XAUUSD Broker Restrictions:
Are They Limiting Your EA?

Download the broker's client agreement or terms and conditions as a PDF (it should be available on their website under "Legal" or "Regulation"). Use Ctrl+F to search for these terms: "scalping," "automated," "algorithm," "minimum hold," "cancel," "void," "manifest error," "requote," "VPS," and "third-party software." Read the full paragraph around each hit — restrictions are often embedded in general clauses rather than dedicated sections. If any clause is ambiguous, email support asking for clarification and retain the written response before depositing.

In MT5, open View → Terminal (Ctrl+T) → Journal tab. This shows real-time messages from the broker server including order acceptance, rejection, modification, and error messages. Relevant messages to watch for: "no requotes" (trade accepted at different price), "market closed" (order rejected outside trading hours), "trade context busy" (EA order rate exceeded broker limit), "off quotes" (price data unavailable). After running the EA for several sessions, review the journal for patterns. Any repeated error type indicates a broker compatibility issue.

Market execution means your order is sent to the market and filled at the best available price at the moment it arrives at the broker's server — there is no pre-agreed price and no requote. The actual fill price may differ from the price you saw when placing the order (positive or negative slippage), but the trade will always execute. This contrasts with "instant execution" where you specify a price and the broker either fills at that price or requotes with a different one. For scalping EAs, market execution is preferable because trades always fill — though slippage management (ideally via the EA's own deviation parameter) is important.

Goldie Razor V2.8.4 runs on M15 charts with a typical trade duration of minutes to a few hours. This makes it incompatible with brokers that have minimum hold time restrictions of any duration. It requires market execution without trade cancellation rights. Its built-in spread filter helps manage restriction number 4 (spread widening), but this requires the broker to actually widen spreads rather than reject trades. The EA does not use overnight hold positions as its core strategy, so swap costs (restriction 6) are a secondary concern rather than a structural problem.

Switch if: (1) You observe consistent trade rejections or unusual fills in the MT5 Journal that the broker cannot explain; (2) The broker confirms a restriction (minimum hold time, automated trading ban) in writing; (3) Your live results diverge significantly from demo results on the same EA — a gap over 20% in win rate or profit factor over 60+ trades suggests execution conditions differ meaningfully; (4) You cannot obtain written confirmation that EA use is permitted and the broker hedges in their reply. Switching brokers with an active EA is straightforward — install on demo at the new broker, test for 2–4 weeks, then migrate capital.