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Trading costs are the silent performance drain that most EA traders underestimate until they compare their strategy's backtest (which may use unrealistic spread assumptions) to actual live results. The gap between backtested and live performance is often primarily explained by realistic vs unrealistic cost modeling — not by the strategy itself failing.

For high-frequency session EAs like Goldie Sniper EA PRO, which can fire up to 15 trades per day, the cumulative spread and commission cost across a month can be significant. At 300 trades per month and $3 spread + $0.70 commission per 0.1-lot trade, that is $1,110 in monthly trading costs that the EA's gross profit must exceed to produce net gains. This is not an argument against the strategy — it is an argument for proper expectation setting and for using an ECN broker with tight raw spreads to minimize the per-trade cost base.

The swap fee is often overlooked by traders who assume their EA always closes positions intraday. Some session EAs occasionally hold overnight when positions are close to take-profit or during extended market moves. Understanding the swap rate on your broker's XAUUSD pair — and whether it is negative for longs (you pay) or positive (you earn) — lets you accurately project P&L for any positions that roll over. Brokers publish their swap rates on their website or you can check directly in MT5: right-click on XAUUSD in Market Watch, select Specification, and find the swap values listed.