EA-63244 · Grid

Simple_Grid

This EA implements a simple grid trading strategy that places buy and sell pending orders at fixed price intervals above and below the current price. It aims to profit from market oscillations by capturing gains as price moves back and forth through grid levels. The strategy does not rely on any technical indicators and operates purely on price geometry.

Open the interactive view (equity curve, symbol switch)

Key facts

CategoryGrid
RiskHigh risk
Blow-up riskHigh
Rating★★☆☆☆
TypeTrading EA
TimeframesM15, H1, H4
Indicators—
Author—

Backtest results (H1, about 1 year)

SymbolP&LAnnualMax DDTradesWin rateSharpeRecoveryLosing streakPer tradeStatus
EURUSD0.00%0.00%0.00%0—————Not convertible yet
GBPUSD0.00%0.00%0.00%0—————Not convertible yet
USDJPY0.00%0.00%0.00%0—————Not convertible yet
XAUUSD0.00%0.00%0.00%0—————Not convertible yet

Why this EA never traded: no entry rule survived the conversion.

Converted from MQL5 to Python and run with the same rules for every EA. Positions use MT5 lot sizes (100,000 units per FX lot, 100 oz per gold lot) with 1:100 leverage, one order at a time, and a stop-out below 10% of the starting balance. Sharpe is computed from the equity curve. Results marked as unreliable are shown for completeness only.

Blow-up risk: High

  • Opens a grid of orders at fixed price steps
  • Has no stop loss or trailing stop

High: stopped out in our backtest, or martingale/grid sizing without a stop loss. Elevated: martingale or grid sizing with a stop loss, or several positions at once without a stop loss. What the label means and what we found →

Strategy analysis

The strategy concept is based on grid trading, which uniformly places buy and sell pending orders at fixed intervals above and below the current price, forming a price grid. Entry conditions are triggered when price reaches a grid level, causing the corresponding limit order to be filled — buy orders below current price and sell orders above. Exit conditions typically involve setting take-profit at the adjacent grid level, where each order's profit target equals the grid spacing minus spread costs. Position sizing uses a fixed or configurable lot size that is the same for every grid level, without dynamic adjustment based on account size or equity. In terms of money management, the EA holds multiple orders simultaneously, and risk exposure increases as price moves unidirectionally, with floating losses accumulating if the market trends persistently in one direction. The strategy lacks a global stop-loss mechanism and does not employ martingale lot scaling, but the accumulation of open positions itself represents an implicit risk buildup. Overall, this is a classic non-directional grid strategy suitable for ranging markets but facing significant risk during trending conditions.

Strengths

  • Simple and clear strategy logic that is easy to understand and configure, suitable for beginners
  • Performs well in ranging markets, consistently capturing profits from small price oscillations
  • No technical indicators needed for direction judgment, reducing the risk of indicator lag or false signals

Weaknesses

  • Extremely high risk in trending markets, as floating losses accumulate continuously with unidirectional price movement
  • Lacks a global stop-loss or account-level risk control mechanism, extreme market conditions may lead to account blowup
  • Fixed lot sizing does not account for account size changes, leading to either low capital efficiency or uncontrolled risk
  • Grid spacing and level count are static parameters that cannot adapt automatically to changing market volatility

Possible improvements

  • Add account-level maximum drawdown stop, closing all positions when floating loss reaches a certain percentage of account equity
  • Introduce ATR-based dynamic grid spacing to allow the strategy to self-adapt to different market volatility environments
  • Add a trend filter mechanism to pause or reduce grid opening when a strong trend is detected

Risk assessment

Overall risk: High risk

  • No global stop-loss mechanism, floating losses accumulate without limit during trending markets
  • Multiple simultaneous positions cause high margin usage, potentially triggering forced liquidation
  • Fixed grid spacing cannot adapt to changing market volatility — too sparse in low volatility, too dense in high volatility

Evaluation scores

Code quality3.0
Strategy logic2.0
Risk management1.0
Robustness2.0
Innovation1.0
Documentation2.0
Overall1.8

Parameters

ParameterDefaultDescription
GridStep50Grid spacing in points, price distance between adjacent pending orders
GridLevels10Number of grid levels, pending orders above and below current price
LotSize0.01Lot size per order
TakeProfit50Take profit in points
StopLoss0Stop loss in points per order, 0 means no stop loss
MagicNumber12345EA magic number
MaxOrders20Maximum simultaneous open orders

Similar Grid EAs

Backtests are historical simulations and do not guarantee future results. Not financial advice.

Get the weekly Arena report

One email a week: ranking changes, new signals and new research. No spam; unsubscribe any time.