Let's get started! EA Life ~ Challenging MT4 automated trading | Episode 4: How to choose an EA [Arihito Kakizawa]

Makoto Kakizawa's Profile

Masanobu Kakizawa. Since 2009 he has been developing automated FX trading systems and has provided numerous automatic trading systems such as EasySniper and MultiAgent to brokers and users. At Invast Securities' automated trading service "Sankore 24" (SISR? "Sistore 24"), the provided strategy MultiAgent achieved an overwhelming performance and evaluation in the 2016 Annual Awards. Also, at Himawari Securities' automated trading service "Ecoture," the provided strategy "Hikaeme Venus" kept the number of users in first place for over a year from 2013 to 2014. The number of users has exceeded 700. Currently, he offers Dream Agent FX, an evolution of MultiAgent.

In this series, we focus on FX automated trading systems, specifically EA (Expert Advisor) that runs on MetaTrader 4 (MT4), and will have professional trader Masanobu Kakizawa guide you through the knowledge and know-how to operate them. If you are considering running an EA, or if you are already using EA, please refer to it.

※This article is a reprint/re-edited version of FX攻略.com September 2018 issue. Please note that the market information described herein may differ from current market conditions.

Pay Attention to the Slope of the Profit-Loss Curve

Hello everyone. In the previous article "Basic Knowledge to Start an EA with MT4," we explained that for FX automated trading, the essential elements include an FX account to trade on (an MT4 account), a platform to run the EA (MT4), the automated trading system itself (the EA), and an environment to execute automation (a VPS). Among these, stability of the operating environment is crucial because lack of stability significantly affects trading quality. In this fourth installment, titled "How to Choose an EA," we will examine how to select the EAs actually used in automated trading operations.

So, when choosing an EA, what criteria do you use? Of course, most people answer by looking at performance. But precisely which items or numbers do you examine to judge the merits? Here, we will look at performance in more detail, item by item.

First, please look at Image ①. The most legible and noticeable aspect here is the "profit and loss curve." If this P/L curve is smoothly upward sloping, it indicates you are consistently earning profits stably, so an upward-tilting P/L curve is ideal. Moreover, the steeper the angle, the higher the profit rate, meaning the EA is delivering higher performance.