numeric indicator setting can be chosen as Step 1 or Step 2 in the Strategies panel. Run strategy then tests each value, and the heatmap shows the results side by side. The Execution values above are not stepped.

#Open as WickScript

With WickScript unlocked, Open as WickScript writes the setup as a WickScript strategy with the same triggers, filters, exits, stops and targets, and opens it in the Scripts tab. From then on the strategy trades with the script; the setup stays as it is. A banner at the top of the Trade Setup tab shows which one trades and switches back with Trade with this Trade Setup. The conversion only goes one way: edits to the script don't change the setup. See Writing strategies in WickScript.