Anyone consistently profitable using Expert Advisors?

Is anyone here using EA's (for at least 3 months or more) in which you are consistently profitable? Are you able to turn on your EA, walk away from your computer, go about your business, and have some success in forex?

If so, is your EA (or EA's) an EA that you created ... or is it a commercial EA you bought at a website?


Topgun

yes, it has been running in this current version for nearly a year.

I check it several times a day just to make sure everything is ok. It manages several large accounts for us.

I created it and it runs without MT4. It is a windows application.

Topgun,

I would say if anyone could make it work MagnumFreak could. I too have an EA that I wrote, (with some help from MagnumFreak) and does consistently take profit all by itself.

I would say that if you can boil your trading method down to a series of "yes/no" questions you too can write a successful EA. The challenge for most methods is just that...each decision...each indicator...each nuance MUST be either yes or no...(1 or 0).

The difficulty comes in translating what the human brain does in a micro second into a simple yes or no question the computer can understand. Most of what we do when we look at a chart is unconscious and therefore extremely difficult to define. A clever programmer, such as Magnum, can do it but it takes some experience and a lot of pounding your head against the wall to do it.

To that I would add that the programing section of this forum as been extremely kind and helpful to me. Sometimes the answer is so simple I often wonder why I couldn't think of it...but sometimes you just cant "see the forest for the trees".

A long answer to your question, but YES it is possible and people out here are doing it all the time.

Hiya. Good question.

I have been programming these beasts or trying the latest and greatest EA release for 3 years and have yet to find one that works consistently. There are so many factors that affect a trade. Some of these factors cannot be programmed (such as news events, brokers activities, stop hunting, anticipating professional-money activities). The best I have been able to do is an EA that identifies momentum, as well as reversals (1m chart that I use n 1hour). It works better on longer timeframes (better statistical averaging). But the major problem is, and always will be, inability to look ahead. Price action is a matter of experience (time recognising price action patterns) and judgements about risk/reward.

You might want to look at the results of some of the EA competitions (FXCM has one I think?) Their results are huge, but they dont say how they did it, and their results seem to be the same as the competitions that do not use EAs (such as FXDD). They get about 2000% profit in a month/year.

So this means for my EA programming that I need quality trading rules, a good trading plan for the market conditions (and these change all the time), and good judgement about when to take risk (and when not to trade).

Fear and paralysis was preventing me from entering good trades. My EA allows me to enter a trade without the risk of fear/paralysis? I am always confident that the entry is good at the time it was made. My job is then to manage the trade (using MM and exit strategies as best I can).

Having programmed my trade entry factors into an EA, I actually find that my trading without an EA has improved (a lot).

Despite what I have said above, I cant help thinking that the professional money, the smart money, the market movers (or whatever they are called) must surely use software to make a killing in the market. I include my broker(s) in this activity.

I have 2 EA working for well over a year

1 is low risk trend based other is a scalp EA both hand made by me based on my own system.

It took me over 3 years to get EA's that worked all the time it can be done but i found it very hard but now its more than paid of for me.

Good luck with your quest

Yes. On one of my accounts I have a so called "EA" running. (It's not a metatrader EA but it's a C# program). It has been quite successful. It took me a very long time to code it and it's still a work in progress. It's kinda like my baby (second to my car )

My system has a weak AI programmed with it to kind of learn from its trades; ..it keeps track of its hit rate and stores data and constantly compares it to try to adjust to changing market conditions. By weak, I mean I suck at programming AI, and something I never really done before, so it's one of the major things I'm constantly working and looking to improve on. It also takes in news data from RSS feeds and sets fundamental biases as well, this helps out with some longer term exit strategies as well. It has its money management strategy built in, but I like to manually do that myself.

It is something that has a lonnnggg way to go, before it's close to being finished,

But yes it possible to be profitable with an EA. But like others have said, I don't think there is any such automated trader that will work all the time as market conditions change. So many EA's have to be used at the traders discretion or continually optimized. Along with syntax errors and typos in the code, this can make compiling programs annoying sometimes.

There is a solution for this (I don't switch my algos on and off, they are always on).

Just have 2 (or more) strategies running simultaneously so that one algo works in one kind of market, other algo works in other kind of market and both make smaller losses than wins.

If you can predict what market will be during the next days (weeks) and you knwo which algo works best for that market type then just add that rule as a filter or adjust risk size based on that information for each algo.

To me, it seems best to suspend or adjust/adapt the unprofitable one in the current condition interval that it's not suited for. Or at least, that is what suits my style. As running an algo in something it wasn't made for can be much more risky and will require more micro to be successful.
But each trader has his own personal style.

Unless by filter you mean for it to not trade, or trade in a different style for certain conditions, then yes more or less the same thing.

care to share those profitable EAs?

Ace...I rarely if ever speak out on this but your blantancy has pushed me over the edge. Top Gun, the originator of this thread is apearantly attempting to asses the viability of creating or learning to create his own automated or semiautomated system. He as asked for opinions from those best suited to give them. Most all of the responses have been intelligent and thoughtful. Then YOU chime in.

Or should I say "whine" in. "I'm to lazy to develop my own system and learn to code it or to cheap to pay someone to code it...so would you just GIVE me yours?"

The time and effort that goes into developing even a semiautomated system is daunting at best. I requires determination and purserverence to (1) find a system that is worth using, (2) back test the system to see if it truly has an edge, (3) code it correctly, assuming you know how to code...if not then learn to code, which can be 2-3 years of study...then (4) test the system to ensure it trades the same way you would do manually.

Asking someone to just freely "share" their hard work without even the slightest hint of contribuiting something bakc to the creator or to this forum is not just shameless it is stupid. You present yourself as lazy and looking for a quick fix. I have a HUGE urge just to post one of my biggest losers and let you use it but I will not because others may also suffer.

May I suggest that the next time you wish to ask someone to share close to 2-3 years of intesive labor for free, that perhaps you might offer even the smallest hint that you have something to contribute that might be worh the exchange...like testing a new EA in a live market environment for effectiveness and viability, or offering ideas to help those struggling with some sticking point. SOMETHING...ANYTHING that might show to the rest of this community that you wish to contribute as well as benefit.

OK...I'll get off my soap box now...

To the rest of you all out there...sorry for the rant...sometimes freeloaders just get under my skin.

calm down mate it was only a half serious statement. I have little interest in EAs as i know i can do it better manually.

Well, I guess it's true what many people say: people don't sell profitable EA's and instead use them by themselves.

Would someone please enlighten me on the first steps of creating an EA using c#? How does it interface with the market data and the broker? I am very new to forex and created a profitable EA. Having said that, I have a private coach that I contracted to teach me, and have about 15 years of programming experience. The reason that I am asking is because I am insanely good with c# (although not in this area) and relatively weak in mql. Other than having an EA in mt4 reading a data file with execution commands that a c# program feeds and vice versa, I am not sure how this would be done.

Posting a list based off of my research on the topic. Please reply to this thread if you have anything to add and I will update. Pretty sure I am too new to start a thread on this, but I will create a writing expert advisors in c# thread when I am able.

NQuotes - www.nquotes.net - Forex mql programming with .net - added 4/26/13 - cost EUR 49
TradePlatform.NET - tradeplatform.codeplex.com - added 4/26/13 - cost free

Profitable can be a trader not the program itself. You can give a system for 10 people and each would have different result ! You may like trading automatically or prefer manual trading. Both need discipline and market understanding. There is no clean receip like baking a cake to make money on market. Coding EAs is very simple task... more challenging is making it work on continuously changing market. Of course to make any success, work from the very begining is a must.

It is understandable where you come from, but you should understand that not everyone is as smart as you. I have worked very hard, but unfortunately I have not achieved what you have achieved.

"Freeloading" (as you call it) doesn't have to be rewarded with a rant - this says more about the person writing it than about the person asking. You (as the smart person) don't have to freely give away your product which you worked so hard for. A few successful people such as yourself have publicly made available their product, but as a signal service or PAMM / MAM.

I would rather see profitable systems shared, instead of all the crap that is currently spammed across the internet. Your attitude only perpetuates the problem of scammers making money from "gullible" (but honest) individuals who are more than happy to pay to purchase a genuine product.

@ bluepanther, have you noticed the dates on the posts? Both gspajon and your viewpoint are understandable. Take it easy now.

On topic: A good friend of mine has been very profitable trading with both commercial and self made EAs.

Yes, I noticed the posts are from 2009, but since this thread is still open the discussion is obviously not yet over. It is not the first time I have seen that opinion, and I certainly don't expect it will be the last. "AceOfTrades" asked a question which the very first post alluded to anyway.

I support openness and honesty. Of course, "gspajon" and others are entitled to their own opinion (and to be selfish if they wish).

I am just as annoyed as "gspajon", in that many pps come to these forums to boast of their successes, yet care not to prove their claims or even to provide pointers to those interested in following in their path.

And also on topic: I have tried many EAs, many are available freely, but also I have purchased licensed EAs up to $2000. I have not had great success, though I have had some, and I can see their potential. Performance has much to do with broker chosen, EA settings used and the VPS provider. These elements can make-or-break a good EA.

I could suggest some EAs to look at are GPS Forex Robot, Forex Warrior, and Forex Hacked. I have personally tried these myself, and I see these as the closest to "successful" as they come. As always, past results are not indicative of future performance, and again a lot always depends on the broker, settings and VPS provider.

Also, you can look at Kangaroo EA (now only available as a PAMM arrangement with TulipFX), and Forex Steam. I am also looking at Forex Grid Master right now - it seems alright I think.

There is a plethora of information out there, but 90% is utter crap (perpetuated by scammers who make money from stealing (literally) not trading):
http://www.forexmt4.com/_MT4_Tutoria...lling%20V1.doc

PS. And I take it as a "good friend" he has shared his success with you right "vox dei"? I should hope so (and I mean that sincerely).