This study provides the ability for you to create and configures bots via the SceetoBots Designer, and also manage the deployment of these bots, via either a chart based Launch Pad, or a Global Launch Pad that spans all of your charts.
The SceetoBots study has many parameters.
The more readily used parameters are simultaneously exposed on the SceetoBots Designer’s Panel.
Trade logging enabled
Enabling this setting stores signal information to be stored in “tradeops_logs.txt”.
New level offset
On the occasions when two signals occur on the same bar, this input parameter allows the user to define the offset of the signal plot on the chart so that the plotting of the two signals will not overlay on each other.
Enter on bar close
This allows the user to enter intra-bar (set to No) or upon the close of a bar (set to Yes).
Start designer hidden
When set to ‘No’, the bot designer panels will not be surfaced on a chart. The panels can consume a significant amount of screen space. If you set this to ‘No’, you can always expose the panels by right-clicking on a chart and selecting, ‘SceetoBots: Show/Hide’.
Entry style
Allows the user to select, ‘Market’, Limit’, or ‘Stop’. When using Limit or Stop, you can select the limit offset price using the next parameter input, ‘Entry Offset Default Setting.
Entry offset default setting - Long entry price reference - Short entry price reference
These settings allow a trader to instruct a bot at what price it should place either its limit or stop orders.
This is accomplished by a combination of the Entry offset default setting and either the Long entry price reference and/or, the Short entry price reference
If the value of the Entry offset default setting value = 0 and the Long entry price reference = Last, then the limit entry price will equal the close of the signal bar.
If the value of the Entry offset default setting value = -1 and the Long entry price reference = Last, then the limit entry price will equal the close of the signal bar + 1 tick.
Support reversals
If this is set to Yes, and the bot is in a long position, if another bot triggers a sell, the bots will flatten the long and enter the short position.
Take multiple signals in same direction
If this is set to Yes, and the bot is in a position, and another entry condition of the bot, or another bot, is met, then an additional position will be implemented by the bot.
You can set the maximum number of contracts to be traded, thereby controlling the number of cumulative positions that occur, by using the Maximum # of Contracts input parameter, which is further down in the input panel.
Trade window start 1 & Trade window end 1
These inputs allow traders to define periods of activity, and dormancy, for their bots.
Enter the time that you would like a bot to start trading in the Trade window start 1 field, and enter the time that you would like a bot to cease taking trades in the Trade window end 1 field.
These trade window time frame options are repeated 4 more times options, for a total of 5 time frame filters.
These filters can be used to automatically, and temporarily, turn off your trading bots during times of known increased volatility such as during the first few minutes before and after an economic announcement, or before, during, and immediately after, a market opens.
Flatten all at end of period & Flatten all time
This field allows traders to configure their bots to close any open positions at a certain time of day. Set this field to Yes if you would like to close out your position at a certain time of day.
Enter the time that you would like the bot to flatten your position in the Flatten all time field.
Active bot color & Active bot width
You can use the input parameters Active Bot Color and Active Bot Width to automatically set a border around bots listed in a Launch Pad when they are in a trade.
Keep alive
This input allows a trader to instruct a bot on how many bars an entry order should be active, and left unfilled, before it is cancelled.
If the value is set to 1, then if an entry order is unfilled by the close of the bar, it will automatically be cancelled.
Alert when panel is enabled & Alert interval when panel is enabled
Set Alert when panel is enabled to your preferred Sierra Chart alert. The default setting is Alert Disabled.
The Alert interval when panel is enabled sets the interval, in minutes, when the alert should invoke.
These alerts use the inherent Sierra Chart alerting. To learn more about Sierra Chart alerting, see the Sierra Chart documentation.
This allows trader to receive reminder alerts that a bot is active. This is integrated directly into Sierra Chart’s alerts.
Launch Pad Row Color & Launch Pad Text Color
Allows a trader to color code a launch pad in order to more readily identify bots assigned to a specific market.
Use Launch Pad Row Color to define the row color in both the Chart and SceetoBots columns.
Use Launch Pad Text Color to define the row color in both the Chart and SceetoBots columns.
Once a Row Color is chosen, alternating rows in a launch pad will maintain a slightly different shade of the chosen color so that the eye can more readily scan the launch pad and identify bots.
BG1 Label & BG1 Color
These parameters allow a trader to color code a bot panel. Use BG1 label to define the name of the button and BG1 color to set the color of the background of the header, and Trade Management section of the panel.
When right-clicking on the BG button, a menu will appear with the configuration the trader implemented in the study’s input parameters.
Background (BG) labeling and coloring for Designer Panels are repeated 4 more times, for a total of 5 different background views for the SceetoBots Designer Panels.
Pivot Left Strength
Use this input to define the left strength of a pivot.
These formulas use range bars. Unlike time based bars, range bars can only close at either their low or their high.
When using range bars, if the low of a bar is lower than the prior bar and the bar closes at its high, then this bar forms a pivot low.
If the high of a bar is higher than the prior bar and the bar closes at its low, then this bar forms a pivot high.
How to determine a pivot’s left strength’.
Pivot Low | Count out the bars to the left of a swing low until you reach a bar that contains a price that is lower than the low of the pivot bar. The left strength of the pivot low is equal to the number of bars between these two bars.
Pivot High | Count out the bars to the left of a pivot high until you reach a bar that contains a price that is higher than the high of the pivot bar. The left strength of the pivot high is equal to the number of bars between these two bars.
Note | If a Prior Bar Has the Same Low High, It Is Included in the Left Strength Count
Intra-Day Pivots
Micro | Left Strength > 0 & < 5
Minor | Left Strength >= 5 & < 8
Major | Left Strength >= 8
ESA Entry Price
This component is in early stage development. It assumes perfect fills. It is not to be used to recommend trades. Rather it is meant to offer quick and dirty findings so that a trader can infer the behavior of a bot if that bot is left on throughout the trading period. For further information, see the section in this document titled, Entry Signal Analyzer.
Wiggle Ticks
This input assigns the number of ticks above and below a defined level. Level prices are assigned either by inputting a specific level value into the levels section of a bot’s designer panel, or by linking a level to a subgraph on the chart such as VWAP, Pivot Points-Daily, or a Moving Average.
For more information see the section in this document titled, Establishing & Trading Levels Using Bots.
Show Zones - Support Color - Resistance color
These settings configure visual level zones that a trader can define so that bots can be configured, and deployed, to only trade when price is in these zones (How cool is that?).
When Show Zones is set to Yes a semi-transparent color-coded zone will plot on the chart that will span from the set level price plus, and minus, the number of ticks defined in Wiggle Ticks.
User Support Color and Resistance Color to set your preferred semi-transparent colors for support and resistance zones.
For more information see the section in this document titled, Establishing & Trading Levels Using Bots.
BQD Entry Price
The 'BQD Entry Price' value tells the reporting dashboard what to use when calculating the entry prices during the reporting period.
It is recommended to use 'Open of Next Bar' for this value.
Using this value will inform the reporting dashboard to pay up 1 tick on the entry beyond the close of the signal bar.
It is recognized that not all trade entries will be filled, and thus, the reporting dashboard will likely have more generous P&Ls than you should expect with real-trading.
However, the goal of the reporting dashboard is to quickly give you statistics that will get you in the neighborhood of expectations.
Note - If your SceetoBot is configured for 'Fade' entries (e.g. Where the signal bar closes up, but the bot is triggered to go short) then you should use 'Close of the Signal Bar' for the BQD Entry Price Value
Font Size
This input sets the size of the font on the buttons on a designer panel.
Long Signal Enabled Color & Short Signal Enabled Color
This input sets the background color of signal buttons on a designer panel when the signal buttons are enabled.
Right Shoulder Left Strength
Use this input to define the left strength of a Right Shoulder of a Head & Shoulders pattern.
These formulas use range bars. Unlike time based bars, range bars can only close at either their low or their high.
When using range bars, if the low of a bar is lower than the prior bar and the bar closes at its high, then this bar forms a pivot low.
If the high of a bar is higher than the prior bar and the bar closes at its low, then this bar forms a pivot high.
How to determine a pivot’s left strength’.
Pivot Low | Count out the bars to the left of a swing low until you reach a bar that contains a price that is lower than the low of the pivot bar. The left strength of the pivot low is equal to the number of bars between these two bars.
This setting is also exposed directly on the designer panel for ease of reconfiguration.
Right Shoulder Left Pivots
Use this input to define the number of lower lows that must occur prior to, and included the Head, of an upside down Head & Shoulders pattern, or the number of higher highs that must occur prior to, and included the Head, of a Head & Shoulders pattern.
This setting is also exposed directly on the designer panel for ease of reconfiguration.
Hammer Body Size
This setting determines the size of the body of a Hammer Bar signal.
This setting is also exposed directly on the designer panel for ease of reconfiguration.
Right Shoulder Bot Alert
This setting allows the trader to receive an alert when a bot configured to trade a Right Shoulder generates an entry order.
This alerts use the inherent Sierra Chart alerting. To learn more about Sierra Chart alerting, see the Sierra Chart documentation.
Right Shoulder Chart Alert
This setting allows the trader to receive an alert when a Right Shoulder occurs.
This alerts use the inherent Sierra Chart alerting. To learn more about Sierra Chart alerting, see the Sierra Chart documentation.
Min Volume
Use this input to define the minimum number of contracts that must occur within a bar for a bot to utilize a Volume based signal as one of its entry criteria.
Volume Lookback
This input allows a trader to configure a bot to look for volume spikes on bars preceding the current bar.
This allows for a bot to look for a sequence of events, and thus, the bot does not have to be limited to executions associated with signals that occur only on the current bar.
Note – The ability to set a lookback period for a component entry signal is exposed for every possible entry criteria directly on each designer panel button. For more information on this functionality see the section in this document titled, Entry Signal Buttons.
BollTicks
This input allows a trader to define the number of ticks away price can be from a Bollinger Band that a bot can use when either the BB Lower or BB Upper entry signals are used.
BTDLookback
This input allows a trader to create a bot that will wait x bars after a pierce of a Bollinger Band has occurred.
Bar Seconds
This input sets a bar’s maximum duration in seconds. It allows a trader to create signals for faster bars that have a shorter time frame.
If a range bar concludes within 10 seconds rather than 600 seconds, there is an inference that the market is moving, and as such, there may be a near-term opportunity to be attended.
The signal event on the panel associated with this input is Bar Duration.
Unlike other event triggers that are exposed on the Designer Panel, the configuration for this option must be attended to within the study input parameters.
This function was something that we put in but have not yet got around to maturing.
We will be working towards bar size triggers in the future.
Offset between signals
This allows the trader to define and offset for plotting signals when there are multiple signals per bar.
BB Input Data - BB Length - BB Standard Deviations - BB Moving Average Type
These settings expose the inherent Sierra Chart Bollinger Band Parameters.
Bollinger Bands are plotted at standard deviation levels above and below a moving average. Since standard deviation is a measure of volatility, the bands are self-adjusting, widening during volatile markets and contracting during calmer periods. We also offer a generic Standard Deviation Bands study which offers some additional flexibility with Inputs.
BB Input Data
The Input data from either the Main Price Graph, or another study, to use in the study calculations. The Main Price Graph is the default. The default choices for the Main Price Graph are Open, High, Low, Last, Volume, Number of Trades, OHLC Average, HLC Average, HL Average, Bid Volume, Ask Volume.
BB Length
The number of graph elements or graph elements back from a chart column to use in the calculation of each graph element in a study. A graph can be the main price bars graph or could be a Moving Average study graph. A graph element is a value along a graph drawing and occupies one column in the chart. A graph can contain multiple drawings, each one known as a Subgraph.
For the purpose of this discussion, we generally are referring to a single line drawing within a graph (also known as study Subgraph). A graph element can be an Input Data like Open, High, Low or Close/Last, an entire price graph bar, a Subgraph element of one of the study graphs, or an element of an internal array used in calculating the study.
This Length definition is for all Inputs with Length in their name, like Moving Average Length. Example: A moving average study with the Length Input set to 10 and the Input Data Input set to Last will use 10 bar Last prices in the average calculation for each of the elements along its graph.
BB Standard Deviations
This is the value the standard deviation is multiplied by. For other studies, this is the value that a component of the study is multiplied by.
BB Moving Average Type
The Moving Average Type standard Input lets you choose among several basic types of moving averages. They are as follows:
- Exponential Moving Average
- Linear Regression Moving Average (same as Least Squares Average)
- Simple Moving Average
- Weighted Moving Average
- Wilders Smoothing Moving Average
- Simple Moving Average Skip Zeros
- Smoothed Moving Average
Maximum # of Contracts
This is the maximum number of contracts that a bot will trade. This setting is important when Take Multiple Signals in the Same Direction is enabled.
Signal 1 Enabled - Signal 1 Long ref. – Signal 1 Short ref.
This is a very powerful feature that allows you to add more signal logic to your bots beyond those that are packaged within SceetoBots.
Hence, if you have preferred indicators, or setups, you can link them to your SceetoBot using this linking parameters.
The name of the linked study reference will be automatically populated in the Designer Panel’s menu option, and also on any signal button that you assign this linked signal to.
If you are using spreadsheet study output, or your own custom signal, you will need to output a ‘1’ for the signal to trigger.
Spreadsheet studies are very easy ways for non-programmers, and programmers alike, to design, test, and deploy additional setup logic.
These linking options are repeated via 9 more linking options, for a total of 10 signal links.
For more information on Sierra Chart spreadsheet studies, see the Sierra Chart documentation.
If you would like custom spreadsheet studies, or custom Sierra Chart studies, created for you in order to tune your trading bots, please open a help desk ticket here.
Once a ticket is opened, we will confer with you on a written specification, and also on a pricing estimate.
Time Frame 0 Start Time - Time Frame 0 End Time
This enables the user to customize time zones for Tape Meter.
Tape Meter looks back over a set number of bars within a user-defined time period (see, ‘Tape Meter Bar Period‘).
These user-defined time frames come in handy as they allow order flow comparisons during periods where there are known volume differences.
For instance, volume tends to decrease in the overnight session, increase at the open, drift down to lunch, pick-up into the afternoon, and with further volume into the close.
Users can adjust the time zones according to their trading needs, and time zones.
‘Time Frame 0 Start Time’, is the beginning time of the time-zone.
‘Time Frame 0 End Time’, is the beginning time of the time-zone.
These time frame options are repeated 4 more times options, for a total of 5 time frame filters.
Tape Meter Bar Period
This is the number of bars that are to be considered when building a Gaussian distribution (Bell Curve) for Up-Tick Ratio, Down-Tick Ratio, and Transactions across the time period zones defined in the Time Frame Start Times and Time Frame 0 End Time inputs.
For more information on Tape Meter, see the section in this document titles, Tape Meter.
LaunchPad Row Height & Font Size - These settings allow you to size the Launch Pad for Touch-Screen monitors:
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