What a stop-out is

Brokers track the margin level: equity divided by the margin tied up in open positions. When it falls below the broker's stop-out level, positions are closed, starting with the biggest loser, until the margin level recovers. Stop-out levels differ by broker, so check yours.

How our backtests handle it

Each EA runs with its own default lot size on a $10,000 account with 1:100 leverage. If equity falls to 10% of the starting balance, open positions are closed and the EA stops trading, like a broker stop-out. A price gap that pushes the balance below zero is reset to zero, as with negative balance protection.

What we found

In the backtests on hourly data from May 2025 to May 2026, 61 of the 307 reliable gold (XAUUSD) runs ended in a stop-out. None of the 911 on EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY did. A lot size that is modest on a currency pair is large on gold: 0.1 lot is 10 ounces, so every $10 move in the gold price changes the account by $100.

Most of the EAs that blew up on gold had a stop loss: 42 of the 59 whose code we could assess. A stop sized in pips for a currency pair can still be far too wide, in dollars, on gold.

Martingale and grid EAs rarely appear among the stop-outs only because most of them could not be converted for testing: just 17 of the 70 martingale EAs and 2 of the 21 grid EAs have a reliable backtest.

How we label blow-up risk

Every EA page shows a blow-up risk label built from the EA's code and our backtests. High: the account was stopped out in our backtest, or the EA adds to losing positions (martingale or grid) without a stop loss. Elevated: martingale or grid sizing with a stop loss, or several positions at once without a stop loss. Otherwise we say no blow-up pattern was found, which is not a promise of safety.

Of the 1,061 trading EAs we could assess, 93 are rated high and 66 elevated.

How to lower the risk

  • Size positions by risk, not by a fixed lot: choose the stop first, then the lot size so that one losing trade costs a small, fixed share of equity.
  • Be wary of EAs that add to losing positions unless the total exposure is capped.
  • Test an EA on the exact symbol you will trade, with your broker's contract size and leverage, before running it live.