Guides

Hands-on knowledge for algo & EA traders: from the basics (what is an Expert Advisor?) through backtesting and risk to VPS, news filters and prop-firm challenges. Every guide is written from an algo perspective.

Backtest vs Live: Why EAs Fail

The real reasons an EA that is profitable in backtest loses in live trading: slippage, spread widening, requotes, broker execution, over-optimisation and poor tick data quality.

EA portfolio management: correlation & combined drawdown

How to combine multiple Expert Advisors safely: correlation analysis, combined drawdown, capital allocation, and the mistakes that turn individual EA profits into portfolio losses.

Getting started with algo trading — step by step

How to start algo trading in seven steps: set expectations and risk first, pick a broker, test on demo, find and judge an EA, set up a VPS and track your portfolio. Realistic returns are single-digit percent per month with drawdowns — not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Grid & Martingale EAs: Understanding the Risks

How grid and martingale EAs work, why their equity curve looks dreamy — until it blows the account, when they are ever viable, and the risk controls that are non-negotiable.

How to Backtest & Forward-Test an EA Properly

A step-by-step methodology for testing Expert Advisors honestly: tick data quality, realistic cost modelling, out-of-sample windows, and the walk-forward test that separates real edges from curve fits.

Investor password: what it is & is it safe?

What the MT4/MT5 investor password is, why it is read-only, whether it is safe to share, and how to use it to get your EA account analyzed – without ever exposing trading or withdrawal rights.

MT4 vs MT5 for Algo Trading: What EA Developers Need to Know

MQL4 vs MQL5, netting vs hedging accounts, tick data quality, multi-asset support — a direct comparison for EA developers and algo traders.

News filters for EAs: surviving high-impact events

Why market-moving news can destroy EA strategies, how to implement news filters in MT4/MT5, and which calendar sources are actually reliable.

Passing a Prop-Firm Challenge with an EA: Rules, Risk and Setup

How to configure an Expert Advisor compliantly for FTMO and other prop firms: drawdown limits, lot sizing, news filters, and the most common disqualification traps.

Position sizing & per-trade risk for EAs

Fixed lot, percentage risk, or Kelly criterion: how to calculate the correct lot size for Expert Advisors and which method makes sense when.

Trading metrics explained: drawdown, profit factor, Sharpe & Sortino

What drawdown, profit factor, the Sharpe ratio and the Sortino ratio really mean, how to read them, and which values are realistic for EA accounts – with a real worked example.

VPS for Expert Advisors: Why Every EA Trader Needs One

A VPS keeps your Expert Advisors running 24/5 with low latency and no dependency on your local machine. What matters and how to choose the right one.

What is an Expert Advisor? A beginner's guide

What Expert Advisors are, how they work on MT4/MT5, which types exist, and what to look for when buying or building one as a beginner.

What Is Slippage? Causes, Impact, and How to Reduce It

Slippage determines the real-world performance of every EA and scalping strategy. What it is, why it happens, and how to reduce it systematically.

What Makes a Good Forex EA? Evaluation Criteria & Red Flags

The metrics that separate a serious Expert Advisor from a marketing product: out-of-sample results, drawdown vs return, profit factor, trade frequency, robustness and the classic warning signs.