Envelopes or Bollinger Bands?

They answer different questions. Bollinger asks 'is price unusual relative to current volatility', because its width is a multiple of measured deviation. Envelopes ask 'is price more than X percent from its average', full stop. If you want a rule whose meaning is fixed and explainable, use envelopes; if you want one that adapts as the market speeds up, use Bollinger.

What deviation percentage should I use?

There is no portable number — it depends entirely on the instrument. A 0.1% envelope is a meaningful distance on EUR/USD and noise on a volatile index. Start from the instrument's own typical daily range, pick a width that produces a sensible number of touches, then test it. Copying a percentage across symbols is the fastest way to get a channel that never touches or never stops touching.

Where is the middle line?

iEnvelopes does not publish one. It returns only UPPER_LINE (buffer 0) and LOWER_LINE (buffer 1). If a rule needs the centre — to exit a fade at the mean, for instance — add a separate moving-average node with the same period, method and applied price.

Should I fade the envelope or trade through it?

Both work in their own regime, and they are opposites. Fading assumes price returns to the average, which holds in a range. Trading through assumes the break continues, which holds in a trend. Attach a regime filter and let it choose, rather than running both and hoping.

Can I build an Envelopes EA without coding?

Yes. The Envelope Reversal template wires both bands against a Price node with period, method, deviation and applied price exposed as EA inputs, so you can compile, backtest and optimise it per pair without writing MQL5. Choosing the width for a new instrument is the part a template cannot do for you.

How should I validate settings before going live?

Backtest on quality tick data first, then run the EA on a demo account before risking money. When optimising, hold back data the search never saw and prefer settings that stay profitable across periods over the single in-sample peak — chasing that peak is overfitting the noise. No default or preset here is a performance promise; every value is a starting point to re-validate on your own pair and broker.

Tendance Mean ReversionChannelFilter Disponible dans Builder

Envelopes

Envelopes place two bands a fixed percentage above and below a moving average. Unlike Bollinger Bands the width never adapts, which makes them predictable, easy to reason about, and a clean way to express 'price has gone too far' as a single number you control.

Template settings: 20 / 0.10%
Bands: Upper / Lower
Width: Fixed percentage

Créer dans Builder Recette de stratégie

Illustratif — données synthétiques, pas une cotation en direct.

What Envelopes tell you

An envelope says price is more than X percent away from its own average. That is a simpler statement than a Bollinger touch, because the distance does not change when volatility does — which is a weakness in a market that speeds up, and a strength when you want a rule whose meaning stays fixed.

Price at the upper line: it is X% above its own average
Price at the lower line: X% below
The width never adapts — the same touch means the same distance in every regime

1 Average the applied price over N bars
2 Add and subtract a fixed percentage
3 Compare price to the two resulting lines

Afficher la formule et les détails de calcul

Envelopes are the simplest possible channel — a moving average plus and minus a fixed proportion:

Compute a moving average of the applied price over the period, using the chosen method.
Raise it by the deviation percentage to get UPPER_LINE, buffer 0: UPPER = MA × (1 + D/100).
Lower it by the same percentage to get LOWER_LINE, buffer 1: LOWER = MA × (1 − D/100).

Because the width is a proportion of the average rather than of measured dispersion, the channel scales with price but not with volatility. On a market whose price doubles, the envelope widens proportionally; on a market whose range doubles at the same price, it does not move at all. That single difference is what separates envelopes from Bollinger Bands, and it is the reason the deviation setting has to be chosen per instrument rather than copied.

In MQL5 the call is iEnvelopes(symbol, period, ma_period, ma_shift, ma_method, applied_price, deviation) and it returns a handle to two buffers — upper and lower only, with no middle line. Both ma_method and applied_price are real arguments, so the underlying average is as configurable as a standalone moving average.

Signaux

Les signaux distincts et testables que génère Envelopes — et le régime adapté à chacun.

Envelope Touch

Prêt dans Builder

Condition: Price reaches the upper or lower line
Meilleur régime: Ranging markets
Utilisation typique: Fade back toward the average — with a trend filter

Return to the Middle

Prêt dans Builder

Condition: Price crosses back through the moving average
Meilleur régime: Either regime
Utilisation typique: Exit a faded position at the mean

Envelope Breakout

Prêt dans Builder

Condition: Price closes beyond a line and keeps going
Meilleur régime: Trending markets
Utilisation typique: Trade the same level in the opposite direction when a trend exists

Width Calibration

Interprétation manuelle

Condition: Choosing the percentage from the instrument's own behaviour
Meilleur régime: Any
Utilisation typique: Set a width that produces a sensible number of touches

Implémentation MT5

Ce que MetaTrader 5 calcule et trace réellement — la référence de chaque règle de cette page.

Buffers

Index	Buffer	Tracé dans MT5 comme	Ce qu'il contient
0	UPPER_LINE	Line	The moving average raised by the deviation percentage.
1	LOWER_LINE	Line	The same average lowered by the same percentage. Note that iEnvelopes does not publish the middle line — you add a separate MA if a rule needs it.

Notes de plateforme

Fonction MQL5

iEnvelopes

Prix appliqué

Close Close · Open · High · Low · Median · Typical · Weighted

Dans Builder

The Builder's Envelope node exposes period, method, deviation and applied price as EA inputs and passes them to iEnvelopes, with a Band selector choosing the upper or lower buffer.

Notes d'implémentation

iEnvelopes publishes only the upper and lower lines — there is no middle-line buffer. A rule that needs the centre adds a separate MA node with the same period and method.
Comparing price to an envelope needs a Price node as the other side of the Compare; a line on its own is a level, not a condition.
Choosing the deviation percentage is not something an EA can do for you — it depends on the instrument's typical range, which is why the width sits in the manual category above.

Fonctionne mieux / utiliser avec prudence

Aucun indicateur n'est un avantage universel. Voici où Envelopes aide — et où il induit en erreur.

Fonctionne mieux

Ranging markets
Instruments with stable volatility
When you want a fixed, explainable distance
With a trend filter attached

Utiliser avec prudence

Markets whose volatility changes regime
One width across different instruments
Touches as standalone entries
Optimised widths without validation

Créer une stratégie Envelopes

Connectez le signal aux règles d'entrée et de sortie, puis exportez un EA MT5 compilable — sans code.

Lower envelope (20, 0.10%)
Upper envelope (20, 0.10%)
Bid below the lower line → Open Buy · SL 30 / TP 60
Bid above the upper line → Open Sell

Combiner Envelopes avec d'autres indicateurs

Un indicateur fonctionne rarement seul. Ces associations couvrent les angles morts de Envelopes.

Envelopes + RSI

Bid below lower envelope
RSI < 30
Buy

Pourquoi: Require a momentum extreme at the same moment as the distance extreme, so a slow drift out of the channel does not count as a signal
Meilleur régime: Ranging

No single-flow template pairs Envelopes with RSI — the portfolio template that holds both runs them as separate legs. Start from Envelope Reversal and add an RSI node with a Compare at 30.

Ouvrir Builder →

Envelopes + ADX

ADX < 20
Bid below lower envelope
Buy

Pourquoi: Only fade the envelope while trend strength is low, since a fixed-width channel is broken through and left behind in any real trend
Meilleur régime: Range filtering

No single-flow template pairs Envelopes with ADX. Start from Envelope Reversal and add an ADX node with a Compare below 20.

Ouvrir Builder →

Envelopes + ATR

Bid below lower envelope
ATR sets the stop distance
Buy

Pourquoi: Compensate for the fixed width by sizing the stop from current volatility, so the same percentage behaves sanely in a fast market
Meilleur régime: Any

No single-flow template pairs Envelopes with ATR. Add an ATR node feeding a risk-based lot or stop node.

Ouvrir Builder →

Paramètres

Valeurs de départ à valider sur votre propre paire et timeframe — pas des réglages garantis.

Paramètre	Défaut	Plage de test suggérée	Ce que ça fait
Period	20	10–50	Window for the underlying moving average. Sets where the centre of the channel sits and how fast it follows price.
Deviation	0.1	0.05–1.0	Half-width of the channel as a percentage of the average. This is the number that decides how often price touches, and it is instrument-specific — 0.1% is meaningful on a major FX pair and trivial on an index.
Method	SMA	SMA / EMA / SMMA / LWMA	How the centre average is weighted. Same ENUM_MA_METHOD choices as a plain moving average.
Applied price	Close	Close / Open / High / Low / Median / Typical / Weighted	Price series the centre average runs on. iEnvelopes accepts any ENUM_APPLIED_PRICE value.

Préréglages de départ

Tight 20 / 0.05% Frequent touches, scalping horizon

Template baseline 20 / 0.10% The Builder template's setting

Wide 20 / 0.50% Rare, larger excursions

Exemples de marché

Où Envelopes fonctionne, où il échoue et comment un filtre change le résultat.

Fonctionne

Fade inside a stable range

Price stretches to the lower line in a quiet session and returns to the average — the case a fixed-width channel describes best.

Échoue

Volatility outgrows the channel

The session's range doubles and price spends the whole day outside the upper line. Every touch is a sell signal and every one of them is early.

Filtré

Trend filter changes the direction

With a strength filter attached, the same upper-line touches are traded through rather than faded once a trend is confirmed — one level, two rules, selected by regime.

Indicateurs associés

Bollinger Bands Voir le guide →

Moving Average Voir le guide →

ATR Voir le guide →

Keltner Channel Voir le guide →

FAQ

Envelopes or Bollinger Bands?: They answer different questions. Bollinger asks 'is price unusual relative to current volatility', because its width is a multiple of measured deviation. Envelopes ask 'is price more than X percent from its average', full stop. If you want a rule whose meaning is fixed and explainable, use envelopes; if you want one that adapts as the market speeds up, use Bollinger.
What deviation percentage should I use?: There is no portable number — it depends entirely on the instrument. A 0.1% envelope is a meaningful distance on EUR/USD and noise on a volatile index. Start from the instrument's own typical daily range, pick a width that produces a sensible number of touches, then test it. Copying a percentage across symbols is the fastest way to get a channel that never touches or never stops touching.
Where is the middle line?: iEnvelopes does not publish one. It returns only UPPER_LINE (buffer 0) and LOWER_LINE (buffer 1). If a rule needs the centre — to exit a fade at the mean, for instance — add a separate moving-average node with the same period, method and applied price.
Should I fade the envelope or trade through it?: Both work in their own regime, and they are opposites. Fading assumes price returns to the average, which holds in a range. Trading through assumes the break continues, which holds in a trend. Attach a regime filter and let it choose, rather than running both and hoping.
Can I build an Envelopes EA without coding?: Yes. The Envelope Reversal template wires both bands against a Price node with period, method, deviation and applied price exposed as EA inputs, so you can compile, backtest and optimise it per pair without writing MQL5. Choosing the width for a new instrument is the part a template cannot do for you.
How should I validate settings before going live?: Backtest on quality tick data first, then run the EA on a demo account before risking money. When optimising, hold back data the search never saw and prefer settings that stay profitable across periods over the single in-sample peak — chasing that peak is overfitting the noise. No default or preset here is a performance promise; every value is a starting point to re-validate on your own pair and broker.

Glossary

Termes clés

Volatilité Backtest Surajustement