Anchor Grid Conservative
A bounded-grid EA for AUD/USD on H4. Conservative by design — strict basket caps prevent the catastrophic drawdown scenarios that destroy most grid EAs. For traders who want steady compounding over fireworks.
Key risk metrics
The numbers a serious trader looks at first.
- Max drawdown
- -4.2%
- Worst streak
- -5.8%
- Recovery time
- 19d
Worst peak-to-trough in 2020–2025 backtest.
4 consecutive losing trades, single cluster.
Time from drawdown trough to new equity high.
Performance
Returns are presented in context, not in isolation.
- 12M return
- +12.8%
- 5Y CAGR
- +11.4%
- Sharpe
- 1.85
- Win rate
- 78.6%
- Trades / month
- 8
- Sortino
- 2.94
Backtest equity curve
2020–2025, XM real spread tick data, modelling quality 99%
Equity curve from 2020-01-01 to 2025-12-31 on the primary pair (AUD/USD). Modelling quality 99%. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Annual returns
Year by year
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +9.4% | +11.7% | +8.2% | +12.1% | +12.8% | +14.3% |
How it works
Anchor Grid Conservative places a small grid of orders around the prevailing 4-hour range when ADR-based filters confirm a range-bound regime. The basket has a hard maximum of 4 grid levels and a basket-level stop-loss at 5% of account equity that cannot be widened by the EA logic.
This is a grid EA built by someone who has seen grid EAs blow up accounts. The strict caps are the design — most of the work in V1 was around proving in walk-forward tests that the EA reliably exits the basket before the 5% stop is hit, not maximising compounding within the basket.
Why a “conservative grid” is not an oxymoron
Grid trading has a deserved bad reputation, but the failure mode is uniformly the same: unbounded grid expansion combined with martingale-style position sizing during drawdown. This EA does neither:
- Grid level count is hard-capped at 4. There is no “let the basket grow if we are temporarily underwater” logic.
- Lot size per grid level is flat, not multiplied. Each level is the same
recommendedLot. - Basket stop-loss at 5% account equity is not a soft suggestion — the EA closes all positions and pauses for the day if hit.
- ADR range filter prevents new baskets in trending regimes (= where grid EAs typically fail catastrophically).
Risk profile
- Max drawdown -4.2%, observed twice across the 5-year backtest. Both within the basket-stop logic.
- Worst losing streak -5.8% over 4 trades, occurred March 2023 during the AUD volatility spike around the SVB crisis.
- No grid expansion beyond 4 levels. The catastrophic-loss tail of typical grid EAs is structurally absent.
Recommended deployment
- Account size $3,000 minimum to absorb basket SL at 0.01 lot size with comfortable margin headroom.
- Leverage 1:30 sufficient — higher leverage offers no advantage given the strict position caps.
- XM or HFM preferred for AUD/USD spreads; both verified.
- This EA tolerates higher latency than scalpers — VPS is recommended but not strictly required.
What the EA does NOT do
- It does not add grid levels beyond 4 under any circumstance.
- It does not widen the basket stop-loss after entry.
- It does not use martingale lot sizing.
- It does not open new baskets when the ADR range filter signals trending conditions.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a martingale or averaging grid?
- No. It is a fixed-spacing grid on AUD/USD with a hard cap on open positions and identical lot sizing — it does not multiply lots after losses, which is what makes the classic grid blow-up vector not apply here. That discipline is why the backtest max drawdown stays at -4.2%.
- Why is the minimum deposit $3,000 if lots are only 0.01?
- Grid strategies hold several positions at once, so the account needs enough free margin to carry the full ladder through an adverse swing without a margin call. $3,000 provides that headroom at 0.01 lots, and 1:30 leverage is sufficient.
- What is the catch with a 78.6% win rate?
- High-win-rate grids earn many small wins and occasionally give some back when price trends hard against the ladder. The edge is real but modest (roughly 11–13% a year), so this EA suits capital preservation rather than aggressive growth.
Parameters
Configurable inputs
| Name | Default | Suggested range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| GridSpacingPips | 60 | 40–100 | Distance between grid levels. Wider spacing reduces trade frequency and drawdown but lowers compounding. |
| MaxGridLevels | 4 | 2–6 | Hard cap on concurrent grid levels. Critical safety parameter — do not increase without backtest verification. |
| BasketTakeProfit | 1.5 | 0.8–2.5 | Total basket take-profit as percent of account. EA closes all grid positions on hit. |
| BasketStopLoss | 5.0 | 3.0–7.0 | Total basket stop-loss as percent of account. Hard exit on hit, no widening permitted. |
| RangeFilter | true | true / false | If true, EA only opens new grid baskets when ADR-based range conditions are met. Disabling this materially increases drawdown. |
Broker compatibility
Verified spreads + execution
| Broker | Typical spread (pips) | Min lot | Execution | Verified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XM | 1.6 | 0.01 | market | ✓ verified | Open account → |
| HFM | 1.4 | 0.01 | market | ✓ verified | Open account → |
Spreads observed on Standard account types during London + New York session overlap, averaged across the most recent 30 trading days.