From time to time, I check the marketplace for promising new EAs.
Firstly, I look for EAs with detailed information in the Overview, with plausible results data, I where the Author is willing to help! Those EAs that pass this point, I then download and backtest.
Secondly, in backtesting, I want to see that I get similar results to the Author with the same setup and dates. I also check how the EA behaves on other date ranges (ones that the Author hasn't published!), with minor changes to the setup, and in different market conditions. I am looking for an EA that is not over-optimized and produces reasonable results in a wide range of Market conditions.
Thirdly, I consider the test results against the buy/rental price and ask: "Can this EA pay for itself?"
Tickstorm met these critria so I rented it for one month to do some real market forward testing.
The Author (Edouard) reached out to me to ask how things were going and quickly helped me to diagnose a problem on one account where trades were not being opened (broker stops too wide!).
Also, this EA is very selective about entry points, so you may not get trades straight away - is was about 2 days before I got my first trade on EURUSD. GBPUSD seems to trade more frequently.
It is early days to talk about long term results, but since September 8 I have green pips on EURUSD and GBPUSD, and since 1.4 was released on September 19 I also have green pips on GBPJPY. I do have a small number of trades open and in drawdown, but these seem reasonably under control compared to the profits already closed.
I have it trading on FXPro Instant (no commission - stops 10) and Alpari pro.ecn (stops 0) accounts. I do not get 100% the same trades on these accounts (I presume differences in spreads, etc.) but otherwise the EA seems consistent on the different account types.
Great support from Edouard and I am looking forward to the introduction of more trading pairs.
