Fairway – complete guide: AUDCAD mean reversion grid with basket stop, every setting, set file

Fairway is a grid Expert Advisor for AUDCAD on M5 with a hard basket stop. This post explains how it trades, why the basket stop is there, what the dashboard shows, how to install it, what every input does and how to size it for your balance. Product page: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/203336

Live account with the default set: https://www.mql5.com/en/signals/2396880

1. How Fairway trades

AUDCAD spends most of its time moving sideways, and stretched moves tend to swing back. Fairway trades that swing back to the mean.

1. Signal. At the open of each M5 candle Fairway checks the Envelopes band (EMA 14, 0.2 %) of the last closed H1 candle. A BUY basket starts when the Ask is below the lower band, a SELL basket when the Bid is above the upper band.
2. Grid. If the price keeps going, grid orders follow at a growing distance: 20, 24, 28.8, 34.6 pips and so on. The lot stays the same and only grows by one step if the last order is older than ten hours. There is no martingale doubling.
3. Exits. A single order closes at +10 pips. With several orders, the best order closes together with one base lot of the worst order as soon as the pair is 8.5 pips in profit on the combined lots. The basket shrinks from both ends on the way back.
4. Recovery. In a deep basket a recovery mode closes orders one by one.
5. Basket stop. A basket that reaches the set loss (default 150 USD per 3,500 USD of balance) is closed completely.

BUY and SELL baskets work independently and can be open at the same time. That is why a hedging account is required.

2. The basket stop, and why it is there

Grid EAs usually have one weak spot: a long trend against an open basket. Without a stop the basket keeps adding orders and the floating loss keeps growing until it reaches the account.

Fairway closes a basket that reaches a set loss. Then it waits for the next signal and starts again. One bad trend costs a known amount instead of the account.

The stop has a price. It turns some baskets that would have recovered into real losses. In the backtest below, 2024 ended slightly negative (-96 USD) because three baskets were stopped. In return the long AUDCAD trend of 2026 did not run into a deep basket. The same logic without the basket stop ended at -539.02 USD with a maximum equity drawdown of 57.8 %.

The basket stop is given in money per size step, so it grows with the balance together with the lot. With the default set that is -150 USD per 3,500 USD of balance.

3. Scorecard dashboard

The dashboard on the chart looks like a golf scorecard. It only shows; it does not change the trading.

• Status tab: system state, signal, lot, spread, today's result and the basket stop.
• Baskets: each basket is a "hole" with its entries and a bar that shows how close the basket is to the basket stop.
• Clubhouse book: today, week, month, total, maximum drawdown and the number of basket stops.

Switch tabs with a click or the keys 1, 2 and 3. Fold the panel with H.

4. Installation

1. Buy Fairway in the Market tab of your MetaTrader 5 terminal. It then appears in the Navigator under Expert Advisors → Market.
2. Make sure the account is a hedging account. On a netting account BUY and SELL baskets cannot run at the same time.
3. Open one AUDCAD chart, set it to M5 and attach Fairway.
4. Tick "Allow Algo Trading" and load the set file attached to this post (Inputs → Load).
5. Use one chart per account. A second copy on the same symbol refuses to start.
6. Keep the terminal online around the clock; a VPS is recommended. After a restart Fairway finds its open positions again by the magic number.
7. Check the Experts tab and the dashboard after attaching.

Before trading live, test the set in the Strategy Tester with "Every tick based on real ticks" on your broker's data, and on a demo account.

5. All settings explained

The inputs are grouped into General, Position size, Entry signal, Grid, Exits, Recovery, Risk and Dashboard. Money values are given per size step, so they scale with the balance together with the lot. Distances are entered in points; on AUDCAD with five digits, 10 points are 1 pip.

General

• Magic number (default 97962): marks Fairway's positions. After a restart the EA finds them again by this number.
• Maximum spread: new baskets wait while the spread is above 4 pips.
• Maximum slippage: allowed deviation when an order is sent (default 100 points).

Position size

• Balance per size step (default 3,500 USD): one size step per 3,500 USD of balance. With a smaller balance the EA still trades one step.
• Base lot per step (default 0.01): the lot of the first order and of every lot increase.
• Maximum lot per step (default 0.10): upper limit for a single grid order.
• No new basket below: no first order while Fairway's total floating loss is deeper than this amount per step (default 50 USD).

Margin and volume are checked before every order.

Entry signal

• Envelopes timeframe, period, method, deviation (defaults H1, 14, EMA, 0.2 %): the band that defines "stretched".
• The value of the last closed H1 candle is used, and it is checked once per M5 candle. BUY compares the Ask with the lower band, SELL the Bid with the upper band.

Grid

• Grid distance and multiplier (defaults 20 pips and 1.2): the distance to the next order grows with each level, 20, 24, 28.8, 34.6 pips and so on.
• Lot increase wait: the next grid order gets one more base lot only if the last order is older than ten hours. Otherwise the lot stays the same.
• Wait between orders: minimum time between two openings, and after a close, on the same side (default 30 minutes each).
• Maximum orders (default 100): hard limit for the number of orders in one basket.
• Grid orders do not need a new Envelopes signal; only the first order of a basket does.

Exits

• Take profit single order: +10 pips, managed by the EA.
• Pair target: with several orders, the best order and one base lot of the worst order close together once the pair is 8.5 pips in profit on the combined lots.
• The optional pair filters (minimum profit in money, lower target in a deep basket) are off by default.

Recovery

• Recovery start (default 100 USD per step): when a basket's floating loss reaches this amount, recovery mode starts.
• Recovery take profit: in recovery each order closes on its own once it is 10 pips in profit.
• Recovery stays on until the basket is empty.

Risk

• Basket stop (default 150 USD per step, 0 = off): closes the whole basket at this floating loss. This is the core of Fairway. Switching it off is not recommended.
• Account stop (in % of the balance, 0 = off by default): closes everything at this floating loss and pauses new trades for the set time (default 1,080 minutes).
• Maximum orders per basket (0 = off by default): no further grid order once a basket has this many orders.
• Block the second basket (0 = off by default): no new basket on the other side while the open basket is deeper in loss than this amount per step.

Dashboard

• Show dashboard (default: on): the scorecard dashboard on the chart.

6. Account size and scaling

The default set trades 0.01 lot per 3,500 USD of balance and closes a basket at -150 USD per 3,500 USD. Lot, basket stop, recovery start and the "no new basket" limit all scale together in full steps of 3,500 USD. Twice the steps means twice the lot and twice the basket stop, so the basket stop stays the same share of the balance.

With a smaller balance the EA still trades 0.01 lot, so the basket stop is a larger share of the account. Reduce the basket stop to match. The backtest below used 3,300 USD, which is still one size step.

Fairway is tested on AUDCAD only. Other symbols are not tested. Use a broker with a tight AUDCAD spread.

7. Backtest

MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester, "Every tick based on real ticks", RoboForex, AUDCAD M5, 3,300 USD, 1 Jan 2024 to 17 Oct 2026, default set:

The basket stop costs profit in quiet periods: 2024 ended slightly negative (-96 USD) because three baskets were stopped. In return the long AUDCAD trend of 2026 did not run into a deep basket.

A profit factor of 1.16 is a thin edge. Spread and execution matter, so please run your own test on your broker's data with "Every tick based on real ticks".

8. Live account

Live account with the default set: https://www.mql5.com/en/signals/2396880

It runs the set file attached to this post. A few weeks of live trading say little about a grid EA; until the account has a longer history, judge Fairway by the backtest and your own demo test.

9. Risk warning

Fairway is a grid EA. It can hold a losing basket for days, and it does take real losses at the basket stop. Trading CFDs and currencies on margin carries a high risk of loss. Backtests are simulations; past results do not guarantee future results. Use money you can afford to lose and test on a demo account first.

10. Support

Post questions and bug reports in the product comments or send a private message. Please include your broker, the account type, the .set file and the Experts log lines from the time in question.

Product: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/203336
Live account with the default set: https://www.mql5.com/en/signals/2396880
All my products: https://www.mql5.com/en/blogs/post/778024