This MT5 EA is a diagnostic tool that does not execute trades, but collects and displays technical specifications relating to the broker and the trading environment. The code is structured into four main blocks: Data Collection (CollectAll): Retrieves information on the account (leverage, currency), the symbol (digits, spread, swap, volumes, stop levels), latency (ping) and time zone (Server-UTC difference). Calculates the swap in real currency. Sampling (OnTick): Updates spread statistics (minimum, average, maximum) in real time. Output: Prints the data to the ‘Experts’ log, saves it to a CSV file and displays it on a graphical panel on the chart (UpdatePanel). Helper: Functions such as CalcSwapInCurrency and various *ToStr functions convert the broker’s raw numerical data into readable strings.

Three position-sizing protections that do different things; confusing them is why so many accounts get wiped out: - ladder: one contract per X of balance, always applied as a CAP, even with manual lot sizing; - floor: below the minimum capital it does not trade; a new deposit is needed; - breaker: stops at X% below the peak, at any account size, and does not rearm by itself. What this library solves and almost none does: a deposit is not profit, and a withdrawal is not a loss. The breaker measures the drop against the balance peak. Untreated, a deposit made DURING a drawdown lifts balance and peak together, and the protection stops seeing the drop exactly when it would help. Here deposits and withdrawals shift the peak by the same amount. The peak is persisted to a file: a breaker that forgets the peak on a terminal restart is not a breaker. The demo simulates a deposit at the bottom of a drawdown. Run it with the deposit on and off and compare the "drop" column.

Four EAs writing to the same file, all with FILE_SHARE_READ|FILE_SHARE_WRITE, FileSeek(SEEK_END), FileWrite, FileClose. Looks correct. Every FileOpen returns success. No error in the log. And the lines vanish. Reason: FILE_SHARE_WRITE lets all four open at the same time. All four call FileSeek(SEEK_END) and get THE SAME offset, because none has written yet. All four write at the same position. Whoever closes last wins. Three lines vanish silently. In my case: 12 events expected, 8 in the file. The fix is to open EXCLUSIVELY (no FILE_SHARE_WRITE) and retry while another EA holds the file. And to shout in the log when the retries run out: a log that fails silently is worse than no log at all, because you trust it. The demo script reproduces both modes. To see the loss, drag it onto four charts at the same time with safe mode off and count the lines in the CSV. On a single chart the defect does not show up - which is why it passes in testing and breaks in production.

TimeCurrent() is not a clock. It is the stamp of the LAST TICK. Two consequences break robots in production: 1. It freezes. With no tick it does not move: illiquid instrument, end of session, unstable connection - and any rule based on it stops with it. 2. It steps backwards: on a symbol switch, a reconnection or a tick from another instrument, the value can go back. The case that cost me a whole protection: I compared the date of a daily decision with TimeCurrent() to reject an expired one. The server clock stepped back to the previous day, the comparison matched, and four EAs accepted YESTERDAY's decision as valid. The gate that should have failed closed failed open - without a single error in the log. Rule: TimeLocal() for timestamps, dates, day changes, expiry - all that must always move forward; TimeCurrent() for session hours and market data. The script measures the divergence in your environment and reports both symptoms live. Run it with the market closed.

Measures, hour by hour, how far a symbol travels and how much of that the spread takes away. Built for gold, works on any symbol, compares several side by side.