Testing procedures - Demo/Live accounts, balances, brokerages, etc

[PipCop]

Platform used:

All EAs are tested using MetaTrader as provided from the brokerage (Alpari, IBFX, FXDD, FxPro, Gain Capital, etc.) and we now try to test a robot on as many brokerages at once as possible.

Live accounts:

At the end of the 90 day probation on a demo account, we will pick the best brokerage to go live with based on performance, where available. Live accounts are only opened when the site has enough funds to do so. Please consider becoming a Site Supporter or Donating!

Demo accounts:

Forex regular account is used.
Leverage is 100:1
$5,000 starting balance

Live accounts:

Forex mini or micro is used, depending on the starting balance.
Leverage is 100:1 unless otherwise specified by the robot author/settings.
$250 starting balance (target).

Account funding:

Authors may provide additional funds to PipCop.com for a live account if they so desire. They will do so via PayPal. Sorry, we don't want Power of Attorney over your account, it's too much work for us.

Live accounts may have balance withdrawls made on the last day of the month, at my discretion, resetting the account balance back to the starting value.

Deposits may be made to live accounts at my discretion to help good performing robots increase lot size for trading.

Backtesting, optimization:

No back-testing or pre-review optimization is ever done.

Manually placed trades:

Unless noted in the first post of a review, orders are NEVER manually placed or canceled. The only time we will manually intervene is to fix a problem that cannot otherwise be fixed without intervention .

Statements:

Statements are uploaded to the PipCop.com site using the "publisher" feature in MetaTrader every 15 minutes.

Settings:

All EAs are run un-changed from the authors original code, including EA settings. The author is asked to provide optimal settings. If changed from that which the author recommends, the settings are documented.

Source code for robots:

If an EA is available for download, a link to their web site will be provided.
> If open source, a copy of the unmodified EA is attached to the thread.
> If commercial, no software will be available for download, but a link to the authors site will be provided.

Currency used for testing:

Unless otherwise noted, all EAs run against EURUSD on a 1-hour chart.

Updates to robots and/or settings:

In the event an author provides an update to their EA, the testing will be restarted. However, an EA may only be restarted ONCE due to changes made by the author.

In the event an author provides updated settings, the review will continue but will be marked as "updated". Only 3 settings updates are allowed.

We expect all code submitted to be final and fully functional. PipCop is not a QA service for developers. We strongly recommend you do your own forward testing prior to submitting your EA for review.

Length of review:

ALL reviews will remain on the site indefinitely. We will only remove a review (a) at the authors request if it is within 3 days of starting the review, (b) if there are technical problems with the EA that prevent it from trading (such as missing files or brokerage incompatibilities), (c) there are problem setting up the trading account, (d) or with a court ordered decree.

Hours of operation for robots:

All EAs are set to run 24×6 (normal brokerage hours, typically 6pm Sun to 4pm Fri) unless there is a disconnect due to network, brokerage, or hardware issues, or the testing server requires a restart.

All EAs run over the weekend, so they may experience live gaps from Sat-Sun close/open.

VPS' and VPS Server downtime:

A log of the VPS servers and individual VPS machines' downtime is kept here: http://www.PipCop.com/forums/review-faq/48-server-downtime-log.html

Previous statements:

At the end of the month, the previous months statement is copied into the thread.

NOTE: Due to the time when the statement is captured via server backups, some trades may not be captured/documented during the last 15 minutes of the last day of the month. Other trades may be left "open" when in fact they will close in the next month. Be sure to compare "open" trades from previous months to closed trades in the current/next month.

Reviews may be canceled if:

It places no trades for 2 weeks.

> It does not make an average of $10/day profit on a demo account.

> It does not make an average of $1/day profit on a LIVE account (because the starting balance is significantly smaller, profits will also be smaller).

It loses 50% or more of original account balance on a live account.

It cannot open trades due to lack of funds.

Removal of robots:

At any time the poorest performing EAs are removed from the reviews at my discretion to make space for other robots on the VPS'. Generally they have to be over 60 days and less than $10/day profits to get busted.

[duwi]

What is the default investor password? thanks

[PipCop]

I no longer give out investor passwords because some users were using a tool to copy the orders from the statements and place trades automatically without purchasing the robots (in the case of commercial robots) which was unethical. As a result, I cannot be party to allowing that kind of behavior and also expect companies to give me free copies of their software for review purposes.

For open-source robots, you're certainly encouraged to run your own copy.

However, the work-around I have in place is that all statements are published (updated) by MetaTrader every 15 minutes. Feel free to audit them.

I also have a system in place that audits the statements and alerts me via email if one does not respond after 30 minutes (two instances of the publisher failing) so I can be sure they are all running.