Metatrader 5 Strategy Tester

The beta version of the Metatrader 5 strategy tester (Metatester 5) was released a few months ago. It is an integral part of the new Metatrader 5 trading terminal and, as in the previous version of Metatrader, it is used to optimize and test MQL5 Expert Advisors. Metatester 5 is the last component of the MetaTrader 5 tools that is needed in the efficient development process of MQL5 Expert Advisors. The new tester is still in development and the final version will be released later this year.

One of the new features of Metatester 5 is the possibility of using agents (individual calculation frameworks) to considerably increase the calculation speed and optimization of trading strategies. Each agent represents one logical CPU core, so for example, if you have a dual-core CPU, you will have 2 agents. Agents can also be installed on remote computers on a local network or on the Internet. A big advantage of this is that you can use endless CPU power, as in popular network computing projects called Folding at Home or SETI at home. MetaQuotes, the company behind Metatrader 5, will also launch a commercial service where the power of the remote agent processor will be sold.

Another great feature of Metatester 5 is the forward optimization mode. Through this option, you can modify the optimization results to eliminate tests in certain periods of time. During advanced EA optimization, the time period is divided into two parts: the main history period and the advance period. The results of the best passes in the optimization process in both time periods can be compared in the “Optimization Results” window after the process is finished.

The new Metatrader 5 strategy tester will be much faster than on MT4 because the tester will work as a standalone application. Compared with the previous tester, it is a more accurate and powerful tool. The fast parameter optimization of the genetics-based algorithm is now much faster because it can use the full power of modern 64-bit multicore processors. The new MQL5 language expert advisor also has many new features that work in conjunction with the new strategy tester.

Finally, there is the option of backtesting multi-currency Expert Advisors. Many merchants requested this feature, which was also not available in the previous version of the tester. Metatester 5 will automatically read the EA source code for multi-currency testing. The final optimization results and the equity curve graph will combine all the symbols into one result. If you have a one-currency EA, you can also test it on multiple symbols using the “All symbols selected in Market Watch” option. This also helps speed up the strategy testing process, because each symbol will be tested automatically unlike in Metatrader 4 where the testing was done by hand.

The quote history used during the testing process is also improved, it is now stored in the precise 1 minute format and is available as of 1999. In the current beta version of the strategy tester, there is no option to use external history as on MT4 DDE server, but according to MetaQuotes this option will be added later. The history file size per symbol is smaller than in the previous version, around 15 MB in compressed format. This helps save traffic, especially when downloading the history of various symbols.