Forex EA Backtest: Common Mistakes That Distort Results

Trading & Markets
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Beautiful backtest results and blown accounts aren’t mutually exclusive. Here’s where EA backtests lie:

  • Low-quality tick data — Real spreads and slippage wipe out “perfect” results.
  • Optimization over the entire period — No out-of-sample testing.
  • Too few trades — A few lucky wins aren’t an edge.
  • Ignoring drawdown timing — A -40% month can destroy you, even if the year is green overall.

What’s your checklist before trusting an EA with real money?

(https://fxea365.com publishes actual EA results tested on MT5. Check it out for concrete examples.)

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Adding one point from hands-on experience beyond what the post mentions: Use real-world spread and execution delay values from your live account in backtests. Default backtest settings are usually too optimistic, and just fixing this alone causes many EAs’ performance to drop by 20–30%. Conversely, only EAs that still show profit with real-world values are the real deal.