Collie Gold

Collie is a gold (XAU/USD) Expert Advisor that trades short baskets, each with a defined stop, and grows its lot size with your balance. Since 2021, 98.8% of its baskets have closed in profit, and in 2025 the Moderate profile returned +586% with a 20% drawdown.

Picture gold compounding a slice of your account while you get on with your day: small baskets closing at their target, the lot growing with your balance, and a quick look at the panel once a day. That is what Collie did over six years of gold, tick by tick: 1,996 of 2,020 baskets in profit, with 2024 closing at +199% and 2025 at +586% on the Moderate profile, and maximum drawdowns of 17% and 20%.

HIGH RETURN, SECURITY, RISK CONTROL

• High return: on the Moderate profile, +68% in 2023, +199% in 2024, +586% in 2025 and +1,733% through September 2026, with a maximum drawdown between 17% and 28% in each year. On Maximum, the highest-risk profile, 2025 closed at +6,365% with a 37% drawdown.
• Security: every basket has a stop. It closes the whole basket, and how much that can cost is in the profile table below. Every entry uses the same lot, never martingale. The stop is executed by the EA itself, so MetaTrader needs to stay running (a VPS is the easiest way).
• Risk control: the profile you choose sets what a basket can cost at its stop, from about 10% of your balance on Conservative to 31% on Maximum. On top of that: account drawdown protection, a lot cap, and a pause on Fed decision days and US payroll days.

THE RESULTS, YEAR BY YEAR

Measured in the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester with every tick based on real ticks from Vantage (XAUUSD+), real spread and commission, and 1:1000 leverage. Each year restarts at 1,000 USD, so one year can't hide another. Each cell shows the year's return and that year's maximum equity drawdown (DD).

• Without restarting each year (January 2021 to September 2026, Moderate, 1,000 USD, lot growing with the account): 64 of 69 months closed positive, with a profit factor of 4.07 (4.07 dollars won for every dollar lost) and a maximum drawdown of 36%. That last figure is the one to size your account by. The worst month was January 2022, at -13.5%.
• The most recent window, August and September 2026: Moderate +58% with a 10% drawdown.
• Why the numbers grow so fast: the automatic lot follows your balance, so every gain makes the next baskets larger. That is compounding, and in 2025 and 2026 it ran into a strong gold rally. Those were exceptional years, not a rate to project forward.
• The weak years were 2021 and 2022, with gold moving sideways: +23% and +6% on Moderate, with drawdowns of up to 27%.

COLLIE BY THE NUMBERS

HOW COLLIE WORKS

Collie is a MetaTrader 5 Expert Advisor for gold (XAUUSD, or GOLD depending on your broker) that runs a basket grid with a stop loss. It runs on its own, on a single chart, and its job comes down to four things:

1. Picking the moment. Several independent strategies watch gold, each with its own signal. When one of them finds its moment, Collie opens a basket. The rest of the time, it waits.
2. Closing the basket in profit. If price moves its way, the basket closes at a short target. If price moves against it, Collie adds entries, always with the same lot, and closes the whole basket once price comes back a little past the average entry. It is a grid, but without martingale: the lot never multiplies.
3. Capping the bad day. Every basket has a stop loss, sized by the risk profile you choose. An emergency brake closes it earlier if the market turns violent, and the news filter opens no baskets on FOMC and US payroll (NFP) days.
4. Compounding the result. The automatic lot grows with your balance, so every gain increases the size of the next baskets. Small, frequent gains turn into compound growth.

For example, with 1,000 USD on Conservative, each entry uses 0.01 lot, and most baskets close within minutes with a small gain that adds to the balance and raises the lot for the next ones.

THE FENCE THAT PROTECTS YOUR GAINS

A collie is a herding dog: its job is to keep the flock inside the fence. A grid with no limit looks great right up to the day price doesn't come back. With Collie, that day has a known size.

• Every entry in a basket uses the same lot, and the stop closes the whole basket. An emergency brake closes it earlier if the day turns violent.
• Stops are part of the design: since 2021, 7 of 2,020 baskets hit their stop, about one in 290, a little over once a year. Live trading can see them more often, so size your account with room to spare.

On small accounts the lot never goes below 0.01, so a basket at its stop weighs more: with 1,000 USD on Conservative it costs about 100 USD; with 300 USD, the same amount is close to a third of the balance. That is why we recommend starting with 1,000 USD.

FEW SETTINGS, ON PURPOSE

Your broker's time zone is detected automatically, daylight saving time included. The log is in English and shows only the settings and errors.

WHO IT'S FOR

• Traders who want gold compounding their account, with the lot growing along with it, without spending the day in front of a chart.
• Traders who want high returns and want to know the size of a loss before it happens.
• Portfolio builders who need an EA that works on a fixed slice of the account.
• Prop firm traders, with exposure sized to the firm's limits (example in the FAQ).

WHO IT'S NOT FOR

• Anyone looking for a robot that never loses. That robot doesn't exist. Collie has losses and tells you how many: about one basket at its stop in every 290, sized by the profile you choose.
• Anyone who wants to double their account in the first week. Collie wins with small baskets and lets compounding do the rest. The big numbers in the tables come from time, not from bigger bets.
• Anyone who needs to tweak everything. Here the setup is the risk profile; there aren't 40 parameters to fine-tune. If you'd rather control every detail, this isn't your EA.
• Anyone who expects a trade every day. On many days Collie doesn't trade, and those are the days its filter is doing its job.
• Anyone who buys without testing. Run the free demo on your broker first. If the result doesn't convince you, don't buy.

REQUIREMENTS

YOUR FIRST 10 MINUTES

1. Download the free demo and run 2025 and 2026 in the Strategy Tester with "Every tick based on real ticks".
2. On the terminal that will stay on (ideally a VPS), open a gold chart and drag Collie onto it.
3. Choose the Conservative profile and turn on Algo Trading.
4. Check the panel: Algo, Hedging, Gold and Time zone should all be ticked.
5. Leave the news filter on.

After a month live, if it behaves the way you expected, move up a profile. Every setting, the panel, VPS and backtesting are explained in the user manual: https://www.mql5.com/en/blogs/post/777124.

PRICE

Today: 99 USD. 10 copies left before the price goes up to 149 USD.

The price rises with sales, never with the calendar: +50 USD every 10 copies up to 999 USD, then +100 USD every 10 copies up to 2,499 USD. After that, it rises with demand, up to a final price of 2,999 USD. Every buyer keeps the price they paid and gets every update.

Why it goes up: the live signal is still young. Early buyers take on more uncertainty and pay less for it. Later buyers will have more months of signal to check, and they pay for that certainty.

Rental: 1 month for 30 USD during the launch. The Market doesn't offer refunds, so the free demo and the rental are how you see Collie on your own broker before paying full price.

FAQ

How does the lot grow with the account?
In proportion to your capital and profile (the table above shows the lot at 1,000, 5,000 and 50,000 USD). Twice the capital means roughly twice the lot.

Is it martingale?
No. Every entry uses the same lot, and the lot only grows with the balance, never after a loss.

How often does a basket hit its stop?
Of the 2,020 baskets since 2021, 7 hit their stop: about one in 290, a little over once a year. Another 1,996 closed in profit and 17 near breakeven. It is part of the design: the risk profile you choose sets what a basket costs at its stop.

Is the stop held on the broker's server?
No. The EA closes at the current market price, so MetaTrader must be on and connected while any basket is open (a VPS is the easiest way). On a Monday gap, the exit can be worse than planned. After a stop, Collie keeps trading. For an extra limit, use the drawdown protection in "close all baskets and stop the EA" mode: it closes Collie's baskets and stops the EA if the open loss goes past the value you set.

Does it work with prop firms?
Yes, with a fixed lot sized to the firm's limits (usually 5% daily loss and 10% overall). At the worst stop on record, a basket cost about 100 USD per 0.01 lot. The table below puts that worst stop at about 4% of the account, leaving one percentage point of headroom under the 5% daily limit for slippage or gaps.

Set "Lot mode" to "Fixed lot size", enter the same value in "Max lot per entry", and turn on the drawdown protection in "close all baskets and stop the EA" mode at 4.5%. Make sure your firm allows grids and hedging. The step-by-step guide, with lot tables from 5k to 200k: https://www.mql5.com/en/blogs/post/777125.

Does it work with a small account?
It works from 300 USD, but we recommend 1,000 USD. Below that, the lot stays at the 0.01 minimum, and a basket at its stop, about 100 USD, weighs much more on the balance.

Which profile should I choose?
Start on Conservative. After a month live, if it behaves as expected, move up. In the results, each step up brought more return, with a larger drawdown alongside it: in 2024, from +98% with a 12% DD on Conservative to +805% with a 35% DD on Maximum.

Why doesn't it trade every day?
Each strategy only enters at its own moment. On many days none of them sees the right moment, and Collie waits.

How long does a basket stay open?
The median is 7 minutes, and almost all close the same day. A basket opened on a Friday can stay open over the weekend.

Can I run it alongside other EAs?
Yes. Give it its own magic number and calculate the lot on a fixed amount, the slice of the account you've given Collie.

Will my test match yours?
It will come close with real ticks. Your broker's spread, commission, swap and time zone change the result, and a live account has slippage, which the tester doesn't simulate.

How do I contact you?
Through the MQL5 chat.

RISK WARNING

Trading gold with leverage carries a risk of significant losses. Past results, whether tested or live, do not guarantee future results. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.

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