In the Forex market, one of the big trends is the use of expert advisors or EA’s. These EA’s are software programs that you plug into your trading platform, which can place trades for you. They are based on advanced algorithms that analyze the market, and then place the trade at a specific point.
The idea behind the expert advisor is very intriguing. The possibility of having a software program manager account for you can open up a lot of opportunities.
Guest post by Dan Harrison of LetsTalkAboutFX
However, when it comes to actually finding an expert advisor that works, things can get pretty difficult. While there are some EA’s out there that work, very few of them do. All of the expert advisor sellers out there claim that their product is the best, and that it is going to make you all kinds of money with little work on your part. Rule of thumb for me is, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So how can you separate the good from the bad in a market that is mostly hype?
Independent Verification
One of the ways that you can increase your odds of finding a good expert advisor is to look for some source of independent verification. There are a number of review sites out there that regularly test expert advisors, and report back to their readers. They often post links to accounts on public accounts that you can see. This shows you exactly how well the expert advisor has done, and helps you decide if it’s for you or not. If you are going to look at these sites, make sure that they are reputable, and that they are not just trying to get money by selling you a copy of the software.
Money-Back Guarantees
When you are trying to find a good expert advisor, you should also look for one that offers a money-back guarantee. When you find an expert advisor that offers this type of guarantee, you can rest easy knowing that you’re not really risking any of your money on it. If the program does not work, or you don’t like it, you can simply ask for a refund and get your money back.
Trial Offer
In a few cases, you can actually find expert advisors that will allow you to try them out before you buy them. They might allow you to try them for a week or try them on a demo account only before buying. These offers really help because you can actually see how the programs work.
Build Your Own
Trading with an expert advisor in the Forex market can provide you with an opportunity to automate your trading activities. You won’t have to watch the markets all day long, and you can instead focus on other things. While there are plenty of expert advisors available for sale in the market, sometimes it is better to build your own.
When you build your own expert advisor, it gives you an opportunity to make an EA based on your own trading strategies. When you buy one from someone else, you are essentially buying a trading strategy that you may not necessarily understand. When it comes to trading the Forex markets, you need to have a deep understanding of the method that you are using, even if you are utilizing an expert advisor. This way, you’ll understand what the expert advisor is doing, so that you can make sure that the EA is doing its job.
When you make an EA based on your own trading strategy, you’ll be able to revise the expert advisor based on how it performs. Since you know the trading strategy, and you know exactly what needs to happen in order for it to be successful, you’ll be able to revise the EA as it needs to be revised. This means that you’ll be able to keep the EA going for the long-term. When you buy an expert advisor from someone else, you will find that more times than not, it stops working effectively after a certain amount of time. The market is always changing, and this requires the tweaking of your trading strategy from time to time. If you have the ability to change the coding of the expert advisor, you’ll be able to make the necessary adaptations that are required. When you buy from someone else, you are essentially at the developer’s mercy. They may not change it once they have sold the original version.
Considerations
With the help of the Metatrader trading platform, you can create an expert advisor relatively easily. You’ll be able to back test your trading strategy based on past financial data. Then, once you are satisfied with the performance, you’ll be able to test it live on an account with real market conditions. You will have the opportunity to test it out on a demo account, before risking any of your own hard-earned money on the expert advisor.
Dan Harrison is a full-time private forex trader and blogger based in NYC. He blogs about Forex on his own site LetsTalkAboutFX. You can follow him on Twitter or add him on Google +