Testing out Interbank FX claim that all EAs will work despite FIFO

Friday, 14/08/2009 | 09:00 GMT by Michael Greenberg
  • Testing out Interbank FX claim that all EAs will work despite FIFO
Alexander Konovalov and Eugen von Rubinberg, co-founders at vidby
Alexander Konovalov and Eugen von Rubinberg, co-founders at vidby
Following the FIFO requirements that kicked in couple of weeks ago Jim from Trading Gurus gave IBFX's announcement a try. I claimed in the past that some EAs might stop working in the US and it is interesting to see the results of someone else's study. Jim managed to easily set up his advisor and test it on the EUR/USD pair and it seemed to work perfectly. He then tried working with two different Expert Advisors using futures style trading on the same currency pair and it failed to work because of the infamous hedging requirements. Jim's testing summary is that Expert Advisors work perfectly alone on a one currency pair but activating two
EAs on the same pair might cause a 'hedging' problem which cancels out the strategy.
Jim's conclusion is that not all of IBFX's statements are correct and I'd think he is right. IBFX claims on its FIFO press release that "The MT4 platform will continue to function as our customers have experienced over the last several years. This includes the ability for customers to use fully functional Expert Advisors, Stops Losses, Take Profits, Trailing Stops and Limit Orders without making any needed adjustments."
While this correct regarding stand alone trades and Expert Advisors it seems that more complex combinations of strategies don't work properly.
Jim's testing summary:
Forex style EAs that use built in take profit and stop loss levels – PASS
Futures style EAs that use separate target and stop orders – FAIL
Using two EAs on the same currency pair – FAIL
Can open multiple accounts – PASS
Following the FIFO requirements that kicked in couple of weeks ago Jim from Trading Gurus gave IBFX's announcement a try. I claimed in the past that some EAs might stop working in the US and it is interesting to see the results of someone else's study. Jim managed to easily set up his advisor and test it on the EUR/USD pair and it seemed to work perfectly. He then tried working with two different Expert Advisors using futures style trading on the same currency pair and it failed to work because of the infamous hedging requirements. Jim's testing summary is that Expert Advisors work perfectly alone on a one currency pair but activating two
EAs on the same pair might cause a 'hedging' problem which cancels out the strategy.
Jim's conclusion is that not all of IBFX's statements are correct and I'd think he is right. IBFX claims on its FIFO press release that "The MT4 platform will continue to function as our customers have experienced over the last several years. This includes the ability for customers to use fully functional Expert Advisors, Stops Losses, Take Profits, Trailing Stops and Limit Orders without making any needed adjustments."
While this correct regarding stand alone trades and Expert Advisors it seems that more complex combinations of strategies don't work properly.
Jim's testing summary:
Forex style EAs that use built in take profit and stop loss levels – PASS
Futures style EAs that use separate target and stop orders – FAIL
Using two EAs on the same currency pair – FAIL
Can open multiple accounts – PASS
About the Author: Michael Greenberg
Michael Greenberg
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