The MT5 EA Drawdown Diary — 90 Days of Real Trade Logs

Why This Diary Exists

Most EA vendors show you the best months. The equity curves that go up and to the right. The screenshots from the weeks when everything worked perfectly.

This diary shows you everything. Ninety days of live MT5 EA trading on Gold (XAUUSD) and NAS100 using BullyMax Pro — the profitable weeks, the drawdown weeks, the weeks where nothing happened, and the specific decisions made at each stage. This is what automated trading actually looks like when you run it honestly and document it completely.

Setup: Exness Standard account, BullyMax Pro MT5 EA on Gold and NAS100, hosted 24/7 on MassiveGrid VPS. Starting balance: $300. Starting lot size: 0.01 micro lot.

Disclaimer: This diary documents a specific trading period under specific market conditions. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Automated trading carries real financial risk. This is for educational purposes only — not financial advice.

Month 1: Days 1–30

Week 1 — The Quiet Start

The EA opened its first trades during the London session on day two. Gold was ranging — no strong directional bias. The EA placed four trades across the week: two winners, one breakeven, one small loss. Net result: +$4.20. Not exciting. Exactly what a conservative start should look like.

Decision made: No changes to settings. Observation only.

Week 2 — First Drawdown

NFP week. Gold spiked $35 on the release, then reversed sharply. The EA had an open long position at the time of the release — it hit its stop loss during the reversal. Loss: -$8.40. This was the first real test of discipline: the instinct to turn the EA off was noted and ignored.

Decision made: Added a manual reminder to check the economic calendar every Monday. Considered configuring a news pause — decided to observe one more NFP cycle first.

Week 3 — Recovery

Gold found direction — a sustained move higher driven by dollar weakness. The EA captured three clean London session entries. Net result for the week: +$14.70. The NFP loss from week two was recovered and then some.

Lesson confirmed: Turning the EA off after week two's loss would have meant missing week three's recovery entirely.

Week 4 — NAS100 Activation

Activated BullyMax Pro on NAS100 alongside Gold. Reduced Gold lot size from 0.01 to 0.008 to keep total account risk balanced across both instruments. NAS100 opened two trades in its first week — one winner, one loss. Net combined result for week four: +$6.30.

Month 1 total: +$16.80 on a $300 account. 5.6% return. Drawdown peak: -$8.40 (2.8%).

Month 2: Days 31–60

Week 5 — The Fed Week

Fed rate decision week. Manually paused the EA 30 minutes before the announcement and reactivated it 30 minutes after. Gold moved $45 during the announcement window — the EA missed the spike entirely, which was the correct outcome. Post-announcement, Gold settled into a new range and the EA resumed normal operation.

Decision made: News pause protocol formalised. EA paused for all Tier 1 news events going forward.

Week 6 — Best Week of the Diary

Gold trended cleanly higher across the full week. The EA captured entries on both the London open and the New York session on three consecutive days. NAS100 also had a strong week following positive earnings data. Combined weekly result: +$31.20.

Decision made: Did not increase lot sizes despite the strong week. Compounding decision deferred to end of month 2.

Week 7 — Choppy Market

Gold entered a tight range. The EA placed trades but most were stopped out at breakeven or small losses as the market chopped without direction. Net result: -$3.10. This is what a choppy week looks like — not a disaster, just noise.

Week 8 — Steady

Market conditions normalised. EA returned to consistent small wins. Net result: +$9.40.

Month 2 total: +$37.50. Cumulative 2-month return: +$54.30 (18.1% on starting balance). Drawdown peak in month 2: -$3.10 (less than 1% of account).

Compounding decision: Increased lot size from 0.01 to 0.015 at the start of month 3. Account balance now $354.30 — lot size increase proportional to account growth.

Month 3: Days 61–90

Week 9 — Geopolitical Spike

A sudden geopolitical development sent Gold surging $60 in 18 hours. The EA was live on MassiveGrid VPS throughout — it captured the London session entry at the start of the move and held through the New York session. This was the single best trade of the 90-day diary. Profit on the Gold position: +$28.40.

Key factor: The VPS was running when the move started at 06:30 GMT. A trader running on a local device in South Africa would have been asleep and missed the London open entirely.

Week 10 — Post-Spike Consolidation

After the geopolitical spike, Gold consolidated. The EA placed several trades in the new range — mixed results. Net result: +$4.20.

Week 11 — Second Significant Drawdown

NAS100 sold off sharply following weaker-than-expected tech earnings. The EA took three consecutive losses on NAS100 across the week. Gold was flat. Combined weekly result: -$19.80. This was the largest single-week drawdown of the diary.

Decision made: Reviewed NAS100 settings. Confirmed the EA was functioning correctly — the losses were a result of market conditions, not a malfunction. Did not turn the EA off. Did not change settings mid-drawdown.

Week 12 — Recovery and Close

Both Gold and NAS100 recovered. The EA closed the 90-day diary with its second-best week: +$22.60 combined.

Month 3 total: +$35.40. Cumulative 90-day return: +$89.70 (29.9% on starting balance of $300).

The Honest Summary

What the Diary Proves

Three losing weeks out of twelve is not a broken EA. It is a normal trading system operating in real market conditions. The traders who fail with EAs are not the ones who experience losing weeks — they are the ones who turn the EA off during losing weeks and miss the recovery.

The infrastructure mattered. MassiveGrid VPS captured the week 9 geopolitical spike that a locally-hosted EA would have missed entirely. That single trade accounted for a significant portion of the 90-day return.

The news pause protocol mattered. The Fed week in month two was navigated cleanly because the EA was paused during the announcement window.

The compounding decision mattered. Increasing lot size proportionally at the end of month two — not aggressively, not emotionally — amplified the month three gains without increasing the drawdown percentage.

Start Your Own Diary

Get BullyMax Pro and start documenting your own 90-day journey. Open your broker account with Exness, host your EA on MassiveGrid, and share your progress in the free PMotive Telegram community. Follow live daily sessions on TikTok. Browse the full PMotive EA collection to find the right EA for your instruments and goals.

Risk Disclosure

This diary documents a specific 90-day trading period under specific market conditions. Results are not guaranteed and will vary based on account size, lot settings, broker, market conditions, and individual discipline. Automated trading carries real financial risk. Trade only with capital you can afford to lose. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Published by PMotive — July 2026. For informational purposes only. Not financial advice.