Ask Mr. Pineapple, the EA seller from EA, about the features and production process of the multi-logic EA "Intelligent Sniper GJ1_TypeA"

We spoke with Pineapple, the developer of "Intelligent Sniper GJ1_TypeA," which is currently being sold on GoGoJungle, about EA explanations and an interview about himself.
From the trading history and development process discussed, you may be able to glimpse the characteristics of Intelligent Sniper!

Maintains favorable performance with independent multiple logics suited to various market conditions

EditorWhat kind of EA is "Intelligent Sniper GJ1_TypeA"?

PineappleIt analyzes market conditions with the EA's internal logic and enters and closes trades by selecting the most suitable logic from multiple available ones.
The target currency pair is the highly volatile GBP/JPY, so it is designed to seek as large profits as possible. Since multiple logics run independently, hedging (double positions) occurs naturally. Each logic aims for different profit targets—small profits or large profits—and while they differ, they were developed so that they offset drawdown against each other to operate with low overall drawdown.

EditorThis EA has a maximum position count of 10, but does that mean it contains 10 different logics?

PineappleYes. It contains 10 types of logic, with one position per logic.

EditorBecause independent logics enter individually, does that lead to hedging on both sides?

PineappleYes. It is basically a trend-following system, but some logic aims for smaller profits while others aim for larger profits, or looks at short vs long timeframes, so hedging becomes more likely.

EditorPlease tell us the key points to note about this EA.

PineappleTo automatically analyze various market conditions, it was built based on historical data. It contains logics that anticipate various market conditions, so if such conditions appear in the future, the appropriate logic will be automatically selected, and the advantages of stability with low drawdown would be its selling point.

EditorWho would be best suited to operate “Intelligent Sniper GJ1_TypeA”?

PineappleFor veteran traders, the parameters cannot be changed, which may feel unsatisfactory. However, it can be used without fine-tuning, so beginners are also recommended.

EditorWhile it is beginner-friendly, are there any cautions for beginners using this EA?

PineappleMost processing happens inside the EA, so you don't need to worry about the logics. However, since the number of positions can be high, be mindful of position sizing and money management.

EditorRegarding operation methods, is it recommended to stop trading during key economic indicators, or to keep it running continuously?

PineappleIt's better to keep it running. Because important indicators can cause large market moves, you can target those opportunities. It can lose money at times, but generally aiming for bigger profits is preferable.

EditorGBP/JPY being the target pair means the market tends to move significantly, right?

PineappleGBP/JPY itself is volatile, and with Brexit there could be even larger moves. It is set to take big profits when the market moves, so small moves alone won't yield profits; please use it when the market is moving significantly. Even beginners are encouraged to run this EA during Brexit-related movements.

EditorIf building a portfolio with this EA, what other EAs would pair well?

PineappleSince this is a trend-following EA, it pairs well with contrarian EAs that follow mean-reversion or with scalping EAs that have small drawdowns. Although it uses internal logic to gauge the market, it aims for large profits with trend-following, so some drawdown and sideways periods can occur. Pairing it with a scalping EA that trends upward in a straight line is recommended. Also, consider EAs for other currencies with little correlation to GBP/JPY.

EditorSo avoid overlapping currency pairs and seek EAs that can thrive in non-trending markets mostly?

PineappleIf a scalping EA demonstrates a steady, upward-sloping profit curve, it could cover for other strategies.

The EA started running before domestic MT4 providers existed.
In foreign forums, about 300 EAs have been created!

EditorNext, please tell us about Pineapple himself. First, your FX history and experience in EA development.

PineappleI started in mid-2005 with FX, during the peak of carry trades, which profit from interest rate differentials between the yen and the dollar. I began FX aiming to pursue carry trades. But by the end of 2005, positions in carry trades began to unwind, triggering a cascading drop by stop losses that caused some losses. From that experience, I felt limiting myself to popular methods wouldn’t suffice, so I began system trading.

EditorAfter feeling limitations in discretionary trading, you started considering automated trading, right?

PineappleInitially I used a charting software called "VT Trader" from a broker called FX Asia, but automatic trading didn’t fill orders well and I often missed the entries I targeted. When MT4 came out, I switched to MT4.

After starting MT4, I joined a community of MT4 users on Mixi, and participated in the overseas forum "ForexTSD" to study with friends using free EAs. Since there were no domestic MT4 brokers, I opened accounts with overseas brokers based on information from the community, and began automated trading with MT4.

Within ForexTSD there were many developers distributing free EAs. We did backtests, selected promising ones for forward testing, and developed together. When we used a promising averaging EA, we took significant losses, which made us quite skeptical of averaging EAs. Since then I began making my own EAs.

EditorHow many of your own EAs have you created so far?

PineappleIncluding failures, probably a few hundred (200-300). Now I mainly create trend-following EAs, focusing on GBP/JPY as a primary pair. I produced dozens of GBP/JPY EAs, and among them I selected the logic for Intelligent Sniper in this release.

EditorFrom an EA developer's perspective, what would you recommend to beginners?

PineappleA stable scalping EA is best. Low drawdown, easy money management, and high trading frequency make it user-friendly. Averaging-type EAs may fit current markets but can be risky and potentially ruinous, so I wouldn’t recommend them to beginners.

Even with trend-type EAs, there are good and bad periods. If you start during a bad period, you might think “this EA is no good” without considering market conditions. A scalping EA that yields reasonable profit under various markets is probably the easiest for beginners to handle.

EditorHow about beginners handling GBP/JPY and GBP/USD?

PineappleIf trading discretionarily, moves are large and spreads aren’t too wide nowadays, so breakouts or drawing trendlines and entering on pullbacks can be effective for trends. Conversely, for trend-reversing strategies, it’s riskier and probably best to avoid.

EditorEarlier you mentioned you like GBP/JPY; is there a reason?

PineappleI grew to like GBP/JPY because on the ForexTSD forum, discussions about EAs were active, and GBP-related pairs have strong movement. They attract traders because of their volatility.

EditorHow large was the ForexTSD forum back then in terms of participants?

PineappleI think tens of thousands participated. GBP and EUR were especially active.

EditorAre you currently automating trades with your EAs?

PineappleTrading a bit with overseas brokers.

EditorDo you use a VPS for EA operation?

PineappleI run it from my own computer. I don’t distrust VPS, but I’m a little uneasy about other systems running my EAs, like unexpected restarts or stoppages. Using a dedicated FX VPS would be fine, but if it restarts or stops unexpectedly, it’s hard to manage. There are ways to stop it using magic numbers, but since there have been no network or power issues on my end so far, I prefer to run it locally to save cost, electricity, and price considerations.

Combining past EA logics to adapt to market conditions and produce a rising profit curve
“Intelligent Sniper GJ1_TypeA”

EditorAmong the many EAs you’ve created, how did the current Intelligent Sniper GJ1_TypeA come to completion?

PineappleSince I had created many GBP/JPY EAs, using a single EA often resulted in a jagged profit curve and was hard to use. It performed well in highly volatile markets but not in quiet markets. I wanted to fix this by distributing logic across one EA to judge market conditions. I considered several market scenarios, selected matching logics from the EAs I had built, and combined them so the drawdown would offset, resulting in a smoother overall profit curve.

Optimization has been applied to some extent. Ideally, I would prefer no optimization, but I optimized to reduce drawdown a bit for ease of use. I performed in-sample and out-of-sample testing up to December 2017 to prevent overfitting, and even in non-optimized periods after that, I verified the profit curve remained upward-sloping before presenting it for sale.

EditorWhat research or references did you use when developing this EA?

PineappleI regularly review other people's EAs. On GoGoJungle's site, I look at the logic, stop loss and take profit values, and timeframes. Some are annotated with parameter leakage in backtests, which I use as references. Also, since it’s predominantly trend-based, I study breakouts, the Granville method, and the use of Bollinger Bands. I frequently refer to various blogs for guidance.

EditorFinally, a word for those who will use Intelligent Sniper.

PineappleThere are several EAs that use multiple logics, but Intelligent Sniper also uses logics tailored to market conditions with great precision, and its refined control to navigate market situations is its unique selling point.

EditorThank you very much.