About

DCX-20 Alpha is a sophisticated trend-following cBot based on dual Donchian Channel breakout strategy. The name "DCX-20" reflects the core concept—using a 20-period Donchian Channel for entry signals and a 10-period channel for exit signals. This cBot is designed for traders seeking a reliable, rules-based approach to capturing strong momentum breakouts with advanced position management and risk controls.

The strategy opens long positions when price breaks above the upper Donchian band (strict breakout) and short positions when price breaks below the lower Donchian band. It includes advanced filters, pyramiding capabilities, and intelligent position management that adjusts stop loss and take profit levels during shallow breakouts to maximize profit potential.

--> Robustness & Overfitting Protection <--
DCX-20 Alpha is built as a highly robust system that resists overfitting. The custom fitness function uses Van Tharp's System Quality Number (SQN) methodology with a robustness penalty that penalizes strategies with too few trades. This ensures that optimized parameters are statistically significant and perform well on out-of-sample data, not just on historical backtests.

Strategy type: Trend-following (Donchian Channel breakout with pyramiding)

Target symbols: Major forex pairs (EURUSD, GBPUSD, etc.), XAUUSD

Preferred periods: H1, H4, D1

Suggested leverage: 1:30 or higher

Suggested account size: $1,000+ (or equivalent in other currencies)

rading use case: Medium to long-term trend trading with automatic risk management and position scaling

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Key Features

• Dual Donchian Channel system (separate entry and exit channels)

• Strict breakout detection—only enters on genuine channel breakouts

• Shallow breakout position management—automatically adjusts SL/TP when price remains outside channels

• Pyramiding support—can open multiple positions in the same direction

• ATR-based volatility filter to avoid trading in low-volatility conditions

• Spread filter to avoid trading during high spread periods

• Time-based trading hours filter

• Dynamic stop loss and take profit based on ATR multipliers

• Automatic breakeven protection when profit threshold is reached

• Money management system with balance-based position sizing

• Visual channel indicators on chart (Cyan for entry, Orange for exit)

• Custom fitness function for genetic optimization—using SQN-based with robustness penalty by Van Tharp's formula

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Optimization & Testing

When optimizing this cBot, always leave a gap at the end of the optimization period for walk-forward analysis validation. This approach helps verify that optimized parameters perform well on out-of-sample data, ensuring the strategy is robust and not over-fitted to historical data.

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PARAMETERS

--VOLUME & MONEY MANAGEMENT

Quantity (Lots): Trade size in lots (default: 1.0)

Use Money Management: Enable dynamic position sizing based on account balance

Reference Balance: Balance for which the base quantity is optimized (default: 10,000)

Max Positions: Maximum concurrent positions allowed in the same direction (default: 1, max: 10)

--STRATEGY ENTRY

Donchian Entry Period: Number of periods for the entry Donchian Channel (default: 20, min: 2)

--STRATEGY EXIT

Donchian Exit Period: Number of periods for the exit Donchian Channel (default: 10, min: 2)

--FILTERS

ATR Filter Period: Number of periods for ATR calculation (default: 20)

ATR Threshold Multiplier: Required ATR multiplier vs. ATR average for entry (default: 0, 0 = disabled)

Max Spread (Points): Maximum allowed spread in points for entry (default: 0, 0 = disabled)

Trade Start Hour: Beginning of allowed trading hours (default: 0, 0-23)

Trade End Hour: End of allowed trading hours (default: 24, 1-24, 0-24 = always active)

--RISK MANAGEMENT

SL ATR Multiplier: Stop loss distance as ATR multiplier (default: 2.0, 0 = disabled)

TP ATR Multiplier: Take profit distance as ATR multiplier (default: 0, 0 = disabled)

BE Trigger ATR Multiplier: Profit threshold (in ATR) to move SL to breakeven (default: 0, 0 = disabled)

--OPTIMIZATION

Min Robust Trades: Minimum number of trades required for robust optimization results (default: 40, min: 1)

How It Works:

**Entry Logic:**

- The cBot monitors the Donchian Entry Channel (20 periods by default)

- A **strict bullish breakout** occurs when price closes above the upper band after previously being inside the channel

- A **strict bearish breakout** occurs when price closes below the lower band after previously being inside the channel

- New positions are opened only on strict breakouts, subject to all filters

**Shallow Breakout Management:**

- When price is already outside the channel and remains outside (shallow breakout), the cBot adjusts existing positions

- Stop loss is tightened based on current ATR (if better than current SL)

- Take profit is extended based on current ATR (if better than current TP)

- This feature helps maximize profit during strong trends

**Exit Logic:**

- Long positions are closed when price drops below the Donchian Exit Channel lower band

- Short positions are closed when price rises above the Donchian Exit Channel upper band

- Exits are monitored in real-time on every tick for immediate execution

**Break Even Protection:**

- When a position reaches the profit threshold (BE Trigger ATR Multiplier), stop loss is automatically moved to entry price

- This protects profits and allows positions to run further in favorable trends

**Pyramiding:**

- The cBot can open multiple positions in the same direction (up to Max Positions)

- Each new strict breakout signal can trigger an additional position if the limit hasn't been reached