M7 Sidewinder Pro by Halcyonfx.com an Interview with Hal Chapman

I was very surprised earlier this month when Hal Chapman, creator of halcyonfx.com, decided to launch his new automated system called M7 Sidewinder Pro . Since I have bought almost all of Hal’s products, I decided to offer him an interview about his new expert advisor which shows some features and claims I am very intrigued about. I have always believed Hal to be, besides an excellent coder, a true dedicated expert advisor creator who puts his customers profitability first (not to mention that he is one of the few willing to answer my blunt questions openly). Now, with great pleasure I will now show you our email interview which will most likely inform you very well about his new expert advisor system, M7 Sidewinder Pro.

1. So Hal, I understand you have a new expert advisor system called M7 Sidewinder Pro. Could you please describe your new system for us ?

Yes, of course. The M7 Sidewinder PRO is an advanced automated Forex trading environment. which consists of four separate EAs (referred to as EA modules) which can be used individually or in any combination including all 4 at the same time. Although it is highly suggested new users begin trading a single module first before attempting more delicate multi-module configurations.

Each module has independent money management logic providing complete money management to each module and full money management isolation from the other 3 modules. This enables the Sidewinder to trade up to 4 currency pairs at the same time without polluting the money management sequence of any of the individual modules.

Sidewinder is an adaptive system in the sense that it can tell what situation it is in and can choose how it will respond based on that information. The system has the capability of trading under one of two modes depending on its current trading situation which it keeps track of. Overall I believe Sidewinder is a leap forward towards stable returns over time with controlled risk and state of the art technology.

2. What makes this system different from TrendTracer and Doubleplay ?

This system draws on the lessons learned over the past couple of years with DoublePlay and Trend-Tracer. What makes this system different? The short answer is that it is more profitable because it is the first one to intelligently deploy a compound 2-stage money management system and has a much improved market entrance logic.

Also remember that DoublePlay was written in November of 2006, Trend-Tracer was developed early 2008 and now Sidewinder was just released to the public on February of 2009. Significant time has passed between each release and all of that time translates into more experience trading and programming all of which is manifested in this latest system.

Another difference that many will appreciate is that Sidewinder can be made to work properly in much smaller accounts than both DoublePlay or Trend-Tracer can.

3. One of the few comments some people have, me included, about Doubleplay and Trendtracer is that even though they indeed made profit in the end, these two experts took accounts through important draw down levels, sometimes even 50% or more of the account’s balance. What does M7 Sidewinder Pro do to prevent this ?

At this juncture I would like to point out that the multiple-module configurations are subject to higher possible draw down than single module configurations due to the fact that you are trading one currency and not 4. That is why each individual user may benefit from a different Sidewinder configuration depending on the size of their available trading equity, risk appetite and ability to handle potential draw down.

Having said that, I will tell you that Sidewinder certainly does more to fight serious draw-down than any previous system that I have written. That is precisely the reason why this system is here today and that issue in particular is that the 2 stage defense against draw down addresses. Unlike any of our previous systems, Sidewinder is the only one which adapts as the in-profit/in-draw-down situation changes to fight draw-down and it is very effective at it.

I am not trying to say that there will not be drawdown with Sidewinder. Of course there will be. But what I am saying is that this system has tools to fight against draw-down that none of my other systems ever had. Some things are best seen in action rather than explained and while I am trying to do my best at explaining this I fear this may be one of those things. When you see how it trades and you understand the system you will see that it is designed to deal with draw down situations much better and it has the tools needed to get the account back on track and far into profits. What tools are these? The 2 stage money management, the way that wins/losses have been thought through and soon (currently testing) a two-stage trailing stop to be deployed during the level 2 alert stage of the money management system.

Have I done away with draw-down altogether? No. Of course not. But I have dealt a major blow against it with this system and that means money in Sidewinder user’s pockets.

4. What is the main difference between the two money managment systems integrated within M7 Sidewinder Pro ? Could you please explain the “second line of defense” in more detail ?

The main difference between the two money management systems is that the first is in the form of position sizing and the second is in the form of trade characteristics management. Let me explain.

Position sizing dictates the lot size of the next trade and is the core of the money management system that has been used with DoublePlay and Trend-Tracer as of late. This is also implemented in Sidewinder. However Sidewinder is the only EA in which this position sizing based system is combined with a second system based on the strategic management of trade characteristics.

Trade characteristics are basic things about any given trade. For example the stop loss and profit targets are trade characteristics. The “second line of defense” is essentially when the software detects that the account continues to be in a state of drawdown after a given number of trades and as a result of that changes the characteristics of the subsequent trades that it places by replacing the profit target with a trailing stop (soon, a 2-stage trailing stop). Of course this does not guarantee that the very next trade will return the account to profit but it does set up the subsequent trades for maximum profit potential. Add to that the effect of the improved market entry logic and it is not long before a trade is carried well into profit by the trailing stop and the account brought out of draw-down.

5. What happens when the “second line of defense” fails ? What would the draw down be in this situation ?

This would be the proverbial worst case scenario and would represent significant draw down. We cannot promise this will never happen. No one can really. You must understand that yes, it can happen with this or any other trading system. However, the system we provide arranges things such that it puts various layers of odds heavily in favor of the investor. That is all any good system can hope to do.

6. Some of the claims you make are pretty “hyped” for an ea with a forward testing period of less than two months. What makes you so confident about this expert advisor’s profitability ?

I designed and wrote the system and I know how it works inside and out and that is why I am so excited and confident. Having said that, I think it would be best to let the EA actions speak for themselves. It is a solid system and I am extremely happy with it.

7. Please Hal tell us what you would consider the best quality and the worst defect of your M7 Sidewinder Pro ea?

Let me start with The worst defect. This is that Sidewinder can be confusing to set up optimally by different users. I mean, it’s 4 separate EAs that can be used all at once or one at a time or 3 at once… etc. There are more than one way to a correct setup depending on if you want more or less risk or faster/slower profit accumulation. So in summary, it can be confusing to harness by someone who does not have moderate understanding of MT4 and EA operations and does not understand this particular system.

The first step to combat this is advising new customers to begin testing with a single module which is evidently far less confusing to a Sidewinder newcomer than attempting to run the EA system at full throttle with all 4 modules.

The second but equally important step is to maintain a very good flow of communication with the Sidewinder customer base to make sure they are properly set up which I fee we are dong a good job with so far.

Now for the best quality – It is extremely effective and profitable. Specially when used as a single module. It is fast, does not make you wait much. It is smart, it adapts to it’s environment and gets the job done. I love waking up in the morning and looking at my live account. There is always a pleasant surprise waiting there. I have a “punching bag” version of this EA installed on my desk top and I run it improperly (on purpose) on a demo account to see the results. The EA still manages to keep that account profitable! (I shut it down every night and I reboot the MT4 several times during the day which shakes up the money management sequence.)

8. What is the expected influence of spreads and broker feeds on your expert advisor ? Do you expect results to change significantly between different brokers and spreads ?

I don’t expect the spreads to affect it as much and the EA can handle both the standard and the 5 digit pricing feeds which covers most MT4 brokers out there.

9. Hal, please tell us, to the best of your knowledge, what the minimum capital, recommended broker, expected draw downs and monthly profits are for this new expert advisor ?

This is a difficult question to answer as there are so many ways to configure Sidewinder on the same account and all have different outcomes. I will answer this in the perspective or a single module trading on a single pair.

Unlike my other EA, this one you can use on a mini account as small as $100. Don’t expect to get rich from the $100 overnight, but it does work and it maintains itself and moves the account forward with the appropriate settings. You can expect better than 10% per month return with this EA. You will likely see much better than that but drawing on my experience in this field that is all I will commit to. Starting with $100 of course does not make sense other than for a live test where you do not want to risk much or gain much. Best forward movement is seen with a standard account and $10K balance trading one module to full potential

9. Finally, we have seen time after time that expert advisor creators offer a “refund policy” that then gets “taken out” for some reason such as “abuse” by customers or other random reason. How do you plan to prevent this and are you planning to keep this “refund policy” indefinetely ?

As you may know, I have had a no refunds policy for years now and the only reason why I am making an exception this time for this product is because #1 I am 500% confident in my system’s performance and #2 Because I am so excited about this system that I want everyone to have it.

The money back guarantee is meant to send a message to the honest guy out there who is thinking of purchasing an automated Forex trading system; that their penny is safe here. That if they buy my product they can rest assured it will not turn out to be junk or they don’t have to pay for it.

However, to be completely fair, the refund policy is tied to performance. This is not an “I don’t think I like this system for no good reason, I want my money back.” type of guarantee. You must allow the system a chance to do what it does and you cannot get a refund if the system is performing well of if it is not properly set up. (We offer free email support to anyone who needs assistance setting it up properly.) You have to be able to demonstrate that you tried the system, configured it correctly and ran it properly for a fair amount of time (one month) and ended up with negative performance. If that is the case, fair is fair. You get a refund. But that is the only way to get a refund. Moreover, we are more than willing to provide technical support and setup/configuration assistance to anyone who needs it.

Now, will the policy remain? Well Daniel, I will be honest with you, I hope the refund policy stays too because as I mentioned it is a clear sign of my high degree of confidence in this system’s ability to please most intelligent Forex investors. But if you are asking me to limit my possible reactions in the face of uncertainty then I would reply by saying that making such commitment would be foolish on my part. I do hold out hope that the bad apples not ruin this for everyone.

Finally, before I go, I would like to thank you Daniel for giving me the opportunity to respond to the insightful points you bring up and thanks also to all of the Halcyon Forex customers out there who make it possible for me to keep constantly working towards finding a better and safer way to increase your Forex trading returns.

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6 Responses to “M7 Sidewinder Pro by Halcyonfx.com an Interview with Hal Chapman”

  1. fiepmupke says:

    Hello . . . no comment yet? M7 results from their website are quite impressive – as are most commercials. I plan to buy this EA, hoping for 50% of the returns it shows. Anyone sharing experiences on this new thing? Knowing Daniel a little, you must be eager to forwardtest it!
    Regards from NL. Joseph

  2. Daniel says:

    Well, I am, as I said, intrigued by the claims made by the system. I am planning to see how forward testing goes for the next few months, then I will most likely buy it for testing if things turn out to be ok. Make sure you drop by again and tell us your experience with the ea !
    Regards !

  3. Elechi says:

    am Elechi from Nigeria how can i pay for your materials

  4. rkinman says:

    So Far this system performed very well on my demo account. Follow his instructions with account size and etc per module and you will make out very well.

  5. Davemax says:

    Hello Dan, How is the robot performing, it's now Over 3 months?

  6. says:

    I can't tell what kind of EA M7 Sidewinder is.Martingdale,
    Scalper,Trend Trader….

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