Best of all, this “person” is not subject to fear, greed, intuition, or any other human emotion. It will not complain about working 24×5, and would even work 24×7 if the FOREX markets were open that long. It will not take lunch breaks, or call in sick.

You guessed it! Yes, we are talking about a FOREX robot, otherwise known as an expert advisor (EA).

You need several items to run most FOREX robots: an MT4 trading account (demo or real money), MT4 trading platform (these are freely provided by many FOREX brokers), the EA itself which is usually downloaded, a reliable PC with a reliable internet connection OR, a VPS server subscription.

You first sign up for a FOREX account – demo or real money. It is strongly recommended that you ALWAYS test the EA on a DEMO account first and prove its profitability to yourself. It will also ensure you have the correct settings in the EA. Once the EA’s performance is proven for a month or so, you can then switch to a “micro” or “mini” real money account, and then work up to a “standard” account as your risk tolerance and capital increases. Many accounts can be opened with as little as several hundred dollars, or even less, but $1,000 USD is a practical minimum.

Once you have signed up for a FOREX account (demo, micro, mini or standard), you then add the EA to the MT4′s expert advisor subdirectory, change a few settings if necessary, and then let the games begin! It’s a good idea to get familiar with all of the EA settings so that opportunities are not missed, profits are maximized, and losses are kept to a minimum. Monitor the results often, especially in the beginning.

There are many FOREX robots out there – some are better than others, some are lousy.

The advantages of FOREX robots or EAs are numerous: no fear or greed factor, especially if you trade it off site on a VPS server – more on that later. Another advantage is that you do not have to sit in front of your computer all day waiting for your entry order to trigger, or not having to worry if your trade is going in the wrong direction and you might stop out early and miss a potentially profitable trade – FOREX robots remove practically all of the emotion and “intuitive trading” out of FOREX trading which often results in losses.

There are a couple of disadvantages of with EAs: Reliability of your computer and internet connection for one. If your computer gets rebooted, suffers a power loss, or someone in your household closes the trading platform, then your trades will not be executed properly or not at all, possibly resulting in losses.

One highly recommended solution is to install the trading platform and EA on a FOREX VPS (Virtual Private Server) platform. This VPS will be in a secure off-site data center, which is usually backed up by UPS power supplies (battery backed) and generators, and has 99.99% uptime. This means the MT4 with the EA will be working around the clock to find and execute profitable trades for you – automatically, while you are sleeping, working or playing. The server is dedicated to FOREX trading and will have much higher reliability than your home PC. You will be able to connect to your VPS anywhere there is an internet connection and browser. It’s like having a remote control of an off site PC, but one that is dedicated to FOREX trading platforms.

The only disadvantage with VPS service is the cost, which ranges from $35 to $70 a month, or more. So, at first you might want to do demo trading on your home PC to test things out, and then switch to a VPS later with demo and/or real money accounts, especially if you are on a limited budget. But, once you are making $100, or more, each day in real money profits, the $35 to $70 a month is a small cost of “doing business” and may be deducted as a business expense (see your accountant).

I would highly recommend you give FOREX robots a try, especially since you can try it on a demo basis with minimal risks, an large potential rewards.