The Dual Moving Average Crossover system uses two moving averages, one short and one long. The system trades when the short moving average crosses the long moving average.
The system optionally uses a stop based on Average True Range (ATR). If the ATR stop is used, the system will exit the market when that stop is hit.
If the ATR stop is not used, the system does not have an explicit stop and will always be in the market, making it a reversal system. It will exit a position only when the moving averages cross. At that point, it will exit and enter a new position in the opposite direction. In this case, the positions are sized based only on ATR using a custom money manager.
If an ATR stop is not used, then the entry risk is essentially infinite. This will cause the R-Multiples relatively meaningless since all gains will be less than the infinite risk of entering without any stop.
The Dual Moving Average System includes five parameters that affect the entries:
Long Moving Average
The number of days in the long moving average.
Short Moving Average
The number of days in the short moving average.
Use ATR Stops
If set to TRUE then the system will enter a stop based on a certain number of ATR from the entry point.
ATR Days
The number of days used for the ATR calculation. This parameter is visible and active only if Use ATR Stops is TRUE.
Stop
The stop width expressed in terms of ATR. This parameter is visible and active only if Use ATR Stops is TRUE.
If the Use ATR Stops is FALSE there are no stops, but the system uses a theoretical 1 ATR stop for the purposes of position sizing.