MidasIn short: Smart Money and other entry filters in an EA only decide whether a new basket may start. None of them protects a basket that is already open.
An entry filter decides one thing in a grid EA: whether a new basket may start right now. It looks at an indicator or at price structure, such as RSI, ADX or Smart Money patterns (liquidity sweep, fair value gap, break of structure), and answers yes or no. Once the basket is open it is not consulted, so a filter does not protect an open basket from a long move against it.
Written on 9 October 2026, with Midas, an MT5 gold grid EA, as the example. Midas has these filters, off by default, and does not claim that any of them improves results.
See also: 7 protections for a martingale grid bot on gold →
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What is a grid EA, and what is an entry filter in it?
A grid EA is an Expert Advisor that opens a first order and adds more at set price steps as price moves against it, managing them as one basket. An entry filter is a yes-or-no check that runs only before a new basket starts.
A grid EA first chooses a direction by its own trend rule. Then it starts a basket: a first order, with more added as price moves against it. The filter is an extra check inserted between "the rule says buy" and "open the first order".
Everything after that is unchanged. Orders are added by price distance, and the exit is a take-profit or trail. The filter is not asked again until the basket is closed and the EA is about to start the next one. Midas has 14 filter families: Trend MA, MD Channel, Bollinger, Stochastic, RSI, Parabolic SAR, Williams %R, ADX, ATR range, MACD, Vortex, Donchian, VWAP and Smart Money.
Veto or confirm: what is the difference?
In veto mode a filter blocks only a start that points against the EA's direction. In confirm mode it blocks every start it does not actively agree with, neutral ones included.
Each filter gives one of three readings for the direction: agrees, points the other way, or neutral. Veto and confirm treat the neutral reading differently.
- Veto (the Midas default,
FilterMode = 1): a start is blocked only when the filter points against the direction. Neutral passes. - Confirm (
FilterMode = 0): a start passes only when the filter agrees. Neutral blocks.
A worked case with RSI at its Midas thresholds (35 and 65), where the EA wants to buy:
| RSI reading | Filter says | Veto | Confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | buy | start | start |
| 50 | neutral | start | blocked |
| 70 | sell | blocked | blocked |
Confirm is much stricter. With several filters in confirm mode the EA can go long periods without starting anything.
How do several filters combine?
In Midas, the SignalMode input sets how several enabled entry filters combine. 0 means every enabled filter must pass. 1 means any one passing is enough. 2 means at least MinSignalCount must pass. With one filter on, they are the same.
Two families work as gates: ADX (a trend-strength minimum) and the ATR range (volatility within a band). When one returns "closed", the start is refused whatever the others say. And UseClosedBarSignal chooses whether a filter reads the last closed one-minute bar or the bar still forming. A forming bar can change its reading until it closes, so a start allowed at 10:00:20 might have been refused at 10:00:59.
What is Smart Money (sweep, FVG, BOS) in an EA, and how does Midas define it?
In an EA, Smart Money means rule-based detectors of price patterns (liquidity sweep, fair value gap, break of structure) that act as a veto or a confirmation before a new basket starts. The term is trading vocabulary, not a standard: different tools draw the same words differently.
In Midas it means three rule-based detectors on bars of the chosen timeframe (one minute by default). The points below are points of two-digit gold, $0.01 each.
| Detector | What it looks for | Main inputs (defaults) | Reads as buy when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquidity sweep | A bar pokes beyond the recent extreme and price closes back inside | lookback 20 bars, penetration 20 points ($0.20), sweep up to 3 bars back | a low is swept and price is back above it |
| Fair value gap | A three-bar gap that no later bar has fully filled | lookback 30 bars, size 50 points ($0.50), age up to 20 bars | an unfilled upward gap |
| Break of structure | A close beyond the last confirmed swing high or low | swing lookback 50 bars, 2 bars each side | a close above the last swing high |
The sell readings mirror these. SMC_MinConfirmations (default 2) is how many enabled detectors must agree on the direction. If you enable fewer detectors than that number, it is reduced to match.
Two traps. First, UseSmartMoneyFilter is a master switch: with no detector enabled, it does nothing, and the log says so. Second, with two detectors required, many moments are neutral, so confirm mode will block most starts.
Can a Smart Money or entry filter protect an open basket?
No. Entry filters, Smart Money included, are consulted only when a new basket is about to start. Once the first order is open they cannot make a deep basket shallower, cut a loss or end a basket sooner.
This is the part that matters for risk.
Say a filter allows a start at 10:00 and price falls $40 over the next hours. The grid adds orders by price distance, as designed. The filter is silent, because its job ended when the first order opened. The basket's size, its stop-out distance and its exit are the same as without the filter.
What limits a basket's exposure is how many orders the grid may open for your balance, the hours, the spread limit and stops; see how to limit risk in a gold grid EA and Protection and filters.
Nor do filters predict anything. A reading such as "an upward fair value gap" describes bars that have already formed.
What do entry filters cost?
Entry filters in a grid EA cost fewer baskets, extra settings to get wrong and, at worst, a false sense of cover.
- Fewer baskets. Every refusal is a start you did not take. Whether the ones you skipped would have been better or worse is not known in advance.
- Noise on minute bars. Patterns on one-minute gold bars appear and vanish quickly.
- Complexity. More inputs, more interactions (veto or confirm, all or any), and more ways to misconfigure.
- A false sense of cover. The risk is that a filter feels like protection and leads to a larger lot than the balance supports.
How do you test an entry filter on a demo account?
Test one entry filter at a time on a demo account, with FilterMode left at veto first:
- Open a demo account.
- Switch on one filter family only.
- Leave
FilterModeat veto (1). - Read the Experts log: it notes a skipped start with the filter's name and reading, at most about once a minute.
- Treat a short test as proof only that the filter runs, not that it helps; do not treat a few days as evidence.
Judge any EA's filter claims the way you would judge other claims; see how to evaluate a gold EA.
Where do you find the entry filters in Midas?
Midas keeps its entry filters in the MT5 inputs window (F7), in groups named "Entry filters (optional)" and one per family, such as "Entry filters (optional): Smart Money (SMC)". They are not on the panel. All are off by default; with every filter off, Midas loads no indicators and starts baskets as before. Midas does not have a weekday filter or an automatic news calendar.
What can go wrong
- Treating a filter as protection. It guards the start only.
- Over-filtering. Confirm mode with several filters can leave the EA idle for long stretches.
- A switch with nothing behind it. The Smart Money master switch with no detector enabled changes nothing.
- If the deposit is too small, a stop-out is possible, with or without filters. A cent account makes the numbers small, not the risk. See Risk, plainly.
This explains how settings work; it is not a forecast. Trading with leverage carries risk: if the deposit is too small, a stop-out is possible. Size your deposit with a safety margin. Nothing here is individual investment advice.
Midas · published 9 October 2026 · updated 9 October 2026.
FAQ
What is a grid EA, and how does grid trading work on gold?
A grid EA is an Expert Advisor that opens a first order and adds more at set price steps as price moves against it, up to a set maximum, and manages them all as one basket. Midas, an MT5 EA, trades gold (XAUUSD) this way, with grid entries by trend and a trailing exit. On a long enough move against it and with too small a deposit, a grid can hit a stop-out. Size your deposit with a safety margin.
Should I use veto or confirm mode?
Start with veto. In Midas, veto blocks only a start that points against the filter's reading, while confirm needs the filter to agree and refuses neutral moments, so it blocks far more. Try veto first on a demo account, with one filter, and read the Experts log to see what it refused.
Why does Midas start fewer baskets after I turn filters on?
Because each enabled entry filter can refuse a start, and with "all must pass" (the default SignalMode) every one has to agree. Several filters, or confirm mode, multiply the refusals. A closed ADX or ATR gate also refuses a start whatever the other filters say.
Does turning on the Smart Money switch enable the patterns?
Not by itself. In Midas you must also enable at least one detector: liquidity sweep, fair value gap or break of structure. With none enabled, the master switch (UseSmartMoneyFilter) has no effect and the Experts log says so. By default, all entry filters are off.
What should I check in a grid EA besides its entry filters?
Check what limits a basket once it is open: how many orders the grid may open for your balance, the trading hours, the spread limit and any stop. Entry filters do not limit an open basket. Put your own numbers into the grid calculator, test on a demo account and judge the seller's claims with the ten questions in how to evaluate a gold EA.