A back-test runs an Expert Advisor over past prices to show how its rules would have traded: how often, how long its losing runs get, what each setting changes. MetaTrader 5 has it built in: the Strategy Tester.
Set up the test
Strategy Tester Ctrl+R
- Expert
- the EA you test
- Symbol and timeframe
- the ones it is made for
- Dates
- a year or more
- Deposit and leverage
- like your real account
Modelling
How faithful
How fast
- 1Open the Strategy Tester
View > Strategy Tester, or Ctrl+R. Choose a Single test.
- 2Fill in the fields as above
A year or more of dates, so the rules meet different conditions, and Every tick based on real ticks.
- 3Press Start
Then read the report.
Read the report
Thirty trades show luck. A few hundred start to show a method.
An illustration of a report, not the result of any Expert Advisor.Three mistakes to avoid
After the back-test
A back-test is a simulation. Run the EA on a demo account with the broker you plan to use, to see real spreads and real execution. K3Bxn licences include an allowance of demo accounts for exactly this, and a K3Bxn Expert Advisor can be back-tested once it has been activated on a chart of the same account.
Check yourself
2 questions
Which modelling is the most faithful?
It replays the prices and spreads your broker recorded.
A test of 30 trades shows a profit factor of 2.5. What does it prove?
A few hundred trades start to show a method.
See the Expert Advisors, or read how to choose a broker.