By Cree Lawson
Setting two EAs to one lot each makes one input look consistent. It doesn't automatically make their risk comparable.
One could trade a different instrument, use a wider stop, hold positions longer or open several trades at once. Those differences still affect the money exposed to a market move.
Fixed volume can be useful in research. I want to be clear about the question it helps answer and the questions it leaves open.
Understand the units before comparing the totals
A lot refers to the contract specification of the instrument being traded. One lot of one instrument should not be assumed equivalent to one lot of another. Tick value, contract size, currency conversion and account conditions all need to be understood.
Even on the same instrument, different exits can create different planned losses. For an illustrative comparison, assume a constant value of $10 per pip for the selected volume. A 20-pip stop corresponds to $200 of planned price risk, while an 80-pip stop corresponds to $800. Costs, slippage and gaps can change the realized outcome.
The volume is the same. The planned loss at the stop is four times larger in the second example.
Explain what the sizing rule does
Some EAs use fixed volume. Others calculate volume from balance, equity, stop distance or another rule. The label “1% risk” needs its own explanation: one percent of what, applied to which positions, and with what handling of minimum lots and rounding?
I would inspect the actual order volumes instead of relying solely on the input name. If the calculated volume falls below the broker's minimum, the resulting trade may behave differently from the idealized calculation.
Where practical, comparing a supported fixed-volume mode with the intended operating mode can help explain the effect of sizing. Save both configurations. If changing the mode changes other strategy behavior, record that too.
Check positions together
A per-trade sizing rule doesn't establish the total risk of overlapping positions. I would inspect the busiest and most difficult intervals, including free-margin constraints and whether orders were rejected.
For a shared account, this extends to every EA using the account. Separate virtual allocations don't create separate pools of free margin.
The MT5 Strategy Tester guide describes the account and testing settings that should accompany a reproducible evaluation. Those settings belong with the report.
When I compare two EAs, I want to know their sizing rules, instruments, planned exits and simultaneous exposure before interpreting the profit totals. A fixed-lot run is one useful observation. It should carry enough context for another person to understand what was held constant.
Educational discussion. The pip-value example is hypothetical and is not a position-size recommendation. Planned stop exposure does not guarantee a maximum realized loss.
