Aurum Trend Breakout: User Guide, Settings and Set Files

This is the user guide for Aurum Trend Breakout and its free version Aurum H1 Trend Breakout. It explains how the strategy works, how to install and set it up, what every setting does, and how to check the results yourself. Ready-made set files are attached at the end of this post.

Watch first (video)

Full version, 1:40: how it trades, the 2021-2026 backtest, the panel and the safety rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU1EraXqRfo

Free version, 1:12: the same H1 engine with a fixed lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GlL2y8uX80

1. The idea in one paragraph

Gold spends long periods trending. Aurum waits for the trend (EMA 20 above or below EMA 200), then enters when a closed H1 candle breaks the last 20 bars in that direction. Every trade gets a hard Stop Loss at 2.5 x ATR the moment it is opened. There is no small take profit: the trade runs until the trend flips. This produces a low win rate (about 23%) with small, capped losses and a few large winners. In the backtest the average win was about 6 times the average loss.

2. Installation

1. Buy or download the product from the Market. It appears in MetaTrader 5 under Navigator > Expert Advisors > Market.
2. Open an XAUUSD chart (any suffix: XAUUSD, XAUUSDm, GOLD...) and set the timeframe to H1.
3. Drag the EA onto the chart. In the "Common" tab allow Algo Trading.
4. Make sure the "Algo Trading" button in the terminal toolbar is green.
5. Use one chart only. Running the EA on several XAUUSD charts would multiply the risk.

3. Which settings to use

• Regular accounts (default): risk per trade 0.5%. Backtest July 2021 - September 2026 on 10,000 USD: +85%, profit factor 1.79, worst relative drawdown 18.9% (February 2022).
• Prop-firm accounts: risk per trade 0.15%, daily loss limit 3%, stop new trades at 9% drawdown. Same backtest on 100,000 USD: +20%, worst relative drawdown 6.9%. Always set the limits a little inside your firm's own rules.
• Small accounts: below about 3,000 USD the broker's minimum lot of 0.01 already risks more than 0.5% per trade. The EA skips any trade where the risk would exceed the "skip" threshold (5% by default) instead of taking it.
• Free version: uses a fixed lot. 0.01 lot per 3,000 USD of balance is a reasonable start.

4. Settings explained

• Lot mode / Risk per trade / Fixed lot: how the volume is calculated. In risk mode the lot is sized so that the Stop Loss costs the chosen percentage of equity.
• Trade direction: both, buy only or sell only.
• Breakout channel, Fast EMA, Slow EMA: the core signal. Defaults 20 / 20 / 200.
• Stop Loss (x ATR): 2.5 by default. Smaller stops gave worse results in testing.
• Take Profit (R): 0 means no take profit, the trade closes on the trend flip. This is the tested default.
• Sell only below this D1 EMA: sells are taken only when the daily trend is down. Set 0 to disable.
• H4 swing engine (full version): a second, slower breakout on H4 with a 5R take profit. It lowered the drawdown in testing and is on by default.
• Breakeven / ATR trailing: optional. Both were tested and reduced profit, so they are off by default.
• Daily loss limit: when equity falls this much below the day's starting equity, the EA closes its trades and pauses until the next day.
• Stop new trades at drawdown: stops opening new trades once the drawdown from the equity peak reaches this level.
• Max spread (x ATR): no new trade while the spread is unusually wide.
• Magic number: change it only if you run another copy on the same account.

5. The panel

The panel shows the H1, H4 and daily trend, the exact breakout levels and their distance in ATR, each open trade in R and in money, equity, risk, today's P/L and the drawdown. In the full version the PAUSE button stops new entries (open trades are still managed) and CLOSE ALL closes the EA's positions after a confirmation.

6. Check it yourself in the Strategy Tester

1. Open the Strategy Tester (Ctrl+R) and choose the EA.
2. Symbol XAUUSD, period H1, modelling "1 minute OHLC" or "Every tick based on real ticks".
3. Choose a long date range (at least 2-3 years) so that both good and bad periods are included.
4. Load one of the attached set files with "Load" in the Inputs tab.

Your results will differ from mine because of spreads, swaps and the broker's price history. That is exactly why testing on your own broker's data matters.

7. What to expect

This is a trend-following system. It can lose for several weeks in a row while gold moves sideways, and then make most of the year's profit in a few trades. In the backtest the second half of 2021 was negative (-16% at 0.5% risk) and 2025 was the best year (+33.5%). Do not judge it on a few trades, and do not raise the risk after a losing streak.

8. Attached set files

• Aurum_Pro_Default.set: full version, 0.5% risk.
• Aurum_Pro_PropFirm.set: full version, 0.15% risk, 3% daily limit, 9% drawdown stop.
• Aurum_Free_Default.set: free version, 0.01 fixed lot.

Trading gold carries a high level of risk and backtest results do not guarantee future results. Questions are welcome in the comments below or in private messages.

New robots, live updates and setup tutorials are posted on the Aurum Quant YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AurumQuant