Guides
The long version, for the questions that need one.
The rest of this site is built to be read in fifteen seconds. These are not. They are written from our own build notes and from primary sources, and every source is linked where the claim is made.
6 min read
EA vs signal vs copy trading on MT5: what differs
An Expert Advisor, an MQL5 Signal and copy trading compared from the providers' own rules. Who decides, what you can test, the fees and the exits.
BuyingMetaTrader 5
6 min read
How to forward test a gold EA on a demo account
A demo forward test method for a gold EA on MT5: fix the setup, log each day, then replay the same dates in the Strategy Tester and compare the trades.
Strategy TesterBacktestingMetaTrader 5
6 min read
Running an MT5 EA on a Mac: installer, VM or VPS
MetaQuotes' Mac installer runs MT5 inside Wine. What that means for an Expert Advisor and the Strategy Tester, and when a Windows VM or VPS fits better.
MetaTrader 5InstallVPS
6 min read
How to update an MT5 EA without losing your settings
What swapping an EA's .ex5 for a new version replaces in MT5 and what it leaves behind: presets, chart profiles, open positions, and your own backtest.
MetaTrader 5InstallLicensing
5 min read
Gold EA costs per lot: spread, commission and swap
What a lot of XAUUSD costs in spread, commission and swap, which of the three the MT5 Strategy Tester already charges, and how to add the one it can omit.
CostsStrategy TesterXAUUSD
5 min read
Gold EA curve fitting: MT5 optimization and forward tests
How the MT5 optimizer picks a parameter set, why its top pass flatters, and how the forward period shows a gold EA that was fitted to its test window.
Strategy TesterBacktestingOptimization
6 min read
More than one gold EA on one MT5 account
Two gold EAs on one MT5 account share more than a login. Magic numbers, netting against hedging, one margin and one stop out, and drawdowns that add up.
MetaTrader 5RiskXAUUSD
5 min read
MT4 vs MT5 for a gold EA in 2026
MT4 or MT5 for a gold Expert Advisor in 2026. What differs in the Strategy Tester and its tick data, hedging and netting accounts, and broker support.
MetaTrader 5Strategy TesterBuying
6 min read
Every tick vs real ticks vs 1 minute OHLC on gold
The four MT5 tick modelling modes, how the tester invents the path inside a gold minute bar, and a three-run test that shows whether your EA depends on it.
Strategy TesterBacktestingMetaTrader 5
6 min read
Verifying a gold EA track record: what it proves
Myfxbook, MQL5 Signals and FX Blue can prove a record came from a real broker account. What that badge leaves open, and what to read beside it.
BuyingTrack record
6 min read
What happens to your MT5 EA if the seller disappears
A bought MT5 EA can die with its seller. What depends on a licence server, what the MQL5 Market lets you keep, and what an offline build changes.
LicensingBuying
6 min read
Asian range breakout on gold: how it works and fails
How the Asian-range and London-open breakout works on XAUUSD, and the three things that break it in practice. False breaks, server time and spread.
StrategiesXAUUSDStrategy Tester
6 min read
Gold EA account size and what it does to drawdown
The same gold EA, the same 259 trades, the same dollar result — at two deposit sizes. Why the percentages move, and how to check a published figure.
RiskStrategy Tester
6 min read
Prop-firm gold EA: the rules that decide pass or fail
What a prop-firm evaluation measures, how firms cap a bought EA run by many traders, and what our Catalogue says, per strategy, about running there.
Prop firmsStrategies
6 min read
Gold EA martingale: how to spot it in an MT5 report
Lot sizes that climb after a loss, positions stacked one way, equity sagging under a flat balance. Reading an MT5 report for martingale and grid.
Strategy TesterRiskBuying
6 min read
Gold EA settings: four inputs and a sealed Profile
Our download ships .set presets, one per Profile, but not a folder of tunable thresholds per risk tier. What a Profile is and what four inputs you get.
StrategiesInstall
5 min read
Gold EA timeframe: M5, M15 or H1?
What the chart timeframe changes for a gold EA and what it does not. The EA's own timeframe against the chart, tick modelling, and spread against the stop.
Strategy TesterStrategiesXAUUSD
6 min read
Gold EAs and NFP, CPI and FOMC: spreads and fills
What scheduled US releases do to a gold EA's spread and fills, how an EA can stand aside, and how to find those minutes in a Strategy Tester run.
XAUUSDNewsStrategy Tester
6 min read
Gold grid EAs and the move that does not come back
Grid and basket strategies depend on the move resolving. What happens when it does not, and how to put that to the Strategy Tester yourself.
StrategiesRiskXAUUSD
6 min read
How to check a gold EA before you buy: 10 checks
Ten checks to run on any gold EA before you pay, ours included: what to ask a seller, what to test yourself, and the checks we fail.
BuyingStrategy Tester
5 min read
VPS for a gold EA on MT5: when you need one
When a gold Expert Advisor needs a VPS, what latency does and does not change, and what MetaTrader 5's built-in hosting moves across and leaves behind.
MetaTrader 5VPSInstall
6 min read
Why a gold EA backtest differs from live trading
Spread, commission, fills, tick data and the machine it runs on: the five places an MT5 gold EA backtest and a live account part, and how to measure each.
Strategy TesterBacktestingCosts
5 min read
XAUUSD symbol suffix: why a gold EA places no trades
Brokers spell gold XAUUSD, XAUUSD+ or XAUUSD.a. Why a name mismatch leaves an EA silent, and how to find the exact symbol your own account uses.
TroubleshootingXAUUSDMetaTrader 5
5 min read
Gold EA strategy families explained
Grid, breakout, trend-following, mean-reversion, channel and session strategies in plain words — what each one needs to work, and what breaks it.
StrategiesXAUUSD
5 min read
How to backtest a gold EA in MT5 properly
Real ticks versus modelled ticks, what History Quality tells you, how spread and commission are handled, and the two ways a run flatters a strategy.
MetaTrader 5Strategy TesterBacktesting
5 min read
How to read an MT5 backtest report
Net profit, drawdown, profit factor, recovery factor and trade count — what each one is measuring, and which values should stop you reading further.
Strategy TesterBacktesting
5 min read
How to install an Expert Advisor on MetaTrader 5
Where the .ex5 file goes, how to find the MT5 data folder, where presets live, and how to attach an Expert Advisor to an XAUUSD chart without guesswork.
MetaTrader 5Install
5 min read
What an account-locked build is
Why a XauStack Expert Advisor is compiled for your MT5 login instead of unlocked by a key, what offline means, and what happens if your account changes.
LicensingMetaTrader 5
5 min read
Why XAUUSD for an Expert Advisor
Gold's liquidity, its trading day, its volatility and its broker-set spread — the four properties that decide whether automating XAUUSD is sensible.
XAUUSDMarket