Expert Advisor (EA)
An automated trading program that runs on MetaTrader 5, executing trades based on pre-programmed rules.
An Expert Advisor, or EA, is a piece of software written for the MetaTrader 5 platform (in the MQL5 programming language) that can analyze markets and place, modify, or close trades automatically, without a trader needing to click a button.
EAs range from simple single-indicator systems to sophisticated multi-strategy programs with dynamic risk management, and can be attached to any chart and symbol available in a trader's MT5 terminal.
An EA might watch for a fast moving average crossing above a slow moving average, then automatically open a buy position sized according to a fixed percentage of account risk, with a stop loss and take profit attached.
Why it matters
Expert Advisors remove emotion and manual execution delay from trading. The same logic runs identically every time, at any hour the market is open — which is also why understanding an EA's backtested performance and risk profile before deploying it live is essential.