Demeter Seasonality EA logo

Demeter Seasonality EA

Seasonality Expert Advisor for any market

Type: Seasonal Trades recurring calendar-based patterns a market has historically repeated Style: Swing Trading Holds positions for several days to capture larger price swings Setup: Framework A customisable foundation you configure to fit your own strategy Market: Any Works across multiple market types Timeframe: D1 Designed to run on the daily chart Modeling mode: 1m OHLC Backtest with "1 minute OHLC" modeling mode — faster, accurate enough for this EA VPS: Recommended A VPS helps but is not strictly required Min capital: $5k+/$50+ Around $5,000 on a standard account. The figure after the slash is the equivalent on a cent account — about $50, which is the minimum deposit on an Ultima Markets Cent account — making low-cost live testing possible. Account type: Any Works on any partner-broker account type — either the tight-spread variants (Zero / Prime) or the standard raw-spread accounts Prop-firm: With caveats Can be used on prop accounts, but is not specifically tuned for their environment — configure carefully
Get free license Latest version Downloads the current build. It only runs on an MT5 account that already has a license for this Expert Advisor. Buy on MQL5
Overview

What Demeter actually does

Demeter Seasonality EA automates seasonal trading on MetaTrader 5. Many markets repeat the same broad behaviour at the same time of year — driven by harvest cycles, fiscal calendars, weather and holiday demand. Demeter trades that idea mechanically: you give it an entry date, an exit date and a direction, and it opens the position around the entry date and closes it around the exit date, every year.

You decide which pattern to trade. The tool I use to research them is Seasonax, which plots the historical seasonal chart for almost any instrument and the exact dates of the strongest recurring moves. You read the entry date, exit date and direction off Seasonax and enter them into Demeter.

Two optional refinements make the timing less rigid. The precision window lets the EA act within a one-, two- or four-week window around your dates instead of on a single day, using a short breakout filter to pick a better moment — useful when the seasonal turn arrives a little early or late. The Swap Saver can briefly flatten the position around the broker's overnight rollover when the trade direction carries a negative swap, so you avoid paying it. Position size is risk-based, and stops and take-profits are scaled to recent volatility via ATR — or you can run with no fixed stop and let the seasonal exit date close the trade.

Backtest

Fifteen years of seasonal data

Test period
2011–2026
Profit factor
3.74
Win rate
68.75%
Gain
$7,141
Max. drawdown
$3,588
Recovery factor
1.99

Test conditions

Test Period
2011 – 2026
Timeframe
D1 (daily)
Modeling Mode
1 minute OHLC
Settings
Custom
Starting Balance
$100,000
Risk per Trade
$1,000

This backtest trades one seasonal window (long, early January to late February) on a single instrument. Seasonality results depend entirely on the pattern, dates and direction you choose, so treat it as one example, not a ceiling.
Run your own backtest with a pattern from Seasonax before going live — that is always the right call.

Inputs

Every setting explained

These are the inputs you will see in the MT5 Inputs tab when you attach Demeter to a chart

-- Info --

Learn More About the Settings
link
A shortcut to the TLFX website, where every input below is explained in full. Not a setting — just a pointer to the documentation.
Combine with Seasonax
link
A shortcut to Seasonax — the tool I use to find the seasonal patterns this EA then trades. Not a setting, just a pointer.

-- General Settings --

Magic Number
20250505
Identifies positions belonging to this EA. Change only if another EA on the same account uses the same number.
Show Dashboard
true
On-chart dashboard with the current seasonal window and signal, shown by default. Disable it for backtesting — it noticeably speeds up the Strategy Tester.
Apply Color Scheme
true
Recolours the chart to the EA's colour scheme when attached. Purely cosmetic — turn it off to keep your own chart colours.
Apply Zoom Level
1
Sets the zoom step of the chart when the EA attaches, from 0 (most zoomed out) to 5 (most zoomed in); step 2 is MT5's own default. Applied once at startup — you can still zoom manually afterwards.
Debug Log
true
Prints the EA's decisions to the Experts tab, including the commission it measured for the symbol, so a problem can be diagnosed without changing anything first. Leave it on while you are getting to know the EA; turn it off to keep the log quiet.
Max Slippage
0.5 %
Maximum price deviation accepted when sending an order, as a percentage of price. It governs the Swap Saver close as well, which used to run on a small fixed allowance of its own and could be rejected because of it.
Max Spread
0.5 %
The EA skips an entry if the current spread is wider than this percentage of price — protects you from entering during illiquid moments.

-- Seasonality Settings --

Entry Day / Month
10 January
The calendar date the EA opens its seasonal position each year.
Exit Day / Month
25 November
The calendar date the EA closes the seasonal position. Can be in the same year or roll into the next.
Pattern Direction
Only Long
Whether the seasonal trade is a long or a short — set it to match the historical bias of the pattern you are trading.

-- Precision Window Settings --

Precision Window Length
Disabled (Exact Date)
Off by default: the EA enters/exits exactly on the chosen dates. Turn it on (1, 2 or 4 weeks) to give the EA a window around the date instead of a single day.
Precision Window Mode
Up-To / From
How the window is positioned: leading up to the entry / running from the exit, or centred on each date (Rolling).
Applies To
Entry Only
Whether the precision window applies to the entry, the exit, or both.
Breakout Lookback
10
Within the window, the EA uses a short breakout filter over this many bars to pick a better moment to act rather than firing blindly on the first day.

-- Swap Saver Settings --

Enable Swap Saver
false
When the seasonal direction carries a negative swap, the EA can briefly flatten around the rollover to avoid paying it, then reopen.
Only on Triple-Swap Day
true
Restrict the swap-saving close to the broker's triple-swap day only (usually Wednesday), or apply it every weekday.
Close N Minutes Before Session End
5
How long before the session rollover the position is temporarily closed.
Open N Minutes After Session Start
5
How long after the next session opens the position is reopened.

-- Risk Settings --

Risk Mode
Risk in %
Three modes: Fixed Lot Size, Risk in %, or Risk in Account Currency. Percent risk is measured off your account balance, not equity, so an open trade sitting in drawdown does not shrink the size of the next one.
Risk Value
1
Meaning depends on Risk Mode — lots, percent of balance, or a currency amount. At the default Risk Mode this is 1 % of the account risked per trade.
Cent Account Handling
Auto-Detect
How Demeter treats a cent account when sizing lots. Auto-Detect reads it from the deposit currency (e.g. USC); or force Normal / force Cent manually. Keeps lot sizing correct on cent accounts such as an Ultima Markets Cent account used for testing.

-- SL / TP Settings --

ATR Period
10
The lookback used to measure recent volatility (ATR), which scales the stop and take-profit.
Stop Loss (ATR mult.)
1
Stop-loss distance as a multiple of ATR. Set to 0 to trade without a fixed stop (the seasonal exit date then closes the trade).
Take Profit (ATR mult.)
0
Take-profit distance as a multiple of ATR. 0 = off, so the position runs until the exit date or stop.
Ignore Exit Date
false
When on, the EA ignores the seasonal exit date and instead holds until the SL/TP is hit.
Setup

What you need to run Demeter

Platform
MetaTrader 5 — hedging account type recommended.
Symbol
Any instrument your broker offers — Forex, metals, indices, commodities. The EA trades whatever symbol the chart is on.
Timeframe
Attach it to the daily (D1) chart — Demeter works on daily bars, so the chart timeframe does not change the strategy.
Capital
Works from small accounts upward; $1,000+ is a comfortable starting point so the risk-based position sizing has room to work. To test live at low cost, run it on an Ultima Markets Cent account instead — its $50 minimum deposit is equivalent to $5,000 on a standard account.
VPS
Recommended. Demeter only acts around your chosen dates and is not latency-sensitive, so a normal home computer works — but a VPS keeps it running unattended so you never miss an entry or exit date.
Broker
Either of the partner brokers works: Fusion Markets or BlackBull Markets. BlackBull has the edge for Demeter — it offers a much wider range of instruments, which matters for a seasonality EA you may want to run across many different markets.
Pattern source
Use Seasonax to find the seasonal pattern (entry date, exit date, direction) you want Demeter to trade.

Full step-by-step installation walkthrough: How to install an EA.

FAQ

Frequently asked

What is a seasonality strategy?

Many markets repeat the same broad behaviour at the same time of year — driven by harvest cycles, fiscal calendars, weather, holiday demand and so on. A seasonal strategy buys (or sells) around the calendar date a market has historically tended to start a recurring move, and exits around the date that move has historically tended to end. Demeter automates exactly that: you give it an entry date, an exit date and a direction, and it trades that window for you every year.

How do I find the patterns to trade with Demeter?

Demeter trades a pattern — it does not find one for you. The tool I use to research seasonal patterns is Seasonax, which shows you the historical seasonal chart for almost any instrument and the exact dates of the strongest recurring moves. You read the entry date, exit date and direction off Seasonax, then enter them into Demeter.

Research patterns with Seasonax
Does Demeter need a VPS?

No, not strictly. Unlike a scalper, Demeter only acts around your chosen calendar dates and works on daily bars, so it is not latency-sensitive. A VPS is still convenient if you want it running 24/7 without leaving your own machine on, but a normal home computer is perfectly fine.

Run it 24/7 on a VPS (FXVM)
What is the precision window for?

By default Demeter enters and exits exactly on the dates you set. The precision window loosens that: instead of a single day, you give the EA a one-, two- or four-week window around the date, and within that window a short breakout filter picks a better moment to act. It is a way to avoid entering on a bad single day when the seasonal turn is a little early or late that year.

What does the Swap Saver do?

If the seasonal trade you are holding has a negative swap (you pay to hold it overnight), the Swap Saver can briefly close the position around the broker's swap rollover — optionally only on the triple-swap day — and reopen it shortly after, so you skip the swap charge. It is optional and off by default.

Which markets can I run Demeter on?

Any symbol your broker offers — Forex, metals, indices, commodities. Seasonality shows up most clearly in commodities and commodity-linked currencies, but the EA itself is market-agnostic: it trades whatever symbol the chart is on, using the dates and direction you give it.

What is the difference between buying Demeter on MQL5 and getting a free license here?

It is the same EA, same version, same updates — the difference is how the license is bound. The free license you get through TLFX is valid for one specific account: the live account you open with one of my partner brokers. If you want to run Demeter outside of that — on a different broker, or on a second account of your own — you buy it on MQL5.

Ready to run Demeter?

Get your free license by opening an account with one of the partner brokers, or buy Demeter directly on MQL5 if you would rather skip the affiliate route.

Get free license Buy on MQL5