NewsHunter Bot: trading robot for MQL5
NewsHunter Bot is a news advisor that trades the sharp moves immediately after economic data releases.
How the advisor works
The advisor is tied to an events calendar and reacts to the impulse at the moment of release. Automation is valuable here for speed — the robot fires faster than a human — but it is execution, not reaction speed, that determines the result.
At the moment of a news release the spread widens several times over, liquidity collapses, and slippage reaches magnitudes unthinkable in a calm market. A stop may be filled far from its stated price. For a news advisor, execution costs are the main factor, not the choice of direction.
Parameters and metrics
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Order distance | 1.5 × ATR(5m) |
| Time stop | 30 minutes |
| Target releases | NFP, CPI, central-bank rates |
| Instrument | EUR/USD |
Why this advisor cannot be honestly tested on our data
The advisor fires on a timer for a scheduled event and executes the order in the first seconds after the data is published, when the spread widens in a jump. A strategy tester on daily bars knows neither the news schedule nor this instantaneous spread widening — it would execute the order at a calm closing price and show a result unattainable on a live account at the moment of release.
We deliberately do not show a backtest here: a tester report computed on unsuitable data would create a false impression of how the advisor behaves on a live account.
Pros and cons
- Reacts to news faster than a human.
- Events are known in advance from the calendar.
- Large fast moves offer profit potential.
- A sharp spread widening eats the profit on entry.
- A stop may not fill at its stated price.
- The market’s reaction is often counterintuitive.
Pitfalls
A news advisor is undone by underestimating execution costs: on the chart the move looks easy to trade, but at the moment of the news the spread widens several times over and the order fills with slippage that eats the presumed profit. The second trap is priced-in expectations: price often moves against the "logical" direction of the data.
Who it suits
For traders who understand that in news trading execution is decisive and who have conditions with controlled slippage. Requires readiness for a sharp spread widening.
Related methodology
Frequently asked questions
Why does the tester overstate a news advisor’s result?
It executes the order at a calm model price with a fixed spread, whereas on a live account the spread widens several times over at the moment of the news and the order slips. The gap between test and reality is especially large here.
How can such an advisor be tested honestly?
Only by a real-time forward test on a demo account around several news releases: it shows the actual spread widening and slippage that a historical tester does not reproduce.
Why does price often move against the logic of the news?
The market prices in expectations in advance: if the data came out within priced-in expectations, participants take profit, and the reaction turns out to be the opposite of the "logical" one.