Worst Month by Money vs by Percent in 8 EA Backtests: A Different Month in 7 of 8; MEGAMAX DONCHIAN's Deepest: -21.75%

Ask for the worst month of a backtest and most reports and screenshots will show the month with the largest loss in money. In a compounding test that month is usually a late one, simply because the balance is larger. We took the published MT5 backtests of 9 of our EAs, split the closed trades by calendar month, and found the worst month two ways: by amount, and by percent of the closed balance at the start of that month. This article uses backtests only. It contains no forward-account figures. Figures are as of 2026-10-28.

- 8 of the 9 tests have losing months. In 7 of those 8, the worst month by amount and the worst month by percent are different months. Only DONCHIAN ENGINE has the same month both ways (2024-07, -3.47%).

- All 8 worst months by amount fall in 2023 or later. The 8 worst months by percent fall between 2018 and 2024.

- The deepest month by percent is MEGAMAX DONCHIAN's 2019-08: -21.75% of the balance at the start of the month. Its worst month by amount, 2024-09, was -7.61%.

- In 7 of the 8 tests, the calendar year that contains the worst month by percent still closed positive. The exception is GOLD NEURON: its worst month by percent was 2018-04 (-15.23%), and 2018 closed at -27.3% with a 34.1% closed-balance drawdown inside the year.

- GOLD KING has no losing month in 89 months with trades, so it has no worst losing month to compare.

- Each closed trade is assigned to the calendar month in which it closed. Commission and swap are included. Open positions are not valued, so every figure here is on closed balance.

- The percent of a month is its closed result divided by the closed balance at the start of that month. That balance is the closed balance at the start of the year plus the closed results of the earlier months of the same year.

- Amounts are in the test's deposit currency. GOLD TRIPWIRE's test starts with 1,000 and the others with 10,000, and compounding EAs trade larger amounts later, so amounts are not comparable between EAs.

- The year columns are the return of the calendar year that contains the worst month by percent, and the largest peak-to-trough fall of the closed balance inside that year, with the balance at the start of the year as the first peak. This is smaller than an equity drawdown, which includes open trades, and it is not the drawdown of the whole test.

- TRINITY and AIFW are not in this article: the original report files behind their published backtests are not in our breakdown, so we could not split them by month.

EA | Test period and data | Worst month by amount | Its result | Its % of start-of-month balance | Worst month by percent (trades) | Its % of start-of-month balance | Return of that year | Closed-balance DD inside that year

MEGAMAX DONCHIAN (USDJPY) | H1, 2017.01.01-2026.06.01, 100% | 2024-09 | -14,001.14 | -7.61% | 2019-08 (6) | -21.75% | +65.0% | 29.9%

GOLD NEURON | M30, 2004.01.01-2026.09.01, 100% real ticks | 2026-04 | -56,528.60 | -11.63% | 2018-04 (13) | -15.23% | -27.3% | 34.1%

GOLD VIPER | M30, 2019.01.01-2026.09.01, 8% real ticks | 2026-05 | -192,160.63 | -11.16% | 2021-09 (170) | -14.22% | +130.9% | 15.9%

BITCOIN COMET | H4, 2018.01.01-2025.12.31, 98% | 2025-12 | -55,305.45 | -4.31% | 2019-11 (6) | -14.13% | +125.9% | 15.1%

ATLAS PORTFOLIO | H4, 2019.01.01-2026.06.28, 100% | 2025-01 | -17,756.25 | -4.59% | 2022-11 (18) | -11.04% | +203.8% | 19.2%

GOLD TRIPWIRE | M15, 2020.01.01-2026.10.14, 11% real ticks | 2023-06 | -147.53 | -4.33% | 2020-12 (7) | -8.12% | +31.1% | 9.8%

ETHEREUM TREND | H4, 2019.01.01-2026.06.28, 100% real ticks | 2025-10 | -1,722.81 | -3.83% | 2024-01 (3) | -7.28% | +105.8% | 7.3%

DONCHIAN ENGINE (free) | H1, 2017.01.01-2026.06.01, 100% real ticks | 2024-07 | -861.67 | -3.47% | 2024-07 (7) | -3.47% | +13.3% | 7.3%

Sorted by the worst month by percent, deepest first. GOLD KING (M1, 2019.01.01-2026.06.01, 5% real ticks) is left out of the table because it has no losing month. All columns come from the same monthly and yearly breakdown of the trade list. The tests cover different periods, symbols and data quality, so read each row on its own and do not rank the EAs against each other.

MEGAMAX DONCHIAN's largest monthly loss in money is 2024-09 at -14,001.14, which was -7.61% of the balance at the start of that month. Five years earlier, 2019-08 lost -21.75% of the balance in 6 trades. The balance was smaller then, so the money figure was smaller, but the hit to the account was nearly three times as deep. The year 2019 still closed at +65.0%, with a closed-balance drawdown of 29.9% inside it.

Both worst months by amount sit in 2026, a year these tests cover only in part (to 2026.09.01). GOLD VIPER lost -192,160.63 in 2026-05, -11.16% of its start-of-month balance, over 143 trades. Its worst month by percent was 2021-09 at -14.22% over 170 trades, and 2021 closed at +130.9%. GOLD NEURON lost -56,528.60 in 2026-04, -11.63%. Its worst month by percent was 2018-04 at -15.23%. That is the only row where the year of the worst month by percent closed negative.

BITCOIN COMET's largest monthly loss in money is the last month of its test, 2025-12, at -55,305.45. That was -4.31% of the balance. Its deepest month in percent was 2019-11 at -14.13%, more than three times as deep. ATLAS PORTFOLIO shows the same pattern: -17,756.25 in 2025-01, which was -4.59%, against -11.04% in 2022-11.

GOLD KING closed every one of its 89 months with trades in profit. Its weakest month was 2021-01 at +0.28% of the start-of-month balance. That is closed balance only. The largest relative equity drawdown in its MT5 report for the whole test, which includes open trades, is 91.3%. A record without losing months on closed balance does not mean the account was never deep in an open loss.

- When a seller shows the worst month in money, ask for the worst month in percent of the balance at that time. In a compounding test they are rarely the same month.

- Read a month's loss next to the year it sits in and the drawdown of that year.

- A month counts closed trades only. Read it next to an equity drawdown, especially for EAs that hold positions open for a long time.

- This article is about past tests. It does not promise any future result.

- All forward accounts we publish are demo accounts, and none is used in this article.

The two EAs discussed most in this article: MEGAMAX DONCHIAN https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/181838 · GOLD VIPER https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/182297