The requirements at a glance
As listed under Technical Requirements on the MQL5 product page:
| Symbol | XAUUSD (Designed for 2-decimal pricing). |
|---|---|
| Account Type | Hedging enabled. |
| Minimum Capital | $500 for Standard Accounts (or equivalent in Cent/Micro accounts). |
| Execution | A low-latency VPS is required for stable operation. |
Why 2-decimal XAUUSD pricing matters
MetaTrader inputs such as maximum spread are measured in points, and a point is the smallest price step your broker quotes. On a 2-decimal gold quote one point is $0.01, so the presets' 100-point spread limit means $1.00. On a 3-decimal quote the same 100 points is only $0.10 — tighter than most gold spreads — and every other point-based distance shrinks tenfold too. Check the quote in Market Watch: a price ending .15 is two decimals, one ending .153 is three.
Why the account must be hedging
Philippe Calibre 79 manages several positions as one basket. A netting account merges every trade on a symbol into a single position, so separate basket legs cannot exist. MetaTrader 5 prints the mode in the Journal right after login — look for hedging mode. If it says netting, ask your broker for a hedging account.
Why ECN / RAW spreads help
The developer's Capital Allocation and Risk Setup Guide is written around standard ECN and RAW accounts. Every basket pays the spread on every leg. On standard accounts, gold spreads are often several times wider than on RAW accounts, where you pay a small commission instead. Wider spreads mean each basket has to travel further before it is in profit — and during spikes the maximum-spread filter will block more entries. Compare the typical XAUUSD spread plus commission across account types before you open one.
Deposit and leverage
Minimum Capital on MQL5 reads: $500 for Standard Accounts (or equivalent in Cent/Micro accounts). For the Balanced tier the developer's sizing guide recommends Standard accounts with $1,000+ or Micro accounts with $100+. Automatic lot sizing cannot go below the broker's minimum lot, so on a standard contract a very small balance ends up more exposed than the chosen profile intends — which is what the minimum protects against.
Leverage decides how much margin each position ties up, not how large the positions are. The public signals run at 1:1000. At low retail leverage — for example the 1:20 limit on gold for EU retail clients — each gold position locks up far more margin, which can stop a small account from opening a second basket leg. Keep enough free margin for the maximum number of legs.
Standard, mini and micro contracts
Why a VPS is required
The EA only trades while MetaTrader 5 is running and connected. Basket exits, trailing and the daily equity lock all depend on the terminal being online at the right moment, so a home computer that sleeps, restarts for updates or drops its connection is a real risk to open positions.
- Location beats specs. Pick a server in the same region as your broker's trade server; the ping shown in MetaTrader's status bar should be as low as possible.
- Modest hardware is enough for a single terminal running one EA on one chart.
- MQL5 virtual hosting is the simplest route: rent it from inside the terminal and migrate the configured chart. See step 4 of the installation guide.
Pre-flight checklist
- XAUUSD shows two decimals in Market Watch.
- The Journal says hedging mode after login.
- You know the account's typical gold spread and commission.
- Balance is at least $500 (standard) with margin for two basket legs.
- MetaTrader 5 runs on a VPS close to the broker.
- You have backtested the free demo on this broker's data.