Firstly a happy New Year to all readers and members who I wish the very best for in 2012!
In this roundup of the year I wanted to take a look at the Forex robots that performed for us in 2011. Perhaps more importantly I also wanted to take a look at the systems that are most likely to generate results in 2012.
One thing I have noticed in my time trading is that people will often expect strategies to simply ‘work’ and don’t take much account of the prevailing market conditions in which they expect this to happen. Trading automated Forex software is no different.
It’s fairly evident from the news that markets are very volatile at present with the continuing global banking and credit problems. Movement in the currency markets is increasingly being dictated by fundamentals and news flow which, of course, is something that mechanical automated strategies are perhaps not best suited to dealing with.
Against this backdrop it is perhaps not surprising that over the past year, it has not always been the systems that everyone expects to perform that have actually performed. I could go on here about the perils of taking too much time to backtest systems and basing your decision on whether to trade the system on these results.
The fact of the matter is that no matter how long you spend developing accurate backtests you will never gain a true insight into how the system will actually perform when traded live.
This is why I use strategy tests as a loose guide and place a greater importance on the strategy used when assessing the potential of a robot’s ability to perform. This is the same approach that I take to any Forex trading system.
There are many robots constantly hitting the market, some of which we chose not to test and others where we simply did not get time to do so last year.
Therefore our round up focuses only on the robots examined on FX System Trader and on the results we achieved from the live tests over the past year.
So here goes with the FX System Trader awards…
Best Performing Forex Robot 2011
Forex Overdrive
Profit +49.26% Relative drawdown 46.84% Win Rate 93%
Website - www.forexoverdrive.com
Without a shadow of a doubt the best robot that we tested last year in terms of sheer performance was Forex Overdrive.
I have seen some mixed (and pretty critical reviews) for this system, all of which I can fully understand. The risk reward ratio is pretty appalling with a huge 325 pip stop loss on each trade. And it doesn’t backtest well.
However this is pretty much sums up why picking an expert advisor to trade often comes down to matching the system strategy to the market dynamics.
The EUR/USD and GBP/USD have often moved in wide ranges over the past months and here the big stop has actually probably helped.
This leading performance has however not come about without risk. At point point the draw down reached nearly 50% . So certainly this is not a system to be used by the feint hearted!
When constructing a portfolio of Forex robots it pays to balance the software used. This should include making use of a variety of strategies to compensate for market changes.
As part of a well constructed and diversified setup of robots Forex Overdrive certainly adds some spice and the potential for making good gains.
Best Overall Forex Robot 2011
Forex MegaDroid
Profit +20.2% Relative draw down 27.19% Win Rate 81%
Website - www.forexmegadroid.com
A consistently favourite system. It has been around for a long time and has undergone several updates along the way.
Why do I like this system? Well simply because it keeps producing steady results and I don’t live in fear of waking up one morning to see my account with a margin call.
I have run this on several personal accounts pretty much since it was launched and have made some very good gains over the years.
While the level of draw down and the win rate have slipped a little over the past year, we have to of course remember that the current climate has been a rocky road for many EA’s. Nevertheless the live forward testing account on this site is up +20% since we added the system to the test portfolio. This in my opinion is a solid gain from a commercial system.
Always a good starting point for new traders due to its ease of use, the price of this system is still being heavily discounted which makes it an even more attractive proposition for inclusion into a well balanced Forex robot portfolio.
Most Impressive Forex Robot Newcomer 2011
Forex Cleaner
Profit +23.85% Relative drawdown 6.68% Win Rate 81%
Website – www.forexcleaner.com
In the latter part of 2011 there were a number of robot releases which moved away from the popular scalping strategies that seemed prevalent in the early part of the year.
The pick of these in performance terms has been the Forex Cleaner robot which is up over 20% which has been achieved with a low associated level of drawdown.
The EA seems tuned into the current market conditions and with no sign of market dynamics changing anytime soon, it is highly likely that we will continue to see good performance from this system into 2012.
Best Forex Broker For Expert Advisors 2011
FXOpen
Website - www.fxopen.com
This category is a bit subjective. It does of course depend upon your own views and experiences of a broker and other factors, such as whether you need a regulated broker to trade with and of course the brokers suitability for the strategies that you use.
However it is worth mentioning FXOpen here as we put a number of systems on test with them towards the end of the year. I speak as I find and have received both good trading conditions and excellent support.
The ‘cabinet’ management they offer makes it easy to create additional accounts to run your expert advisors on which is always useful when you are trying to track individual EA performance.
FXOpen are not a regulated broker which is likely to be a consideration for some, in particular those looking to deposit large sums with their broker in the current environment.
However for those less worried about this the ability to manage your accounts easily the low deposit requirements for account opening ($1 for a micro account, $25 for a standard) makes them both a good and cheap alternative for managing and running multiple accounts for live EA testing as opposed to using demo accounts.
Best Forex VPS 2011
SWPS
Website - www.swvps.com
I was not sure whether or not to include this category or not, as to do so somehow seems to indicate that one provider is far better than others we have used. However I moved all of the test systems onto an SWVPS account in the middle of last year and have not experienced any problems with either the performance of the VPS or with the support provided.
As a point to note, my only interaction with the support desk came during the initial setup. Since then there has been no reason to contact them as the VPS has operated reliably and without incident.
For this reason SWVPS remains my top recommended provider.
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So there it is, my round up of 2011 with a brief look forward to 2012. I am sure there are likely to be many discussion points and many challenges to my awards for this year.
The aim of FX System Trader is to always provide a balanced and objective review of systems and automated Forex products which we aim to continue into 2012.
If you would like to comment on my above selections then please feel free to use the comments section below or join me in the forums.
I believe 2012 is going to be another exciting year and I am already looking at the first of the new crop of automated systems already launched this year.
Please check back soon to keep up with the latest FX System Trader robot reviews and live forward testing and again, wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2012!
FX System Trader
Thanks for the round up. I’m using SWVPS and agree that they offer a good platform. I’m not currently using any of these robots but might investigate them further. Cheers!
Forex MegaDroid is a dinosaur but still delivers!