Does it place trades?

No. It has no trade code at all; it only reads the chart and shows information and alerts.

Is the exhaustion reading a signal?

No. It describes how stretched a move is. A strong trend can stay stretched for a long time. It is an informational reading, not advice.

Why is there no Macro page on my symbol?

The Macro page is shown on gold symbols only, because its data describes gold. It is hidden on every other symbol on purpose.

How much computer power does it use?

About 6 milliseconds of work per second in our test on a laptop; the first view of a new symbol takes longer while its history loads.

What happens if my DRF Key expires or is wrong?

The Expert Advisor pauses and the chart says why. It never removes itself from the chart and it never closes or changes a position because of the licence. When the key is valid again it carries on by itself.

Do I need a key to run it?

Yes. Every DRF Expert Advisor needs a DRF Key, with a 7-day free trial. See the DRF Key page.

Market Assistant

A dashboard on the chart of any symbol: a nine-timeframe matrix, a graded exhaustion reading, key levels, sessions, news, spread, a position-size helper and alerts. It never trades.

DRF_Market_Assistant_EA · version 4.00 · Account tools

Risk. Trading carries a high level of risk and you can lose more than you expected. No result is promised. Read the Risk Disclosure.

Test it on a demo account first. When everything works as you expect, use it on a real account.

Used by the author on XAUUSD (gold). It works on any symbol.

The problem it addresses

The context around a chart is spread over many windows and clocks: which timeframes agree, how stretched a move is, where the levels are, what comes next, how wide the spread is. Checking all of it by hand takes time and is easy to forget.

What it does

Puts one dashboard, made of chart objects, on the chart. Seven pages: Overview (market open or closed, spread against its usual size, candle countdown, next session, next news, alignment and exhaustion readings, nearest levels, open positions and today's closed result), Timeframes (M1 to MN1: trend, momentum, volatility, a bias score and a plain state), Exhaustion, Levels, Risk, Macro and Alerts.

Exhaustion describes how stretched a move is, per timeframe and overall, with a plain reading such as "stretched up, reversal risk rising". It is a description of the market, not an instruction.

Levels: previous day, week and month high and low, classic pivots, round numbers, today's session highs and lows. The Risk page works out a position size from the risk you choose and a stop distance in ATR or points; it places nothing.

The Macro page appears on gold symbols only: fear and greed, real yields and gold against the dollar index, each block with its own age and a stale mark. On every other symbol the page and its button are not there.

Alerts for sessions, news, market close, wide spread, exhaustion, alignment change and level touch (and an optional progress report), each with its own switch and its own wait time, and optional quiet hours.

Who it is for: Traders who want the context of a chart in one place, on any symbol.

Symbols and timeframes: Works on any symbol and timeframe. The Macro page appears on gold symbols (XAUUSD and similar) only. A symbol you open for the first time shows "loading history" for a short while.

The idea behind it

One dashboard that gives a trader the context around any chart. Everything is computed on your own terminal from its own data, so it works on any symbol. The one exception is the Macro page on gold symbols, which reads its data from the DRF server.

History

Version 4.00 replaces the text panel of version 3.00 with a graphical dashboard. Changes in October 2026: per-kind alert wait times, open positions and today's result on the Overview, an optional progress report, level-touch alerts for session highs and lows, an optional round-number alert, and a choice of dashboard width. Tested on a demo account on EURUSD, XAUUSD and a stock index: all pages, light and dark colours, two screen sizes, the paused state and the macro page on gold.

Indicators used

EMA 20, SMA 50, SMA 200
RSI 14
Stochastic 14,3,3
MACD 12,26,9
ATR 14
Bollinger Bands 20,2

What is included

Nine-timeframe matrix and alignment reading
Graded exhaustion reading
Levels page and optional chart lines
Position-size helper (information only)
Seven alert kinds with four channels
Light and dark colours, screen scaling, a fold button

What is not included

It never sends an order and has no trade code at all
It does not tell you to buy or sell and does not predict
The Macro page is not available on non-gold symbols

How it works

It reads the prices of the chart's symbol on nine timeframes from your own terminal and works out averages, RSI, Stochastic, MACD, ATR and Bollinger readings once per closed bar.
From these it builds the alignment reading and the exhaustion grade, and it draws the levels (previous day, week and month highs and lows, pivots, round numbers, session ranges).
It shows sessions, the next important news (from the MetaTrader calendar), the spread against its usual size and a position-size helper, on seven pages of a dashboard.
On gold symbols only, the Macro page shows blocks from the sync server, each with its own age. Alerts go out only for the kinds you switched on.

What you need

MetaTrader 5 on Windows.
A DRF Key (7-day free trial) and https://sync.donaldsonrf.com in the WebRequest list.
A chart with enough history; a symbol you open for the first time shows "loading history" for a short while.
For push and e-mail alerts, push and e-mail set up in the terminal options.

How to install and test it

Download the ZIP below and unzip it. It holds the Expert Advisor file (.ex5), a settings preset (.set) with an empty DRF Key, and INSTALL.txt with these steps.
In MetaTrader 5 choose File > Open Data Folder, open MQL5 > Experts, and copy the .ex5 file there. Back in MetaTrader, right-click Expert Advisors in the Navigator and choose Refresh.
Tools > Options > Expert Advisors: tick "Allow algorithmic trading" and "Allow WebRequest for listed URL", then add https://sync.donaldsonrf.com to the list. Nothing else is needed. Press OK.
Press the Algo Trading button in the top toolbar so it turns green.
Drag the Expert Advisor from the Navigator onto a chart. On the Common tab tick "Allow Algo Trading". On the Inputs tab type your DRF Key in the first input (optionally load the .set preset first).
Within about a minute the chart panel shows the state of your licence. If it says PAUSED, the panel tells you why. Test the EA on a demo account first. When everything works as you expect, use it on a real account.
Open the pages with the buttons at the top of the dashboard. The small button at the top right folds the dashboard away.

The key: every DRF Expert Advisor needs a DRF Key, with a 7-day free trial. Every plan, and the trial, unlocks the whole Expert Advisor.

Safety behaviour

It has no trade code at all: it cannot open, close or change an order.
Its alerts are information, never an instruction to buy or sell.
An invalid DRF Key pauses it; it never removes itself from the chart.
A block of the Macro page that is old shows a STALE mark instead of a fresh-looking number.

What can go wrong

The dashboard says "loading history".: The symbol's history for nine timeframes is being loaded. Wait a short while, or open the chart and scroll back once.
I see no Macro page.: The Macro page is shown on gold symbols only, on purpose.
The Macro page shows "not available right now" or STALE.: The data from the sync server is missing or old. Check that https://sync.donaldsonrf.com is in the WebRequest list and that the terminal is online.
I get no alerts.: Each alert kind and each channel has its own switch. Check the quiet hours, the wait times, and that push or e-mail are set up in the terminal options.
The dashboard is too wide or too small.: Use the "Dashboard width" input (Automatic, Compact or Wide). It is never wider than the chart.
Panel shows PAUSED.: Check the DRF Key and the WebRequest list.
The panel says PAUSED: no DRF Key entered.: Type your DRF Key in the first input (Inputs tab). The key looks like DRF-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.
The panel says the key could not be checked, or the log shows error 4014.: Add https://sync.donaldsonrf.com to Tools > Options > Expert Advisors > "Allow WebRequest for listed URL", and check that the terminal is online and that the key has not expired.
I see no panel or object on the chart.: Press the Algo Trading button so it turns green, tick "Allow Algo Trading" on the Common tab, and look for the smiling face in the top right corner of the chart. Check the Experts tab of the Toolbox.
The EA is not in the Navigator.: Copy the .ex5 file into MQL5\Experts (File > Open Data Folder), then right-click Expert Advisors in the Navigator and choose Refresh. It is a MetaTrader 5 file; it does not run in MetaTrader 4.

Manual: every setting in plain language

Allow https://sync.donaldsonrf.com in MetaTrader's WebRequest list and enter your DRF Key in the first input.

DRF Key

DRF Key (default: empty): Your DRF Key (it looks like DRF-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX). Leave it empty and the tool stays paused and says so on the chart.

Look

Colours (default: Automatic (follows the chart background)): Light, dark, or automatic (follows the chart background).
Size of the dashboard (default: Automatic (follows the screen)): Automatic follows the screen scaling; or choose 100 to 200 percent.
Page shown at start (default: Overview): Which page opens first. The Macro page exists on gold symbols only.
Show the dashboard at start (it can be folded with the button) (default: on): Starts the dashboard open or folded.
Dashboard width (default: Automatic (590 px, wider on screens above 1920 px)): Automatic (590 pixels, wider on screens above 1920 pixels), Compact (just wide enough for the buttons) or Wide (760 pixels). Never wider than the chart.

Lines on the chart

Draw the 1-hour high and low (previous candle) (default: on): Draws the high and low of the previous 1-hour candle as a dashed line on the chart.
Draw the 4-hour high and low (previous candle) (default: on): Draws the high and low of the previous 4-hour candle as a dashed line on the chart.
Draw the daily high and low (previous candle) (default: on): Draws the high and low of the previous daily candle as a dashed line on the chart.
Draw the weekly high and low (previous candle) (default: on): Draws the high and low of the previous weekly candle as a dashed line on the chart.
Draw the monthly high and low (previous candle) (default: on): Draws the high and low of the previous monthly candle as a dashed line on the chart.
Draw the key levels (previous day, week, month and pivots) (default: off): Draws these levels as dotted lines on the chart.
Draw the round numbers next to the price (default: off): Draws the nearest round numbers as dotted lines.
A level counts as touched within this many hourly ATRs (default: 0.15): How close the price must come to a level to count as touching it, in hourly average true ranges of the symbol.

Market sessions and news

Warn before Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York open (default: on): Alert before each session opens (each city follows its own daylight saving).
Warn this many minutes before (sessions) (default: 15): How many minutes before a session opens (Sydney, Tokyo, London, New York) the alert is sent.
Warn before important economic news (default: on): Alert before important news from the MetaTrader economic calendar.
Warn this many minutes before (news) (default: 30): How many minutes before an important news event the alert is sent.
Which news (default: Important only): Important only, or important and medium.
Also watch these currencies (comma separated). The currencies of the chart symbol are always watched (default: USD): Extra currencies whose news you want to see.
Warn before the market closes for the day (default: on): Alert before the symbol's trading session ends.
Warn this many minutes before (market close) (default: 30): How many minutes before the symbol's market closes for the day the alert is sent.

Spread

Warn when the spread stays unusually wide (default: on): Alert when the spread stays wider than the multiple below for a few seconds.
"Unusually wide" means this many times the usual spread (default: 3.0): The usual spread is the median of the last 24 hours of the symbol itself, so the rule works on any symbol.

Exhaustion, alignment and levels

Alert when the exhaustion reading is high on the timeframe below (default: on): Alert when the exhaustion reading reaches 5 points of 10 or more. It describes how stretched the move is; it is not a signal to trade.
Timeframe watched for the exhaustion alert (default: 1 hour): Which timeframe the exhaustion alert looks at.
Alert when the alignment of the timeframes changes (default: on): Alert when the picture across M5 to D1 changes (aligned up, aligned down, conflict, mixed).
Alert when the price touches a key level (previous day, week, month, pivots, session highs and lows) (default: on): Alert when the price reaches one of these levels.
Also alert when the price touches a round number (default: off): Off by default (round numbers are touched often).

Alert channels

Pop-up in the terminal (default: on): Shows a pop-up window for each alert.
Push to the phone (needs your MetaQuotes ID in the terminal options) (default: off): Sends a push message. The terminal must have your MetaQuotes ID.
E-mail (needs e-mail set up in the terminal options) (default: off): Sends an e-mail. The terminal must have e-mail set up.
Sound (default: off): Plays a sound.

Alert limits

Wide spread: minutes between two alerts (default: 15): How many minutes the EA waits before it sends another wide spread alert (so you are not flooded).
Exhaustion: minutes between two alerts (default: 30): How many minutes the EA waits before it sends another exhaustion alert (so you are not flooded).
Alignment change: minutes between two alerts (default: 30): How many minutes the EA waits before it sends another alignment change alert (so you are not flooded).
Level touch: minutes between two alerts of any level (each level also waits 30 minutes) (default: 5): How many minutes the EA waits before it sends another level touch alert (so you are not flooded). Each level also waits 30 minutes on its own.
Send a progress report of today's closed trades (default: off): Off by default. Sends a short summary of today's closed trades.
Progress report every this many minutes (default: 180): How often the progress report is sent.
Quiet hours: no alerts in this window (your computer's clock) (default: off): No alerts are sent inside the quiet hours.
Quiet hours start at (hour, 0 to 23) (default: 22): First hour of the quiet hours (your computer's clock).
Quiet hours end at (hour, 0 to 23) (default: 7): Hour when the quiet hours end.

Risk helper (information only, places no orders)

Risk is set as (default: Percent of the balance): The risk helper works from a percentage of the balance or from an amount.
Risk (percent of the balance, or an amount in your account currency) (default: 1.0): How much you are willing to risk on one trade. The helper only calculates; it places nothing.
Stop distance is set as (default: A multiple of the ATR): A multiple of the ATR, or a number of points.
Stop distance (ATR multiple, or points) (default: 1.5): The stop distance used to work out the position size.
ATR timeframe for the helper (current = the chart) (default: the chart's own timeframe): The timeframe of the ATR used by the helper.

Macro (gold symbols only)

Show the macro page on gold symbols (default: on): The macro page appears on gold symbols only and needs the sync address in the WebRequest list.

Download

DRF_Market_Assistant_EA_v4-00.zip (159 KB) ↓

The file runs only with a valid DRF Key.

Brokers and hosting I use

I recommend only what I use. I have been a client of IC Markets, IC Trading, FTMO and IONOS for many years.

IC Markets is the broker of the DRF Signal account, and the broker I use myself.
IC Trading is my suggestion if you live in Brazil or Europe.
FTMO is my suggestion if you want a prop firm, anywhere in the world. I use an FTMO Classic account (FTMO Swing), because it leaves me full freedom.
IONOS is the hosting company. The whole system runs on a Windows Server 2025 VPS at IONOS in New York, close to the broker.

These are affiliate links. If you open an account or buy through them I may be paid a commission, at no extra cost to you. Read the Affiliate Disclosure and the full page. Trading carries a high level of risk; check that a company is authorised in your country before you use it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it place trades?: No. It has no trade code at all; it only reads the chart and shows information and alerts.
Is the exhaustion reading a signal?: No. It describes how stretched a move is. A strong trend can stay stretched for a long time. It is an informational reading, not advice.
Why is there no Macro page on my symbol?: The Macro page is shown on gold symbols only, because its data describes gold. It is hidden on every other symbol on purpose.
How much computer power does it use?: About 6 milliseconds of work per second in our test on a laptop; the first view of a new symbol takes longer while its history loads.
What happens if my DRF Key expires or is wrong?: The Expert Advisor pauses and the chart says why. It never removes itself from the chart and it never closes or changes a position because of the licence. When the key is valid again it carries on by itself.
Do I need a key to run it?: Yes. Every DRF Expert Advisor needs a DRF Key, with a 7-day free trial. See the DRF Key page.
Does it promise a result?: No. Read the Risk Disclosure. Test on a demo account first; when everything works as you expect, use it on a real account.