Based on our Traders Tip submission for the August 2007 edition of Stocks and Commodities magazine...

VT TRADER: STOP BARRIER (SB) INDICATOR

Giorgos E. Siligardos's article in this issue, “Prepare for the Battlefield - Constructing A Template For System Management” discusses using a customized SMT (system management template) to help monitor trades based on trade management and money management rules not necessarily related to mechanical trading methods. Giorgos goes on to discuss the main parts of a customized template created using Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet software as well as money management techniques such as calculating a dynamic risk/reward ratio. Also discussed was an indicator referred to as the "Stop Barrier" indicator. We'll be offering the aforementioned Excel-based SMT provided by the author as well as our version of the Stop Barrier (SB) indicator for download in our user forums. The VT Trader code and instructions for creating the SB indicator are as follows:

Stop Barrier Indicator

1. Navigator Window>Tools>Indicator Builder>[New] button

2. In the Indicator Bookmark, type the following text for each field:

Name: TASC - 08/2007 - Stop Barrier Indicator (SB)
Short Name: vt_SB
Label Mask: TASC - 08/2007 - Stop Barrier Indicator (Entry: %month1%/%day1%/%year1%, Min. DRR: %minDRR%, Mode: %shift:ls%)
Placement: Price Frame
Inspect Alias: Stop Barrier

3. In the Input Bookmark, create the following variables:

[New] button... Name: month1 , Display Name: Enter Month , Type: integer , Default: 8
[New] button... Name: day1 , Display Name: Enter Day , Type: integer , Default: 1
[New] button... Name: year1 , Display Name: Enter Year , Type: integer , Default: 2007
[New] button... Name: target , Display Name: Price Target , Type: float , Default: 2
[New] button... Name: minDRR , Display Name: Minimum Dynamic Risk/Reward , Type: float , Default: 3
[New] button... Name: shift , Display Name: Calculation Mode , Type: Enumeration , [...] button , [New] button... Realistic, [New] button... Review , [OK] Button , Default: Realistic

4. In the Output Bookmark, create the following variables:

[New] button...
Var Name: DisplaySB
Name: (Stop Barrier)
Line Color: green
Line Width: slightly thicker
Line Type: solid line

5. In the Formula Bookmark, copy and paste the following formula:

{Provided By: VT Systems & CMS FX © Copyright 2007}
{Description: Stop Barrier (SB) Indicator}
{Notes: August 2007 Issue - “Prepare for the Battlefield,
Constructing A Template For System Management” by Giorgos E. Siligardos}
{vt_SB Version 1.0}

date1:= DayOfMonth()=day1 AND Month()=month1 AND Year()=year1;
SB:= C - (target-C) / minDRR;
DisplaySB:= valuewhen(1,date1,1) * if(shift=0, SB, ref(SB,-1));

6. Click the “Save” icon to finish building the SB indicator.

To attach the SB indicator to a chart click the right mouse button within the chart window and then select “Add Indicators” -> "TASC - 08/2007 - Stop Barrier Indicator (SB)" from the indicator list.