In this post I will be reviewing the Vigorous EA. This is an automated forex trading strategy that has been programmed to run in the popular forex trading platform, MetaTrader. You can download MetaTrader free of charge from most forex brokers. It is worth mentioning that you will need the desktop version of the MetaTrader platform in order to run forex robots.
You can load the Vigorous EA onto the charts in your platform and it will constantly scan the forex market for trading signals using the built-in algorithm. When the expert advisor determines that there is an opportunity for trade, it can enter the market and manage the position on behalf of the user. Whilst this may seem like an attractive proposition for those who do not have the time or knowledge required to trade manually, there are some key advantages and disadvantages to be aware of.
This is another forex expert advisor from the Responsible Forex Trading developer. I have reviewed some of their other forex robots including the Ranger EA, Sharpshooter EA, Powerhouse EA and the Comeback Kid Manager EA.
In this Vigorous EA Review, I will be taking a look at the automated forex trading strategy that it implements, along with any back tests provided by the developer and most importantly, real verified account results. Hopefully, this can help you to decide if this is a forex EA that you would consider using on your own forex account or not.
Vigorous EA Trading Strategy
The Vigorous EA uses a forex scalping system that has been back tested on over 21 years of tick data and scalps the EUR/USD currency pair up to 100 times a week according to the developer. I quite like the EUR/USD for using forex scalping strategies because it tends to have plenty of trading volume and liquidity. This means the spreads can be some of the lowest amongst the major currency pairs which is very important when you are scalping the forex market for just a few pips.
Think about it like this, scalping can sometimes target between 1-5 pips per trade. If the currency pair (or any other trading instrument) had a spread of 2 pips, you would need to make at least 2 pips to break even. Then you need to consider any slippage or commission fees charged by your broker. Let’s say the commission fee is the equivalent of 2 pips and there is 1 pip slippage on your trade. This would mean that you need to now make 5 pips to just break-even! Some scalping systems only target 5 pips without even considering these factors which is why I feel that forex scalping is probably one of the toughest ways to trade the forex market, especially for beginners.
In order to try and improve the chances of the Vigorous EA or any other forex scalping EA, you would need a broker with very tight spreads, low fees and reliable trade execution speeds at all times, even during marker hours of low volatility.
From my many years of experience in the forex industry, IC Markets are one of the best forex brokers when it comes to manual and automated trading. This is because they have tight spreads, low commission fees, reliable execution speeds, multiple funding options and excellent 24/7 customer support.
The Vigorous EA scalps the EUR/USD looking to take as average of around just 3-8 pips from each trade. The average trade length is just 2 hours whilst the Vigorous EA trades on average 11 times a day. This means there should be plenty of action for those of you who consider themselves aggressive forex traders. Just keep in mind, the more often you trade, the more in trading costs you will need to pay your broker.
I think it is important to clarify that the Vigorous EA does have a grid trading strategy implemented which means that it can open multiple trades in the opposite direction. This is usually done to try and capitalise on the forex market whichever way it moves. However, grid trading does mean that you can end up with lots of open trades going against the market trend. I have all too often seen this cause large drawdowns and blown accounts. Therefore, please make sure that you have a clear understanding of forex grid trading and how it works before you consider the Vigorous expert advisor or any other grid trading robot for that matter.
Vigorous EA Features
- The Vigorous EA trades only with the larger time-frame trend
- It finds the best places to take quick 3-9 pip scalp trades within the dips of the larger trend
- The Vigorous EA uses flex-grid money management that’s only active when the trend is active. This makes for a very adaptive strategy that’s able to work with just about every type of market movement on the EUR/USD
- Vigorous trade panel where you can take your own Vigorous EA trades
Vigorous EA Back Testing
When it comes to choosing a forex robot, I like to check to make sure the developer has provided back tests that show how the forex expert advisor may have traded over a good amount of historical data across various currency pairs. This can help us to understand how the automated trading strategy works and performed over different market conditions. Of course, historical performance is by no means any guarantee of future results, but it can be a good way to get a rough idea of what we might expect.
I am impressed that the developer has provided Vigorous EA back tests over an impressive 21 years of historical data. What’s more, they have used every tick 99.9% modelling quality backtests to show the power of the Vigorous forex robot over the long-term. All backtests were conducted with a variable spread and Dukascopy tick data for more realistic results.
Whilst this can certainly improve on the 90% modelling quality that the MetaTrader strategy tester is capable of by default, we cannot say if they have included commission on the trades. If you refer to my example earlier regarding how much commission fees can eat into the potential gains of scalping systems, I think this is a really important factor that needs to be clarified either way. I have seen the exact some forex trading robot give completely different results by simply adding commission fees to a back test.
Vigorous EA Results
Whilst back tests are useful to some extent, the most important thing to look for in a forex robot in my opinion are real account results. This would enable us to see exactly how the Vigorous EA has been performing through recent market conditions. That way you can determine if you are happy with the various statistics such as profit factor, drawdown, average win, average loss, trade duration, trading volume and more. To see the latest live verified trading account performance of all forex robots please visit my best forex robots results page.
I am pleased to see that the developer has shared with us some long-term Vigorous EA results via a Myfxbook verified account. The performance looks stable at the time of me writing this Vigorous EA Review. However, I think it is very important to note that the developer is only running it on a demo account.
The problem with this is that demo account conditions can vary significantly from live accounts, which is especially important when using a forex scalping robot. Demo accounts can often have more favourable conditions such as lower spreads and quicker execution speeds when compared to a real trading environment. I would certainly like to see the developer provide a real verified trading account like other forex scalpers such as the Forex Robotron EA do.
Vigorous EA Summary
Overall, I can see the potential with the Vigorous EA as is evident by the Myfxbook account, albeit only a demo account. The developer has clearly put some hard work into the forex software that they have available, so I have to respect that. I just think that it could be improved in some areas.
I think the grid trading aspect gives it potentially dangerous money management which could cause significant drawdowns if you are not careful. The Vigorous EA is also likely to be very broker dependant as it is a scalping robot that needs the ideal broker and market conditions to be able to fulfil its potential. I would also like to see the developer publish a live account for us to see what it can do in a real trading environment rather than a simulated one. The Forex Flex EA also has real verified results as an alternative option.
If you would like to give the Vigorous EA a try, there is a free demo version. You could even run it on a demo trading account to get a feel for how it trades without taking any risk. I would always test a forex robot on a demo account to begin with. Just keep in mind that demo account results can differ compared to live accounts. This is due to factors that can be different between a simulated and real trading environment including liquidity, slippage and spreads.
To use the Vigorous expert advisor, you will need an account with a forex broker. With so many forex brokers to choose from nowadays, it can be had to decide which is the best forex broker for you.
You can find out more about the Vigorous robot by visiting the website using the link below. It does come with instructions, full support, free updates and a money back guarantee.
Vigorous EA
$497
Pros
- Forex Scalping Expert Advisor
- Convenient Trading Panel
- Customisable Settings
- Back Tests
- Verified Results
- Free Updates
- Full Support
- Detailed Instructions
- Money Back Guarantee
Cons
- Demo Account Results Only
- Requires Ideal Conditions
- Broker Sensitive
- Requires Low Commissions
- Requires Low Spreads
- Requires Minimal Slippage
- Limited Currency Pairs
Self-confessed Forex Geek spending my days researching and testing everything forex related. I have many years of experience in the forex industry having reviewed thousands of forex robots, brokers, strategies, courses and more. I share my knowledge with you for free to help you learn more about the crazy world of forex trading! Read more about me.
