Strategy / Mean reversion
GRID: how the bot trades.
Places orders at defined price levels inside a range, seeking to capture repeated swings.
- Suits
- Range-bound markets
- Range bounds
- set by you
- Grid levels
- set by you
- Lot size
- set by you
- Exposure cap
- set by you
In short
What is the GRID strategy?
A GRID bot divides a price range into equal levels and trades each step: it buys as price falls a level and sells as it rises, closing the most recent lot when price moves back.
On Jassrox, GRID runs server-side on your connected MetaTrader 5 account, so your computer can be off. Like every strategy on the platform, it can lose money; test it on the demo first.
- Family
- Mean reversion
- Direction
- Both: buys on the way down a level, sells on the way up, one side at a time.
- Tends to suit
- Range-bound markets
Mechanics
How does GRID enter and exit?
The rules below are what the GRID engine does on every tick, in plain words.
Entry
How it enters
You set a lower and an upper bound and a number of levels; the gap between levels is the step. When price falls through a level the bot buys, and when it rises through one it sells, unless that move simply closes the lot opened last. A small buffer around each level stops ordinary tick noise from triggering trades, and new entries are skipped while the spread is wide relative to the step.
Exit
How it exits
Lots close last-in, first-out when price moves back a level, or at their own stop-loss and take-profit if you set them. Optional basket-level exits close everything at a total profit, a total loss or a trailing loss, and the bot can flatten before the weekend or a daily break.
Market conditions
When does GRID fit, and when does it struggle?
No strategy suits every market. These are the conditions its rules assume, and the ones that break them.
Tends to fit
- Sideways markets that oscillate inside a known range
- A step that is several times the spread, so each swing is worth more than it costs
- Instruments with steady, two-way liquidity
Tends to struggle
- A breakout that leaves the range and keeps going
- A step too fine for the spread, where costs eat most swings
- Unattended weekends and news without a weekend close or exposure cap
Configuration
Which settings matter most?
Each bot can start from an AI preset, a plain-English description or manual values. These are the settings to understand before you start.
- Range bounds
- The lower and upper price the grid works inside. Auto re-centring can move the range after price stays outside it.
- Grid levels
- How many equal steps the range is cut into. More levels means a finer step and more trades.
- Lot size
- The volume of each entry.
- Exposure cap
- The most lots the bot may hold at once, whatever the grid would otherwise add.
- Basket stop and exits
- Optional total stop-loss, take-profit and trailing loss for the whole basket, in money or percent of equity.
Risk
What can go wrong with GRID?
A sustained breakout can leave several positions moving against you. Range bounds and exposure caps matter more than a high win rate.
- A one-way move fills level after level against you until a stop or the exposure cap is reached.
- A high share of winning closes can hide a few large losses.
- Spread and slippage matter more as the step gets finer.
In the app
How the New Bot wizard describes it
Grouped under "validated mechanics" in the New Bot wizard: the logic behaves as designed in testing. It is not evidence of profit: no strategy on the platform has shown an out-of-sample edge after costs in testing.
Account-wide risk limits (daily loss, weekly loss, drawdown from peak and symbol exposure) apply on top of the strategy's own exits.
FAQ
Questions about GRID
Is a grid bot profitable?
A grid wins most individual closes by design, but that says little about its total result. A breakout through the range can produce a loss larger than many small wins, and costs matter. Judge it by drawdown and net result after costs.
What happens when price leaves the grid range?
Outside the range the grid adds no new levels. With auto re-centring on, the range is shifted after price stays outside it for a sustained period; without it, the bot waits.
How do I choose the grid step?
Keep the step several times the typical spread of the symbol. A step close to the spread trades often and pays the cost each time, which can turn small swings into losses.
What is the difference between GRID and Autopilot?
Autopilot runs the same GRID engine, but derives the range, step, size and stops for you from volatility, spread, equity and broker limits. With GRID you set those yourself.
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Keep exploring
Start on demo
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