MetaTrader 4 Strategy Tester Window

The MetaTrader 4 Strategy Tester in the MT4 platform is the environment used to back-test the profitability of an MT4 Expert Advisor which is an Automated Program and ascertain profitability of this Expert Advisor automated strategy & then Optimize this EA to a point where it's giving good profits from its automated activities.

Note: Before beginning MetaTrader 4 Strategy Tester illustrated & shown below, you must first attach a stock EA in MT4 chart, by going to the Navigator Window, selecting the Expert Advisor & then right click on it and specify the option "Attach to Chart", once the Expert Advisor is attached to the MetaTrader 4 chart it will then appear as pictured below, Then Right Click the Expert Advisor, choose property settings & then select the option by Checking/Ticking "Allow Live Trading" & then continue with the MetaTrader 4 strategy tester illustrated below.

The MetaTrader 4 strategies tester option can be activated from the view menu & it's the second last menu item on View Menu, A short-cut is to Press Ctrl+R buttons on your key board.

The MT4 Strategy Tester contains the following Expert-Advisor Parameter Settings for set up prior to testing an Expert-Advisor automated stock system & also for optimizing the profitability of this Expert Advisor.

Expert Advisor: Parameter for choosing which trading Expert Advisor you want to test among those installed in your MetaTrader 4 software platform.

Symbol: The chart for which you want to test the EA on

Model: Whether to execute based on the tick method, open prices or control points

Use Date: Set the date to begin the testing & the date to end the testing of the Expert Advisor

Visual Mode: Choose To view the illustration of where this stock Expert Advisor opens & closes trade as the testing is carried out, there's also a slide bar to increase/decrease the speed for the visual mode.

Period: Time-frame for which to use examples 1 Hour Chart

Optimization: Allow Optimization Settings for your EA Automated Bot

For example, to test the above trading Expert Advisor on chart for profitability, settings can be setup as shown & displayed above and MetaTrader strategy tester is then run, by pressing and clicking on 'Start Button'.

The following trade results are generated & an automated trader can select to optimize the stock Expert Advisor further by changing the Expert Advisors settings.

Once the optimization of the Expert Advisor is complete the progress bar will show progress, above status bar displays progress that the Expert Advisor testing is complete.

To view the click on options highlighted above (Optimization Result, Optimization Graph, Journal)

Before running this MetaTrader 4 Strategy Tester for Expert Advisor testing you must navigate to navigator panel, double-click on this stock Expert Advisor to attach it to the chart and set the parameters as displayed & illustrated and shown below by checking the options provided below:

After setting the above settings then you can test your automated strategy within MT4 strategy-tester.

Once you Run your Expert Advisor the Results will be displayed on the following window

MT4 Strategy Tester Optimization Results

MetaTrader 4 Strategies Tester Optimization Graph

MT4 Strategy Tester Balance & Equity Graph

MetaTrader 4 Strategy Tester Profit and Loss Graph

Above is just a brief introduction to the MT4 strategy-tester - automated trading with EA Bots is a wide topic that one will take some time & research to learn about but the main environment to test & optimize the EA automated robot will be the MT4 Strategy Tester.

Note: You can only test an Automated Expert Advisor using data that has been downloaded and saved on your MT4 software, therefore for the date settings select the dates that you have been trading with your MT4 to get a graph representation of how your automated stock Expert Advisor would trade.