Most grid EAs share the same fatal flaw: they double down aggressively until the account cannot sustain the drawdown. I spent over a year designing a grid system that actively works against this tendency — and I trade it with my own money.
This post walks through the thinking behind Kiwi & Roo, how it manages risk differently from typical grid EAs, and the live trading results you can verify yourself.
The Problem with Most Grid EAs
Grid trading is a powerful concept — enter at intervals, collect as price reverts. But the standard implementation has a well-known weakness: fixed-ratio martingale sizing. Every new level multiplies the lot size by the same factor, and exposure compounds rapidly. In a sustained trend, this can drain an account in a matter of hours.
Many grid EAs try to solve this with stop-loss settings or maximum drawdown limits. These are blunt instruments — they stop the bleeding but destroy the grid's ability to recover. The grid closes at maximum loss, and the account takes a permanent hit.
I wanted to build something that addresses the root cause: uncontrolled exposure growth.
How Kiwi & Roo Approaches This Differently
Rather than cutting the grid off at a fixed loss, Kiwi & Roo uses multiple layers of exposure management that activate progressively as the grid deepens:
1. Built-in Exposure Control
The position sizing system is designed to prevent lot sizes from compounding out of control. As the grid deepens, the rate of increase slows down and eventually stops. Total exposure is kept within a bounded range rather than growing exponentially.
2. Volatility-Aware Grid Spacing
Grid levels are not placed at fixed intervals. The spacing adjusts to market conditions — wider when the market is moving fast, tighter when it is calm. This helps the grid adapt to different environments without manual intervention.
3. Progressive Recovery
The EA does not wait for the entire grid to close at once. As price begins reverting, it starts closing positions incrementally. This reduces the grid's footprint during recovery rather than holding everything open until a single exit target is reached.
4. Automatic Exposure Reduction
When the grid reaches a certain depth, the EA automatically reduces its position count to free up margin. Users can configure how aggressively this feature operates.
5. Entry Filters
The EA includes multiple filters that pause new entries during unfavorable conditions — such as abnormal volatility, large price gaps, or low-liquidity periods around major holidays. These filters help avoid building grids in risky environments.
6. Alternative Exit Logic
In addition to the standard take profit, the EA has a secondary exit mechanism that can close the grid based on how price behaves relative to the grid's floating drawdown. This provides an exit path even in situations where the primary target may not be reached.
Live Trading Results
I believe the strongest argument for any EA is live performance on a real account. Backtests are useful for development, but they cannot replicate real spreads, slippage, and execution conditions.
Kiwi & Roo has been running on a live account, and the results are publicly verified on My Signals:
View Live Performance on My Signals
This is a live account with real money — not a demo, not a backtest screenshot. The trading history, drawdown curve, and all statistics are independently verified by My Signals. You can inspect every trade, see the equity curve, and verify the results for yourself.
A few things to note when reviewing the account:
- The account runs on the recommended settings (M15, default parameters)
- Both AUDCAD and NZDCAD are traded simultaneously
- The account uses an ECN broker with raw spreads
- Drawdown periods are visible — this is grid trading, and floating drawdown is part of the strategy. What matters is how the EA manages and recovers from those periods
Why These Pairs?
Mean reversion works best on pairs that oscillate within ranges and tend to revert to a mean rather than trend persistently. AUDCAD and NZDCAD — two Antipodean crosses against the Canadian dollar — have historically shown strong mean-reverting characteristics on intraday timeframes, particularly M15.
Both pairs share correlated fundamentals (commodity-linked economies, similar interest rate environments), which means the EA logic can use a single parameter set without needing pair-specific tuning. One configuration. Two pairs. No curve-fitting per symbol.
What You Get
- A grid EA with built-in exposure control — not a standard fixed-ratio martingale
- Grid spacing that adapts to current market conditions
- Multiple exit mechanisms that work together to manage recovery
- Automatic position reduction at deep grid levels
- Entry filters for volatile, gappy, and low-liquidity conditions
- Grid state recovery — survives terminal restarts and VPS reboots
- Core strategy parameters locked and pre-tuned. Minimal configuration needed
- Bidirectional operation with independent long and short grids
Recommended Setup
- Pairs: AUDCAD, NZDCAD
- Timeframe: M15
- Minimum Deposit: $1,000 per pair ($2,000 for both)
- Leverage: 1:200 or higher
- Account Type: ECN / Raw Spread
- Brokers: IC Markets (Raw Spread) or Pepperstone (Razor) are recommended for tight spreads
- VPS: Recommended for uninterrupted 24/5 operation
Risk Disclaimer
Grid trading involves holding multiple open positions simultaneously. While Kiwi & Roo includes multiple layers of exposure management, no system can eliminate the risk of significant drawdowns, especially during extreme or unprecedented market conditions. Past performance — whether live or backtested — does not guarantee future results. Only trade with capital you can afford to lose. Always test on a demo account before running on a live account.
Questions?
Feel free to reach out via MQL5 message. I respond within 24 hours and am happy to discuss the strategy, the live results, or anything about the setup.
If you are already running Kiwi & Roo and finding it useful, a review on the product page helps other traders find it. Thank you.
