How do I: Backtest MA Crossovers on MT4?

Beginner Questions
1

I just signed up for a MetaTrader4 account through Oanda, and was wondering how can I test EMA crossovers?

I like to see the results for this year-to-date, for when EMA:1 crosses EMA:14 trading on the daily time frame.

2

The only way I know of is to use a free EA simulator or do it candle by candle manually. I am not sure if you can make an EA yourself to do it and just look at the results. I always traded discretionary systems so I never had the need to do it any other way. But my question is why a 1 period EMA that will just reflect the current price. There is no period of time in which to average. I don’t really know what your trying to accomplish with that indicator setting. That being said again I don’t trade with indicators or mechanical systems so take it with a grain of salt.

3

The quickest easiest way to test is to find a crossover EA. Manual testing can be done; but it is very slow and error prone. Just look for something like “Universal Crossover”. I have seen them on most of these forums. In MT5, non programmers can build their own EA. For a crossover, this shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.

4

Two options:

  1. Have a programmer write you an EA (if you are not a programmer already) and backtest on MT.
  2. Purchase some forex backtesting software and manually test it over as long a historical period as you can.

I would recommend #2 because you can see what it is doing and can practice the mechanics of the trade so when it comes to actually trading it, you will be prepared.

5

Thanks all for your reply…

I’m still can’t figure it out, but thanks.