Conviction Gold User Manual — Set Risk. Run EA.
This is the official user manual for Conviction Gold, a fully automated Expert Advisor for XAUUSD on MetaTrader 5.
Set risk. Run EA.
No parameter maze.
Conviction Gold is designed for traders who want a simple operating structure without managing a large number of parameters.
The default profile is ready to run. Users can keep the default setting or adjust only the risk value according to their own account preference, margin condition, and risk tolerance.
Backtest results do not guarantee future live trading results. Trading involves substantial risk.
1. Required account type
A Hedging account is required. Netting accounts are not supported.
Conviction Gold may manage multiple positions during one trade cycle. A hedging account allows multiple positions to remain separated.
A netting account combines positions into one net position. This can change the intended position structure and may prevent the EA from operating as designed.
You can check your account type in MT5 through the terminal journal at login or through your broker's account specification.
2. Recommended symbol
Recommended symbol: XAUUSD
Broker-specific gold symbol variants may also be used, such as XAUUSD.b, XAUUSD.m, GOLD, or other broker gold symbols. The EA is designed for gold symbol operation and detects the attached chart symbol.
Low-spread trading conditions are recommended. Gold spreads can vary significantly between brokers and account types. Lower spread generally means execution closer to tested behavior.
Before live operation, test the EA on your broker's gold symbol in the MT5 Strategy Tester.
3. Timeframe
Attach the EA to an M5 chart.
- XAUUSD or broker gold symbol
- M5 timeframe
The EA reads the market from the attached chart environment and manages its internal logic automatically. You do not need to open multiple charts for normal operation.
4. Default risk
The default profile is 2.5% risk per cycle.
Reference profiles published with the product:
| Profile | Risk per cycle | Character |
| Conservative | 1.5% | Lower drawdown, slower growth |
| Default | 2.5% | Published baseline |
| Upper bound | 5.0% | Higher growth, deeper drawdown, experienced users only |
Risk per cycle controls position sizing for the whole entry cycle, not a single order.
If you are new to the EA, start with the conservative profile or the default profile in the Strategy Tester first.
Do not start live trading with aggressive settings unless you fully understand margin risk, equity drawdown, floating loss behavior, and broker execution differences.
5. How to test in the Strategy Tester
You can test the free demo version before renting.
Recommended Strategy Tester environment for comparison with the published backtest baseline:
- Symbol: XAUUSD or broker gold symbol
- Timeframe: M5
- Modeling: Every tick based on real ticks
- Account type: Hedging
- Starting balance: $10,000
- Period: January 1, 2022 to May 31, 2026
- Risk: Start with the default 2.5% profile
When reviewing results, do not check only final balance. Check the following items:
- Maximum equity drawdown
- Balance curve
- Equity curve
- Deposit load
- Margin level during volatile periods
- Floating loss behavior
- Recovery behavior
- Trade distribution across the test period
- Worst loss period
- Broker spread and execution sensitivity
A backtest with strong profit but unstable drawdown can still be dangerous.
Published backtest record
Real ticks on XAUUSD over 53 months, January 2022 to May 2026, starting from $10,000.
| Profile | Risk per cycle | Final balance | Max equity DD | Sharpe |
| Conservative | 1.5% | ~$0.18M | ~19.06% | ~3.74 |
| Default | 2.5% | ~$1.08M | ~30.03% | ~3.53 |
| Upper bound | 5.0% | ~$12.03M | ~50.00% | ~2.70 |
Backtest results do not guarantee future live trading results. Live results may differ materially due to spread, slippage, execution quality, broker conditions, leverage, margin requirements, and data quality. Compounding over a long period can magnify small per-trade differences into large balance differences.
Tick data download guide — read this before your first test
The Strategy Tester needs historical tick data. On the first run, MT5 downloads this data from your broker's server automatically. Many first-time testers think the EA is frozen or broken during this step — it is not. Here is exactly what to do:
- Open MetaTrader 5 and log in to your broker account (a demo account is fine for testing).
- Open the Strategy Tester: menu View → Strategy Tester, or press Ctrl+R.
- In the Settings tab, select Conviction Gold as the Expert Advisor.
- Select your gold symbol (XAUUSD or your broker's gold symbol) and set the timeframe to M5.
- Set the modeling mode to Every tick based on real ticks.
- Set the date range. For your very first run, choose a short recent period — for example, the last 1 to 3 months — instead of the full 53 months.
- Set the deposit to $10,000 USD and confirm the account type shows hedging.
- Click Start.
What happens next:
- MT5 begins downloading tick history for the selected period. Progress messages appear in the tester Journal tab. You will see lines about downloading and synchronizing history — this is normal.
- The first download can take from several minutes to several hours, depending on the period length, your internet connection, and your broker's server.
- Tick data for gold is large. A multi-year real-tick history can require many gigabytes of free disk space. Make sure your disk has enough free space before running the full-period test.
- Do not close MT5 while the download is in progress. If you interrupt it, simply start the test again — the download resumes from where it stopped.
- The data is downloaded only once and is stored on your computer. Later tests over the same period start immediately without re-downloading.
Recommended order for beginners:
- Run a short test first (last 1 to 3 months) to confirm the EA loads, trades, and finishes without errors.
- Then set the full period (January 1, 2022 to May 31, 2026) and run the long test. Starting it before you step away from the computer, or overnight, is a practical approach.
Important — tick history depth varies by broker. Not every broker provides real tick data back to January 2022. If your broker's gold symbol history starts later, the tester can only test the available period, or it may fill the missing range with lower-quality emulated data. In that case:
- Check the tester Journal to see which data was actually used.
- Test the period your broker actually provides.
- Compare drawdown behavior, equity curve shape, and margin usage on the available period, rather than expecting the same final balance as the published 53-month record.
- A shorter test period naturally shows partial behavior only — both profit and drawdown figures will differ from the published record.
6. How to attach the EA
- Open MetaTrader 5.
- Log in to a hedging account.
- Open an M5 chart of XAUUSD or your broker gold symbol.
- In the Navigator window, find Conviction Gold under Expert Advisors. Market products usually appear under the Market folder.
- Drag Conviction Gold onto the chart.
- In the Common tab, make sure Allow Algo Trading is enabled.
- In the Inputs tab, keep the default profile or adjust only the risk value.
- Click OK.
- Confirm that the EA is active on the chart.
- Confirm that the Algo Trading button in the MT5 toolbar is ON.
Quick setup:
- Symbol: XAUUSD or broker gold symbol
- Timeframe: M5
- Account type: Hedging
- Default risk: 2.5% per cycle
- Operation: VPS recommended
7. VPS recommendation
VPS operation is recommended for stable 24/5 execution. The EA is designed for automated execution during market hours.
A home computer can sleep, restart, lose connection, or shut down unexpectedly. This can affect entry timing, position management, and exit handling.
A VPS can reduce problems caused by:
- Computer shutdown
- Internet disconnection
- MT5 terminal interruption
- Missed execution
- Delayed order handling
The built-in MQL5 VPS or a low-latency Windows VPS near your broker server can be used.
A VPS does not remove trading risk. It only helps maintain stable operation.
8. Risk model
Conviction Gold uses an internal score-based model. The EA does not treat every setup the same.
Stronger internal scores can apply a larger pre-defined risk multiplier within user-set risk limits. Weaker conditions can reduce exposure or skip the trade.
Position sizing is determined by the selected risk setting and internal signal quality. The EA may use structured multi-level entries during execution.
Floating drawdown during a cycle can be normal behavior. Equity drawdown is the meaningful risk figure.
At the default 2.5% profile, the 53-month backtest showed a maximum equity drawdown of approximately 30.03%. Live drawdown may exceed backtest figures due to spread, slippage, market gaps, execution quality, and broker differences.
Higher risk profiles increase both growth and drawdown. The 5.0% upper-bound profile reached approximately 50.00% max equity drawdown in backtesting. It is intended only for users who fully understand and accept that exposure.
Category under MQL5 classification:
- Grid
- Level trading
Loss-recovery doubling is not used. Grid-based or multi-level scaling may be used during execution, but total risk is bounded before the trade cycle begins. The EA does not increase risk after losses to recover previous trades.
Each trade cycle uses a volatility-based stop loss model.
Do not run the EA on capital you cannot afford to expose to these drawdown levels.
9. Restart and orphan position safety
Conviction Gold includes restart and orphan position protection logic.
After terminal restart, VPS interruption, disconnection, or unexpected shutdown, the EA may block new entries until existing positions are reconciled. Manual review may be required after the first deployment or after unexpected terminal shutdown.
Before restarting live operation, check:
- Open positions
- Symbol
- Magic number
- EA status
- Algo Trading status
- VPS connection
- Account margin
- Experts log
Do not manually close or modify EA-managed positions unless you understand the risk. Manual intervention can change the intended trade cycle and may affect recovery behavior.
10. Common issues
| Issue | Likely cause | Fix |
| EA initializes but never trades | Algo Trading disabled | Enable Allow Algo Trading in the EA settings and turn ON the Algo Trading button in the MT5 toolbar. |
| Initialization problem on attach | Netting account | Use a hedging account. |
| Wrong symbol behavior | Attached to a non-gold or unsupported broker symbol | Attach the EA to your broker's gold symbol chart and test in Strategy Tester first. |
| Trades rejected by broker | Insufficient margin, leverage too low, or broker restrictions | Reduce risk, check margin requirements, or use account conditions suitable for gold trading. |
| Tester results differ from published backtest | Different tick data, broker, period, spread, balance, or risk setting | Use real ticks, XAUUSD, M5, hedging account, $10,000 starting balance, and the published test period for comparison. |
| Tester seems frozen on first run | Tick history is being downloaded | Check the tester Journal tab for download progress. See the tick data download guide in section 5. |
| Behavior differs after terminal restart | Normal recovery and reconciliation process | Check the Experts log and allow the EA to reconcile its saved state. Manual review may be required. |
If your issue is not listed, please ask in the product Comments tab. Questions are answered through MQL5 only.
11. Common questions
Is this martingale?
Loss-recovery doubling is not used. Grid-based or multi-level scaling may be used during execution, but total risk is bounded before the trade cycle begins. The EA does not increase risk after losses to recover previous trades.
Can I use a netting account?
No. A hedging account is required. Netting accounts are not supported.
Can I use a symbol other than XAUUSD?
The EA is optimized for XAUUSD and broker gold symbols. If your broker uses a different gold symbol name, test it first in Strategy Tester.
Can I start with a small account?
Backtests are shown with a $10,000 starting balance. Users should choose risk according to their own account size, leverage, and margin conditions. Smaller accounts may behave differently because margin, lot size, and broker conditions can affect execution.
What setting should I test first?
Start with the default 2.5% profile. If you want lower drawdown, test 1.5%. Higher settings increase drawdown and margin risk significantly.
Can I run it without a VPS?
A VPS is recommended. Running without a VPS may expose the EA to connection loss, computer shutdown, terminal interruption, and missed execution.
12. Risk disclaimer
Trading leveraged products such as gold CFDs and futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor.
Backtest results, screenshots, and published statistics are historical simulations. They do not guarantee future performance.
Live results may differ due to spread, slippage, execution quality, broker conditions, leverage, margin requirements, data quality, and market conditions.
Past performance, whether simulated or live, is not indicative of future results.
You are solely responsible for your trading decisions, risk settings, broker selection, leverage, margin usage, and capital allocation.
Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.
Please test the free demo in the MT5 Strategy Tester before renting.
