Gold Priority Ensemble

Gold Priority Ensemble is a rule-based Expert Advisor for XAUUSD (gold). Several independent signal modules watch the market, and a fixed priority decides which single trade is taken. Only one position is open at a time, and every order carries a stop loss.

How it works

1. Signal modules. Independent modules read closed bars from M1 up to D1: trend pullback, breakout and retest, reactions at the previous day's high and low, and short-term volatility and tick-volume patterns.
2. Priority router. When several modules signal at the same time, a fixed priority picks one trade. A higher-priority signal may close and replace an open lower-priority trade.
3. Protected order. The stop loss is part of the order request. If a broker does not accept stops in the order request, the EA opens the trade and attaches the stop loss right after. If the stop loss still cannot be attached, the EA closes the trade and keeps retrying on every tick until the trade is closed.
4. Exit. Exit management varies by signal module and includes take profit, break-even adjustments and time-based exits. One module has no fixed take profit and exits at its stop loss or after a fixed time.

New trades are opened only between 12:00 and 15:00 UTC (London and New York overlap). A trade opened in this window can stay open after it. The EA uses M1 bars for timing, but it is not a scalper: in the backtest trades lasted from under a minute to about 17 days.

Other charts

On a chart with a timeframe other than M1 the EA switches to a chart timeframe mode: one simplified trend-pullback rule calculated on the chart's own bars, at any time of day, with a stop loss of 1.5 x ATR(14), a take profit of twice the stop and one position at a time. A signal is skipped when the spread is more than half of the stop distance. This mode works the same in the Strategy Tester and on a live account. It is not part of the published backtest and is not a recommendation.

Backtest results (MetaTrader 4 Strategy Tester, hypothetical, not live trading)

• Conditions: version 2.01, XAUUSD M1, Every tick, modelling quality 99.90%, variable spread, GMT+0 server
• Period: 2025.01.01 - 2026.09.24 (first trade on 2025.03.18, when gold rose above the 3000 filter)
• Deposit and lot: 10,000 USD, fixed 0.01 lot, recommended settings below
• Trades: 411 (212 long, 199 short)
• Profit factor: 1.69
• Net profit: 2,367.94 USD
• Maximal drawdown: 447.99 USD (3.55%)
• Profit trades: 171 of 411 (41.6%, as counted by MT4; 7 of them closed at exactly 0.00)
• Average profit / loss trade: 33.93 / -14.31 USD
• Maximum consecutive losses: 9
• Negative months: 4 of 19
• Commission: not included in the tester result. At 7 USD per lot round turn it would be about 28.77 USD for all 411 trades at 0.01 lot.

Recommended settings for XAUUSD M1 (used in the backtest)

• Risk per trade, % of balance = 0 (fixed lot)
• Fixed lot size = 0.01
• Max spread to open a trade = 1.50
• Do not open trades below this price = 3000
• Max slippage, points = 30
• Detect broker GMT offset automatically = true
• Broker GMT offset, hours = your server offset (0 in the backtest)

Recommendations

• Attach the EA to an XAUUSD M1 chart. All results and recommendations on this page refer to XAUUSD M1.
• Use a low-spread account (ECN or raw spread) and a VPS.
• Sizing guideline, not a safety guarantee: at least 3,000 USD for each 0.01 lot. The published backtest used 10,000 USD with 0.01 lot. Real drawdowns can be larger than in the backtest.
• Start on a demo account with the smallest lot.

Input parameters

• Risk per trade, % of balance - 0 uses the fixed lot. Maximum 10.
• Fixed lot size - default 0.01, used when risk per trade is 0. If it is below your broker's minimum lot, the minimum lot is used.
• Max spread to open a trade - in price units; 1.50 means 1.50 USD for XAUUSD.
• Do not open trades below this price - 0 turns the filter off; 3000 is recommended for XAUUSD. Below this price the EA does not open new trades; trades that are already open continue to be managed.
• Max slippage, points - default 30.
• Detect broker GMT offset automatically - used on live and demo accounts.
• Broker GMT offset, hours - used in the Strategy Tester, or when automatic detection is off: 0 for a GMT+0 server, 2 or 3 for a GMT+2 or GMT+3 server.
• Magic number - change it if another EA on the account uses the same number.

Testing in the Strategy Tester

• XAUUSD, M1, model "Every tick", with complete M1 history. Real tick data from your broker gives the most reliable result.
• Enter your server's offset in Broker GMT offset, hours; the EA cannot detect it in the tester. For servers that switch between GMT+2 and GMT+3 during the year, tester results are approximate.
• Use the recommended settings above to reproduce the published backtest.
• On other timeframes the tester shows the chart timeframe mode described above, not the M1 strategy.

What to expect

• Losing streaks and losing months are part of normal operation. The screenshots show the result of every month of the backtest.
• Results depend on your broker's spread, commission, slippage and swap. In the backtest 17% of trades stayed open overnight, so swap applies.
• Some days have no trades. The backtest averages above describe the past and are not a forecast.

Support

For questions and help with the setup, send me a private message on MQL5 or write in the Comments tab of this product.

Risk warning

Trading leveraged products such as gold CFDs carries a high level of risk and may result in the loss of your entire deposit. Backtest results are hypothetical and do not guarantee future results. Test on a demo account first and trade only with money you can afford to lose.