FXAdept (EA) review｜Low Lisk？

FXAdept is an EA that claims “NO martingale”, “NO scalper”, and “NO grid”.

The forward test shows good results, but is it really good EA?

I verified it.

 

 

Basic information of FXAdept

 

Live performance of FXAdept

■Broker：FXOpen
Start: November 17, 2017-

Although there was a period of stagnation from April 2018 to October 2018, it can be said that it is a wonderful result overall. The monthly profit rate is about 7%, which is relatively high.

Looking at the graph, it appears that almost no equity drawdown has occurred. In reality, however, up to 37% equity drawdown occurred. Note that the Myfxbook line graph does not display that.

If the vendor claims “NO martingale”, “NO scalper”, and “NO grid” are true and have such good results, this is a really good EA.
What about the actual situation?

 

Trading features of FXAdept

Is FXAdept really not using “Martingale”, “Scalper”, or “Grid”?

Entry & Exit Points

The developer claims to use the RSI indicator as an entry point. However, the detailed logic is a black box. We can’t find a consistent feature by looking at the transaction history.

NO martingale？

Martingale is a strategy to open a position with increased lot size when the market moves in the opposite direction from the position, and to end with profits by small market return.

Below is the transaction history of FXStabiliser, a typical martingale EA.
If the market price goes against the position, this EA will open a position that has increased the lot size several times.

The martingale EA basically doesn’t perform a loss cut and waits for the price to reverse.
While the market price repeats up and down, it is basically not lost.

However, if the market continues to move in either direction, martingales can cause huge losses in an instant.
Because it is a high-risk technique, many traders avoid it.

Looking at FXAdept’s transaction history, the lot size is basically constant, so it is true that no martingale has been adopted for FXAdept.

NO Scalping？

Scalping is a trade that repeats take profit and loss cut with a slight pips width. If the target pips width is within 10pips, it can be called scalping.

Scalping has the advantage of frequent trading and many trading opportunities.

However, scalping has a big problem. The problem is that it depends heavily on broker spreads, slippage and VPS speed.
In addition, as the lot size increases, the execution may be delayed and profits may not be generated.
Results vary greatly depending on the trading environment and conditions.

Even if the vendor’s forward test shows good results, it may not be profitable at all if the trading environment such as broker or VPS and lot size are different.
Especially for scalping, the results in the demo account are not reliable at all.

The vendor’s sales site states that “This is not a scalping EA, hold a position for at least 2 hours. So the results will not change significantly with any broker.”

When checking FXAdept’s trading history, it is certainly rare that the position is closed within 10pips, and the position has not been closed within 2 hours.
The average profit is about 35pips, and the average loss is 20pips.

Therefore, it is true that FXAdept is not a scalping EA.
However, there are cheat brokers in the world, so it is always necessary to select a good broker.

NO Grid?

Grid trading is a strategy to make profits by the nature of the market going up and down.

When the market price goes against the position, additional positions will be opened in the same direction as the first position. Basically without loss cut, wait for the market price to return while increasing the position.
Therefore, if the market moves in one direction, there is a risk of having a large loss.

Grid trade is often used with martingales. The martingale means increasing the lot size if the position holds a loss, while the grid does not mean increasing the lot size.

However, even if the lot size is not increased, it is a high-risk method that loses in an instant if the market continues to move in one direction.

I confirmed whether the grid trade was adopted for FXAdept.
As a result of the confirmation, it was found that a strategy similar to grid trading was adopted, although it was partial.

Normally, this EA will cut loss if the price moves 20-40pips backward from the position.
However, this EA sometimes opens multiple positions in the same direction and may continue to hold positions for a long time, even though the market price is moving in the opposite direction.

A typical example is the three positions held between February 1, 2019 and May 31, 2019.

Three selling positions have been opened, but prices have risen significantly.

The price rose significantly and the three positions resulted in a total equity drawdown of -850pips. Nevertheless, the position was not closed.

As a result, the position was closed when the price returned to the price range when the position was opened.

According to my calculations, the maximum equity drawdown during this period is about 38.2%.

	Price
Highest price (Holding position)	112.399
Open Date	Price	Difference	Lot	Currency Unit (1Lot)	P/L (JPY)	P/L (USD)
2019.02.01 09:25	108.923	-3.476	0.2	100,000	-69,520	-619
2019.02.04 15:35	109.771	-2.628	0.2	100,000	-52,560	-468
2019.02.08 20:55	109.94	-2.459	0.2	100,000	-49,180	-438
Total	-	-8.563	0.6	-	-171,260	-1,524
				Blance	448,247	3,988
				DrawDawn (Equity)	38.2%	38.2%

The maximum drawdown displayed in Myfxbook is about 37.2%, which is almost the same as my calculation.

It is very high risk that nearly 40% drawdown is caused by only 3 positions.
In this case, the account was safe because the price reversed from 112.399. However, if the price continues to rise, a terrible situation may have occurred.
If the price continues to rise, it is not clear where the position was closed.
In the worst case, this EA may continue to hold positions until the account is broken.

In this way, this EA may trade like a grid EA.

If this EA has a parameter that allows you to specify the equity drawdown as a percentage and close all positions, like FXCharger, FXStabilizer, Forex inControl, you might be able to limit the loss.

However, FXAdept does not have such parameter that specifies the maximum drawdown.

Unfortunately, I have to say that this is a high-risk EA with the potential to destroy account in a moment.

Conclusion of FXAdept

The forward test results are great.
If the vendor claims “NO martingale”, “NO scalper”, and “NO grid” is true, it can be said that it is a very good EA.

However, in reality, strategy that is close to grid trade is adopted.
If the market continues to move in one direction with the position held, there is a risk that the account will be destroyed.
If you use FXAdept, you need to understand this risk.