MacOS Risk & Reward Tool risk calculation issues for some instruments

RayzFX98

Dear ClickAlgo Support,

I purchased the MacOS Risk & Reward Tool from you guys a few months back. I have never been able to use the tool how it's intended when it comes to indices (like US30, S&P500, NAS100), as well as metals like gold. The tool works fine for currency pairs.

The issue I have when it comes to indices and metals is that unlike with currency pairs, the risk does not remain fixed with the correct intended calculation number following market movement and/or as you adjust the SL. The closest solution I have found for indices and commodities is that the risk seems to remain fixed for sells when it comes to the fixed cash balance option - but not for buys, even with this option. When it comes to the other options of % cash balance, etc., the issue occurs regardless of whether it is a buy or sell - this means the tool can't be used for indices or gold unless it's a sell and even then you are only limited to the fixed cash balance option.

Considering it is a tool I purchased, I would have hoped that the tool would work across ALL risk calculation methods (% cash balance, % equity balance, etc.) for stock indices and metals too just like it does with currency pairs. The % cash balance option is my desired selection and I would want to be able to use it as a selection not just for currency pairs, but also for indices (US30, S&P500, NAS100) and metals like gold.

Don't know if any assistance or clarification could be provided around this, but would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Raymond.

Mike

Hi Raymon,

Sorry to hear you're having issues with the tool. Could you please share a screenshot of your cBot parameters, or export them as a .cbotset file and upload it here? This will help us investigate the problem more effectively.

Maybe also share a single trade setup I could duplicate,

RayzFX98

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the response.

Find attached example parameters i'd have set for US30 in the following 4 images

In terms of a single trade setup you could duplicate. Try a 10 pip SL and 10 pip TP market order buy on US30 at 0.5% risk of starting balance.

It seems that at SLs this tight (like 10 pip for us30), the % risk varies - instead of remaining fixed at 0.5%, it goes to the high 0.5%s, 0.6% and even 0.7% risk - going higher the tighter the SL pips are. The issue occurs with SLs this tight - as when I use for example a 100 pip SL for us30, the risk % is fixed at 0.5% or very close to it as intended. For currency pairs, even with very tight SLs, the 0.5% risk would persist regardless of how tight the SL is - this isn't the case with indices like US30 or metals (like gold) when the SL is as tight as 10 pips for instance with US30.

Hope this helps in your assistance.

Mike

Hi Ray,

Thank you for your detailed explanation, it’s very helpful in understanding the issue.

We've reviewed your example, and the variation you're seeing in the risk percentage when using very tight stop losses on symbols like US30 is expected under current conditions with IC Markets, where the spread for this symbol is around 12 pips. This means that your stop loss and take profit levels are within or very close to the spread, which makes calculations unstable and execution unreliable.

The Risk & Reward Tool was designed primarily for advanced trade planning, not for short-term scalping strategies that involve extremely tight stop-losses or take-profits. With instruments like US30 or Gold, tight SLs (e.g. 10 pips or less) can exaggerate the effective spread and slippage impact, causing discrepancies in the calculated risk percentage, especially in volatile or low-liquidity periods.

For more consistent results with this tool, we recommend using more reasonable SL/TP distances that account for the instrument's average spread and volatility. In your case, testing with a minimum of 20–30 pips for US30 would help ensure the calculations align more closely with the actual risk settings.

Let me know if you'd like help configuring a template for your preferred setup.

RayzFX98

Hi Mike,

I appreciate your response and this clarification - this makes sense.

Just to clarify; it isn't IC markets that I am trading with - it is actually FTMO. I assume though that the point you made still stands even with FTMO.

Also, in the future do you think that there is potential for there to be any change or update that will happen with the tool so that even with small pip SLs for indices and gold (such as is the case with scalping), the tool will still calculate the risk % correctly despite the small SLs, or will that not be possible even in the future due to the spread issues you mention meaning it wouldn't be possible regardless?

Look forward to your response.

Thanks Mike,

Raymond.

algoman

Hi Ray, I will try to help you over the weekend. The same principle still applies here. Even though FTMO’s spread on US30 or Gold may be lower than IC Markets at certain times, the relative size of the spread compared to a very tight stop loss (e.g. 10 pips) will still have a significant impact on the accuracy of the calculated risk% %. This is simply because the calculation is based on the price distance between entry and stop loss, and if the spread is a significant fraction of that distance, the maths gets skewed.

Regarding future updates, the challenge isn't with the tool's logic itself but with the market mechanics. For minimal SL distances on high-volatility instruments, spread and slippage become dominant factors; no calculation can entirely “correct” this without making assumptions that might be misleading in live trading. The only way to get perfectly stable values in such cases would be to base the calculation on theoretical zero-spread pricing, but that would no longer reflect real-world execution risk.

In short, the tool will continue to work as designed for its primary purpose, medium to longer SL/TP trade planning, but scalping with ultra-tight stops on indices and metals will always produce some variation in the displayed risk %.

It's also worth noting that cTrader includes a built-in Risk & Reward tool, which uses the platform's own order and price data. If you haven't already, it might be helpful to compare the results from that tool with ClickAlgo when using very tight stop losses, as it will help confirm whether the variations you're seeing are due to market factors rather than the tool's calculations.

RayzFX98

Hi Algoman,

Thank you for your detailed explanation over the weekend period - really appreciated.

This makes sense and helps to clarify some things. However, what is still confusing and I guess the only last thing now that perhaps wasn't addressed was why the ClickAlgo tool seems to work for stock indices and metals even at very tight stop losses when it comes to the fixed cash balance option and sells - yet it doesn't with the other risk options like % of account balance or % of account equity. Also, the fact it works for the fixed cash balance option for sells, but not for buys. These 2 things are what has made me feel there is possibility for the tool to work with indices and metals even at tight SLs (like 10 pips) when it comes to the other risk options like % of cash balance (and buys when it comes to the fixed cash balance option - just like it does with sells) - simply because the tool seems to work fine with sells for the fixed cash balance option as I mentioned - so this proves the tool can work for stop losses this tight even for stock indices and metals. It seems that the tool runs into problems for stock indices and metals at tight stop losses for sells when it comes to the other 3 options of % of cash balance, etc. (yet works fine for fixed cash balance option), and also runs into problems for all 4 options when it comes to buys.

This is the only remaining thing that I feel wasn't addressed. The tool working perfectly fine for sells at tight stop losses for the fixed cash balance option even with a 10 pip SL (if the spread thing was really the issue, the tool wouldn't work for the fixed cash balance option either even for sells - it working for the fixed cash balance option but not the other 3 I don't feel is down to the spread issue described)

You can test this yourself: if you try to place a 10 pip SL and 10 pip TP US30 sell trade with the fixed cash balance option selected and the $ monetary amount that would equate to say 0.5% risk, the tool works perfectly fine even at a tight SL of 10 pips for US30. This shows the tool can do this accurately even with these market mechanics but runs into issues when it comes to the other 3 risk setting options for sells (and buys - for all risk setting options) - which seems fixable due to the fact it works for the fixed cash balance option for sells as i've explained.

Hope this makes sense and clearer the issue here.

(Also, yeah, I am aware of cTrader's built-in Risk & Reward tool - that is what I have relied on for stock index and metal buys - though I still have to then manually adjust for SL, TP and lot size for that tool when it comes to market orders)

Thank you and look forward to your response,

Raymond.

Mike

Hi Raymond,

Thank you for the extra detail, that clears up precisely what you're seeing. I understand your point: if the Fixed Cash Balance option is calculating correctly for sells on US30 with a 10-pip SL, it seems reasonable that the same accuracy should be possible for the other risk modes and for buys as well.

The key difference is that the Fixed Cash Balance mode bypasses some of the percentage-based calculations and instead directly uses the target monetary amount to determine position size. This removes one step where spread and price-conversion differences between entry and stop loss are factored in. In the % of Balance and % of Equity modes, that extra calculation layer means even a small spread (as a fraction of your SL) can introduce rounding differences and more pronounced discrepancies at very tight stops, and this effect isn't always symmetrical between buys and sells because of how bid/ask prices are applied.

That said, your example is valid, and it's something we can replicate here. If the logic for the other modes can be adjusted to follow the same calculation path as Fixed Cash Balance (while still respecting percentage-based targeting), then it may be possible to improve the accuracy for tight SLs. We’ll run some controlled tests internally with both buys and sells on US30 and Gold to confirm whether this is a purely calculation-logic issue or if there's still a market-data constraint.

I'll update you once we've tested it and can confirm whether an adjustment is feasible in a future release.

RayzFX98

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your response and thank you for you guys' endeavours to see the possibilities - this is very much appreciated - fingers crossed - please do keep me updated!

Raymond.

RayzFX98

Also, hope the controlled tests can also involve checking the possibilities for buys when it comes to the fixed cash balance option - not just the % based models for buys and sells - that would be most helpful and comprehensive!

Thanks again.

Mike

Try the version below, 2.7.0, the fixed cash balance remains the same for buys. Tested with XAUUSD with a 10 pip stop loss.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15COgJ0yi8tVflPBxyqkkAdPuAKUqnon6/view?usp=drive_link

RayzFX98

Thanks Mike - will try now! Only just seeing this - didn't know a solution would've been found so fast - will check now

RayzFX98

Hi Mike - the algo isn't showing as an algo - it's showing as a doc file on my mac. In order for me to open it on cTrader, it needs to be an algo file - see the screenshot for reference. This is what it shows:

But with the current algo version I have, it showed this (notice how the file type is 'Algo File', but for the one you provided it is a 'Document' file - I don't know if this is because the version you sent is for windows, not mac - but it being a document file isn't allowing me to open the algo in cTrader):

Will be checking for response actively so we can solve this as soon as possible :) - thanks again!

Mike

Download the file as a .zip. Once the download is complete, unzip the folder and double-click the .algo file to install it.

If the .algo file does not install automatically, place it manually into your Robots directory. On a Mac, the file association for .algo files may have been lost, so manual installation ensures it works correctly.

RayzFX98

Hi Mike,

I did download the file as a zip - when I double clicked the zip (to unzip it) it gave me that document file instead of the algo file.

RayzFX98

Hi Mike, I managed to get the algo file now - I had to delete the previously downloaded zips I had - it seems that was causing the file to unzip and create a document file instead of an algo file - due to the '2' that was next to algo due to it being a copy.

I will try and load the algo file onto cTrader now

RayzFX98

Hi Mike - this is perfect - the fixed cash balance option is working for indices like us30, us500, nas100 and is working for gold too - it keeps the risk fixed even with market movement and/or adjusting of the SL - this is exactly what I was hoping for and what I thought could be possible - glad to see it was possible. This will be a big help - really appreciate your efforts with this and for solving this issue.

As I place trades, hopefully there will be no errors I come across - there shouldn't be any - but if so, I would be sure to mention - all looks fine - risk remains fixed as you said!

Thank you so much for the assistance and your patience with it all.

Raymond.

Only question I have left now is; Will this now be in future updates going forward - meaning if I download any future updates, this will remain the case for the fixed cash balance option? Hopefully so!

Mike

Hi, Ray,

I am glad it worked and I will publish an update to our server today with the latest changes so that the fix will be included in all future downloads.

If you have a moment, we would greatly appreciate it if you could leave us a review on Trustpilot about your experience with our customer service.

Leave a review on Trustpilot

RayzFX98

Hi Mike - thanks so much for all the help and this is great to know this update will be included in all future downloads - will leave a review now!

Have a great week! :)

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