Building an EA with Center of Gravity Indicator for MT4: A Trader's Guide

Hey fellow traders!

I’m reaching out to share an idea that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while now. It’s based on the conservative intraday scalping strategy, but I hit a bit of a snag trying to find a fitting indicator in MetaTrader 4 (MT4).

After some digging, I stumbled upon the Center of Gravity.mq4 indicator. My goal is to hook it up to an EA, but so far, it’s been a tough nut to crack. The EA won’t open any trades—neither in demo nor during backtesting. So, I’m left wondering: what’s the deal?

Here’s the idea in a nutshell: this indicator creates five lines that run parallel to the trend. My plan is to open trades where these extreme lines intersect. Ideally, I’d like to implement a trailing stop as well. The thought is that when a moving average (SMA with a period of 1) based on the LOW prices crosses the lower line of the indicator from below, that would signal a buy. Conversely, a cross from above for the SMA based on HIGH prices would signal a sell. The potential for further development is endless, but I need to tackle this core issue first.

Indicator: Center of Gravity.mq4

Expert Advisor: C_S_intraday.mq4 (this is a basic version without deposit control, timeframe settings, or trailing stops)

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//+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
//|                              C_S_intraday.mq4                       |
//|                                                                     |
//+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
//
//
//
extern double    lots=0.1;
//extern int       StopLoss=30 ;
//extern int       TrailingStop=15;
//extern int       Slippage=2;

extern int BB = 125;
extern int MM = 2;
extern int II = 0;
extern double KK = 2.0;
extern int NN = 1102;

double  maH0,maH1,maL0,maL1;
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| expert start function                                            |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int start()
  {
maH0=iMA(NULL,0,1,0,MODE_LWMA,PRICE_HIGH,0); //moving average based on high
maH1=iMA(NULL,0,1,0,MODE_LWMA,PRICE_HIGH,1); //moving average based on high
maL0=iMA(NULL,0,1,0,MODE_LWMA,PRICE_LOW,0);  //moving average based on low
maL1=iMA(NULL,0,1,0,MODE_LWMA,PRICE_LOW,1);  //moving average based on low

   int      B= BB;         // 
   int      M= MM;         // 
   int      I= II;         // 
   double   K= KK;         // 
   int      N= NN;         // 
   
   double cgh = iCustom(NULL,0,"Center of Gravity",B,M,I,K,N,3,0);
   double cgl = iCustom(NULL,0,"Center of Gravity",B,M,I,K,N,4,0);
   
if (cgl<maL0)  //if moving average (low) crosses the lowest line of the indicator from below
   {
   OrderSend(NULL,OP_BUY,lots,Ask,2,Ask-10*Point,Ask+20*Point,"create1",123,0,Lime);
   }
/*
if (cgh>maH0)
   {
   OrderSend(NULL,OP_SELL,lots,Bid,2,Bid+10*Point,Bid-20*Point,"create1",123,0,Red);
   }  
*/   
//----
   return(0);
  }
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+