MetaTrader's strategy tester is the default backtesting tool for millions of traders, but most never calibrate it for exotic pairs. The defa

MetaTrader's strategy tester is the default backtesting tool for millions of traders, but most never calibrate it for exotic pairs. The default settings are built for majors: tight spreads, continuous liquidity, and tick data that actually exists. USDTRY, USDZAR, and USDMXN do not play by those rules, especially in summer months.Start with spread modeling. Do not use the default fixed spread; load the real variable spread history for your pair and date range. If your broker only shows recent spreads, combine M1 and M5 data to approximate how wide things got during past news events. Next, check tick-data quality. Some...