[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":12765},["ShallowReactive",2],{"glossary-index":3},[4,247,473,685,901,1141,1338,1522,1734,1953,2133,2369,2626,2816,3063,3255,3444,3636,3895,4069,4338,4508,4671,4867,5069,5252,5484,5665,5813,5989,6180,6382,6601,6890,7099,7222,7405,7593,7792,8001,8233,8432,8688,8988,9250,9425,9643,9818,10009,10226,10501,10756,10928,11118,11353,11551,11731,11920,12090,12295,12411,12578],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"category":232,"date":233,"description":234,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":237,"navigation":235,"path":238,"related":239,"seo":243,"stem":244,"term":245,"updated":233,"__hash__":246},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates.md","What Are Interest Rates? How They Set Your Swap Cost",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":224},"minimark",[10,20,25,28,39,42,71,75,78,91,104,108,119,126,129,133,186,190,216],[11,12,13,14,19],"p",{},"Interest rates are the price of money, set for each currency by its central bank. For a trader the consequence is narrower and more measurable than the macro commentary suggests: the difference between the two policy rates in a currency pair determines the ",[15,16,18],"a",{"href":17},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","swap"," you are charged or paid for holding that pair overnight. Everything else about rates is forecasting. This part is arithmetic that lands on your statement.",[21,22,24],"h2",{"id":23},"how-it-works","How it works",[11,26,27],{},"Every FX position is two currencies at once — long one, short the other. Holding it past the broker's rollover time (usually 17:00 New York) rolls settlement forward a day, and the interest differential is debited or credited.",[29,30,35],"pre",{"className":31,"code":33,"language":34},[32],"language-text","Overnight swap ≈ Notional × (Rate of currency bought − Rate of currency sold) ÷ 365\n                 − broker markup\n","text",[36,37,33],"code",{"__ignoreMap":38},"",[11,40,41],{},"Four properties do most of the work:",[43,44,45,53,59,65],"ul",{},[46,47,48,52],"li",{},[49,50,51],"strong",{},"The sign flips with direction."," Long the higher-rate currency against the lower-rate one earns the differential; short the same pair pays it.",[46,54,55,58],{},[49,56,57],{},"Wednesday counts triple"," on most FX instruments, because that rollover carries the weekend's settlement. Some brokers apply the triple charge on Friday for other asset classes.",[46,60,61,64],{},[49,62,63],{},"The markup applies to both sides."," A positive rate differential does not reliably survive it. This is why so many accounts pay net financing whichever way they are positioned.",[46,66,67,70],{},[49,68,69],{},"Rate changes are not gradual."," A central bank decision moves the swap on every affected instrument from the next rollover, not over the following weeks.",[21,72,74],{"id":73},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[11,76,77],{},"Swap accrues on time, not on trades. It is not on the entry ticket, it does not show in a gross profit figure, and it does not pause while you are away from the desk. For a system holding positions a couple of hours it is close to irrelevant. For a swing or grid system holding for weeks it is often the whole difference between a strategy that works and one that does not.",[11,79,80,81,85,86,90],{},"The failure mode is specific: a strategy that is profitable gross and unprofitable net, where ",[15,82,84],{"href":83},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-cost-percentage","the gap belongs entirely to the broker",". Alongside the ",[15,87,89],{"href":88},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread"," and commissions, financing is one of the three costs that separate a backtest from a statement.",[11,92,93,94,98,99,103],{},"The mirror trap is ",[15,95,97],{"href":96},"\u002Fguides\u002Fswap-and-carry-trade","the carry trade",". Positive swap is a real income stream, but the differentials wide enough to be worth collecting usually belong to currencies with the widest devaluation risk. The income is small and daily; the correction is large and sudden. ",[15,100,102],{"href":101},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","Leverage"," makes both halves bigger.",[21,105,107],{"id":106},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[11,109,110,111,114,115,118],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), traders have paid ",[49,112,113],{},"$862,547 in swap"," against ",[49,116,117],{},"$4,782,670 in commissions",". Financing is roughly a fifth the size of commission across that set, and it is charged for doing nothing at all. These are accounts published here, not a sample of traders everywhere.",[11,120,121,122,125],{},"The distribution is the harder number: ",[49,123,124],{},"86.3% of accounts that carry any swap pay net negative swap",". Roughly six accounts in seven treat financing as a cost, not an income. The minority collecting it sits on the receiving side of a differential, deliberately or otherwise.",[11,127,128],{},"Scale it against holding time. The median account on the platform holds a trade for 2.4 hours and closes 171 trades. On that profile swap is noise. On the profile that carries positions across weekends and month-ends, the same figure is the line item that decides the year.",[21,130,132],{"id":131},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[43,134,135,145,156,167,176],{},[46,136,137,140,141,144],{},[49,138,139],{},"Total Swap Paid"," in the advanced statistics: cumulative financing in account currency, sitting next to ",[49,142,143],{},"Total Commissions",". Both are absolute figures reported by the broker, not estimates we reconstruct.",[46,146,147,148,151,152,155],{},"The ",[49,149,150],{},"trades table"," has a per-trade ",[49,153,154],{},"Swap"," column, so you can see which positions carried financing and how much. The open-positions view totals it for everything currently held — the running cost of interest rates on your account right now.",[46,157,158,161,162,166],{},[49,159,160],{},"Breakdown Statistics",", on its ",[163,164,165],"em",{},"By Symbol"," tab, splits profit per instrument — the fastest way to find the pair where financing is quietly eating the edge.",[46,168,169,175],{},[15,170,172],{"href":171},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length",[49,173,174],{},"Avg. Trade Length"," in the advanced statistics tells you whether swap can matter for this account at all: hours, or weeks.",[46,177,178,181,182,185],{},[49,179,180],{},"Custom Analysis"," has an ",[163,183,184],{},"Include swaps in profit calculations"," toggle. Turn it off, recompute the account's statistics, and read the gap directly. That gap is the financing cost of the strategy.",[21,187,189],{"id":188},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[43,191,192,198,204,210],{},[46,193,194,197],{},[49,195,196],{},"\"Swap only matters for long-term traders.\""," It applies to anyone holding past rollover, and it is charged at triple weight on Wednesday whether the position is one day old or one hundred.",[46,199,200,203],{},[49,201,202],{},"\"A positive rate differential means positive swap.\""," The broker's markup is deducted from both sides. Check the figure on the instrument, not the central bank table.",[46,205,206,209],{},[49,207,208],{},"\"Swap is too small to model.\""," Small per night, unbounded in aggregate: $862,547 across our public accounts, none of it visible on an entry ticket.",[46,211,212,215],{},[49,213,214],{},"\"I should trade the rate decision.\""," That is forecasting, with a poor base rate and a crowded field. Managing the financing cost you can already measure is a different activity, and the one with a known answer.",[11,217,218,219,223],{},"The full cost block, and what else a public account page is hiding in plain sight, is covered in ",[15,220,222],{"href":221},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","how to read a trading account dashboard",".",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":226},2,[227,228,229,230,231],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Costs","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","Central bank interest rates set the rate differential between two currencies, which becomes the swap you pay or earn every night you hold a position open.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates",[240,241,242],"what-is-a-swap-in-forex","what-is-a-spread","what-is-leverage",{"title":6,"description":234},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates","Interest Rates","aZvk9CrLc0BqtvVcOtuundXbr3uQsmvcbt2-hlbDf1M",{"id":248,"title":249,"body":250,"category":461,"date":233,"description":462,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":463,"navigation":235,"path":464,"related":465,"seo":469,"stem":470,"term":471,"updated":233,"__hash__":472},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-b-book-broker.md","What Is a B-Book Broker? A-Book vs B-Book Explained",{"type":8,"value":251,"toc":454},[252,255,257,260,266,272,278,284,287,289,297,300,308,310,324,331,333,336,418,420,447],[11,253,254],{},"A B-book broker takes the other side of a client's trade on its own books instead of passing the order to an external liquidity provider. An A-book broker routes the order out and earns from a markup or commission on the flow. Both are legitimate, widely used business models, and most retail brokers operate both at once, deciding per client and per instrument which flow goes where.",[21,256,24],{"id":23},[11,258,259],{},"When your order reaches the broker, it is handled one of two ways.",[11,261,262,265],{},[49,263,264],{},"A-book."," The broker opens a matching position with a liquidity provider. Your profit is paid by that provider; the broker's revenue is the spread markup plus commission, and it is the same whether you win or lose.",[11,267,268,271],{},[49,269,270],{},"B-book."," The broker becomes your counterparty and holds the position internally. No external order is created. Your loss is its revenue and your profit is its cost.",[11,273,274,277],{},[49,275,276],{},"Hybrid routing"," is the normal case rather than the exception. Brokers classify flow — by client, size, instrument, historical profitability — internalise part of it and hedge the rest. Internalised flow also nets: one client long a lot and another short a lot cancel out, and the broker carries no market exposure while collecting both spreads.",[29,279,282],{"className":280,"code":281,"language":34},[32],"A-book revenue = markup + commission\nB-book revenue = markup + commission + net client losses - net client profits\n",[36,283,281],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,285,286],{},"This is a description of order routing. It is not a description of conduct, and the two should not be collapsed into each other.",[21,288,74],{"id":73},[11,290,291,292,296],{},"The B-book model contains a structural conflict of interest: the firm's revenue improves when the client's account does not. That is a fact about the incentive, and it is worth understanding before choosing where to keep money. It is not, on its own, evidence about any particular broker's behaviour. Regulated firms operate under best-execution obligations, client-money segregation and reporting requirements that exist precisely because the incentive exists — which is why the ",[15,293,295],{"href":294},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker","regulator"," matters more than the routing model.",[11,298,299],{},"The trade-off also runs the other way. Internalisation is what makes micro lot sizes possible and what removes rejections for size. A pure A-book routes you to real liquidity, which means real requotes at thin moments, real partial fills and real minimum order sizes. Neither model is a ranking.",[11,301,302,303,307],{},"The practical problem is that routing is not observable from outside. Brokers are not required to publish per-order routing decisions, and no third party can reconstruct them from trade records. So the useful question is not which book you are on. It is what your own ",[15,304,306],{"href":305},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-order-execution","execution"," actually looks like.",[21,309,107],{"id":106},[11,311,312,313,316,317,319,320,323],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), accounts connect through ",[49,314,315],{},"703 distinct broker servers",", and their owners have paid ",[49,318,117],{}," on ",[49,321,322],{},"1,724,575 lots",". Cost of that kind is measurable because it is billed as its own line. Routing is not billed at all, which is why no figure on this page — or on any page assembled from broker records — discloses where an order went. Commission-based pricing is in use by firms on both sides of the distinction.",[11,325,326,327,330],{},"What can be compared is one environment against another. ",[49,328,329],{},"429 users here hold accounts at more than one broker",", and running the same rules on both over the same period separates cost and fill quality from the strategy itself. That comparison answers the question the routing label was standing in for, and it does so with numbers rather than inference.",[21,332,132],{"id":131},[11,334,335],{},"We do not label brokers A-book or B-book, and we will not: the information required to do it honestly is not available to us or to anyone outside the firm. What the account page gives you is the measurable surface.",[43,337,338,348,369,396],{},[46,339,147,340,343,344,347],{},[49,341,342],{},"Info"," row in the account header carries the broker badge with the ",[49,345,346],{},"trade server name"," in its tooltip. The server, not the brand, identifies the environment — a broker running several server groups often prices and executes differently across them.",[46,349,147,350,353,354,357,358,364,365,368],{},[49,351,352],{},"Terminal"," panel (",[49,355,356],{},"Terminal & Open Charts"," on MT5) reports ",[15,359,361],{"href":360},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-terminal-ping",[49,362,363],{},"Ping"," and ",[49,366,367],{},"Retransmission",", the connection quality behind every fill.",[46,370,371,374,375,377,378,377,381,364,384,386,387,391,392,223],{},[49,372,373],{},"Advanced Statistics"," shows ",[49,376,143],{},", ",[49,379,380],{},"Total Lots",[49,382,383],{},"Total Pips",[49,385,139],{},". Commissions divided by lots is ",[15,388,390],{"href":389},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbroker-cost-audit","the account's real cost per lot","; pips positive while money is flat is ",[15,393,395],{"href":394},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","execution cost eating the edge",[46,397,147,398,401,402,374,405,364,408,114,411,364,414,417],{},[49,399,400],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[49,403,404],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression",[49,406,407],{},"Open Price",[49,409,410],{},"Close Price",[49,412,413],{},"S\u002FL",[49,415,416],{},"T\u002FP",", ticket by ticket.",[21,419,189],{"id":188},[421,422,423,429,435,441],"ol",{},[46,424,425,428],{},[49,426,427],{},"\"B-book means the broker is trading against me personally.\""," Internalised flow is largely netted between clients. The firm's position is the residual, not a mirror of yours.",[46,430,431,434],{},[49,432,433],{},"\"A-book means no conflict of interest.\""," An A-book broker earns from turnover, so its incentive is volume — which is not automatically aligned with your survival either.",[46,436,437,440],{},[49,438,439],{},"\"ECN, STP or NDD in the name guarantees A-book.\""," Those terms are unregulated marketing labels and are not audited.",[46,442,443,446],{},[49,444,445],{},"\"A bad losing streak proves manipulation.\""," It usually proves variance. The way to test it is a second account elsewhere running the same rules, not a forum thread.",[11,448,449,450,223],{},"For a structured way to run that comparison, read ",[15,451,453],{"href":452},"\u002Fguides\u002Fsame-strategy-different-brokers","running the same strategy at different brokers",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":455},[456,457,458,459,460],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Brokers","A B-book broker takes the other side of your trade instead of passing it to the market. How A-book and B-book routing differ, and what each one costs you.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-b-book-broker",[466,467,468,241],"what-is-order-execution","what-is-a-regulated-broker","what-is-slippage",{"title":249,"description":462},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-b-book-broker","B-Book Broker","1OwZ92QdYpDp21QJbG8Tgxb5BAZ67baZAh_47u0pHdo",{"id":474,"title":475,"body":476,"category":461,"date":233,"description":674,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":675,"navigation":235,"path":676,"related":677,"seo":681,"stem":682,"term":683,"updated":233,"__hash__":684},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-cent-account.md","What Is a Cent Account? Balances Shown in Cents",{"type":8,"value":477,"toc":667},[478,481,483,486,492,525,538,540,543,546,548,576,579,581,584,606,613,615,660],[11,479,480],{},"A cent account is a live trading account whose balance, equity and profit are denominated in hundredths of the base currency, so a screen reading 50,000 holds $500. Nothing is concealed — the money, the fills, the spread and the swap are all real — but every absolute figure on the account is one hundred times larger than the amount sitting at the broker.",[21,482,24],{"id":23},[11,484,485],{},"The conversion is a single division, applied to money and to nothing else.",[29,487,490],{"className":488,"code":489,"language":34},[32],"Real money = Displayed amount \u002F 100\n\n50,000 USC = $500\n",[36,491,489],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,493,494,495,377,498,377,501,377,504,377,507,377,510,377,513,516,517,520,521,524],{},"The currency code is the tell. Brokers report cent denomination as ",[49,496,497],{},"USC",[49,499,500],{},"EUC",[49,502,503],{},"GBC",[49,505,506],{},"JPC",[49,508,509],{},"CHC",[49,511,512],{},"AUC",[49,514,515],{},"CAC"," or ",[49,518,519],{},"NZC",", with ",[49,522,523],{},"CNT"," appearing at a few brokers for US cents. It is a reliable signal rather than an exhaustive one: some brokers run cent-style accounts on ordinary USD or EUR denomination, and there only the account type or the server name gives it away.",[11,526,527,528,532,533,537],{},"The half that gets skipped is the contract size. On most cent accounts one ",[15,529,531],{"href":530},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-lot-in-forex","lot"," is 1,000 units of base currency instead of 100,000, scaled by the same factor. Put both halves together and a cent account holding $100 behaves, in percentage terms, exactly like a standard account holding $10,000: same lot numbers, same risk per trade, same drawdown curve, one hundredth of the money. One ",[15,534,536],{"href":535},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip","pip"," on one lot is 10.00 USC — ten cents — which is still 0.10% of a 10,000 USC balance.",[21,539,74],{"id":73},[11,541,542],{},"Because ratios survive the denomination and currency amounts do not. Gain, drawdown, profit factor, win rate, Sharpe and anything quoted in pips are quotients of two quantities carried in the same unit: multiply both by one hundred and nothing moves. Total profit, commissions and swap read in cents and mean one hundredth of what they appear to say.",[11,544,545],{},"That is the reporting trap in full. A screenshot showing \"50,000 profit\" with no mention of the unit is technically true and practically worthless, and it is why cent screenshots travel. The trap only catches absolute figures. Everything expressed as a percentage is immune by construction.",[21,547,107],{"id":106},[11,549,550,551,555,556,559,560,563,564,567,568,555,572,575],{},"Across the accounts published on ShowMyTrades that have trading history (August 2026), median ",[15,552,554],{"href":553},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","time-weighted return"," is ",[49,557,558],{},"+3.2%",", median deepest drawdown is ",[49,561,562],{},"9.7%",", median profit factor is ",[49,565,566],{},"1.28"," and median ",[15,569,571],{"href":570},"\u002Fguides\u002Fwin-rate-is-not-an-edge","win rate",[49,573,574],{},"68.8%",". Those last two are net figures: swap and commission are folded into each trade before any statistic is computed. All four are directly comparable to a cent account's own four, and none of them care what the balance column says.",[11,577,578],{},"The platform holds 10,000+ connected accounts across 703 distinct broker servers, so cent accounts are certainly among them. We publish no count and cannot compute an honest one, precisely because the currency code misses the brokers running cent-style accounts on standard denomination.",[21,580,132],{"id":131},[11,582,583],{},"Nothing on the page converts for you. The account header prints the broker's currency code next to the platform, the broker and the leverage, and every monetary figure is formatted in that unit — the currency rows of the stats panel, Balance, Equity, Highest $, Profit, Deposits and Withdrawals, all carry the code, because a broker's figures are never relabelled as dollars.",[11,585,586,587,591,592,377,594,377,596,377,599,364,602,605],{},"The percentage modules are unaffected: Gain, ",[15,588,590],{"href":589},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain","Abs. Gain",", Drawdown, DD on Balance, the Monthly Returns table and the ratios inside Advanced Statistics. The absolute rows in that same panel do read in cents — ",[49,593,143],{},[49,595,139],{},[49,597,598],{},"Avg. Win",[49,600,601],{},"Avg. Loss",[49,603,604],{},"Expectancy",". Note that the last three print a pip figure beside the currency figure, and only the currency half is denominated in cents.",[11,607,608,609,612],{},"One flag exists but never reaches the page. The account record carries an ",[36,610,611],{},"is_cent"," column, added so the backend could divide balance and equity by 100 before statistics are computed. The switch that would set it is commented out of account settings, so nobody can turn it on, and no public endpoint reads it. Where the platform genuinely needs to know an account is centesimal — the internal broker-cost analysis — it derives that server-side from the currency code, and that result is not surfaced on the account page. In practice the currency code is the whole story.",[21,614,189],{"id":188},[43,616,617,631,637,643,649],{},[46,618,619,622,623,630],{},[49,620,621],{},"\"A cent account is a demo account.\""," It is not. Real money, real execution, real costs — and the header shows the same green ",[15,624,626,629],{"href":625},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-demo-vs-live-account",[49,627,628],{},"Real Account"," badge"," as any other live account.",[46,632,633,636],{},[49,634,635],{},"\"I have to flag it for my statistics to be correct.\""," You do not. Every percentage on the page is a ratio, and ratios ignore the unit.",[46,638,639,642],{},[49,640,641],{},"\"50,000 profit is a serious result.\""," It is $500. Check the currency code before the number.",[46,644,645,648],{},[49,646,647],{},"\"My lot sizes carry over to a standard account.\""," They do not. Typing the same 0.5 on a standard account is one hundred times the exposure you are used to.",[46,650,651,654,655,659],{},[49,652,653],{},"\"I can drop one into a portfolio.\""," Not safely. A ",[15,656,658],{"href":657},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-trading-portfolio","portfolio"," sums balances as reported and normalises USC to USD for the label, so the totals come out a hundred times too large with nothing flagging it.",[11,661,662,663,223],{},"The contract-size arithmetic, position sizing in either unit, and the graduation trap are covered in ",[15,664,666],{"href":665},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcent-accounts-explained","cent accounts explained",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":668},[669,670,671,672,673],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A cent account denominates every monetary figure in hundredths of the base currency, so a balance reading 50,000 is really $500. Percentages are unaffected.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-cent-account",[678,242,679,680],"what-is-a-lot-in-forex","what-is-a-pip","what-is-a-demo-vs-live-account",{"title":475,"description":674},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-cent-account","Cent Account","k4dR91oMs_VLN_4UYTpRuBcb21z9qAT2ylLnGyWG5RM",{"id":686,"title":687,"body":688,"category":888,"date":233,"description":889,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":890,"navigation":235,"path":891,"related":892,"seo":897,"stem":898,"term":899,"updated":233,"__hash__":900},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit.md","What Is a Daily Drawdown Limit? Rules and Reset Times",{"type":8,"value":689,"toc":881},[690,703,705,711,714,720,726,732,735,743,745,748,756,758,772,775,787,802,804,807,840,843,845,874],[11,691,692,693,697,698,702],{},"A daily drawdown limit caps how much an account may lose within a single trading day, measured from a reference set at the start of that day. It is the standard risk control in ",[15,694,696],{"href":695},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm","proprietary trading firm"," agreements, enforced automatically: breach it by a cent and the account is failed regardless of the overall result. Unlike ordinary ",[15,699,701],{"href":700},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown",", it resets daily and is judged intraday.",[21,704,24],{"id":23},[29,706,709],{"className":707,"code":708,"language":34},[32],"Reference    = balance or equity captured at the daily reset\nDaily loss   = Reference − Current equity\nBreach when    Daily loss ≥ Limit % × Reference\n",[36,710,708],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,712,713],{},"Three parameters decide what the rule actually means, and they differ between firms.",[11,715,716,719],{},[49,717,718],{},"Balance-based or equity-based."," A balance-based limit counts closed trades only. An equity-based limit counts floating losses too, so an unrealised loss can breach the rule before it is realised — or before it recovers. Most agreements are equity-based, so the check runs on every tick.",[11,721,722,725],{},[49,723,724],{},"Which reference."," Some firms take the balance at the reset, some the equity, some the higher of the two. That third variant is strictest: unrealised profit raises the reference, so an account opening the day on a floating winner gets no extra room, only a higher bar to fall from.",[11,727,728,731],{},[49,729,730],{},"When the day starts."," The reset happens at a fixed time on the firm's server, typically 00:00 platform time or 17:00 New York — not your local midnight. A position held across it changes which day's budget it consumes, and a loss taken at 23:55 platform time comes from a budget that refills five minutes later.",[11,733,734],{},"A worked case: a $100,000 account, 5% equity-based limit, balance reference. The floor is $95,000 equity. Closed losses of $3,000 plus a floating loss of $2,100 puts equity at $94,900 — breached, even though only $3,000 was realised, and even if that open position closes at break-even an hour later.",[11,736,737,738,742],{},"It runs in parallel with ",[15,739,741],{"href":740},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","the overall limit",", measured against the initial balance or a trailing high-water mark, which never resets. The daily one is tighter and breached far more often.",[21,744,74],{"id":73},[11,746,747],{},"The daily limit changes what a strategy is allowed to be, not just how large it may trade. Any system that recovers within the same day — averaging down, grid, holding through an adverse move — is incompatible with an equity-based daily rule, however well it performs over a month.",[11,749,750,751,755],{},"It also blocks the worst reflex in trading: doubling size to recover a loss on the day it happened. Whether a firm imposes the rule or a trader adopts it, that is most of its value — a second floor alongside ",[15,752,754],{"href":753},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level","margin level",", and on a leveraged account usually the one reached first.",[21,757,107],{"id":106},[11,759,760,761,767,768,771],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,762,763,766],{},[15,764,765],{"href":171},"median trade length"," is 2.4 hours"," and the median account has ",[49,769,770],{},"171 closed trades",". These are accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,773,774],{},"A 2.4-hour median means the typical position opens and closes inside one session. For accounts trading that way the daily limit, not the overall one, is the binding constraint: nearly all the risk is expressed and resolved inside a single reset window.",[11,776,777,778,520,780,364,783,786],{},"The depth figures set the scale: median deepest drawdown ",[49,779,562],{},[49,781,782],{},"38.5% under 5%",[49,784,785],{},"38.2% past 20%",". A 5% daily rule is calibrated to be uncomfortable, not generous.",[11,788,789,790,364,793,796,797,801],{},"Automation matters too: median autotrading share is ",[49,791,792],{},"99%",[49,794,795],{},"53.9% of accounts run above 90% automated",". An ",[15,798,800],{"href":799},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","Expert Advisor"," has no concept of the firm's reset time unless it was coded with one, which is why the reference-and-reset detail is not trivia.",[21,803,132],{"id":131},[11,805,806],{},"ShowMyTrades does not set or enforce prop firm rules. It provides the day-level record needed to check whether one was respected.",[43,808,809,819,829,835],{},[46,810,147,811,814,815,818],{},[49,812,813],{},"Monthly Returns"," module has a ",[49,816,817],{},"Calendar"," view alongside Table, Chart and Summary. It shows every day's result with week summaries beside it, so a single bad day stays visible instead of averaging into its month.",[46,820,821,824,825,828],{},[49,822,823],{},"Avg Daily %",", the third row of the ",[49,826,827],{},"Account Stats"," panel, under Gain and Abs. Gain, gives the typical day an outlier is judged against.",[46,830,147,831,834],{},[49,832,833],{},"Drawdown"," view in the charts viewer plots daily drawdown as bars over the account's life; days that approached a limit read as spikes.",[46,836,147,837,839],{},[49,838,150],{},", with Duration, Profit (Gross), Swap and Commission per trade, is how a single day's loss is reconstructed.",[11,841,842],{},"Note the measurement gap: the calendar is built from closed results, while an equity-based rule watches floating equity tick by tick. A day that reads as a small loss here may still have breached one intraday.",[21,844,189],{"id":188},[43,846,847,853,859,865],{},[46,848,849,852],{},[49,850,851],{},"\"I closed only 4% down, so a 5% rule held.\""," Under an equity-based limit, floating losses count the moment they exist. What you closed is not what was measured.",[46,854,855,858],{},[49,856,857],{},"\"The day resets at midnight.\""," It resets at the firm's server time. Traders in other time zones routinely book a loss on what they believe is the next day.",[46,860,861,864],{},[49,862,863],{},"\"The overall limit is the real risk.\""," The daily one is smaller and tested every session. It ends most accounts.",[46,866,867,870,871,873],{},[49,868,869],{},"\"Hedging pauses the loss.\""," Both legs still float, both carry ",[15,872,89],{"href":88}," and swap, and combined equity is what the rule reads.",[11,875,876,877,223],{},"For how to read a single day in context of the month around it, see ",[15,878,880],{"href":879},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmonthly-returns-table-explained","the monthly returns table explained",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":882},[883,884,885,886,887],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Risk","A daily drawdown limit caps how much an account may lose in one trading day, measured from a daily reference. Balance versus equity, reset times, and real data.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit",[893,894,895,896],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-margin-level","what-is-risk-of-ruin",{"title":687,"description":889},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","Daily Drawdown Limit","pnA2cFIVCRvmJ1MVWvwNkuYA7LHY-cxSCLWEoBgyzz8",{"id":902,"title":903,"body":904,"category":461,"date":233,"description":1132,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":1133,"navigation":235,"path":625,"related":1134,"seo":1137,"stem":1138,"term":1139,"updated":233,"__hash__":1140},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-demo-vs-live-account.md","What Is a Demo Account? Demo vs Live Explained",{"type":8,"value":905,"toc":1125},[906,909,911,914,957,963,966,968,971,979,987,989,1008,1011,1022,1024,1027,1085,1087,1118],[11,907,908],{},"A demo account trades simulated money against a broker's price feed. A live account trades real money against real liquidity. The charts look identical, which is exactly why the gap between them is underestimated: what changes is not the price you see but the fill you get, the costs you are charged and the consequence of being wrong.",[21,910,24],{"id":23},[11,912,913],{},"A demo server accepts your order and confirms it against the quoted price. There is no counterparty, no position in a book and no capital at risk, so several constraints that shape a live fill simply do not exist.",[43,915,916,927,933,942,951],{},[46,917,918,921,922,926],{},[49,919,920],{},"No depth, no queue."," Demo fills the whole order at the quoted price whatever the size. Live, an order works through available depth and the remainder ",[15,923,925],{"href":924},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","fills worse",", or partially.",[46,928,929,932],{},[49,930,931],{},"No requotes, no rejections."," Demo servers rarely refuse an order. Live servers do, most often in the seconds when the trade mattered most.",[46,934,935,938,939,941],{},[49,936,937],{},"Idealised spread."," Demo feeds frequently carry typical rather than instantaneous ",[15,940,89],{"href":88},", so the widening around releases and the daily rollover is muted or absent.",[46,943,944,947,948,950],{},[49,945,946],{},"Costs are modelled, not billed."," ",[15,949,154],{"href":17}," on demo may follow a stale schedule or none at all. Live swap is set per instrument, changes, and is charged triple on the rollover day.",[46,952,953,956],{},[49,954,955],{},"Unlimited resets."," A blown demo is refilled in one click and leaves no mark on the curve. A blown live account is the curve.",[29,958,961],{"className":959,"code":960,"language":34},[32],"Live result = demo result\n            - slippage on entries and exits\n            - entries that were rejected or requoted away\n            - real spread widening and real swap\n            - the trades you did not take because it was your money\n",[36,962,960],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,964,965],{},"The last line is not a joke. Position sizing, holding through a drawdown and following the plan are different activities when the money is real.",[21,967,74],{"id":73},[11,969,970],{},"Every difference above runs the same direction. Demo does not add random noise to a result, it removes friction, and it removes it precisely where friction is expensive: at the entry, at the stop, and at the rollover. A demo track record is therefore an upper bound, not an estimate.",[11,972,973,974,978],{},"The effect scales with trade frequency and shrinks with target size, the same arithmetic that governs ",[15,975,977],{"href":976},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","backtesting",". On this platform the median trade lasts 2.4 hours — short enough that execution cost is a real share of the outcome, not a rounding error.",[11,980,981,982,986],{},"None of which makes demo useless. It is the correct place to check that an EA runs, that ",[15,983,985],{"href":984},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","magic numbers"," are set and that lot calculations are right. It tests whether the system works. It does not test whether it earns.",[21,988,107],{"id":106},[11,990,991,992,995,996,999,1000,1003,1004,1007],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the median account is up ",[49,993,994],{},"+3.2% time-weighted",", with a ",[49,997,998],{},"9.7% deepest drawdown"," and a ",[49,1001,1002],{},"median profit factor of 1.28",". ",[49,1005,1006],{},"63.0%"," are positive over time.",[11,1009,1010],{},"Those numbers include live accounts, and they are what real friction looks like at scale. A frictionless version of the same population would read better on every one of them, because none of the costs that produce them are fully charged on a demo server.",[11,1012,1013,1014,1017,1018,1021],{},"The largest of those costs are billed rather than modelled: ",[49,1015,1016],{},"$4,782,670"," in commission and ",[49,1019,1020],{},"$862,547"," in swap across that set. A demo server can display both figures and never has to collect either.",[21,1023,132],{"id":131},[11,1025,1026],{},"The point worth making is that this one is not self-declared.",[43,1028,1029,1042,1057,1062],{},[46,1030,1031,1032,1035,1036,516,1038,1041],{},"Every published account page shows a ",[49,1033,1034],{},"Certifications"," row in the header. The first badge reads ",[49,1037,628],{},[49,1039,1040],{},"Demo Account",", and it is derived from the trade mode reported by the broker's server, not from a field the owner fills in. A server whose name contains \"demo\" resolves to Demo regardless of what else is reported. Hovering the badge explains what the status means for the numbers underneath.",[46,1043,1044,1045,364,1048,1051,1052,1056],{},"Beside it sit ",[49,1046,1047],{},"Track Record",[49,1049,1050],{},"Trading Privileges",", marking whether history and ownership have been ",[15,1053,1055],{"href":1054},"\u002Fguides\u002Fthird-party-verification-explained","independently corroborated",". Each shows a warning icon when they have not.",[46,1058,147,1059,1061],{},[49,1060,342],{}," row carries platform, broker with the trade server name in its tooltip, account currency and leverage — the environment the result was produced in.",[46,1063,147,1064,353,1066,357,1068,377,1070,377,1072,377,1075,377,1078,364,1081,1084],{},[49,1065,352],{},[49,1067,356],{},[49,1069,363],{},[49,1071,367],{},[49,1073,1074],{},"Terminal build",[49,1076,1077],{},"Memory",[49,1079,1080],{},"Auto trading",[49,1082,1083],{},"DLL imports",": the live connection profile behind the fills.",[21,1086,189],{"id":188},[421,1088,1089,1095,1101,1107],{},[46,1090,1091,1094],{},[49,1092,1093],{},"\"Six months on demo means I'm ready.\""," It means the process works. Neither the fills nor the behaviour under a real drawdown have been tested.",[46,1096,1097,1100],{},[49,1098,1099],{},"\"Demo prices are fake.\""," The feed is usually the real one. The simulation is in the fill, not the quote.",[46,1102,1103,1106],{},[49,1104,1105],{},"\"A small live account is the same as demo.\""," It is far better, but very small accounts carry their own distortions — minimum lot sizes, cent-account scaling and commission that dwarfs a tiny balance.",[46,1108,1109,1112,1113,1117],{},[49,1110,1111],{},"\"A demo record is still a record.\""," It is a record of code that runs. ",[15,1114,1116],{"href":1115},"\u002Fguides\u002Ffinding-real-trading-accounts","Anyone reading a published result"," should check the account-type badge first, before the return.",[11,1119,1120,1121,223],{},"For the patterns that separate a real result from a polished one, read ",[15,1122,1124],{"href":1123},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","spotting fake EA results",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":1126},[1127,1128,1129,1130,1131],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A demo account trades simulated money on real prices. Why demo fills flatter a strategy, and how ShowMyTrades reads Real or Demo status from the broker.",{},[1135,468,466,1136],"what-is-backtesting","what-is-a-verified-track-record",{"title":903,"description":1132},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-demo-vs-live-account","Demo vs Live Account","k47nyJkeiVE77BgYlrP3uoOnoHLeksfWxEFL_2at1lI",{"id":1142,"title":1143,"body":1144,"category":461,"date":233,"description":1327,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":1328,"navigation":235,"path":1329,"related":1330,"seo":1334,"stem":1335,"term":1336,"updated":233,"__hash__":1337},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account.md","What Is a Funded Account in Trading?",{"type":8,"value":1145,"toc":1320},[1146,1153,1155,1166,1169,1175,1184,1190,1193,1195,1201,1204,1206,1217,1229,1240,1242,1245,1268,1279,1285,1287,1313],[11,1147,1148,1149,1152],{},"A funded account is a trading account whose capital belongs to a firm — in the retail market, a ",[15,1150,1151],{"href":695},"prop firm"," — rather than to the trader using it, operated under written risk rules and a profit split. The trader holds a mandate, not ownership: no right to withdraw the capital, no discretion to exceed the limits, and no account once a limit is broken. Everything else follows from that.",[21,1154,24],{"id":23},[11,1156,1157,1158,1161,1162,1165],{},"There are normally two phases governed by the same rulebook. The ",[49,1159,1160],{},"evaluation"," is a paid attempt on a simulated account of a stated size, ending when the profit target is reached, a risk limit is breached, or a time window expires. The ",[49,1163,1164],{},"funded"," phase begins after a pass. The rules do not relax — usually they are identical or tighter — but realised profit is now split, typically in the trader's favour, and paid on a defined cycle.",[11,1167,1168],{},"Two families of rule decide the outcome, and they fail in different ways.",[29,1170,1173],{"className":1171,"code":1172,"language":34},[32],"Loss limits       daily floor, reset each session\n                  total floor, static or trailing, never reset\nConsistency rule  largest day's profit \u002F total profit \u003C= cap\n",[36,1174,1172],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,1176,147,1177,1180,1181,223],{},[49,1178,1179],{},"loss limits"," are hard stops. A trailing total floor moves up with every new equity peak — it ratchets in one direction only — so a good week leaves less room than the week before it, and an account can be closed while still showing a profit. The daily floor is the tighter of the two and is tested every session; it has its own entry, the ",[15,1182,1183],{"href":891},"daily drawdown limit",[11,1185,147,1186,1189],{},[49,1187,1188],{},"consistency rule"," is discussed less and removes more traders than most expect. It caps how much of total profit may come from one day or trade, on the reasoning that a single outsized position is not repeatable. A candidate can hit the target, break no loss limit, and still fail because 60% of the gain arrived in one afternoon.",[11,1191,1192],{},"Around these sit smaller conditions: a minimum number of trading days, rules on holding through scheduled news or over the weekend, scaling plans that raise the allocation after consecutive payouts. All are contract terms and vary.",[21,1194,74],{"id":73},[11,1196,1197,1198,1200],{},"A funded account converts risk management from a preference into a pass\u002Ffail test. On your own account a 15% ",[15,1199,701],{"href":700}," is unpleasant and recoverable. On a funded account with a 10% floor the same path is terminal: the recovery never happens, because there is no account left to recover in.",[11,1202,1203],{},"Which is why the figures a firm cares about are rarely the ones a results page leads with. Return is the headline; the depth and the daily shape of the decline decide whether the mandate survives.",[21,1205,107],{"id":106},[11,1207,1208,1209,1212,1213,1216],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history, ",[49,1210,1211],{},"38.2%"," have at some point been ",[15,1214,1215],{"href":740},"more than 20% below their peak",". Measured against 20% — looser than almost any retail rulebook — close to four in ten would already have failed, and these were trading with no rulebook at all, where nothing forced a position closed. These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,1218,1219,1223,1224,520,1226,1228],{},[15,1220,1222],{"href":1221},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-recovery-factor","The returns those risks bought",": median time-weighted return ",[49,1225,558],{},[49,1227,1006],{}," of accounts positive. The constraint, not the return, is what most candidates run into first.",[11,1230,1231,1234,1235,1239],{},[49,1232,1233],{},"37"," accounts here are ",[15,1236,1238],{"href":1237},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-unlisted-account","unlisted"," — published at their own link but kept out of every listing, which is the setting a candidate uses to send a record to a firm without putting it on the site.",[21,1241,132],{"id":131},[11,1243,1244],{},"There is no funded-account module here and no integration with any programme. What the account page provides is the measurement.",[11,1246,147,1247,1249,1250,1252,1253,1256,1257,1261,1262,364,1264,1267],{},[49,1248,827],{}," panel shows ",[49,1251,833],{},", computed on equity so floating losses on open positions are included, next to ",[49,1254,1255],{},"DD on Balance",", computed on closed trades only. That pair matters here more than anywhere: rulebooks generally measure on equity, so a strategy that holds losers open reads well on ",[15,1258,1260],{"href":1259},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","drawdown on balance"," and fails on the first figure. The same panel carries ",[49,1263,823],{},[49,1265,1266],{},"Avg Monthly %",", the baselines a consistency rule measures a standout day against.",[11,1269,147,1270,1272,1273,1275,1276,1278],{},[49,1271,833],{}," view in the charts panel plots, day by day, how far equity sat below the running peak balance — the shape a total or trailing floor reads. For the consistency question, the ",[49,1274,813],{}," table shows whether gain is spread or concentrated, and its ",[49,1277,817],{}," view resolves that to individual days.",[11,1280,1281,1282,1284],{},"Visibility is set per account: published, private, or ",[49,1283,1238],{}," — reachable by direct link and excluded from listings. Owners can also hide individual modules, so a page missing a section is a choice rather than an absence of data.",[21,1286,189],{"id":188},[43,1288,1289,1295,1301,1307],{},[46,1290,1291,1294],{},[49,1292,1293],{},"\"Once funded, the money is mine.\""," It is the firm's throughout. Only the paid-out share of realised profit becomes yours.",[46,1296,1297,1300],{},[49,1298,1299],{},"\"The funded phase is easier than the evaluation.\""," The limits are usually the same or tighter. What changes is that failing now costs an income stream rather than a fee.",[46,1302,1303,1306],{},[49,1304,1305],{},"\"I only need to avoid the daily limit.\""," The total floor ends most accounts, and a trailing one tightens as you win.",[46,1308,1309,1312],{},[49,1310,1311],{},"\"A big winning day is progress.\""," Under a consistency rule it can be the reason a payout is refused.",[11,1314,1315,1316,223],{},"For how these limits behave over a full account history: ",[15,1317,1319],{"href":1318},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaximum-drawdown-explained","maximum drawdown explained",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":1321},[1322,1323,1324,1325,1326],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A funded account is capital owned by a firm and traded under a rulebook. Evaluation versus funded phase, the rules that end accounts, and real drawdown data.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account",[1331,893,1332,1333],"what-is-a-prop-firm","what-is-drawdown-on-balance","what-is-an-unlisted-account",{"title":1143,"description":1327},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account","Funded Account","PK9Bug0k0UWhLwdsDy5-ftt0_ePtaAWrUqi7ezUXdjw",{"id":1339,"title":1340,"body":1341,"category":232,"date":233,"description":1513,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":1514,"navigation":235,"path":530,"related":1515,"seo":1518,"stem":1519,"term":1520,"updated":233,"__hash__":1521},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-lot-in-forex.md","What Is a Lot in Forex? Standard, Mini and Micro",{"type":8,"value":1342,"toc":1506},[1343,1346,1348,1351,1357,1360,1366,1373,1375,1378,1384,1401,1403,1415,1430,1432,1449,1463,1469,1477,1479,1499],[11,1344,1345],{},"A lot is the unit in which trade size is measured. One standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency of the pair, a mini lot is 10,000 and a micro lot is 1,000, so a position of 0.10 lots on EUR\u002FUSD controls 10,000 euro. Every volume figure on a track record — and almost every cost a broker charges — is denominated in lots.",[21,1347,24],{"id":23},[11,1349,1350],{},"The lot is a multiplier applied to a contract size that the broker defines per symbol.",[29,1352,1355],{"className":1353,"code":1354,"language":34},[32],"Units traded = Lots × Contract size\n\nStandard lot   1.00  = 100,000 units\nMini lot       0.10  =  10,000 units\nMicro lot      0.01  =   1,000 units\n",[36,1356,1354],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,1358,1359],{},"Contract size is what converts a price movement into money. One pip is 0.0001 on a five-digit forex pair and 0.01 on a yen pair, so the value of a pip follows directly:",[29,1361,1364],{"className":1362,"code":1363,"language":34},[32],"Pip value = Lots × Contract size × pip size, converted into account currency\n          = 1.00 × 100,000 × 0.0001 = $10 per pip on EUR\u002FUSD\n",[36,1365,1363],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,1367,1368,1369,1372],{},"The 100,000 figure is a forex convention, not a rule. Gold, indices, energies and crypto CFDs each carry their own contract size, set by the broker and visible in the symbol specification, so \"one lot\" on XAUUSD is not \"one lot\" on EUR\u002FUSD. On a ",[15,1370,1371],{"href":676},"cent account"," the account currency is scaled instead, which shrinks the effective size of the same nominal lot again.",[21,1374,74],{"id":73},[11,1376,1377],{},"Lots are the unit brokers bill in. Commission is quoted per lot, per side or round turn. Swap is quoted per lot, per night. Spread cost is the spread in pips multiplied by the pip value, which is itself a function of contract size. Nothing in that list scales with the number of trades — it all scales with volume.",[11,1379,1380,1381,223],{},"That makes total volume the denominator that makes two accounts comparable: cost in dollars says nothing on its own, because a large account trading big size should pay more. Cost per lot divides the account size out, and it is the only form in which ",[15,1382,1383],{"href":389},"one broker's charges can be held against another's",[11,1385,1386,1387,1390,1391,1395,1396,1400],{},"Volume is also the one number a trader chooses outright. ",[15,1388,1389],{"href":570},"Win rate",", drawdown and ",[15,1392,1394],{"href":1393},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","profit factor"," are outcomes; lot size is an instruction, given before the market has any say, which is why a volume column read on its own reveals ",[15,1397,1399],{"href":1398},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing"," discipline faster than any performance metric.",[21,1402,107],{"id":106},[11,1404,1405,1406,1408,1409,1412,1413,223],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. The public accounts here have traded ",[49,1407,322],{}," (August 2026) — roughly ",[49,1410,1411],{},"770 lots per published account with history"," — across ",[49,1414,315],{},[11,1416,1417,1418,364,1420,1425,1426,1429],{},"The cost side of that volume comes to ",[49,1419,117],{},[49,1421,1422,1423],{},"$862,547 in ",[15,1424,18],{"href":17}," on the trades synchronised here, with ",[49,1427,1428],{},"86.3% of accounts that pay any swap net negative on it",". Resist dividing one by the other for a headline rate: the totals cover different populations, and the mix underneath contains symbols with unequal contract sizes, brokers quoting per side against round turn, and spread-only accounts paying no commission at all. Cost per lot is the right comparison — it is simply one to run on a single account, where both numbers come from the same trades.",[21,1431,132],{"id":131},[11,1433,1434,1436,1437,1440,1441,1443,1444,364,1446,1448],{},[49,1435,380],{}," sits in the ",[163,1438,1439],{},"Trades"," column of ",[49,1442,373],{},", shown to two decimals, directly above ",[49,1445,143],{},[49,1447,139],{},". All three are sums over the account's closed buy and sell trades, calculated on our servers, with deposits and withdrawals excluded. Both cost rows keep the sign the broker recorded, so commission normally reads as a negative number and swap turns red when the account paid more than it earned. Reading the three rows together gives the cost-per-lot arithmetic above for one account, on real broker records rather than a published price list.",[11,1450,1451,1452,1455,1456,1458,1459,1462],{},"Per trade, the ",[49,1453,1454],{},"Volume"," column in ",[49,1457,404],{}," carries the size of every ticket, to two decimals. Account owners can remove it from public pages and widgets with the ",[49,1460,1461],{},"Lots"," toggle in the account's privacy settings, so a public account page without a volume column is a deliberate choice rather than missing data.",[11,1464,147,1465,1468],{},[49,1466,1467],{},"Duration"," view in the same Advanced Statistics panel encodes volume as bubble size — over the most recent 200 closed trades — which is where an escalating lot progression becomes visible as growing circles rather than a column of numbers.",[11,1470,1471,1472,1476],{},"To size a position before placing it, the ",[15,1473,1475],{"href":1474},"\u002Ftools\u002Fposition-size-calculator","position size calculator"," takes account balance, risk and stop distance and returns the lot size, with the contract size selectable as Micro Lot (1,000), Mini Lot (10,000) or Standard Lot (100,000).",[21,1478,189],{"id":188},[43,1480,1481,1487,1493],{},[46,1482,1483,1486],{},[49,1484,1485],{},"\"0.01 lots is a small position.\""," Relative to what. A micro lot on EUR\u002FUSD risks about $0.10 per pip; on a $200 account with a 50-pip stop that is 2.5% of equity.",[46,1488,1489,1492],{},[49,1490,1491],{},"\"Total Lots shows the size I trade.\""," It is a sum. The same total can come from ten thousand micro trades or one hundred standard ones — the trade table is where the distribution lives.",[46,1494,1495,1498],{},[49,1496,1497],{},"\"More volume means a better trader.\""," Volume measures activity and cost. It carries no information about whether any of it was profitable.",[11,1500,1501,1502,223],{},"For reading a volume column as a risk fingerprint, see the ",[15,1503,1505],{"href":1504},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-volume-analysis","trading volume analysis guide",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":1507},[1508,1509,1510,1511,1512],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A lot is the unit trade size is measured in: 100,000 units of base currency for one standard lot. The contract size arithmetic, and 1.7 million real lots.",{},[1516,241,240,1517],"what-is-position-sizing","what-is-average-trade-length",{"title":1340,"description":1513},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-lot-in-forex","Lot","JciCfYjJ3q1fyMdS6We0M0PVmIiJgVcO0mug9Dlj2AE",{"id":1523,"title":1524,"body":1525,"category":1724,"date":233,"description":1725,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":1726,"navigation":235,"path":984,"related":1727,"seo":1731,"stem":1732,"term":1645,"updated":233,"__hash__":1733},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number.md","What Is a Magic Number in MT4 and MT5?",{"type":8,"value":1526,"toc":1717},[1527,1538,1540,1543,1549,1552,1572,1575,1577,1584,1587,1589,1599,1621,1623,1651,1682,1684,1710],[11,1528,1529,1530,1532,1533,1537],{},"A magic number is an integer that an ",[15,1531,800],{"href":799}," writes onto every order it sends, and that ",[15,1534,1536],{"href":1535},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader","MetaTrader"," carries for the life of the trade. It exists so that several strategies can share one account and still be told apart afterwards. Trades placed by hand carry zero.",[21,1539,24],{"id":23},[11,1541,1542],{},"The number is a parameter of the order-sending call, set by the code, not by the broker or the platform.",[29,1544,1547],{"className":1545,"code":1546,"language":34},[32],"MT4:  OrderSend(symbol, cmd, lots, price, slip, sl, tp, comment, magic, ...)\nMT5:  request.magic = 55566;   → carried onto the position and every deal\nManual click:  magic = 0\n",[36,1548,1546],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,1550,1551],{},"Three properties follow from that, and all three catch people out.",[43,1553,1554,1560,1566],{},[46,1555,1556,1559],{},[49,1557,1558],{},"Nothing validates it."," No component checks the value for uniqueness or meaning. Two EAs configured with the same integer are merged permanently in the record, and each one will treat the other's positions as its own to manage.",[46,1561,1562,1565],{},[49,1563,1564],{},"Zero is a real value, not an empty one."," It is what a manual click carries, and also what any EA whose magic input was never changed from its default carries, so the two become the same thing.",[46,1567,1568,1571],{},[49,1569,1570],{},"It cannot be added later."," The value is fixed the moment the request leaves the terminal and stored with the trade; history that arrived as zero remains zero for good.",[11,1573,1574],{},"Other platforms express the same idea in a different field: a cBot on cTrader writes a text label, TradeLocker attaches a strategy id to the order, and a numeric one is read here as a magic number. In practice the per-strategy split is MT4 and MT5 territory.",[21,1576,74],{"id":73},[11,1578,1579,1580,1583],{},"Run three strategies on one account and every headline number on the page is a blend. ",[15,1581,1582],{"href":1393},"Profit factor",", win rate, drawdown and the equity curve are all computed on the merged stream, so a strategy that loses steadily can sit inside a winning total for months without ever showing up as a line on any chart. The account looks healthy because, in aggregate, it is.",[11,1585,1586],{},"The magic number is the only field that survives that merge. Set properly, your history arrives already split into separate track records you can compare, size differently or retire one at a time. Set carelessly, no analysis performed afterwards can reconstruct it.",[21,1588,107],{"id":106},[11,1590,1591,1592,364,1595,1598],{},"This one field carries more weight here than most owners realise, because the automation figure on every account page is computed from it: a trade is counted as automated when it arrives with a non-zero magic number, or with a strategy label on the platforms that use one instead. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026) the ",[49,1593,1594],{},"median autotrading share is 99%",[49,1596,1597],{},"53.9% of accounts are more than 90% automated",", which is the same statement as saying nearly every order on those accounts turned up already tagged.",[11,1600,1601,1602,1605,1606,1609,1610,1614,1615,364,1618,223],{},"The reason to label early is sample size. The ",[49,1603,1604],{},"median account has 171 closed trades",". Split across three strategies that is roughly fifty-seven each, below the point where ",[15,1607,1608],{"href":570},"a win rate"," or a profit factor carries information. Tagging from the first order is what gets each strategy to a readable sample before you have to make a decision about it. The alternative — ",[15,1611,1613],{"href":1612},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","one account per strategy"," — is common here too: ",[49,1616,1617],{},"699 users run more than one account",[49,1619,1620],{},"429 across more than one broker",[21,1622,132],{"id":131},[11,1624,147,1625,1627,1628,1631,1632,1635,1636,1638,1639,1642,1643,1646,1647,1650],{},[49,1626,160],{}," module — listed as ",[163,1629,1630],{},"Currency Pair Statistics"," in your account settings — carries a ",[49,1633,1634],{},"By Magic Number"," tab next to ",[163,1637,165],{},", which appears as soon as the account has closed trades to break down. Each row shows ",[49,1640,1641],{},"EA \u002F Strategy",", the raw ",[49,1644,1645],{},"Magic Number",", trades, profit, and won\u002Flost counts with percentages. The row for magic 0 is labelled ",[49,1648,1649],{},"Manual",", and it is the one row that cannot be renamed: it is not a strategy, it is everything that arrived untagged.",[11,1652,147,1653,1655,1656,401,1658,1660,1661,1664,1665,1670,1671,1674,1675,516,1678,1681],{},[49,1654,1641],{}," cell is editable in place, which is how 55566 becomes a name you will still recognise in six months. Those names then follow the data: the ",[49,1657,400],{},[49,1659,404],{}," offers a ",[49,1662,1663],{},"Magic"," column carrying the raw integer per ticket, and the ",[15,1666,1668],{"href":1667},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets",[49,1669,180],{}," slideover has a ",[49,1672,1673],{},"Magic Numbers"," filter whose chips read ",[163,1676,1677],{},"Manual (0)",[163,1679,1680],{},"Label - 55566",". Select one and every statistic on the page is recomputed for that strategy alone.",[21,1683,189],{"id":188},[43,1685,1686,1692,1698,1704],{},[46,1687,1688,1691],{},[49,1689,1690],{},"\"I will set magic numbers later.\""," Later does not exist. The field is written at order time and past trades cannot be re-tagged.",[46,1693,1694,1697],{},[49,1695,1696],{},"\"My EA handles it automatically.\""," Only if the input was changed. A default of 0 is common and silently merges the EA with your manual trades.",[46,1699,1700,1703],{},[49,1701,1702],{},"\"Manual means I traded by hand.\""," The manual row is the untagged bucket: hand-placed trades plus every EA left at zero.",[46,1705,1706,1709],{},[49,1707,1708],{},"\"The magic number tells you which robot it is.\""," It tells you nothing. 55566 is whatever the author typed.",[11,1711,1712,1713,223],{},"The full workflow, from naming a strategy to finding the one quietly losing money: ",[15,1714,1716],{"href":1715},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmagic-numbers-and-strategy-labels","magic numbers and strategy labels",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":1718},[1719,1720,1721,1722,1723],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Automation","A magic number is the integer an Expert Advisor stamps on every order it opens, so one account can hold several strategies and still be read one by one.",{},[1728,1729,1730,1135],"what-is-an-expert-advisor","what-is-metatrader","what-is-a-profit-factor",{"title":1524,"description":1725},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","Ia1tACbSKWH8AUhr-ic4ZHFe0wTge4PR_HDhPLl1iSY",{"id":1735,"title":1736,"body":1737,"category":888,"date":233,"description":1945,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":1946,"navigation":235,"path":1947,"related":1948,"seo":1949,"stem":1950,"term":1951,"updated":233,"__hash__":1952},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call.md","What Is a Margin Call? Formula, Stop Out and Real Data",{"type":8,"value":1738,"toc":1938},[1739,1746,1748,1754,1757,1760,1805,1808,1822,1834,1836,1839,1842,1848,1850,1857,1860,1863,1865,1868,1900,1902,1933],[11,1740,1741,1742,1745],{},"A margin call is the broker's warning that the equity in your account has fallen too close to the margin locked up by your open positions. It is a threshold on a ratio, not a judgement call: when ",[15,1743,1744],{"href":753},"equity divided by used margin"," drops below a published level, the warning fires. Ignore it and the stop out follows, closing positions for you.",[21,1747,24],{"id":23},[29,1749,1752],{"className":1750,"code":1751,"language":34},[32],"Equity       = Balance + floating P&L of open positions\nFree margin  = Equity − Used margin\nMargin level = (Equity ÷ Used margin) × 100\n",[36,1753,1751],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,1755,1756],{},"Take a $10,000 balance with two positions using $2,000 of margin and a floating loss of $1,500. Equity is $8,500, so margin level is 425%. Let that loss widen to $8,100 and equity is $1,900: margin level 95%, under a typical 100% call threshold.",[11,1758,1759],{},"Thresholds vary by broker and are always in the contract. The common pair:",[1761,1762,1763,1779],"table",{},[1764,1765,1766],"thead",{},[1767,1768,1769,1773,1776],"tr",{},[1770,1771,1772],"th",{},"Level",[1770,1774,1775],{},"Typical threshold",[1770,1777,1778],{},"What happens",[1780,1781,1782,1794],"tbody",{},[1767,1783,1784,1788,1791],{},[1785,1786,1787],"td",{},"Margin call",[1785,1789,1790],{},"100%",[1785,1792,1793],{},"Warning issued, no new positions accepted",[1767,1795,1796,1799,1802],{},[1785,1797,1798],{},"Stop out",[1785,1800,1801],{},"50%",[1785,1803,1804],{},"The platform closes positions automatically",[11,1806,1807],{},"The sequence is fixed:",[421,1809,1810,1813,1816,1819],{},[46,1811,1812],{},"Floating losses erode equity while used margin stays where it is.",[46,1814,1815],{},"Margin level crosses the call threshold. Warning. New orders refused.",[46,1817,1818],{},"Losses continue. Margin level reaches the stop-out level.",[46,1820,1821],{},"The platform liquidates positions until the ratio is back above the threshold. Most brokers close the largest loser first.",[11,1823,1824,1825,1829,1830,1833],{},"Nothing in that list waits for you to be at your desk: a liquidation at 3am on a thin market prints exactly as if you had chosen it. The ",[15,1826,1828],{"href":1827},"\u002Ftools\u002Fmargin-calculator","margin calculator"," shows how much margin a given size and ",[15,1831,1832],{"href":101},"leverage"," will actually freeze before you open anything.",[21,1835,74],{"id":73},[11,1837,1838],{},"The timing is the problem, and it is structural. A margin call arrives at the maximum of the adverse move — that is what the maximum means. Positions are closed at the worst prices of the episode, and the trade that would have recovered is closed before it does. That is the difference between a drawdown you sit through and one realised on your behalf.",[11,1840,1841],{},"The order makes it worse: closing the largest loser first means the forced exit is the position furthest from its entry.",[11,1843,1844,1845,1847],{},"It can also arrive without the price doing anything unusual. ",[15,1846,154],{"href":17}," charged overnight reduces equity, which reduces margin level, on positions you have not touched. A carry-negative basket held for months can walk itself into a call in slow motion.",[21,1849,107],{"id":106},[11,1851,1852,1853,1856],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), 17.6% have reached a ",[15,1854,1855],{"href":740},"deepest drawdown"," of more than 50%. These are accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,1858,1859],{},"That figure matters because of where the stop out sits. An account holding positions that use most of its equity as margin is already trading near a 100% margin level; halve the equity and the ratio is at a 50% stop out, whatever the owner intended. A drawdown past 50% does not prove a margin call happened — some of those positions were closed by hand — but it marks the population that got close enough for the broker to have a say.",[11,1861,1862],{},"Recovery is the other half of the arithmetic. Getting back to flat from −50% requires +100%, against a median time-weighted return of +3.2% across the same accounts.",[21,1864,132],{"id":131},[11,1866,1867],{},"There is no live margin-level gauge on a public account page, but every input that drives one is visible.",[43,1869,1870,1879,1885,1895],{},[46,1871,1872,364,1875,1878],{},[49,1873,1874],{},"Balance",[49,1876,1877],{},"Equity"," in the account stats panel. The gap between them is the floating P&L that pushes margin level down. A wide negative gap is an account whose margin level is falling right now.",[46,1880,147,1881,1884],{},[49,1882,1883],{},"Equity Curve"," in the charts viewer plots both lines together. A near-vertical drop in equity that the balance line then catches up to is a loss being realised — voluntarily or not.",[46,1886,1887,1889,1890,1894],{},[49,1888,833],{}," versus ",[15,1891,1892],{"href":1259},[49,1893,1255],{}," in the stats panel. The first includes open positions, the second does not. A large equity drawdown that later appears in the balance figure is the moment the floating loss was closed.",[46,1896,147,1897,1899],{},[49,1898,150],{},", with its Duration and Profit (Gross) columns. A cluster of positions all closing inside the same minute, all at a loss, is the fingerprint of a stop out.",[21,1901,189],{"id":188},[43,1903,1904,1910,1916,1927],{},[46,1905,1906,1909],{},[49,1907,1908],{},"\"Margin call and stop out are the same thing.\""," They are two thresholds. The call is a warning; the stop out is execution. Some brokers set them close enough together that the gap is not usable.",[46,1911,1912,1915],{},[49,1913,1914],{},"\"I will just deposit more when it happens.\""," Notification is not a right, and the interval between call and stop out can be seconds in a fast market. Bank transfers clear on banking time, not market time.",[46,1917,1918,1921,1922,1926],{},[49,1919,1920],{},"\"A stop loss protects me from a margin call.\""," Only if it fills. Across a weekend gap the market can reopen far past your ",[15,1923,1925],{"href":1924},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop loss",", and margin level can be below stop out before the first tick prints.",[46,1928,1929,1932],{},[49,1930,1931],{},"\"Negative balance protection means I cannot lose more than my deposit.\""," Where it is offered and enforced, it caps the debt, not the loss. You still lose the account.",[11,1934,1935,1936,223],{},"For how equity, balance and drawdown fit together on a live page, read ",[15,1937,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":1939},[1940,1941,1942,1943,1944],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A margin call is the broker's warning that your equity no longer covers your open positions. The margin level formula, the stop-out sequence, and real data.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call",[242,894,1516],{"title":1736,"description":1945},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call","Margin Call","VynxA6FNkPfgy4BtWsmmyu4HuFH7a_Ov3jgPAgDjJ70",{"id":1954,"title":1955,"body":1956,"category":2122,"date":233,"description":2123,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":2124,"navigation":235,"path":2125,"related":2126,"seo":2129,"stem":2130,"term":2131,"updated":233,"__hash__":2132},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-moving-average.md","What Is a Moving Average? SMA vs EMA, Explained",{"type":8,"value":1957,"toc":2115},[1958,1961,1963,1966,1972,1975,1978,1981,1983,1989,1992,1994,2014,2023,2026,2028,2031,2071,2073,2108],[11,1959,1960],{},"A moving average is the average price of an instrument over a fixed number of recent periods, recalculated on every new bar. It converts a jagged price series into a single line that follows the market with a delay. That delay is not a defect to be tuned away; it is what the calculation is.",[21,1962,24],{"id":23},[11,1964,1965],{},"The two common forms differ only in how they weight the past.",[29,1967,1970],{"className":1968,"code":1969,"language":34},[32],"SMA(n) = (P1 + P2 + ... + Pn) \u002F n\n\nEMA(n): k = 2 \u002F (n + 1)\n        EMA_today = (Price_today × k) + (EMA_yesterday × (1 − k))\n",[36,1971,1969],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,1973,1974],{},"The simple moving average weights every period equally and drops the oldest bar completely when a new one arrives. This has a consequence people rarely account for: an SMA can turn because of a bar that left the window, not because of anything that just happened.",[11,1976,1977],{},"The exponential moving average weights recent prices more heavily and never fully discards old data — each past bar's influence decays geometrically. It responds sooner to a change in direction, and it produces more false turns for the same reason.",[11,1979,1980],{},"Lag is measurable. For a price series moving in a straight line, an SMA of n periods sits roughly (n−1)\u002F2 periods behind. A 200-period average of daily bars is, by construction, describing where price was about a hundred days ago. Shortening the period reduces the lag and increases the number of times the line reverses on noise. There is no setting that removes both.",[21,1982,74],{"id":73},[11,1984,1985,1986,1988],{},"Every rule built on a moving average inherits the lag. You enter after the move has started and exit after it has ended, and you pay the ",[15,1987,89],{"href":88},", the commission and any slippage on each of those transactions. In a trending market that cost is small against the move captured. In a range it is the whole result: the line crosses back and forth, each cross is a paid transaction, and the account bleeds without a single dramatic loss.",[11,1990,1991],{},"This is why a moving average is a component, not a strategy. It says something about the recent average price. It says nothing about position size, stop placement, or whether the current market is the kind the rule works in.",[21,1993,107],{"id":106},[11,1995,1996,1997,2000,2001,2004,2005,555,2007,2009,2010,2013],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the median account has closed ",[49,1998,1999],{},"171 trades",", the median trade lasts ",[49,2002,2003],{},"2.4 hours",", and the median ",[15,2006,1394],{"href":1393},[49,2008,566],{},". A crossing rule read on an intraday timeframe fits that shape closely: frequent entries, short holds, and a margin over break-even thin enough for ",[15,2011,2012],{"href":394},"transaction cost"," to decide the outcome.",[11,2015,2016,2017,2019,2020,2022],{},"Turnover is therefore the figure to hold against any crossover system. Those accounts have traded ",[49,2018,322],{},", and the commission billed on that volume comes to ",[49,2021,1016],{},". A signal rule that fires more often does not merely need to be right more often — it needs to be right by enough to cover a fee levied on every crossing.",[11,2024,2025],{},"One honest limit: ShowMyTrades does not infer which indicator or expert advisor produced a trade, so none of these figures can be attributed to moving-average systems specifically. They describe the whole published population, which is the only thing they can honestly describe.",[21,2027,132],{"id":131},[11,2029,2030],{},"The charts viewer plots equity, growth, profit and drawdown — the account, not the price chart. There are no indicator overlays, because the platform's job is to show what a strategy did, not to help design one.",[11,2032,2033,2034,2038,2039,2041,2042,377,2045,364,2048,2051,2052,377,2055,364,2057,2059,2060,2062,2063,2065,2066,2070],{},"What you can do is measure an MA-based system's real behaviour. In ",[15,2035,2036],{"href":1667},[49,2037,180],{},", filter by ",[49,2040,1673],{}," to isolate a single expert advisor on a shared account, then narrow with ",[49,2043,2044],{},"Trade Duration (seconds)",[49,2046,2047],{},"Days of Week",[49,2049,2050],{},"Trading Hours (Server Time)"," to see when the rule actually fires. In Advanced Statistics, ",[49,2053,2054],{},"Total Trades",[49,2056,174],{},[49,2058,143],{}," together tell you whether the turnover is being paid for. The ",[49,2061,160],{}," panel, on its ",[49,2064,165],{}," tab, shows whether the result came from one instrument that happened to trend — which for any ",[15,2067,2069],{"href":2068},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-trend-following","trend following"," rule is the question that matters.",[21,2072,189],{"id":188},[43,2074,2075,2085,2091,2097],{},[46,2076,2077,2080,2081,2084],{},[49,2078,2079],{},"\"The crossover is the system.\""," A crossover is an entry trigger. Without sizing, an exit and a cost assumption it is not a strategy, and the ",[15,2082,2083],{"href":976},"backtest"," of it is measuring the market, not the method.",[46,2086,2087,2090],{},[49,2088,2089],{},"\"The 200-day average is significant because everyone watches it.\""," Popularity produces attention, not edge. Nothing in our data supports or refutes any specific period, and no honest source can offer you one.",[46,2092,2093,2096],{},[49,2094,2095],{},"\"EMA is better because it reacts faster.\""," Faster reaction means earlier entries and more false ones. The choice is a trade-off, not an upgrade.",[46,2098,2099,2102,2103,2107],{},[49,2100,2101],{},"\"I optimised the period and 34 worked best.\""," Selecting a period because it performed best on history you have already seen is ",[15,2104,2106],{"href":2105},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-curve-fitting","curve fitting",", whatever the number turns out to be.",[11,2109,2110,2111,223],{},"For the metrics that tell you whether any rule-based system is actually earning its costs, see ",[15,2112,2114],{"href":2113},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","tracking your trading performance",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":2116},[2117,2118,2119,2120,2121],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Strategy","A moving average is the mean price over the last N periods, recalculated each bar. What SMA and EMA compute, and why lag is the defining property, not a flaw.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-moving-average",[2127,1135,2128],"what-is-trend-following","what-is-curve-fitting",{"title":1955,"description":2123},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-moving-average","Moving Average","fSTZnlt5snHSK_X5ZaAwnsqskFiY3lqkUulG-uElNkA",{"id":2134,"title":2135,"body":2136,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":2360,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":2361,"navigation":235,"path":535,"related":2362,"seo":2365,"stem":2366,"term":2367,"updated":233,"__hash__":2368},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip.md","What Is a Pip in Forex? Pip vs Point vs Pipette",{"type":8,"value":2137,"toc":2352},[2138,2141,2143,2149,2159,2162,2164,2170,2176,2183,2185,2195,2211,2221,2223,2317,2319,2345],[11,2139,2140],{},"A pip is the standard unit of price movement in a currency pair: 0.0001 for most pairs, 0.01 for pairs quoted in Japanese yen. It measures distance, not money. What a pip is worth depends on the contract size, the number of lots and the currency the account is denominated in, which is why two accounts can both report +3,000 pips and be a thousandfold apart in cash.",[21,2142,24],{"id":23},[29,2144,2147],{"className":2145,"code":2146,"language":34},[32],"Pip size  = 0.0001            most pairs\n          = 0.01              JPY pairs\nPipette   = 0.1 pip           the 5th (or 3rd) decimal\n\nPip value = Pip size x Contract size x Lots     -> in the quote currency\n            then converted into the account currency at the current rate\n\nEUR\u002FUSD, USD account, 1.00 lot:  0.0001 x 100,000 x 1.00 = $10.00 per pip\nEUR\u002FUSD, USD account, 0.01 lot:  0.0001 x 100,000 x 0.01 = $0.10 per pip\n",[36,2148,2146],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,2150,2151,2154,2155,2158],{},[49,2152,2153],{},"Pip, point and pipette."," Most brokers quote fractional pips, so EUR\u002FUSD prints five decimals — 1.08432 — and that final digit is a pipette, one tenth of a pip. MetaTrader counts in ",[49,2156,2157],{},"points",", where a point is the smallest quotable increment. On a 5-digit feed, 10 points = 1 pip. An Expert Advisor configured with a 200-point stop has a 20-pip stop, and the same input on a 4-digit server would give it a 200-pip stop. Misreading that single conversion is one of the more expensive configuration errors in retail trading.",[11,2160,2161],{},"Outside forex the word travels badly. Gold, indices and crypto CFDs each carry a broker-defined contract size and tick size, and \"pip\" is used loosely for whatever the platform displays. The only safe reading there is the contract specification for that symbol on that server.",[21,2163,74],{"id":73},[11,2165,2166,2167,2169],{},"Pip value is the bridge between a stop distance and a risk amount, which makes it the core input of ",[15,2168,1399],{"href":1398},": risk in money equals stop distance in pips, times pip value, times lots. Get that conversion right and lot size becomes arithmetic instead of habit.",[11,2171,2172,2173,2175],{},"As a comparison metric between accounts, though, pips fail completely. The same pip total means a different amount of money at every lot size, in every quote currency, on every instrument, and on a ",[15,2174,1371],{"href":676}," it means a hundredth of what it appears to. Pips also say nothing about the capital that was exposed to earn them, which is the only thing that makes one result comparable to another.",[11,2177,2178,2179,2182],{},"Percentages do not have this problem. ",[15,2180,2181],{"href":553},"Time-weighted return"," is comparable across account sizes by construction. Pips never are.",[21,2184,107],{"id":106},[11,2186,2187,2188,2190,2191,2194],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), ",[49,2189,322],{}," have been traded and ",[49,2192,2193],{},"15,436,464 trades"," synchronised. Position sizes in that population span several orders of magnitude, which is precisely why one account's pip total cannot be set beside another's and read as a ranking.",[11,2196,2197,2198,377,2201,377,2204,377,2207,2210],{},"The figures that survive the comparison are the normalised ones: ",[49,2199,2200],{},"median TWR +3.2%",[49,2202,2203],{},"63.0% of accounts positive over time",[49,2205,2206],{},"median deepest drawdown 9.7%",[49,2208,2209],{},"median 171 closed trades",". Those hold their meaning whether the account holds $500 or $500,000.",[11,2212,2213,2214,2216,2217,2220],{},"Cost shows the same trick applied in the other direction. Those accounts have paid ",[49,2215,117],{}," across 1,724,575 lots — roughly ",[49,2218,2219],{},"$2.77 per lot",". That number is comparable because it is divided by volume. The raw total is not.",[21,2222,132],{"id":131},[43,2224,2225,2274,2282,2298,2310],{},[46,2226,2227,2229,2230,2233,2234,377,2237,364,2240,2242,2243,377,2245,364,2248,2251,2252,2257,2258,377,2262,377,2264,377,2267,377,2269,364,2271,2273],{},[49,2228,373],{}," (the ",[163,2231,2232],{},"Table"," view; the same panel also switches to ",[163,2235,2236],{},"Weekday",[163,2238,2239],{},"Hourly",[163,2241,1467],{},") reports ",[49,2244,383],{},[49,2246,2247],{},"Best Trade (Pips)",[49,2249,2250],{},"Worst Trade (Pips)",", plus ",[15,2253,2255],{"href":2254},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-expectancy",[49,2256,604],{},", which is printed in pips and in account currency side by side. Beside them sit ",[15,2259,2260],{"href":530},[49,2261,380],{},[49,2263,2054],{},[49,2265,2266],{},"Win Rate",[49,2268,174],{},[49,2270,143],{},[49,2272,139],{},". Read pips next to lots or they mean nothing.",[46,2275,2276,2278,2279,2281],{},[49,2277,160],{},", on the ",[163,2280,165],{}," tab, splits pips into long, short and total per instrument, so you can see which pairs actually produced the movement.",[46,2283,147,2284,401,2286,2288,2289,2292,2293,364,2295,2297],{},[49,2285,400],{},[49,2287,404],{}," has a ",[49,2290,2291],{},"Pips"," column per ticket, computed from ",[49,2294,407],{},[49,2296,410],{}," using the correct digit convention for that symbol.",[46,2299,147,2300,2302,2303,2306,2307,2309],{},[49,2301,827],{}," panel opens with ",[49,2304,2305],{},"Gain",", the time-weighted return, and prints ",[49,2308,590],{}," on the row directly below it. Those are the figures to quote when comparing yourself to anyone else.",[46,2311,147,2312,2316],{},[15,2313,2315],{"href":2314},"\u002Ftools\u002Fpip-calculator","pip calculator"," converts a pip into money for a specific pair, lot size and account currency.",[21,2318,189],{"id":188},[421,2320,2321,2327,2333,2339],{},[46,2322,2323,2326],{},[49,2324,2325],{},"\"A pip is $10.\""," Only for one standard lot of a USD-quoted pair on a USD account. Change any of the three and the number changes.",[46,2328,2329,2332],{},[49,2330,2331],{},"\"Points and pips are the same.\""," On 5-digit and 3-digit feeds, 10 points make 1 pip. Stop and take-profit inputs are usually in points.",[46,2334,2335,2338],{},[49,2336,2337],{},"\"More pips means a better trader.\""," A thousand pips at 0.01 lots is $100. A hundred pips at 5.00 lots is $5,000.",[46,2340,2341,2344],{},[49,2342,2343],{},"\"Pips measure risk.\""," Pips measure distance. Risk is that distance converted into money and then divided by equity.",[11,2346,2347,2348,223],{},"To convert pips, lots and margin into figures for your own account, see the ",[15,2349,2351],{"href":2350},"\u002Fguides\u002Fforex-calculators-guide","guide to forex calculators",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":2353},[2354,2355,2356,2357,2358],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Metrics","A pip is the standard unit of price movement in forex, usually 0.0001. How pip value depends on lot size and quote currency, and why pip totals mislead.",{},[1516,241,2363,2364],"what-is-expectancy","what-is-time-weighted-return",{"title":2135,"description":2360},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip","Pip","3wEqyqDEVMgiEOyCpuz7tb7ySe1STFyTd5GsXjrhYFc",{"id":2370,"title":2371,"body":2372,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":2619,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":2621,"navigation":235,"path":1393,"related":2622,"seo":2623,"stem":2624,"term":2530,"updated":233,"__hash__":2625},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor.md","What Is Profit Factor? Formula, Good Values, Real Data",{"type":8,"value":2373,"toc":2612},[2374,2377,2379,2385,2388,2391,2397,2400,2461,2463,2466,2473,2479,2481,2495,2502,2507,2514,2524,2526,2548,2571,2573,2606],[11,2375,2376],{},"Profit factor is gross profit divided by gross loss: the total won across all winning trades, divided by the total lost across all losing trades. A profit factor of 1.50 means the account made $1.50 for every $1.00 it gave back. Below 1.00 the account loses money by construction, regardless of how often it wins.",[21,2378,24],{"id":23},[29,2380,2383],{"className":2381,"code":2382,"language":34},[32],"Profit Factor = Gross Profit \u002F |Gross Loss|\n",[36,2384,2382],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,2386,2387],{},"Note what the formula ignores: how long the account traded, how much capital it used, and how deep it fell along the way.",[11,2389,2390],{},"It can also be written in terms of win rate and average trade size, which is where it becomes diagnostic:",[29,2392,2395],{"className":2393,"code":2394,"language":34},[32],"Profit Factor = (Win Rate × Avg Win) \u002F ((1 − Win Rate) × Avg Loss)\n",[36,2396,2394],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,2398,2399],{},"Two very different systems can land on the same value. A 30% win rate with winners four times the size of losers gives 1.71. An 80% win rate with winners half the size of losers gives 2.00. Both work; they fail differently and feel completely different to trade.",[1761,2401,2402,2411],{},[1764,2403,2404],{},[1767,2405,2406,2408],{},[1770,2407,1582],{},[1770,2409,2410],{},"Reading",[1780,2412,2413,2421,2429,2437,2445,2453],{},[1767,2414,2415,2418],{},[1785,2416,2417],{},"Below 1.00",[1785,2419,2420],{},"Loses money — structurally, not marginally",[1767,2422,2423,2426],{},[1785,2424,2425],{},"1.00 – 1.10",[1785,2427,2428],{},"Inside the noise. One bad week erases it",[1767,2430,2431,2434],{},[1785,2432,2433],{},"1.10 – 1.30",[1785,2435,2436],{},"Thin but real edge, if the sample is large",[1767,2438,2439,2442],{},[1785,2440,2441],{},"1.30 – 2.00",[1785,2443,2444],{},"A working strategy",[1767,2446,2447,2450],{},[1785,2448,2449],{},"2.00 – 3.00",[1785,2451,2452],{},"Strong. Check trade count and cost accounting",[1767,2454,2455,2458],{},[1785,2456,2457],{},"Above 3.00",[1785,2459,2460],{},"Rare on long histories: usually a short sample, a few outsized winners, or open losers not yet realised",[21,2462,74],{"id":73},[11,2464,2465],{},"Profit factor is the cleanest single answer to \"does this system make money\", and it is much harder to dress up than a win rate, because every loss enters the denominator at full size.",[11,2467,2468,2469,2472],{},"It is not, however, a risk measure. Profit factor knows nothing about sequence: an account that made its money in one month and bled for eleven shows the same value as one that ground upward every week. Read it next to ",[15,2470,2471],{"href":740},"maximum drawdown",", or you are measuring the destination without the trip.",[11,2474,2475,2476,2478],{},"The same caution applies to a profit factor quoted from a ",[15,2477,2083],{"href":976},": optimisers maximise exactly this ratio, so a high backtested value often measures the fitting process rather than the strategy.",[21,2480,107],{"id":106},[11,2482,2483,2484,2487,2488,2494],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,2485,2486],{},"median profit factor is 1.28"," and the ",[49,2489,2490,2493],{},[15,2491,2492],{"href":570},"median win rate"," is 68.8%",". Both are calculated after costs here: swap and commission are folded into each trade before it is classed as a winner or a loser, so 1.28 is net, not gross.",[11,2496,2497],{},[2498,2499],"img",{"alt":2500,"src":2501},"Medians across public ShowMyTrades accounts: a 68.8% win rate beside a 1.28 profit factor","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwin-rate-vs-payoff.svg",[11,2503,2504],{},[163,2505,2506],{},"Two medians from the same set: the win rate looks strong, the edge behind it is thin.",[11,2508,2509,2510,2513],{},"That pairing is the point. Nearly seven trades in ten close green on the median account, and the whole edge still amounts to $1.28 earned for every $1.00 lost. Take an account sitting on both medians and invert the formula: its average winner is worth roughly ",[49,2511,2512],{},"0.58×"," its average loser. Winning often and earning well are separate achievements, and the first is far easier to manufacture — hold losers, cut winners, and the win rate climbs while the profit factor falls.",[11,2515,2516,2517,2520,2521,2523],{},"The median Sharpe ratio on the same set is ",[49,2518,2519],{},"0.05",", and the median account has ",[49,2522,770],{},". At that sample size a profit factor above 3.00 is not evidence of a superior system; it is evidence that the sample is too small to have met its worst trade yet.",[21,2525,132],{"id":131},[11,2527,2528,1436,2531,2533,2534,377,2536,377,2538,377,2540,377,2542,364,2544,2547],{},[49,2529,2530],{},"Profit Factor",[49,2532,373],{}," module on every published account page, alongside the numbers that explain it: ",[49,2535,2266],{},[49,2537,598],{},[49,2539,601],{},[49,2541,604],{},[49,2543,2054],{},[49,2545,2546],{},"Sharpe Ratio",". The six together say what the single ratio cannot.",[11,2549,2550,2551,2554,2555,364,2557,2560,2561,364,2563,2565,2566,2570],{},"Two product details matter. First, the costs already inside the ratio are itemised separately: the trades table carries ",[49,2552,2553],{},"Profit (Gross)"," with ",[49,2556,154],{},[49,2558,2559],{},"Commission"," as their own columns, and Advanced Statistics totals ",[49,2562,143],{},[49,2564,139],{},", so you can see how much the net figure absorbed. Across published accounts those totals stand at $4,782,670 in commissions and $862,547 in swap. Second, ",[15,2567,2568],{"href":1667},[49,2569,180],{}," recomputes the whole statistics block on a filtered subset — by date range, symbol, magic number, direction or lot size — which is how you check whether a profit factor holds up outside its best quarter or without its best symbol.",[21,2572,189],{"id":188},[43,2574,2575,2584,2594,2600],{},[46,2576,2577,2580,2581,223],{},[49,2578,2579],{},"\"Profit factor above 1 means I am profitable.\""," Only if costs are inside the ratio. Where they are not, a high-frequency system at 1.05 gross can be flat or negative ",[15,2582,2583],{"href":394},"once commission and swap are applied",[46,2585,2586,2589,2590,2593],{},[49,2587,2588],{},"\"A high profit factor means low risk.\""," It says nothing about drawdown, position size or sequence. A martingale ",[15,2591,2592],{"href":1398},"position-sizing"," progression can post 4.00 right up to the day it does not.",[46,2595,2596,2599],{},[49,2597,2598],{},"\"It is comparable across timeframes.\""," It is not annualised. A scalper's 1.20 over 20,000 trades and a swing trader's 1.20 over 60 are not the same statement.",[46,2601,2602,2605],{},[49,2603,2604],{},"\"Open trades do not affect it.\""," They do, by absence. Floating losses left open are excluded from gross loss entirely, which inflates the ratio until the position is closed.",[11,2607,2608,2609,223],{},"For which metrics to track over time and in what order, see ",[15,2610,2611],{"href":2113},"the guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":2613},[2614,2615,2616,2617,2618],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Profit factor is gross profit divided by gross loss. Below 1.0 an account loses by construction. Here are the bands and the 1.28 median across thousands of accounts.",false,{},[893,894,1516,1135],{"title":2371,"description":2619},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","0loLRuqRU0mx9nEOfjdEFW6U1Fb_JAC1jN2JQSkIjuE",{"id":2627,"title":2628,"body":2629,"category":461,"date":233,"description":2806,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":2807,"navigation":235,"path":695,"related":2808,"seo":2812,"stem":2813,"term":2814,"updated":233,"__hash__":2815},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm.md","What Is a Prop Firm in Trading?",{"type":8,"value":2630,"toc":2799},[2631,2634,2636,2643,2646,2652,2658,2661,2664,2666,2672,2675,2677,2700,2703,2718,2720,2723,2733,2748,2764,2766,2792],[11,2632,2633],{},"A proprietary trading firm — a prop firm — puts its own capital at risk through traders rather than managing money for outside clients. The trader supplies the decisions and receives a share of the profit; the firm supplies the capital and writes the rules that cap its loss. In the retail form that has grown since the 2010s, access comes through a paid evaluation rather than through employment.",[21,2635,24],{"id":23},[11,2637,2638,2639,2642],{},"The retail model has two stages. A candidate pays a fee to attempt an evaluation on a simulated account of a stated size, reaching a profit target without breaking a risk rule. Passing leads to a ",[15,2640,2641],{"href":1329},"funded account"," under the same rulebook, where realised profit is split between trader and firm.",[11,2644,2645],{},"Three limits do almost all of the failing, and only one of them is the target.",[29,2647,2650],{"className":2648,"code":2649,"language":34},[32],"Daily loss limit     = day's opening balance (or equity) x daily %\nStatic total limit   = initial balance x total %\nTrailing total limit = high-water mark x total %\n",[36,2651,2649],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,2653,147,2654,2657],{},[15,2655,2656],{"href":891},"daily loss limit"," resets each session, so it constrains a single day's damage. The total limit is a floor under the account's whole life. Whether that floor is static or trailing changes the rule entirely: a trailing floor rises with every new equity peak, so profits tighten the constraint instead of loosening it, and a trader can be removed while still up on the account.",[11,2659,2660],{},"Secondary conditions usually include a minimum number of trading days, restrictions around scheduled news, limits on holding through the weekend, and a consistency rule capping how much of total profit may come from one day or trade. Profit splits commonly favour the trader; the figure, the payout cycle and any scaling plan are contract terms.",[11,2662,2663],{},"A prop firm is not a broker. The account belongs to the firm, the trader has no title to the capital, and most retail programmes simulate a broker feed rather than routing to the market. Which firms are sound, and how a programme is regulated, is not something a glossary can settle: read the contract and check the entity behind it.",[21,2665,74],{"id":73},[11,2667,2668,2669,2671],{},"The rulebook inverts what most traders optimise for. On a personal account a deep drawdown is survivable if the strategy recovers. Under a prop rulebook, touching the limit ends the account regardless of what would have happened next: path beats outcome, which puts ",[15,2670,1399],{"href":1398}," and daily loss discipline ahead of entry quality.",[11,2673,2674],{},"The fee changes the incentive too: a candidate who has paid for an attempt is under pressure to reach a target inside a window, and that pressure produces oversized positions.",[21,2676,107],{"id":106},[11,2678,2679,2680,555,2682,2684,2685,2688,2689,2692,2693,2695,2696,2699],{},"The drawdown distribution across accounts published on ShowMyTrades shows how binding these limits are. Median deepest ",[15,2681,701],{"href":700},[49,2683,562],{},". Only ",[49,2686,2687],{},"38.5%"," of accounts have stayed under 5% ",[15,2690,2691],{"href":740},"peak-to-trough"," for their entire life, ",[49,2694,1211],{}," have gone past 20%, and ",[49,2697,2698],{},"17.6%"," past 50%. These figures describe the public accounts here with trading history, not traders in general.",[11,2701,2702],{},"Put plainly: at least 38.2% of these accounts would have breached any total loss limit set at 20% or tighter, and almost every retail rulebook is tighter than 20%. They were trading with no rulebook at all, where a deep drawdown is an inconvenience rather than a termination.",[11,2704,2705,2706,2709,2710,2713,2714,2717],{},"Running several accounts at once is normal here: ",[49,2707,2708],{},"699"," users have more than one account connected and ",[49,2711,2712],{},"429"," trade across more than one broker. ",[15,2715,2716],{"href":1612},"Keeping an evaluation, a funded account and a personal account side by side"," is the ordinary case.",[21,2719,132],{"id":131},[11,2721,2722],{},"ShowMyTrades does not run prop-firm programmes and has no module that tracks evaluation rules. What it provides is the evidence a candidate needs in order to document performance.",[11,2724,147,2725,1249,2727,2729,2730,2732],{},[49,2726,827],{},[49,2728,833],{},", measured on equity so floating losses on open positions count, next to ",[49,2731,1255],{},", measured on closed trades only. Most rulebooks measure on equity, so the first is the figure that maps to a limit.",[11,2734,147,2735,2737,2738,2741,2742,2744,2745,2747],{},[49,2736,833],{}," view in the charts panel plots, for each day, how far equity sat below the account's running peak balance. That is the shape a ",[163,2739,2740],{},"total"," or trailing limit reads, not a daily one — for day-level detail, the ",[49,2743,817],{}," view of the ",[49,2746,813],{}," table shows each individual day's result, and Monthly Returns is also where a consistency rule becomes checkable.",[11,2749,2750,2751,364,2756,2758,2759,516,2761,2763],{},"The header carries what a firm can check independently: the ",[15,2752,2754],{"href":2753},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record",[49,2755,1047],{},[49,2757,1050],{}," badges, green when granted, alongside ",[49,2760,628],{},[49,2762,1040],{}," and the account's autotrading share.",[21,2765,189],{"id":188},[43,2767,2768,2774,2780,2786],{},[46,2769,2770,2773],{},[49,2771,2772],{},"\"Passing an evaluation means the capital is mine.\""," It never is. It remains the firm's, under the same rules, and the account can be closed for a rule breach at any point.",[46,2775,2776,2779],{},[49,2777,2778],{},"\"A trailing drawdown works like a normal drawdown.\""," It does not. It follows equity upward, so a profitable week can leave less room than the week before it.",[46,2781,2782,2785],{},[49,2783,2784],{},"\"The profit target is the hard part.\""," The loss limits are. Targets are usually reachable; the limits remove candidates who would have reached them.",[46,2787,2788,2791],{},[49,2789,2790],{},"\"Simulated capital means simulated results.\""," The decisions and the risk discipline are real, and so is a record of them. Only the fills are not.",[11,2793,2794,2795,223],{},"For how a record like this is read by someone who did not produce it: ",[15,2796,2798],{"href":2797},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverified-vs-unverified-track-records","verified vs unverified track records",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":2800},[2801,2802,2803,2804,2805],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A prop firm puts its own capital at risk through traders under a rulebook. How evaluations, profit splits and loss limits work, and what real drawdowns show.",{},[2809,2810,1516,2811],"what-is-a-funded-account","what-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","what-is-a-track-record",{"title":2628,"description":2806},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm","Prop Firm","PzDE4KdbNDkjttAPE6kUyqbcj4czhI_BPUQrAJsKcTg",{"id":2817,"title":2818,"body":2819,"category":461,"date":233,"description":3055,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":3056,"navigation":235,"path":294,"related":3057,"seo":3059,"stem":3060,"term":3061,"updated":233,"__hash__":3062},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker.md","What Is a Regulated Broker? What Regulation Covers",{"type":8,"value":2820,"toc":3048},[2821,2824,2826,2840,2843,2915,2922,2924,2931,2940,2942,2948,2959,2972,2974,3012,3015,3017,3043],[11,2822,2823],{},"A regulated broker is one authorised by a financial supervisory authority in a specific jurisdiction, which sets binding rules on how it holds client money, how much leverage it may offer, and what it must disclose. Regulation constrains the broker's conduct and solvency; it is not an endorsement of its pricing, its execution or its platform. It protects the money in your account against the broker's failure and misconduct, and does nothing at all about the money you lose trading.",[21,2825,24],{"id":23},[11,2827,2828,2829,2832,2833,2836,2837,2839],{},"A licence typically imposes some combination of the following: minimum regulatory capital, ",[49,2830,2831],{},"segregation of client funds"," in accounts separate from the firm's own money, periodic reporting and independent audit, a ",[49,2834,2835],{},"compensation scheme"," that pays out if the firm becomes insolvent, access to an ombudsman for disputes, caps on retail ",[15,2838,1832],{"href":101},", negative balance protection, and restrictions on how the firm may advertise.",[11,2841,2842],{},"The specifics vary by regime. Stated factually, without ranking:",[1761,2844,2845,2858],{},[1764,2846,2847],{},[1767,2848,2849,2852,2855],{},[1770,2850,2851],{},"Authority",[1770,2853,2854],{},"Jurisdiction",[1770,2856,2857],{},"Typical retail features",[1780,2859,2860,2871,2882,2893,2904],{},[1767,2861,2862,2865,2868],{},[1785,2863,2864],{},"FCA",[1785,2866,2867],{},"United Kingdom",[1785,2869,2870],{},"Segregated funds, FSCS compensation up to £85,000, leverage capped at 30:1 on major FX, negative balance protection",[1767,2872,2873,2876,2879],{},[1785,2874,2875],{},"CySEC",[1785,2877,2878],{},"Cyprus (EU)",[1785,2880,2881],{},"Segregated funds, Investor Compensation Fund up to €20,000, the same 30:1 major FX cap under EU rules",[1767,2883,2884,2887,2890],{},[1785,2885,2886],{},"ASIC",[1785,2888,2889],{},"Australia",[1785,2891,2892],{},"Segregated funds, 30:1 cap on major FX since 2021, no statutory compensation scheme",[1767,2894,2895,2898,2901],{},[1785,2896,2897],{},"CFTC \u002F NFA",[1785,2899,2900],{},"United States",[1785,2902,2903],{},"Roughly 50:1 on major FX, FIFO order handling, no hedging, no compensation scheme",[1767,2905,2906,2909,2912],{},[1785,2907,2908],{},"BaFin, FSCA, and offshore regimes",[1785,2910,2911],{},"Germany, South Africa, Seychelles, Belize and others",[1785,2913,2914],{},"Requirements range from EU-equivalent to considerably lighter",[11,2916,2917,2918,2921],{},"Two practical points. First, caps and compensation limits change, so the regulator's own public register is the only current source. Second, ",[49,2919,2920],{},"regulation attaches to a legal entity, not to a brand",": large groups operate several entities under different licences, and the one named on your client agreement is the one whose rules apply to your money — often not the one in the advertising.",[21,2923,74],{"id":73},[11,2925,2926,2927,2930],{},"Segregation decides whether your balance still exists if the broker fails. The leverage cap decides how far price can move before a ",[15,2928,2929],{"href":1947},"margin call",". The compensation scheme decides what happens after insolvency, up to a limit that is usually far below a funded trading account.",[11,2932,2933,2934,2936,2937,223],{},"None of it touches performance. A fully regulated broker will process a losing strategy exactly as efficiently as a profitable one, and a licence tells you nothing about ",[15,2935,89],{"href":88},", swap or execution quality — ",[15,2938,2939],{"href":389},"the three costs that actually differ between firms",[21,2941,107],{"id":106},[11,2943,2944,2945,2947],{},"Across the 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026), trades arrive from ",[49,2946,315],{},". That is the practical scale of the problem: seven hundred different sets of conditions behind superficially identical account pages.",[11,2949,2950,2951,2954,2955,2958],{},"Traders treat those differences as real. ",[49,2952,2953],{},"429 users run accounts at more than one broker",", and 699 run more than one account — ",[15,2956,2957],{"href":452},"comparing the same strategy across firms"," is a routine use of the platform, not an edge case.",[11,2960,2961,2962,364,2968,2971],{},"Regulation and evidence are separate questions, and both are thinly held: of the 10,000+ published accounts, ",[49,2963,2964,2965],{},"65 carry ",[15,2966,2967],{"href":2753},"Track Record Verified",[49,2969,2970],{},"264 carry Trading Privileges Verified",". A licence says the broker is supervised. Verification says the numbers on the page came out of that broker rather than out of a form.",[21,2973,132],{"id":131},[43,2975,2976,2995,3005],{},[46,2977,147,2978,2981,2982,2985,2986,2988,2989,2991,2992,223],{},[49,2979,2980],{},"account header"," carries a ",[49,2983,2984],{},"broker"," badge, with the trade server name in its tooltip, read from the terminal rather than typed in by the owner. Next to it sit the platform, the account currency, the leverage in force, and whether the account is a ",[49,2987,628],{},", a ",[49,2990,1040],{}," or a ",[49,2993,2994],{},"Contest Account",[46,2996,147,2997,2999,3000,377,3002,3004],{},[49,2998,352],{}," panel shows the live connection to that trade server — ",[49,3001,363],{},[49,3003,367],{}," and connection state — which is how the same strategy at two brokers stops being an argument and becomes a comparison.",[46,3006,147,3007,364,3009,3011],{},[49,3008,1047],{},[49,3010,1050],{}," badges in the same header carry the separate claim: Track Record verification means the data comes from the broker over a read-only investor connection, and Trading Privileges verification means the publisher proved control of the account.",[11,3013,3014],{},"We report which broker and server an account trades on. We do not rate brokers, rank regulators, or check licences — that is the regulator's register, not ours.",[21,3016,189],{"id":188},[421,3018,3019,3025,3031,3037],{},[46,3020,3021,3024],{},[49,3022,3023],{},"\"Regulated\" is not a single status."," It is per entity and per jurisdiction, and the offshore arm of a well-known brand carries offshore protections, not the parent's.",[46,3026,3027,3030],{},[49,3028,3029],{},"A licence is not a performance guarantee."," No regulator insures you against your own strategy.",[46,3032,3033,3036],{},[49,3034,3035],{},"Compensation schemes cover insolvency, not losses",", and they are capped well below the size of many funded accounts.",[46,3038,3039,3042],{},[49,3040,3041],{},"High leverage is not by itself evidence of a bad broker."," It tells you which regime the entity sits under, which is a different fact.",[11,3044,3045,3046,223],{},"For what to check before trusting any published record, read the guide on ",[15,3047,2798],{"href":2797},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":3049},[3050,3051,3052,3053,3054],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A regulated broker operates under a financial authority that enforces segregated funds, leverage caps and compensation schemes. What that does not cover.",{},[242,3058,1136,241],"what-is-a-margin-call",{"title":2818,"description":3055},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker","Regulated Broker","Vg-zQ5ytN69NxRR7LB9r-k7i_v0JSwbH3u5aWtX7lY8",{"id":3064,"title":3065,"body":3066,"category":232,"date":233,"description":3248,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":3249,"navigation":235,"path":88,"related":3250,"seo":3251,"stem":3252,"term":3253,"updated":233,"__hash__":3254},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread.md","What Is a Spread in Forex? Definition and Real Costs",{"type":8,"value":3067,"toc":3241},[3068,3071,3073,3076,3082,3089,3100,3114,3116,3123,3126,3128,3133,3139,3144,3150,3156,3158,3203,3205,3236],[11,3069,3070],{},"A spread is the difference between the bid price, at which you can sell, and the ask price, at which you can buy. It is what the broker charges for filling your order, and you pay it on every trade whether that trade wins or loses. On most retail accounts it is the largest single cost of trading and the only one that never appears as a line item on the statement.",[21,3072,24],{"id":23},[11,3074,3075],{},"If EUR\u002FUSD is quoted 1.08432 \u002F 1.08442, the spread is 1.0 pip. You buy at the ask and sell at the bid, so the position opens showing a loss equal to the spread. The trade has to cover that distance before it is flat.",[29,3077,3080],{"className":3078,"code":3079,"language":34},[32],"Spread (pips)   = (Ask − Bid) \u002F Pip size\nCost per trade  = Spread (pips) × Pip value × Lots\n",[36,3081,3079],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,3083,3084,3085,3088],{},"On a standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD the ",[15,3086,3087],{"href":535},"pip value"," is $10, so a 1.0 pip spread costs $10 per lot, charged once on the round turn.",[11,3090,3091,3092,3095,3096,3099],{},"There are two ways brokers price it. ",[49,3093,3094],{},"Spread-only"," accounts widen the quote and charge nothing else — the cost is buried in your fill price. ",[49,3097,3098],{},"Raw spread plus commission"," accounts quote close to the interbank price and bill the difference separately. The total can be identical; only the second model makes the cost visible.",[11,3101,3102,3103,3106,3107,3110,3111,3113],{},"Spreads are either ",[49,3104,3105],{},"fixed"," (constant, usually wider, quoted by a dealing desk) or ",[49,3108,3109],{},"variable"," (tracking real liquidity). Variable spreads sit near zero on majors during the London–New York overlap and widen sharply at economic releases, in the thin hour around the daily rollover, and at the Sunday open. The widening happens precisely when your ",[15,3112,1925],{"href":1924}," is most likely to be hit.",[21,3115,74],{"id":73},[11,3117,3118,3119,3122],{},"Spread scales with turnover, not with skill. A system targeting 5 pips per trade gives away ",[15,3120,3121],{"href":394},"20% of its gross edge"," to a 1-pip spread; a system targeting 200 pips gives away 0.5%. That single ratio decides whether a strategy survives at one broker and dies at another while the logic stays identical.",[11,3124,3125],{},"It also compounds invisibly. The median account published on ShowMyTrades closes 171 trades. One extra pip of spread across 171 standard lots is $1,710 — money that never shows anywhere except as a slightly worse equity curve.",[21,3127,107],{"id":106},[11,3129,110,3130,3132],{},[49,3131,117],{},". That is only the visible half of execution cost: the spread portion cannot be totalled the same way, because it is priced into the fill rather than charged as a separate line.",[11,3134,3135],{},[2498,3136],{"alt":3137,"src":3138},"The three broker cost lines: spread charged on every entry and exit and invisible in the P&L column, commission printed per trade, swap charged for time held — $4,782,670 in commissions and $862,547 in swap across public ShowMyTrades accounts","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwhere-costs-hide.svg",[11,3140,3141],{},[163,3142,3143],{},"Only one of the three arrives with a number attached to it.",[11,3145,3146,3147,3149],{},"The scale of that hidden half is easy to bound. Those accounts have traded ",[49,3148,322],{},". On a $10-per-pip instrument, a difference of just 0.2 pips in average spread across that volume is roughly $3.4 million — more than two thirds of all commissions ever recorded on the platform.",[11,3151,3152,3153,3155],{},"And the conditions genuinely differ: those accounts connect through ",[49,3154,315],{},", and 429 users run accounts at more than one broker precisely to compare them.",[21,3157,132],{"id":131},[43,3159,3160,3175,3184,3198],{},[46,3161,3162,374,3164,377,3166,364,3168,3170,3171,3174],{},[49,3163,373],{},[49,3165,143],{},[49,3167,380],{},[49,3169,383],{},". Divide the first by the second and you have ",[15,3172,3173],{"href":389},"that account's real commission per lot"," — a number brokers rarely publish in a comparable form.",[46,3176,3177,3178,3180,3181,223],{},"The most useful check is ",[49,3179,383],{}," against net profit. When an account is positive in pips but flat or negative in money, execution cost is consuming the edge. ",[15,3182,3183],{"href":83},"That gap is the spread and commission bill",[46,3185,147,3186,401,3188,2981,3190,3192,3193,364,3195,3197],{},[49,3187,400],{},[49,3189,404],{},[49,3191,2559],{}," column per ticket, alongside ",[49,3194,407],{},[49,3196,410],{},", so you can see what an individual fill actually cost.",[46,3199,147,3200,3202],{},[49,3201,2980],{}," carries the broker badge, with the trade server name in its tooltip, next to the account currency and leverage. That is what makes two accounts running the same strategy comparable at all.",[21,3204,189],{"id":188},[421,3206,3207,3213,3219,3225],{},[46,3208,3209,3212],{},[49,3210,3211],{},"\"Zero spread\" does not mean free."," Zero- or raw-spread accounts move the cost into commission. Compare the total, not the headline.",[46,3214,3215,3218],{},[49,3216,3217],{},"The advertised spread is a best case."," Brokers quote typical or minimum spreads measured in liquid hours. Your fills during a rate decision are a different number.",[46,3220,3221,3224],{},[49,3222,3223],{},"Spread is not on the statement, so people assume they are not paying it."," It is deducted at entry, before the trade exists as a row.",[46,3226,3227,947,3230,364,3232,3235],{},[49,3228,3229],{},"Spread alone does not rank a broker.",[15,3231,154],{"href":17},[15,3233,3234],{"href":924},"slippage"," belong in the same comparison, and a tight spread with poor execution is the more expensive deal.",[11,3237,3238,3239,223],{},"To put real numbers on your own instrument and lot size, see the ",[15,3240,2351],{"href":2350},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":3242},[3243,3244,3245,3246,3247],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A spread is the gap between the bid and ask price, the cost you pay to enter a trade. Here is how it works, what it costs per lot, and why brokers differ.",{},[240,468,467,1730],{"title":3065,"description":3248},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","Spread","_HiS3N0q5xG6kWJPv01Kjk02mu226hR7wa-SzSCJ0_U",{"id":3256,"title":3257,"body":3258,"category":888,"date":233,"description":3437,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":3438,"navigation":235,"path":1924,"related":3439,"seo":3440,"stem":3441,"term":3442,"updated":233,"__hash__":3443},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss.md","What Is a Stop Loss? Types, Limits and Real Numbers",{"type":8,"value":3259,"toc":3430},[3260,3263,3265,3268,3294,3297,3303,3309,3311,3317,3326,3328,3333,3338,3343,3346,3354,3357,3359,3395,3397,3425],[11,3261,3262],{},"A stop loss is an order placed in advance to close a position at a specified price, capping the loss on that trade. It is a decision made before the trade is open and handed to the broker's server, which is the entire point: it removes the exit from the moment when you will least want to take it. It caps intent, not outcome — the fill can be worse than the level.",[21,3264,24],{"id":23},[11,3266,3267],{},"Four variants cover almost everything in use.",[43,3269,3270,3276,3282,3288],{},[46,3271,3272,3275],{},[49,3273,3274],{},"Fixed stop."," A price level attached at entry and held on the broker's server. It survives a power cut, a crashed terminal and a lost connection, because it does not live on your machine.",[46,3277,3278,3281],{},[49,3279,3280],{},"Trailing stop."," Follows price in the profitable direction and never moves back. It locks in gains and also turns winners into break-even trades in noisy markets. In MetaTrader the built-in version is managed by the terminal, so it only works while the platform runs — which is why EAs trail by modifying the server-side stop instead.",[46,3283,3284,3287],{},[49,3285,3286],{},"Volatility-based stop."," Distance derived from current range, typically an ATR multiple, rather than a round number. The same 20-pip stop on EUR\u002FUSD and on gold is not the same risk.",[46,3289,3290,3293],{},[49,3291,3292],{},"Time stop."," Exit after N hours or bars regardless of price. Rare, and underused.",[11,3295,3296],{},"Sizing follows from the stop, not the other way round:",[29,3298,3301],{"className":3299,"code":3300,"language":34},[32],"Position size = (Equity × Risk %) ÷ (Stop distance in pips × Pip value)\n",[36,3302,3300],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,3304,3305,3306,3308],{},"Choosing a lot size first and then hunting for a stop that fits the margin is the most common way an account acquires an unbounded loss. The ",[15,3307,1475],{"href":1474}," runs it in the correct order.",[21,3310,74],{"id":73},[11,3312,3313,3314,3316],{},"A stop loss is a trigger, not a price guarantee. Once the level trades, the order becomes a market order and fills at the next available price. In a gap — a Monday reopen, a rate surprise, the Swiss franc in January 2015 — that price can be a long way past the level. The difference is ",[15,3315,3234],{"href":924},", and it has no ceiling. Only a guaranteed stop loss, sold by some brokers for a fee, fills at the stated price.",[11,3318,3319,3320,3322,3323,3325],{},"The deeper function is behavioural. Without a pre-committed exit, the decision to close a loser is taken while holding it — the worst possible moment. Everything downstream — ",[15,3321,1394],{"href":1393},", drawdown, whether a ",[15,3324,2929],{"href":1947}," ever arrives — is decided there.",[21,3327,107],{"id":106},[11,3329,760,3330,3332],{},[15,3331,2492],{"href":570}," is 68.8% and the median profit factor is 1.28. These describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,3334,3335],{},[2498,3336],{"alt":3337,"src":2501},"Median win rate of 68.8% beside a median profit factor of 1.28 across public ShowMyTrades accounts",[11,3339,3340],{},[163,3341,3342],{},"Winning often and earning little is the pattern a pre-committed exit exists to break.",[11,3344,3345],{},"Read them together, because separately each one flatters. Nearly seven trades in ten close green, yet gross profit is only 1.28 times gross loss. Both hold at once only if losers are substantially larger than winners: at a 68.8% win rate, a 1.28 profit factor implies an average loss roughly 1.7 times the average win. (Two medians of two distributions — an illustration, not one measured account, though the direction is not in doubt.)",[11,3347,3348,3349,3353],{},"That is the signature of taking profits early and letting losses run, and it is the pattern a stop loss exists to prevent. It surfaces again in the median ",[15,3350,3352],{"href":3351},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sharpe-ratio","Sharpe ratio"," of 0.05: return per unit of volatility barely above zero. The median account closes 171 trades, so this is not a thin sample.",[11,3355,3356],{},"Nor is it hand-made. Median autotrading share is 99%, and 53.9% of these accounts run above 90% automation. A missing stop loss there is a missing line of code, applied identically to every trade the system takes.",[21,3358,132],{"id":131},[43,3360,3361,3368,3375,3383,3388],{},[46,3362,147,3363,181,3365,3367],{},[49,3364,150],{},[49,3366,413],{}," column showing the stop price recorded on each position, marked in red when the trade was actually closed by it. Hundreds of rows with an empty S\u002FL column means the account trades without pre-committed exits.",[46,3369,3370,364,3372,3374],{},[49,3371,598],{},[49,3373,601],{}," in the advanced statistics. If Avg. Loss is a multiple of Avg. Win, stops are either absent or being moved.",[46,3376,3377,364,3380,3382],{},[49,3378,3379],{},"Worst Trade (P&L)",[49,3381,2250],{},". The largest single loss the account has taken is the real stop loss, whatever the description claims.",[46,3384,3385,3387],{},[49,3386,604],{},", shown in pips and account currency, is the per-trade average once wins and losses are combined — the number a high win rate cannot flatter.",[46,3389,3390,3394],{},[15,3391,3392],{"href":171},[49,3393,174],{},", in the same block, exposes the asymmetry: losers that last days and winners that last minutes.",[21,3396,189],{"id":188},[43,3398,3399,3405,3413,3419],{},[46,3400,3401,3404],{},[49,3402,3403],{},"\"A stop loss guarantees my maximum loss.\""," It caps the trigger, not the fill. Gaps and thin books fill worse, sometimes far worse.",[46,3406,3407,3410,3411,223],{},[49,3408,3409],{},"\"Wider stops are safer.\""," A wider stop at the same lot size is a larger loss. Distance and size are one decision, not two — see ",[15,3412,1399],{"href":1398},[46,3414,3415,3418],{},[49,3416,3417],{},"\"Moving the stop gives the trade room.\""," Moving a stop away from price converts a defined loss into an undefined one. This single habit produces the Avg. Loss to Avg. Win gap above.",[46,3420,3421,3424],{},[49,3422,3423],{},"\"My win rate is high enough that I do not need stops.\""," Backwards. The median account here already wins 68.8% of its trades and still only reaches a 1.28 profit factor.",[11,3426,3427,3428,223],{},"For what to watch on your own record over time, see ",[15,3429,2611],{"href":2113},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":3431},[3432,3433,3434,3435,3436],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A stop loss is a pre-committed exit order that closes a losing trade at a set price. Types, why it is not a guarantee, and what thousands of real accounts show.",{},[1516,1730,468],{"title":3257,"description":3437},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","Stop Loss","AAYa1iiPaOMw4kuu8v5SZJKK5hmXtrG8EOOybDzr9vg",{"id":3445,"title":3446,"body":3447,"category":232,"date":233,"description":3629,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":3630,"navigation":235,"path":17,"related":3631,"seo":3633,"stem":3634,"term":154,"updated":233,"__hash__":3635},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex.md","What Is a Swap in Forex? Overnight Costs Explained",{"type":8,"value":3448,"toc":3622},[3449,3452,3454,3461,3467,3477,3483,3493,3495,3503,3506,3508,3517,3523,3528,3539,3541,3582,3584,3613],[11,3450,3451],{},"A swap, also called rollover or overnight financing, is the interest debited from or credited to your account for holding a position past the broker's daily rollover time. It exists because every forex trade borrows one currency to buy another, so you pay the interest rate on the one you are short and earn it on the one you are long. Hold a position for an afternoon and swap is irrelevant; hold it for three months and it can outweigh the trade.",[21,3453,24],{"id":23},[11,3455,3456,3457,3460],{},"The raw driver is the difference between the ",[15,3458,3459],{"href":238},"interest rates"," of the two currencies in the pair, adjusted by the broker's own markup, then divided across the year and applied to your position size.",[29,3462,3465],{"className":3463,"code":3464,"language":34},[32],"Nightly swap ≈ Position size × (Rate differential − Broker markup) \u002F 365\n",[36,3466,3464],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,3468,3469,3470,999,3473,3476],{},"In practice brokers do not publish it as a rate. They publish a ",[49,3471,3472],{},"swap long",[49,3474,3475],{},"swap short"," figure per lot, in points or in account currency, in the contract specification for each symbol. You are charged whichever side you hold, once per night, at rollover — typically 21:00 or 22:00 UTC depending on the broker's server time.",[11,3478,3479,3482],{},[49,3480,3481],{},"Triple swap Wednesday"," is not a penalty. Spot FX settles two business days forward, so a position held through Wednesday night settles on Monday and carries three days of financing, charged in one go. Some brokers apply the triple charge on Friday instead for metals, indices and CFDs, which is why the day matters and the rule is not universal.",[11,3484,3485,3488,3489,3492],{},[49,3486,3487],{},"Positive carry"," is real but narrow. Being long the higher-yielding currency can earn swap rather than pay it, which is the mechanism behind ",[15,3490,3491],{"href":96},"carry trades",". The broker's markup is applied to both sides, so on many pairs both directions are negative, and the pair where carry is genuinely positive is usually the pair where the currency is falling.",[21,3494,74],{"id":73},[11,3496,3497,3498,3502],{},"Swap is the cost that punishes holding, and specifically punishes holding losers. A grid or martingale system that refuses to close underwater positions pays financing on those positions every single night for as long as it holds them, so the cost grows in step with the mistake. The ",[15,3499,3501],{"href":3500},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","equity curve"," looks flat while the account bleeds.",[11,3504,3505],{},"It also changes what a strategy is. A system with a positive edge over two days can be net negative over two weeks purely on financing, without a single new losing trade.",[21,3507,107],{"id":106},[11,3509,2187,3510,3512,3513,3516],{},[49,3511,1020],{}," has been paid in swap. Of the accounts with any swap activity at all, ",[49,3514,3515],{},"86.3% pay net negative swap"," — earning carry is the exception, not a plan.",[11,3518,3519],{},[2498,3520],{"alt":3521,"src":3522},"An account falling every night while the price stays unchanged, Wednesday charged triple: 86.3% of ShowMyTrades accounts carrying swap pay it rather than earn it","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fswap-bleed.svg",[11,3524,3525],{},[163,3526,3527],{},"Financing accrues on time held, not on trades taken — the chart can stay flat while the balance sinks.",[11,3529,3530,3531,2520,3533,3535,3536,3538],{},"What makes that total striking is how short the typical holding period is. The median trade on those accounts lasts ",[49,3532,2003],{},[49,3534,770],{},". Most accounts here barely touch rollover, and swap still amounts to roughly 18% of the ",[49,3537,1016],{}," paid in commissions, which suggests the bill is concentrated on the minority of accounts that hold.",[21,3540,132],{"id":131},[43,3542,3543,3553,3567,3575],{},[46,3544,3545,1436,3547,3549,3550,3552],{},[49,3546,139],{},[49,3548,373],{}," panel, next to ",[49,3551,143],{},". It is coloured red when the account is net negative on financing and green when it is net positive, so the direction is readable at a glance.",[46,3554,147,3555,401,3557,2288,3559,3192,3561,3563,3564,3566],{},[49,3556,400],{},[49,3558,404],{},[49,3560,154],{},[49,3562,2559],{},". Note that the profit column is labelled ",[49,3565,2553],{}," — the financing is shown separately, not folded in.",[46,3568,3569,3571,3572,3574],{},[49,3570,180],{}," carries a toggle, ",[163,3573,184],{},". Switch it on and off and the difference in the resulting statistics is exactly what the broker's financing did to the record.",[46,3576,3577,3581],{},[15,3578,3579],{"href":171},[49,3580,174],{}," in Advanced Statistics tells you whether swap should matter for that account before you even look at the figure. A two-hour average and a large swap bill do not belong together.",[21,3583,189],{"id":188},[421,3585,3586,3592,3598,3607],{},[46,3587,3588,3591],{},[49,3589,3590],{},"Swap is not a service fee."," It is financing, and it can be paid to you. The broker's markup is the fee, and it is applied in both directions.",[46,3593,3594,3597],{},[49,3595,3596],{},"Triple swap is a settlement convention, not a charge for trading on Wednesday."," Closing before rollover avoids it entirely.",[46,3599,3600,3603,3604,3606],{},[49,3601,3602],{},"Carry is not free money."," The interest differential is small relative to the currency move that typically erases it, and ",[15,3605,1832],{"href":101}," magnifies the move far more than the carry.",[46,3608,3609,3612],{},[49,3610,3611],{},"A flat chart is not a costless month."," Financing on open positions accrues whether or not any trade closes.",[11,3614,3615,3616,3618,3619,223],{},"For how swap fits alongside ",[15,3617,89],{"href":88}," and the rest of the metrics on a public account, read the ",[15,3620,3621],{"href":2113},"guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":3623},[3624,3625,3626,3627,3628],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A swap is the interest charged or paid for holding a forex position overnight. How it is calculated, why Wednesday is triple, and what thousands of accounts pay.",{},[241,3632,242,468],"what-are-interest-rates",{"title":3446,"description":3629},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","yHH22IHFSk2H-v9OC6elWwuiadT_ry9LGlqsLULYmM8",{"id":3637,"title":3638,"body":3639,"category":3886,"date":233,"description":3887,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":3888,"navigation":235,"path":3889,"related":3890,"seo":3892,"stem":3893,"term":1047,"updated":233,"__hash__":3894},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record.md","What Is a Track Record in Trading?",{"type":8,"value":3640,"toc":3879},[3641,3647,3649,3652,3691,3694,3700,3703,3705,3708,3714,3716,3730,3733,3739,3744,3761,3773,3775,3793,3805,3840,3842,3872],[11,3642,3643,3644,223],{},"A track record is the documented history of a trading account: every closed trade, the equity path those trades produced, and the periods in between. It records what happened; it is not a claim about what will. This entry covers what a record must contain and how long it has to run before it means anything. Whether the data can be trusted at all is answered by a ",[15,3645,3646],{"href":2753},"verified track record",[21,3648,24],{"id":23},[11,3650,3651],{},"A record that carries evidence is trade-level, not summary-level. The minimum contents:",[43,3653,3654,3660,3670,3676,3682],{},[46,3655,3656,3659],{},[49,3657,3658],{},"Every closed trade",", with open and close time, instrument, direction, volume, both prices and the result.",[46,3661,3662,3665,3666,3669],{},[49,3663,3664],{},"The cost of each trade"," — ",[15,3667,3668],{"href":394},"commission and swap"," kept separate from gross profit — because a summary that nets them together hides where the money went.",[46,3671,3672,3675],{},[49,3673,3674],{},"The equity path",", so the order of results is visible. A profit factor reads the same whether the losses came first or last; the curve does not.",[46,3677,3678,3681],{},[49,3679,3680],{},"The gaps."," Months without trading are information, as are deposits and withdrawals, which change what a percentage means.",[46,3683,3684,3687,3688,3690],{},[49,3685,3686],{},"The cost that cannot be shown",", acknowledged: the ",[15,3689,89],{"href":88}," sits inside every fill price and appears in no field.",[11,3692,3693],{},"Length runs on two independent clocks, and they do not convert into each other.",[29,3695,3698],{"className":3696,"code":3697,"language":34},[32],"Trade count    -> how much evidence there is about the edge\nCalendar time  -> how many market conditions the edge has met\n",[36,3699,3697],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,3701,3702],{},"A high-frequency system can print 500 trades in a month and still have seen one month of one market. A swing trader reaching 500 trades has lived through years. Read both clocks; the shorter one governs.",[21,3704,74],{"id":73},[11,3706,3707],{},"A track record can prove a strategy loses money long before it can prove one makes money. Profits accumulate slowly and are easily produced by luck; the failure mode arrives all at once.",[11,3709,3710,3711,3713],{},"This is why ",[15,3712,2471],{"href":740}," is the figure that ages worst. It can only grow. A record showing 4% is not a record of a low-risk strategy but of a strategy whose worst day has not happened yet, and every additional month can only enlarge that number or leave it alone.",[21,3715,107],{"id":106},[11,3717,3718,3719,3722,3723,3726,3727,3729],{},"Across the published accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history — drawn from 10,000+ connected accounts and ",[49,3720,3721],{},"15,436,464"," synchronised trades — the median account has ",[49,3724,3725],{},"171"," closed trades and a median trade length of ",[49,3728,2003],{},". These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,3731,3732],{},"Read those together. At 2.4 hours per position, 171 trades is not years of history; for an active system it can be weeks of calendar time. The median public record is thin on both clocks at once, which is the normal condition of a track record rather than an unusual one.",[11,3734,3735],{},[2498,3736],{"alt":3737,"src":3738},"Three months is a sample, six a hint, twelve an argument, twenty-four months a track record; the median account here holds 171 closed trades of 2.4 hours each","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fsample-size.svg",[11,3740,3741],{},[163,3742,3743],{},"Count the trades, not the calendar, and let the shorter clock govern.",[11,3745,3746,3747,3749,3750,3752,3753,3755,3756,520,3758,3760],{},"The consequence shows in the risk figures. Median deepest drawdown is ",[49,3748,562],{},", yet ",[49,3751,1211],{}," of accounts have been more than 20% below their peak and ",[49,3754,2698],{}," more than 50%. Median time-weighted return is ",[49,3757,558],{},[49,3759,1006],{}," positive. Those tails belong to the longer records; short ones have not had the chance to produce them.",[11,3762,3763,3764,3766,3767,1003,3769,3772],{},"One pair is worth reading side by side: median win rate ",[49,3765,574],{},", median profit factor ",[49,3768,566],{},[15,3770,3771],{"href":570},"Most published accounts win most of their trades and still clear almost nothing"," — what a record measures and a headline never does.",[21,3774,132],{"id":131},[11,3776,3777,3778,3780,3781,3783,3784,3786,3787,3789,3790,3792],{},"The account page is the track record. The trade clock sits in the ",[49,3779,373],{}," module as ",[49,3782,2054],{},", beside ",[49,3785,174],{},"; multiply the two and you have the time the account actually spent holding positions. The calendar clock is read from the ",[49,3788,813],{}," table, which shows the record month by month with empty cells left empty, so a pause in trading stays visible instead of being averaged away; its ",[49,3791,817],{}," view drills into a single month day by day.",[11,3794,3795,3796,374,3798,364,3801,3804],{},"The information icon beside ",[49,3797,827],{},[49,3799,3800],{},"Created",[49,3802,3803],{},"Public views",". Created is the date the account was connected to ShowMyTrades, not the date its trading began — imported broker history routinely starts years earlier, so take the span from the monthly table rather than from that date.",[11,3806,3807,3808,3810,3811,3814,3815,377,3817,364,3819,3821,3822,3825,3826,377,3829,377,3831,377,3834,364,3837,3839],{},"Trade-level detail sits in the ",[49,3809,404],{}," table, one row per position, with ",[49,3812,3813],{},"Net P\u002FL"," always shown and ",[49,3816,2553],{},[49,3818,154],{},[49,3820,2559],{}," available as separate columns from the ",[49,3823,3824],{},"Display"," menu. The charts panel switches between ",[49,3827,3828],{},"Growth",[49,3830,1874],{},[49,3832,3833],{},"Profit",[49,3835,3836],{},"Growth by Trade",[49,3838,833],{},"; Growth by Trade replaces the calendar clock with the trade clock on the same data. Owners can hide individual modules from the public view.",[21,3841,189],{"id":188},[43,3843,3844,3850,3856,3866],{},[46,3845,3846,3849],{},[49,3847,3848],{},"\"It has been running two years, so it is a long record.\""," Two years of nine trades is nine samples. Check the trade count before the start date.",[46,3851,3852,3855],{},[49,3853,3854],{},"\"A track record proves the strategy works.\""," It documents an outcome. Whether that outcome is edge or luck is a sample-size question, and most records are too short to answer it.",[46,3857,3858,3861,3862,3865],{},[49,3859,3860],{},"\"Published means verified.\""," They are different properties. A record can be complete, detailed and ",[15,3863,3864],{"href":1123},"entirely fabricated","; provenance is what the certification badges address.",[46,3867,3868,3871],{},[49,3869,3870],{},"\"The drawdown figure is settled.\""," It is a running maximum. It never falls, and on a young account it mostly describes what has not happened yet.",[11,3873,3874,3875,223],{},"For the arithmetic of sample size and the minimums worth applying: ",[15,3876,3878],{"href":3877},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","how long before a track record means anything",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":3880},[3881,3882,3883,3884,3885],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Verification","A track record is the documented history of a trading account. What it must contain, how long it has to run to carry evidence, and what real accounts show.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record",[1136,894,1730,3891],"what-is-cost-percentage",{"title":3638,"description":3887},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","K1aCBd9ixIw5BopJGReJHccEjG4V66m99Stl3sOBbKM",{"id":3896,"title":3897,"body":3898,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":4061,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":4062,"navigation":235,"path":657,"related":4063,"seo":4065,"stem":4066,"term":4067,"updated":233,"__hash__":4068},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-trading-portfolio.md","What Is a Trading Portfolio? Accounts as One Curve",{"type":8,"value":3899,"toc":4054},[3900,3903,3905,3908,3914,3924,3935,3937,3940,3948,3950,3964,3980,3982,3999,4011,4017,4019,4048],[11,3901,3902],{},"A trading portfolio is a set of connected accounts merged into a single equity curve, with every statistic recomputed on that curve as though it had always been one account. It is not a summary screen sitting on top of several accounts; it is one account rebuilt from all of their trades.",[21,3904,24],{"id":23},[11,3906,3907],{},"The distinction that matters is between combining the results and combining the data.",[29,3909,3912],{"className":3910,"code":3911,"language":34},[32],"Wrong:  portfolio return = (R₁ + R₂ + R₃) \u002F 3\n\nRight:  merge every closed trade and every daily equity point\n        into one curve, then compute TWR, drawdown and the\n        ratios on that curve\n",[36,3913,3911],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,3915,3916,3917,3919,3920,3923],{},"The merge happens server-side, and its rules explain most of the surprises. Trades from every selected account are pooled and sorted by close time. Daily balance and equity are summed date by date, and an account that reported nothing that day contributes its last known value, not a zero. Gain is a ",[15,3918,554],{"href":553}," recomputed on the merged curve, never an average of members. Drawdown is recomputed there too, as equity against the running peak of merged balance. Broker, currency and account name resolve to the shared value when every member agrees, and to ",[49,3921,3922],{},"Mixed"," when they do not.",[11,3925,3926,3927,3930,3931,3934],{},"Between 1 and 50 accounts go into a portfolio, and a user can hold up to 30; MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker can mix freely. Currencies are ",[49,3928,3929],{},"not"," converted: balance, equity and profit are summed as the brokers report them, so a EUR account beside a USD one gives a total that is not money in any currency. ",[15,3932,3933],{"href":676},"Cent accounts"," are worse — USC is normalised to USD for the label, so the portfolio will not even mark itself Mixed while reporting totals a hundred times too large.",[21,3936,74],{"id":73},[11,3938,3939],{},"Because the three intuitive ways to combine accounts are all wrong. Summing balances rewards you for moving your own money around. Averaging percentages lets +40% on a $500 account cancel −5% on a $50,000 one, when the money says roughly −4.6%. Quoting the best account is survivorship bias applied to yourself.",[11,3941,3942,3943,3947],{},"The merged curve also answers what the individual pages cannot: whether the second account diversified anything. A combined drawdown in percent cannot be worse than your deepest single account — a blend cannot fall further than its worst component. Where it lands under that ceiling is decided by ",[15,3944,3946],{"href":3945},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-correlation-risk","correlation"," and little else. Correlated accounts land beside the worst one, and in cash the loss is the sum of all of them.",[21,3949,107],{"id":106},[11,3951,3952,3953,364,3956,3959,3960,3963],{},"Running several accounts is the normal case on ShowMyTrades: ",[49,3954,3955],{},"699 users have more than one account",[49,3957,3958],{},"429 of those hold accounts at more than one broker",". Yet only ",[49,3961,3962],{},"182 portfolios"," exist platform-wide (August 2026) — a fraction of the people the feature was built for.",[11,3965,3966,3967,364,3969,3972,3973,3976,3977,3979],{},"Correlation is the default, because the accounts are usually automated: across the published accounts with history the ",[49,3968,1594],{},[49,3970,3971],{},"53.9% are more than 90% automated",". The same ",[15,3974,3975],{"href":799},"EA"," on three accounts is one strategy with three sets of costs. For scale, median deepest drawdown is ",[49,3978,562],{}," and 38.2% of accounts have been more than 20% underwater.",[21,3981,132],{"id":131},[11,3983,3984,3985,3988,3989,3992,3993,3996,3997,223],{},"Portfolios live under ",[49,3986,3987],{},"Dashboard → Portfolios",", built by naming one and ticking accounts from a checkbox list. The page reuses the account layout — stats panel, charts viewer, Monthly Returns, Advanced Statistics, currency pair breakdown, trades table — every figure computed on the merged data. Publishing one produces a public page on the same ",[36,3990,3991],{},"\u002Faccount\u002F"," path, under a slug generated from the name and prefixed ",[36,3994,3995],{},"ptf-"," — fixed once created, where an account slug can be edited. Visibility offers the same three states as an account: private, published or ",[15,3998,1238],{"href":1237},[11,4000,4001,4002,4006,4007,4010],{},"One control exists only here: ",[15,4003,4004],{"href":1667},[49,4005,180],{}," gains an ",[49,4008,4009],{},"Accounts"," section, one chip per member labelled with the short account ID. Deselect one and every statistic recomputes without it, answering \"what does this look like without the martingale account\" in a click.",[11,4012,4013,4014,4016],{},"Two things do not carry over. A ",[15,4015,3646],{"href":2753}," is not shown: it belongs to a single account and its investor password, and the portfolio record does not store the field at all. Terminal Info is requested but the backend has no aggregate to return, so the section stays empty — ping, build and autotrading state stay on the individual account pages.",[21,4018,189],{"id":188},[43,4020,4021,4027,4033,4039],{},[46,4022,4023,4026],{},[49,4024,4025],{},"\"My portfolio gain should match the average of my accounts.\""," It should not. It is one time-weighted return on one curve, so a large account dominates and a small account with a spectacular percentage barely registers.",[46,4028,4029,4032],{},[49,4030,4031],{},"\"Adding accounts reduces drawdown.\""," Only if their troughs fall on different dates. Compare dates on each account's drawdown chart, not depths.",[46,4034,4035,4038],{},[49,4036,4037],{},"\"Shifting money between my own accounts distorts it.\""," Gain will not move: time-weighted return treats a transfer as a balance change, not a return. If both accounts sit in the same portfolio, one side's withdrawal offsets the other's deposit in the merged balance too.",[46,4040,4041,4044,4045,4047],{},[49,4042,4043],{},"\"A dead account in the portfolio is harmless.\""," Its last equity is carried forward as a flat line, which dilutes the return and softens the ",[15,4046,701],{"href":740}," percentage. Reconnect it or remove it.",[11,4049,4050,4051,223],{},"The build flow, the correlation test and the five ways people flatter themselves are in ",[15,4052,4053],{"href":1612},"the multi-account portfolio guide",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":4055},[4056,4057,4058,4059,4060],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A portfolio merges several trading accounts into one equity curve, so gain and drawdown are recomputed on the whole thing instead of averaged across accounts.",{},[2364,4064,894,1333],"what-is-correlation-risk",{"title":3897,"description":4061},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-trading-portfolio","Trading Portfolio","Zv3ZB8Usns1vud6prYE4fy7T7XX2Hlb8SPJXWTRXpK4",{"id":4070,"title":4071,"body":4072,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":4329,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":4330,"navigation":235,"path":4331,"related":4332,"seo":4334,"stem":4335,"term":4336,"updated":233,"__hash__":4337},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-trading-widget.md","What Is a Trading Widget? Live Embeds Explained",{"type":8,"value":4073,"toc":4321},[4074,4077,4079,4082,4141,4148,4191,4202,4204,4215,4223,4225,4239,4256,4258,4279,4282,4284,4314],[11,4075,4076],{},"A trading widget is an embeddable view of a live trading account that renders inside somebody else's page. The visitor's browser requests the data from ShowMyTrades as the page loads, down the same path the public account page uses, so no copy of the numbers sits in the middle waiting to be edited.",[21,4078,24],{"id":23},[11,4080,4081],{},"Three formats travel differently, and the difference decides what the reader is actually looking at.",[1761,4083,4084,4097],{},[1764,4085,4086],{},[1767,4087,4088,4091,4094],{},[1770,4089,4090],{},"Format",[1770,4092,4093],{},"What it is",[1770,4095,4096],{},"How it updates",[1780,4098,4099,4112,4128],{},[1767,4100,4101,4106,4109],{},[1785,4102,4103],{},[49,4104,4105],{},"Interactive iframe",[1785,4107,4108],{},"The widget page rendered inside a frame on your site",[1785,4110,4111],{},"Refetched on every page load",[1767,4113,4114,4119,4125],{},[1785,4115,4116],{},[49,4117,4118],{},"Dynamic Image",[1785,4120,4121,4122],{},"A PNG or SVG served through ",[36,4123,4124],{},"\u002Fapi\u002Fwidget-image\u002F…",[1785,4126,4127],{},"Rebuilt on the backend after each data sync; browsers cache it 15 minutes",[1767,4129,4130,4135,4138],{},[1785,4131,4132],{},[49,4133,4134],{},"Static Image",[1785,4136,4137],{},"A file you download once",[1785,4139,4140],{},"Never",[11,4142,4143,4144,4147],{},"Only the iframe is a live embed. It offers ",[49,4145,4146],{},"seven types",": Stats Card (400×212), Stats Inline (750×80), Equity Curve, Monthly Returns, Currency Pair Stats, Trade History Table and Complete Dashboard. The two Stats types read balance, equity, gain and drawdown straight from stored account metadata, which is why they load fast and keep a fixed height.",[11,4149,4150,4151,4154,4155,377,4158,377,4161,377,4164,377,4167,377,4170,377,4173,377,4175,377,4178,377,4181,364,4184,4187,4188,4190],{},"The Dynamic Image path is not interactive, but nor is it frozen: the endpoint proxies a file the backend rebuilds whenever the account syncs new data. ",[49,4152,4153],{},"Eleven types"," exist — ",[36,4156,4157],{},"stats",[36,4159,4160],{},"stats-inline",[36,4162,4163],{},"growth-daily",[36,4165,4166],{},"growth-trade",[36,4168,4169],{},"balance",[36,4171,4172],{},"profit",[36,4174,701],{},[36,4176,4177],{},"growth-mini",[36,4179,4180],{},"summary",[36,4182,4183],{},"monthly",[36,4185,4186],{},"currency-pair"," — each in light, dark or transparent, as PNG or SVG, with ",[36,4189,4166],{}," forced to PNG. The Static Image is the only genuinely frozen option: it is the moment you clicked download, and it stays that moment forever.",[11,4192,4193,4194,4197,4198,4201],{},"Every variable-height widget — all but the two Stats types — ships with a few lines of JavaScript that measure the rendered height and post it to the parent page. Widget pages are served with ",[36,4195,4196],{},"frame-ancestors *"," and open CORS so any domain can host them, marked ",[36,4199,4200],{},"noindex"," so they never compete with your own account page, and rate-limited to 50 requests per second and 300 per minute per IP.",[21,4203,74],{"id":73},[11,4205,4206,4207,4210,4211,4214],{},"Because a screenshot is a picture of numbers, and ",[15,4208,4209],{"href":1123},"anyone can make a picture of numbers",". An embed is a request to the source, made by the reader's own browser, with a footer linking back to ",[36,4212,4213],{},"\u002Faccount\u002F{your-slug}"," — six of the seven interactive widgets carry a \"Verified by ShowMyTrades.com\" link, and Stats Inline shrinks it to a bare arrow glyph because it has 80 pixels to work with. The widget shows the flattering part; the link exposes the drawdown, the red months and the costs.",[11,4216,4217,4218,4222],{},"Renaming does not break the embed: ",[15,4219,4221],{"href":4220},"\u002Fguides\u002Fpublic-profile-and-custom-slugs","retired slugs"," are resolved by both the iframe endpoint and the image proxy before either gives up. Slugs change at most once every 30 days, with a one-hour correction window.",[21,4224,107],{"id":106},[11,4226,4227,4228,4231,4232,223],{},"Public account pages on ShowMyTrades have been visited ",[49,4229,4230],{},"94,710 times"," (August 2026). That is the traffic an embed buys: readers who saw a claim elsewhere and came to check what it omitted. The scepticism is warranted — of the published accounts with history, ",[49,4233,4234,4235,4238],{},"38.2% have been ",[15,4236,4237],{"href":740},"more than 20% underwater"," and 17.6% more than 50%",[11,4240,4241,4242,364,4247,4250,4251,364,4253,4255],{},"The click is worth more when there is something to find. Out of 10,000+ published pages, only ",[49,4243,4244,4245],{},"65 carry a ",[15,4246,3646],{"href":2753},[49,4248,4249],{},"264 verified trading privileges","; on the page those are the ",[49,4252,1047],{},[49,4254,1050],{}," badges, green when confirmed and grey with a warning icon when not. The Complete Dashboard renders both inside the frame.",[21,4257,132],{"id":131},[11,4259,4260,4261,4264,4265,4270,4271,4274,4275,4278],{},"The Widget Builder lives at ",[49,4262,4263],{},"Dashboard → Widgets"," when you are logged in, and at ",[15,4266,4268],{"href":4267},"\u002Fwidgets",[36,4269,4267],{}," when you are not, where it works on any public account. The fastest route is the ",[49,4272,4273],{},"Embed widget"," button — the ",[36,4276,4277],{},"\u003C\u002F>"," icon on any public account page — which opens the builder on that account with the Equity Curve preselected. You pick format, type, a width in pixels or percent and a theme; the Equity Curve and Complete Dashboard add colour pickers and series switches for all five chart groups. Then copy the iframe HTML, or the HTML, Markdown and BBCode snippets on the image path.",[11,4280,4281],{},"Privacy carries into the embed. All seven Privacy Options in account settings — Open Trades, Closed Trades, Account Number, Lots, Trade Comments, Stop Loss \u002F Take Profit, Trade Notes — are passed to the Trade History widget, so a column hidden on your public page is hidden inside the frame as well.",[21,4283,189],{"id":188},[43,4285,4286,4292,4298,4308],{},[46,4287,4288,4291],{},[49,4289,4290],{},"\"A widget is just a nicer screenshot.\""," The iframe refetches on every page load. Nothing about it is a stored copy.",[46,4293,4294,4297],{},[49,4295,4296],{},"\"The image version can be edited like a screenshot.\""," The Dynamic Image is regenerated server-side from your data. The Static Image genuinely is frozen — which is what it is for, and why it belongs in slide decks rather than sales pages.",[46,4299,4300,4303,4304,4307],{},[49,4301,4302],{},"\"I can embed a private account.\""," You cannot. Widgets serve published accounts only. ",[15,4305,4306],{"href":1237},"Unlisted accounts"," work fine, since they are published, just hidden from discovery.",[46,4309,4310,4313],{},[49,4311,4312],{},"\"The resize script is optional.\""," Remove it and the widget renders in a fixed box with a scrollbar inside. It is the most common broken embed.",[11,4315,4316,4317,223],{},"Formats, sizes, placement and the five mistakes that ruin an embed are covered in ",[15,4318,4320],{"href":4319},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-widgets-and-embeds","the widget and embeds guide",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":4322},[4323,4324,4325,4326,4327],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Platforms","A trading widget embeds a live broker-synced account inside another website. Three formats, seven interactive views, eleven image types, and no screenshots.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-trading-widget",[1333,1136,2811,4333],"what-is-a-trading-portfolio",{"title":4071,"description":4329},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-trading-widget","Trading Widget","Ku4JCEZgaT1VoKUnSrvHB6AKz_A-AUdETgTR4Ge4sVY",{"id":4339,"title":4340,"body":4341,"category":3886,"date":233,"description":4499,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":4500,"navigation":235,"path":2753,"related":4501,"seo":4504,"stem":4505,"term":4506,"updated":233,"__hash__":4507},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record.md","What Is a Verified Track Record? Definition and Checks",{"type":8,"value":4342,"toc":4492},[4343,4346,4348,4370,4376,4379,4385,4390,4392,4400,4403,4405,4414,4425,4427,4443,4454,4456,4485],[11,4344,4345],{},"A verified track record is a record of trading results that arrives directly from the broker through a read-only connection, continuously, with no step in the chain where the publisher can edit, delete or re-order anything. It is the difference between a claim and evidence. Two separate questions hide inside the phrase, and most arguments about verification come from confusing them.",[21,4347,24],{"id":23},[11,4349,4350,4351,377,4355,4359,4360,4364,4365,4369],{},"The first question is whether the data is real. That is answered by the connection itself: a channel that can read the account but never write to it, running without interruption, so the record is built continuously rather than exported at a convenient moment. On ShowMyTrades that channel is one of four — an Expert Advisor installed in MetaTrader 4 or 5, a direct connection using the ",[15,4352,4354],{"href":4353},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","MT4 investor password",[15,4356,4358],{"href":4357},"\u002Fctrader-account-tracking","cTrader OAuth2 authorisation",", or the ",[15,4361,4363],{"href":4362},"\u002Ftradelocker-tracking","TradeLocker REST API",". None of them can place, modify or close an order. Read-only credentials are the industry mechanism for this, and third-party trackers such as ",[15,4366,4368],{"href":4367},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-myfxbook","Myfxbook"," connect MetaTrader accounts the same way.",[29,4371,4374],{"className":4372,"code":4373,"language":34},[32],"broker server → read-only connection → ShowMyTrades → public page\n                no editable step anywhere in the chain\n",[36,4375,4373],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,4377,4378],{},"The second question is whether the person publishing the page owns the account. A read-only feed proves the trades exist; it does not prove whose they are, because an investor password can be handed to anyone. Closing that gap requires an action only someone with trading rights can perform: placing a pending order at an unreachable price with the publisher's user ID in the comment field. On cTrader, one OAuth authorisation answers both questions at once.",[11,4380,4381],{},[2498,4382],{"alt":4383,"src":4384},"Track Record Verified answers whether the data arrived from the broker through a channel that cannot place, modify or close an order; Trading Privileges Verified answers whether the publisher controls the account","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Ftwo-badges.svg",[11,4386,4387],{},[163,4388,4389],{},"A record can pass one and fail the other, which is why they are counted separately.",[21,4391,74],{"id":73},[11,4393,4394,4395,2487,4397,4399],{},"Everything downstream of the connection is arithmetic. If the inputs can be edited, the profit factor, the ",[15,4396,701],{"href":700},[15,4398,3501],{"href":3500}," are all decoration, no matter how detailed the page looks. A screenshot, a PDF statement and a spreadsheet share the same defect: they are produced by the person asking you to trust them.",[11,4401,4402],{},"Continuity matters as much as read-only access. A record that can be paused and resumed lets a bad month disappear. When the feed is continuous, an interruption is itself visible on the page — which is information, not an absence of it.",[21,4404,107],{"id":106},[11,4406,4407,4408,364,4411,4413],{},"Verification is opt-in and requires effort, and the numbers reflect that. Across the 10,000+ accounts published on ShowMyTrades (August 2026), only ",[49,4409,4410],{},"65 carry Track Record Verified",[49,4412,2970],{},". More accounts prove ownership than prove data provenance, because placing one pending order is easier than changing a password at the broker.",[11,4415,4416,4417,555,4419,4421,4422,4424],{},"Verified does not mean good. Across the public accounts with trading history, median ",[15,4418,554],{"href":553},[49,4420,558],{},", 63.0% are positive, and the median deepest drawdown is ",[49,4423,562],{}," — with 17.6% of accounts having lost more than half their peak value at some point. That distribution, built from 15,436,464 synchronised trades, is what an honest record looks like, and it is nothing like the ones used in advertising.",[21,4426,132],{"id":131},[11,4428,4429,4430,4432,4433,364,4435,4437,4438,516,4440,4442],{},"Both badges sit in the ",[49,4431,1034],{}," group in the header of every account page, above the numbers: ",[49,4434,1047],{},[49,4436,1050],{},", green when granted and grey when not, each with a tooltip explaining what it certifies for that platform. The same group also shows ",[49,4439,628],{},[49,4441,1040],{},", derived from the broker server rather than self-declared.",[11,4444,4445,4446,4449,4450,4453],{},"Verification is managed in the account settings, where the ",[49,4447,4448],{},"Investor Password (Optional)"," field lives — clear it and the Track Record badge turns grey on the same save. Both badges are also rendered inside the ",[49,4451,4452],{},"Complete Dashboard"," widget, which embeds the account header, so an embed on someone else's site carries its own provenance.",[21,4455,189],{"id":188},[43,4457,4458,4467,4473,4479],{},[46,4459,4460,947,4463,4466],{},[49,4461,4462],{},"A link to a tracking site is not verification.",[15,4464,4465],{"href":1054},"Any platform can host an unverified account",". Look for the badge on the page, not for the domain in the URL.",[46,4468,4469,4472],{},[49,4470,4471],{},"Track Record Verified does not prove ownership."," It proves the trades are real. Someone reselling another trader's investor password can produce a genuine feed of trades that are not theirs.",[46,4474,4475,4478],{},[49,4476,4477],{},"Verified is not the same as profitable."," The badge certifies provenance and nothing else. Read gain and drawdown together afterwards.",[46,4480,4481,4484],{},[49,4482,4483],{},"A verified demo account is still a demo account."," Demo fills are optimistic in exactly the conditions where live fills hurt.",[11,4486,4487,4488,223],{},"The procedure for both badges, step by step: ",[15,4489,4491],{"href":4490},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","how to verify your trading account",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":4493},[4494,4495,4496,4497,4498],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A verified track record is performance data pulled straight from the broker through a read-only link, continuously, with nothing the publisher can edit.",{},[4502,4503,893],"what-is-an-mt4-investor-password","what-is-myfxbook",{"title":4340,"description":4499},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","Verified Track Record","im3JV0qh8wz_ZbgStl23aUhUUL79OEa_VDXyYyMF254",{"id":4509,"title":4510,"body":4511,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":4663,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":4664,"navigation":235,"path":4665,"related":4666,"seo":4667,"stem":4668,"term":4669,"updated":233,"__hash__":4670},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps.md","What Is a VPS in Trading? Why Uptime Decides Results",{"type":8,"value":4512,"toc":4656},[4513,4519,4521,4524,4530,4533,4536,4542,4544,4550,4553,4555,4568,4571,4573,4606,4617,4623,4625,4651],[11,4514,4515,4516,4518],{},"A VPS, or virtual private server, is a slice of a physical machine in a datacentre that you rent and use like a remote computer. In trading it has one job: run your ",[15,4517,1536],{"href":1535}," terminal continuously, on a connection that does not drop, in a building close to your broker's trade server. For an automated strategy it is not an optimisation — it is the environment the strategy actually lives in.",[21,4520,24],{"id":23},[11,4522,4523],{},"You connect to the VPS over remote desktop, install the terminal there, log in and leave it running. Your own laptop can then be closed, updated or thrown away without the strategy noticing. The two things you are buying are uptime and physical proximity to the trade server, and the second one is measurable as round-trip latency.",[29,4525,4528],{"className":4526,"code":4527,"language":34},[32],"Ping = terminal → trade server → terminal, round trip\n",[36,4529,4527],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,4531,4532],{},"There is no official threshold for a good number, and the one that matters is relative: the same figure that is unremarkable for a strategy holding positions for days is disqualifying for one working the spread. What is not arguable is the direction — as the round trip grows, fills arrive further from the price the strategy asked for.",[11,4534,4535],{},"What happens when the terminal goes down mid-position is the part people get wrong. In MetaTrader, a stop loss or take profit attached to an open position is held by the broker's server, so it still triggers with the terminal off. Everything else is client-side and stops dead: new entries, trailing stops, partial closes, break-even moves, virtual stops the Expert Advisor keeps in memory, grid and recovery logic. A martingale system that loses its terminal halfway through a sequence does not pause — it holds an unmanaged basket until the terminal comes back, and the position it would have opened to balance the book never exists.",[11,4537,4538,4539,4541],{},"Latency and packet loss matter for a separate reason: they widen the gap between the price your EA decided on and the price it received. That gap is ",[15,4540,3234],{"href":924},", and no amount of strategy tuning trades around it.",[21,4543,74],{"id":73},[11,4545,4546,4547,4549],{},"An automated strategy's live result is the strategy plus its execution environment. Two accounts running identical code on different machines produce different curves, and the difference belongs to ping, uptime and fill quality rather than to logic. This is one of the reasons ",[15,4548,2083],{"href":976}," results overstate live performance: a backtest never disconnects, never misses a bar, and always fills at the modelled price.",[11,4551,4552],{},"It also matters for anyone reading someone else's record. A track record produced on a 40 ms VPS is not reproducible on a home laptop with 300 ms ping and nightly Windows updates, even with the same EA and the same broker.",[21,4554,107],{"id":106},[11,4556,4557,4558,4560,4561,4563,4564,4567],{},"Automation is the norm on our platform, not the exception. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,4559,1594],{},", and ",[49,4562,1597],{},". The distribution is barbell-shaped: another ",[49,4565,4566],{},"42.2% are under 10% automated",", with very little in between. Traders are either fully hands-off or fully manual.",[11,4569,4570],{},"More than half of the accounts publishing results here therefore depend on a terminal that has to stay up, connected, and permitted to trade — across 703 distinct broker servers and 15,436,464 synchronised trades.",[21,4572,132],{"id":131},[11,4574,147,4575,4577,4578,4582,4583,4585,4586,377,4588,4590,4591,364,4593,4595,4596,377,4599,516,4602,4605],{},[49,4576,356],{}," module on the account page reports the live state of the machine the strategy runs on: ",[15,4579,4580],{"href":360},[49,4581,363],{}," to the trade server, ",[49,4584,367],{}," (the share of network packets that had to be sent again), ",[49,4587,1074],{},[49,4589,1077],{}," of the host machine, and whether ",[49,4592,1080],{},[49,4594,1083],{}," are allowed. A connection badge reads ",[163,4597,4598],{},"Connected",[163,4600,4601],{},"No trade server",[163,4603,4604],{},"Offline",", next to how long ago the terminal last reported, and the header counts how many of your terminals are online.",[11,4607,4608,4609,4613,4614,223],{},"Below it, the open charts table lists each chart with its symbol, timeframe, ",[15,4610,4611],{"href":799},[49,4612,800],{}," and indicators — so you can see what is actually loaded, not what is claimed. In the account header, a badge shows the automation split read from the trades themselves, for example ",[163,4615,4616],{},"99% autotrading",[11,4618,4619,4620,4622],{},"This is also what a ",[15,4621,3646],{"href":2753}," looks like when it is honest about its own conditions: the numbers and the environment that produced them, on the same page.",[21,4624,189],{"id":188},[43,4626,4627,4633,4639,4645],{},[46,4628,4629,4632],{},[49,4630,4631],{},"A VPS does not make a strategy profitable."," It removes missed executions and downtime. If the edge is not there, a faster machine loses money more reliably.",[46,4634,4635,4638],{},[49,4636,4637],{},"Ping to a website is not ping to the trade server."," The number that matters is the round trip to your broker's server, which is what the terminal reports — a VPS in the wrong city can be slower than your desk.",[46,4640,4641,4644],{},[49,4642,4643],{},"Low latency does not eliminate slippage."," Spread, liquidity and the broker's execution model still apply. A VPS removes your share of the delay, not theirs.",[46,4646,4647,4650],{},[49,4648,4649],{},"\"My PC never crashes\" is not the claim being made."," Windows updates, sleep settings, ISP outages and power cuts all disconnect a terminal, and each one happens at a random moment relative to your open positions.",[11,4652,4653,4654,223],{},"To read the rest of an account page with the same scepticism: ",[15,4655,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":4657},[4658,4659,4660,4661,4662],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A VPS is an always-on rented server that keeps your trading terminal running and connected when your own computer sleeps, reboots or loses its connection.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps",[1136,468,1135],{"title":4510,"description":4663},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps","VPS","I4TIf563St5m6tF3Pb_5h1pPDQHp1v7OdG4YiQx2XLQ",{"id":4672,"title":4673,"body":4674,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":4857,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":4858,"navigation":235,"path":4859,"related":4860,"seo":4863,"stem":4864,"term":4865,"updated":233,"__hash__":4866},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-z-score-in-trading.md","What Is a Z-Score in Trading? Streaks vs Chance",{"type":8,"value":4675,"toc":4850},[4676,4679,4681,4688,4694,4701,4704,4724,4731,4733,4739,4745,4751,4754,4756,4773,4788,4790,4809,4816,4818,4844],[11,4677,4678],{},"A z-score in trading measures whether wins and losses arrive in streaks or take turns, by counting the runs in the actual sequence and comparing that count with what chance would produce from the same wins and losses. It says nothing about whether the account made money, only whether one trade's outcome carried information about the next.",[21,4680,24],{"id":23},[11,4682,4683,4684,4687],{},"A ",[163,4685,4686],{},"run"," is an unbroken block of same-sign results. The sequence W W L W L L has four runs. The statistic is the Wald–Wolfowitz runs test:",[29,4689,4692],{"className":4690,"code":4691,"language":34},[32],"Expected runs   R  = 2WL \u002F N + 1\nVariance        σ² = 2WL(2WL − N) \u002F ( N² (N − 1) )\nZ                  = (Runs − R) \u002F σ\n\nW = winning trades, L = losing trades, N = W + L\n",[36,4693,4691],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,4695,4696,4697,4700],{},"Trades are ordered by close time, and a trade counts as a win on its ",[49,4698,4699],{},"net"," result, with commission and swap already applied. A position that finished gross-positive and net-negative after costs is a loss here, and it breaks a winning run.",[11,4702,4703],{},"The sign is the reading:",[43,4705,4706,4712,4718],{},[46,4707,4708,4711],{},[49,4709,4710],{},"Negative z",": fewer runs than chance. Results cluster. Wins follow wins, losses follow losses.",[46,4713,4714,4717],{},[49,4715,4716],{},"Positive z",": more runs than chance. Results alternate more than a coin would.",[46,4719,4720,4723],{},[49,4721,4722],{},"Near zero",": indistinguishable from independent trades.",[11,4725,4726,4727,4730],{},"On the account page the score is followed by a percentage in brackets: the same score squashed onto a 0–100 scale, with ",[49,4728,4729],{},"50% meaning exactly as random as a coin",". Below 50% is streakier than chance, above 50% more alternating; a z of −2.41 shows as 8.24%, a z of +1.00 as 73.11%. It is a readable restatement, not a p-value, so 8.24% is not a significance level.",[21,4732,74],{"id":73},[11,4734,4735,4736,4738],{},"Strategy statistics almost always assume trades are independent. When the z-score says otherwise, other numbers on the page quietly stop meaning what they appear to mean. Losses that cluster produce a deeper ",[15,4737,701],{"href":700}," than an equivalent win rate suggests, because drawdown depends on how the losses were arranged, not just how many there were.",[11,4740,4741,4742,223],{},"A strongly negative score has a familiar source. Grid, averaging-down and basket systems open many positions around one idea and close them together, so a single decision emits a long block of same-sign results. Anything that scales into a losing position does the same, and the account that produces it usually also shows a wide gap between equity and ",[15,4743,4744],{"href":1259},"balance drawdown",[11,4746,4747,4748,4750],{},"A strongly positive score usually means the account is not running one sequence at all. Hedged pairs book a winner and a loser at the same moment, and two unrelated strategies interleaved on one login produce an artificial alternation belonging to neither. Where trades carry ",[15,4749,985],{"href":984},", reading each stream separately is the only way to get an honest score.",[11,4752,4753],{},"The practical use is narrow and real: a negative score is the statistical case for rules about consecutive losses, and a score near zero is the case against them.",[21,4755,107],{"id":106},[11,4757,4758,4759,999,4761,947,4763,4765,4766,4769,4770,223],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. The median published account has ",[49,4760,770],{},[49,4762,574],{},[15,4764,571],{"href":570},", which puts about 118 wins against 53 losses. Chance predicts roughly ",[49,4767,4768],{},"74 runs"," from that mix, and one standard deviation is about ",[49,4771,4772],{},"5.6 runs",[11,4774,4775,4776,4779,4780,4783,4784,4787],{},"So on a median account the sequence has to collapse to about 63 runs, or stretch past 85, before the score reaches ±2. Anything between those bounds is consistent with a coin. That is a real constraint on the weight the number carries, and it tightens with history: the same pattern on 1,700 trades is a finding, on 171 it is a hint. It matters too that ",[49,4777,4778],{},"53.9%"," of these accounts are more than 90% automated and ",[49,4781,4782],{},"42.2%"," are under 10% — clustering is far more common in the first group, because ",[15,4785,4786],{"href":799},"a robot"," closing a basket writes several identical outcomes into the sequence at once.",[21,4789,132],{"id":131},[11,4791,4792,4793,4795,4796,4799,4800,4803,4804,4808],{},"The metric appears in the ",[49,4794,373],{}," module on every published account page as ",[49,4797,4798],{},"Z-Score (Probability)",", the score to two decimals with the mapped percentage beside it, in the ",[163,4801,4802],{},"Performance Metrics"," column alongside Profit Factor, Standard Deviation, Sharpe Ratio, Expectancy, ",[15,4805,4807],{"href":4806},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-ahpr-and-ghpr","AHPR and GHPR",". The value is computed by our statistics service when the account syncs, not in your browser.",[11,4810,4811,4812,4815],{},"It also drives a line in the ",[49,4813,4814],{},"Smart Insights"," panel on the same page, where a score inside ±2 on an account with at least 30 closed trades is reported as a consistent trading pattern.",[21,4817,189],{"id":188},[43,4819,4820,4826,4832,4838],{},[46,4821,4822,4825],{},[49,4823,4824],{},"\"A negative z-score is bad.\""," It is not a quality measure. It describes dependence between trades and is silent on profitability. Plenty of good trend systems score negative.",[46,4827,4828,4831],{},[49,4829,4830],{},"\"It predicts the next trade.\""," It summarises a sequence that already happened. Nothing in the runs test is forward-looking.",[46,4833,4834,4837],{},[49,4835,4836],{},"\"The percentage is the chance the system works.\""," It is the score on a different scale, nothing more. Fifty per cent is the random midpoint, not a pass mark.",[46,4839,4840,4843],{},[49,4841,4842],{},"\"Ordering does not matter.\""," It is the only thing that matters. Trades closing in the same second have no meaningful internal order, so basket-closing systems can move their own run count for reasons unrelated to the strategy.",[11,4845,4846,4847,223],{},"For how many trades a statistic like this needs before it means anything, see ",[15,4848,4849],{"href":3877},"how much history a track record needs",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":4851},[4852,4853,4854,4855,4856],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"A trading z-score compares the streakiness of wins and losses against chance. How our Z-Score (Probability) is computed, and why 171 trades is a thin sample.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-z-score-in-trading",[4861,1332,4862,2363],"what-is-ahpr-and-ghpr","what-is-a-magic-number",{"title":4673,"description":4857},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-z-score-in-trading","Z-Score","qO_QBoCenSAFLZuQeTpNFN9pheoSbRod7X9CqvXBYSY",{"id":4868,"title":4869,"body":4870,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":5061,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":5062,"navigation":235,"path":589,"related":5063,"seo":5065,"stem":5066,"term":5067,"updated":233,"__hash__":5068},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain.md","What Is Absolute Gain? Abs. Gain vs Gain",{"type":8,"value":4871,"toc":5053},[4872,4877,4879,4882,4888,4891,4914,4918,4926,4929,4940,4943,4945,4952,4955,4957,4968,4984,4986,5002,5016,5019,5021,5048],[11,4873,4874,4875,223],{},"Absolute gain is the profit an account has realised measured against the money paid into it: net closed profit and loss divided by total deposits, as a percentage. Unlike a time-weighted figure, it makes no attempt to remove the effect of when that capital arrived. On ShowMyTrades it is the row labelled ",[49,4876,590],{},[21,4878,24],{"id":23},[11,4880,4881],{},"Two quantities, both from the account's own history:",[29,4883,4886],{"className":4884,"code":4885,"language":34},[32],"Abs. Gain % = Net closed P&L \u002F Total deposits × 100\n\nNet closed P&L = Σ (profit + swap + commission) over all closed trades\nTotal deposits = Σ every deposit ever credited to the account\n",[36,4887,4885],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,4889,4890],{},"Three properties follow, and each matters when reading someone else's page.",[43,4892,4893,4902,4908],{},[46,4894,4895,4898,4899,4901],{},[49,4896,4897],{},"The numerator is net of costs."," Every closed trade enters with its commission and its ",[15,4900,18],{"href":17}," already applied, so the figure is what the account kept, not what the trades looked like before the broker was paid.",[46,4903,4904,4907],{},[49,4905,4906],{},"It counts closed trades only."," Unrealised profit or loss on open positions is not in it. The number moves when a position closes, not when it moves against you.",[46,4909,4910,4913],{},[49,4911,4912],{},"The denominator is every deposit, not the starting balance."," An account funded in five instalments carries all five, including the one that arrived last week. Withdrawals appear in neither term, so taking profits out neither helps nor hurts the percentage.",[21,4915,4917],{"id":4916},"abs-gain-read-against-gain","Abs. Gain read against Gain",[11,4919,4920,4922,4923,4925],{},[49,4921,2305],{},", the row directly above it, is ",[15,4924,554],{"href":553},". Each closed trade contributes one factor — its net result over the balance standing before it — and those factors are multiplied together. Deposits and withdrawals move the balance but never create a factor of their own.",[11,4927,4928],{},"That has an exact consequence. On an account funded once and never topped up or withdrawn from, the chain of factors collapses to final balance divided by the deposit, which is 1 + Abs. Gain. The two rows print the same number, and separate only once cash has moved.",[11,4930,4931,4932,4935,4936,4939],{},"Fund an account with $10,000 and make $2,000: both rows read +20.00%. Now deposit another $10,000 and make $2,000 more. Abs. Gain is $4,000 \u002F $20,000 = ",[49,4933,4934],{},"+20.00%",". Gain is 1.20 × (1 + 2,000\u002F22,000) − 1 = ",[49,4937,4938],{},"+30.91%",", because the second $2,000 is measured against the $22,000 standing when it was earned, not against every dollar ever paid in.",[11,4941,4942],{},"Neither is wrong: Abs. Gain answers what the account returned on the money committed to it, Gain how well that money was traded. Only the second compares cleanly across accounts of different sizes.",[21,4944,74],{"id":73},[11,4946,4947,4948,4951],{},"The asymmetry runs one way, and that is the useful part. A rescue deposit after a bad month cannot lift Abs. Gain: fresh money lands in the denominator and nowhere else, so the percentage drops the moment it arrives and only trading brings it back. That makes it ",[15,4949,4950],{"href":1123},"harder to manufacture"," than a steep balance chart, which any deposit will produce.",[11,4953,4954],{},"The same mechanism is the limitation. An account scaled up after it started working reads low even when every trade was good, because most of the denominator arrived after most of the trading. Read the pair, never one row alone.",[21,4956,107],{"id":106},[11,4958,4959,4960,364,4964,4967],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Funding is rarely a single event here: ",[49,4961,4962],{},[15,4963,1617],{"href":1612},[49,4965,4966],{},"429 run accounts at more than one broker",". Money moved between them arrives as a fresh deposit at the destination and enlarges its denominator permanently.",[11,4969,4970,4971,4974,4975,4978,4979,364,4981,4983],{},"Across the ",[49,4972,4973],{},"published accounts with trading history"," (August 2026), built from ",[49,4976,4977],{},"15,436,464 synchronised trades",", the median time-weighted return is ",[49,4980,558],{},[49,4982,1006],{}," of accounts are positive on that basis. Wherever an account's two rows disagree, the gap between them is measuring its funding history and nothing else.",[21,4985,132],{"id":131},[11,4987,4988,4990,4991,4993,4994,4996,4997,364,4999,5001],{},[49,4989,590],{}," is the second row of the ",[49,4992,827],{}," panel, directly under ",[49,4995,2305],{},", on every published account page and in the Complete Dashboard widget when that page is embedded elsewhere. The panel separates its blocks with a rule but prints no headings, so Gain, Abs. Gain, ",[49,4998,823],{},[49,5000,1266],{}," read as the first four rows.",[11,5003,5004,5005,5007,5008,5011,5012,5015],{},"Both ingredients appear further down the same panel. ",[49,5006,3833],{}," is the numerator — net closed profit and loss in account currency — and ",[49,5009,5010],{},"Deposits"," is the denominator, with ",[49,5013,5014],{},"Withdrawals"," beside them so a reader can see what has been taken out without wondering whether it moved the percentage. It did not.",[11,5017,5018],{},"The value is not calculated in your browser. It is produced by our statistics service from the account's synchronised history and refreshed on each sync, and the same figure feeds the public page, the owner's dashboard and the widget alike.",[21,5020,189],{"id":188},[43,5022,5023,5036,5042],{},[46,5024,5025,5028,5029,5032,5033,5035],{},[49,5026,5027],{},"\"My open positions are in it.\""," They are not. ",[15,5030,5031],{"href":3500},"Floating profit and loss"," appears in the ",[49,5034,1877],{}," row of the same panel, never in Abs. Gain.",[46,5037,5038,5041],{},[49,5039,5040],{},"\"A withdrawal lowered it.\""," It cannot. Withdrawals are absent from both the numerator and the denominator.",[46,5043,5044,5047],{},[49,5045,5046],{},"\"A bigger Abs. Gain means better trading.\""," Not across accounts. It also records when the money arrived: two identical strategies, one funded once and one topped up monthly, will not print the same figure.",[11,5049,5050,5051,223],{},"For how this row reads alongside every other number on the page, see ",[15,5052,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":5054},[5055,5056,5057,5058,5059,5060],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":4916,"depth":225,"text":4917},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Absolute gain is net closed profit and loss divided by total deposits. Here is the formula, how it differs from Gain, and what published accounts show.",{},[2364,1332,5064,1730],"what-is-an-equity-curve",{"title":4869,"description":5061},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain","Absolute Gain","FFtKoKiYZFPxnfhaNPOTaeILG4TlCjF_k0hrOL8RPEI",{"id":5070,"title":5071,"body":5072,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":5244,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":5245,"navigation":235,"path":4806,"related":5246,"seo":5249,"stem":5250,"term":4807,"updated":233,"__hash__":5251},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ahpr-and-ghpr.md","What Are AHPR and GHPR? Formulas and the Gap",{"type":8,"value":5073,"toc":5237},[5074,5077,5079,5082,5088,5094,5101,5104,5110,5121,5123,5126,5137,5144,5146,5157,5172,5174,5190,5197,5199,5231],[11,5075,5076],{},"AHPR and GHPR are the average return of a single trade, expressed as a percentage of the capital standing before that trade: AHPR takes the arithmetic mean of those returns, GHPR the geometric one. They measure the same trades, answer different questions, and the distance between them reads how volatile the results were.",[21,5078,24],{"id":23},[11,5080,5081],{},"Each closed trade gets a holding period return, its net result over the capital behind it:",[29,5083,5086],{"className":5084,"code":5085,"language":34},[32],"HPRᵢ = (profit + swap + commission)ᵢ \u002F Capital before trade i\n\nAHPR = ( Σ HPRᵢ \u002F N ) × 100\nGHPR = ( [ Π (1 + HPRᵢ) ] ^ (1\u002FN) − 1 ) × 100\n",[36,5087,5085],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,5089,5090,5091,5093],{},"Costs sit inside the numerator: commission and ",[15,5092,18],{"href":17}," are folded into every trade before it becomes an HPR, so both figures are net.",[11,5095,5096,5097,5100],{},"One detail about the base matters. Our implementation seeds the running capital with the account's ",[49,5098,5099],{},"total lifetime deposits",", then rolls it forward by each trade's net result. On an account funded in instalments, early trades are measured against money that had not arrived yet, which drags both figures toward zero; on a single-deposit account the base behaves exactly as the formula reads.",[11,5102,5103],{},"GHPR is never above AHPR. That is arithmetic, not a property of trading: the geometric mean of positive numbers is at most the arithmetic mean, equal only when every number is identical. The shortfall is approximately half the variance of the returns:",[29,5105,5108],{"className":5106,"code":5107,"language":34},[32],"GHPR ≈ AHPR − σ² \u002F 2\n",[36,5109,5107],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,5111,5112,5113,5116,5117,5120],{},"Two trades make the point. A +50% followed by a −50% gives an AHPR of exactly ",[49,5114,5115],{},"0%",", while the account sits at 0.75 of where it started. GHPR is √(1.50 × 0.50) − 1 = ",[49,5118,5119],{},"−13.4%",", which compounded twice lands precisely on that 0.75. The arithmetic mean describes a result nobody received; the geometric one reproduces the balance.",[21,5122,74],{"id":73},[11,5124,5125],{},"You cannot spend an arithmetic mean. Only the geometric figure, raised to the number of trades, returns what the account actually did, which makes GHPR the number to quote and AHPR its yardstick. A wide gap between them is the volatility tax: what variance removes from compounding before it reaches the balance.",[11,5127,5128,5129,5131,5132,5136],{},"The asymmetry gets brutal at the tail. A single trade that removes the entire capital sets one factor in the product to zero, and a product with a zero in it is zero: GHPR reads −100% however good the preceding thousand trades were. That is the argument for ",[15,5130,1399],{"href":1398}," over win rate, restated as multiplication: a method with a healthy AHPR and enough ",[15,5133,5135],{"href":5134},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-standard-deviation-in-trading","standard deviation"," to occasionally risk everything still has a negative geometric expectation.",[11,5138,5139,5140,5143],{},"AHPR is not decoration: it is per-trade ",[15,5141,5142],{"href":2254},"expectancy"," restated as a percentage of capital rather than in pips or currency, which makes it comparable across account sizes. Read as a pair, the two say what the average trade earned and what was left of it after variance.",[21,5145,107],{"id":106},[11,5147,4758,5148,5150,5151,5153,5154,5156],{},[49,5149,770],{}," and a median ",[15,5152,554],{"href":553}," of ",[49,5155,558],{},". Spread that return evenly across that many trades and the geometric return per trade comes to about +0.018%, which the panel would round to +0.02%. That is an illustration, not a measured median, but it is the honest scale of these numbers and why they look underwhelming on almost every real account.",[11,5158,5159,5160,5153,5162,5164,5165,5167,5168,5171],{},"The same population has a median ",[15,5161,1394],{"href":1393},[49,5163,566],{},", net of swap and commission, and a median win rate of ",[49,5166,574],{},". A page can therefore carry ",[15,5169,5170],{"href":570},"a strong-looking win rate"," beside a GHPR barely off zero without contradiction. What matters is the sign, the gap to AHPR, and how many trades produced them.",[21,5173,132],{"id":131},[11,5175,5176,5177,5179,5180,364,5183,5186,5187,5189],{},"Both sit in the ",[49,5178,373],{}," module on every published account page, labelled ",[49,5181,5182],{},"AHPR",[49,5184,5185],{},"GHPR",", at the foot of the ",[163,5188,4802],{}," column below Profit Factor, Standard Deviation, Sharpe Ratio, Z-Score (Probability) and Expectancy. Each prints as a signed percentage to two decimals, green at or above zero, red below.",[11,5191,5192,5193,5196],{},"The module has four views — Table, Weekday, Hourly and Duration. AHPR and GHPR live on the Table view; the other three show ",[163,5194,5195],{},"which"," trades produced the variance separating them. Both values are computed by our statistics service when the account syncs, not in your browser.",[21,5198,189],{"id":188},[43,5200,5201,5207,5219,5225],{},[46,5202,5203,5206],{},[49,5204,5205],{},"\"AHPR is the average, so it is the honest one.\""," It is an average nobody earns. Whenever results vary it overstates compounded growth, by roughly half the variance.",[46,5208,5209,5212,5213,5215,5216,5218],{},[49,5210,5211],{},"\"They are monthly or annual returns.\""," They are per trade. The same +0.02% means very different things at 20 trades and at 2,000, so read them next to ",[49,5214,2054],{}," in the ",[163,5217,1439],{}," column of the same module.",[46,5220,5221,5224],{},[49,5222,5223],{},"\"A GHPR near zero means the system does not work.\""," At normal per-trade risk both numbers are small and the panel rounds to two decimals. An account showing +0.02% per trade over several hundred trades is up double digits.",[46,5226,5227,5230],{},[49,5228,5229],{},"\"A positive AHPR with a negative GHPR is a bug.\""," It is the signature of large swings: returns can average above zero and still compound downward, which is the most useful thing this pair tells you.",[11,5232,5233,5234,223],{},"For how per-trade figures fit into a record you intend to show other people, see ",[15,5235,5236],{"href":2113},"tracking trading performance",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":5238},[5239,5240,5241,5242,5243],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"AHPR and GHPR are the arithmetic and geometric average return per trade. The formulas, why the geometric one is always lower, and thousands of accounts measured.",{},[2363,5247,1516,5248],"what-is-standard-deviation-in-trading","what-is-a-z-score-in-trading",{"title":5071,"description":5244},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ahpr-and-ghpr","qyQturGf725Un7ZAo6vvCR9Pw8KcwFNKhYfjLQIuylo",{"id":5253,"title":5254,"body":5255,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":5478,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":5479,"navigation":235,"path":3500,"related":5480,"seo":5481,"stem":5482,"term":1883,"updated":233,"__hash__":5483},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve.md","What Is an Equity Curve? How to Read the Shape",{"type":8,"value":5256,"toc":5471},[5257,5260,5262,5268,5271,5277,5282,5288,5291,5320,5322,5328,5331,5333,5348,5362,5371,5373,5390,5410,5433,5435,5466],[11,5258,5259],{},"An equity curve is a chart of an account's value over time. On a serious account page it is drawn as two lines rather than one: balance, which counts only closed trades, and equity, which adds the floating profit and loss of everything still open. The distance between them is the part of the story the account has not admitted yet.",[21,5261,24],{"id":23},[29,5263,5266],{"className":5264,"code":5265,"language":34},[32],"Equity = Balance + Floating P&L on open positions\n",[36,5267,5265],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,5269,5270],{},"When nothing is open, the two lines sit on top of each other. When positions are open, equity moves and balance does not. A losing position that is never closed keeps the balance line flat and pushes the equity line down; closing it drops the balance line to meet equity, which is why a \"sudden\" loss on a balance chart is usually weeks old.",[11,5272,5273],{},[2498,5274],{"alt":5275,"src":5276},"A smooth balance line with the equity line pulled below it by positions still open at a loss","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fequity-vs-balance.svg",[11,5278,5279],{},[163,5280,5281],{},"A balance line stays tidy for as long as the losers stay open.",[11,5283,5284,5285,5287],{},"Deposits and withdrawals move both lines vertically without any trading happening, which is why a raw curve cannot be read as a return. That correction is what ",[15,5286,554],{"href":553}," exists to make.",[11,5289,5290],{},"The shape carries as much information as the endpoint:",[43,5292,5293,5299,5305,5314],{},[46,5294,5295,5298],{},[49,5296,5297],{},"Jagged, rising, with visible pullbacks."," Normal. Every strategy has losing runs, and their absence is the anomaly.",[46,5300,5301,5304],{},[49,5302,5303],{},"A near-straight diagonal on the balance line."," A warning, not a compliment. It usually means losers are held open while winners are closed — grid, averaging-down or martingale behaviour — and the risk has moved into the equity line where a balance-only chart cannot show it.",[46,5306,5307,5310,5311,223],{},[49,5308,5309],{},"Long flat stretches broken by vertical steps."," Position sizing changed, or the account traded rarely and heavily. ",[15,5312,5313],{"href":3877},"Read the trade count before reading the slope",[46,5315,5316,5319],{},[49,5317,5318],{},"A clean climb that ends abruptly."," The classic single-blow-up shape: many small wins funding one loss large enough to end the account.",[21,5321,74],{"id":73},[11,5323,5324,5325,5327],{},"The curve is where duration becomes visible. A headline number tells you the worst ",[15,5326,701],{"href":700}," was 18%; only the curve tells you it lasted nine months, which is the part people actually quit over.",[11,5329,5330],{},"It is also the fastest lie detector on a track record. Claims are made about returns, rarely about shape, and the shape is much harder to manufacture — a balance line that has never had a bad week either did not trade through one or is not closing its bad trades.",[21,5332,107],{"id":106},[11,5334,2483,5335,5338,5339,5341,5342,5344,5345,5347],{},[49,5336,5337],{},"median deepest drawdown is 9.7%"," measured on equity. ",[49,5340,2687],{}," of accounts have never been more than 5% below their own peak, ",[49,5343,1211],{}," have been more than 20% below it, and ",[49,5346,2698],{}," more than 50% below.",[11,5349,5350,5351,5354,5355,5358,5359,5361],{},"Set that beside a ",[49,5352,5353],{},"median time-weighted return of +3.2%"," and the honest shape appears: modest slope, real dents, and ",[15,5356,5357],{"href":1221},"a worst dent several times larger than the eventual gain",". The median account arrived there over ",[49,5360,770],{},", which is the context every smooth-looking curve has to be read against — the fewer trades behind a curve, the less its smoothness can mean.",[11,5363,5364,5365,5367,5368,5370],{},"The equity-versus-balance gap is measurable too. Every account carries both a ",[49,5366,833],{}," figure on equity and a ",[49,5369,1255],{}," figure on closed results only. A wide gap between the two is the numeric version of the straight-diagonal warning: the balance line is being kept tidy by positions that are still open.",[21,5372,132],{"id":131},[11,5374,147,5375,5378,5379,377,5381,377,5383,377,5385,364,5387,5389],{},[49,5376,5377],{},"charts viewer"," on every published account page is a single panel that switches between five views — ",[49,5380,3828],{},[49,5382,1874],{},[49,5384,3833],{},[49,5386,3836],{},[49,5388,833],{}," — rather than a stack of separate charts.",[11,5391,5392,5394,5395,364,5397,5399,5400,5402,5403,5405,5406,5409],{},[49,5393,1874],{}," is the equity curve proper. It draws two named series, ",[49,5396,1874],{},[49,5398,1877],{},", with a legend, so the floating gap is visible rather than inferred; deposits and withdrawals are marked on the line, so a jump reads as funding rather than trading. ",[49,5401,3828],{}," replots the same account as compounded time-weighted return, with cash flows removed. ",[49,5404,833],{}," plots the daily distance below the high-water mark as bars, which is where the ",[163,5407,5408],{},"length"," of a decline is readable.",[11,5411,5412,5413,5415,5416,377,5418,5420,5421,5424,5425,364,5427,5429,5430,5432],{},"The numeric anchors are in the ",[49,5414,827],{}," panel: ",[49,5417,1874],{},[49,5419,1877],{}," — printed as a percentage of balance alongside the amount, so a large floating loss is obvious at a glance — and ",[49,5422,5423],{},"Highest $",", the peak the account has ever reached. ",[49,5426,833],{},[49,5428,1255],{}," sit on the two rows below ",[49,5431,1266],{}," in the same panel.",[21,5434,189],{"id":188},[43,5436,5437,5445,5451,5460],{},[46,5438,5439,5442,5443,223],{},[49,5440,5441],{},"\"A smooth equity curve means low risk.\""," It often means the opposite. Smoothness on the balance line is the signature of never realising a loss, and the risk is sitting in the equity line and in ",[15,5444,2471],{"href":740},[46,5446,5447,5450],{},[49,5448,5449],{},"\"The equity curve is the balance chart.\""," Balance is closed trades only. Equity includes open ones, and the difference is exactly the amount not yet accounted for.",[46,5452,5453,5456,5457,5459],{},[49,5454,5455],{},"\"The curve rose, so the trading worked.\""," Not until deposits are removed. That is why Gain on our pages is time-weighted and ",[15,5458,590],{"href":589}," is shown separately.",[46,5461,5462,5465],{},[49,5463,5464],{},"\"A new high means the account recovered.\""," It means balance recovered. If it was reached by increasing position size after a loss, the account did not recover — it doubled down and got away with it.",[11,5467,5468,5469,223],{},"For how a curve's shape gives away a manufactured result, see ",[15,5470,1124],{"href":1123},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":5472},[5473,5474,5475,5476,5477],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"An equity curve plots account value over time. The gap between the balance line and the equity line is where hidden losses live. What public accounts show.",{},[2364,893,894,1730],{"title":5254,"description":5478},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","oMmcx1zz2Z_azfQbvDq8VzDwHBifFJwBHIMfz8JKzFc",{"id":5485,"title":5486,"body":5487,"category":1724,"date":233,"description":5658,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":5659,"navigation":235,"path":799,"related":5660,"seo":5662,"stem":5663,"term":800,"updated":233,"__hash__":5664},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor.md","What Is an Expert Advisor? EAs in MetaTrader Explained",{"type":8,"value":5488,"toc":5651},[5489,5495,5497,5500,5506,5509,5519,5526,5528,5531,5540,5542,5553,5570,5573,5575,5581,5603,5617,5619,5645],[11,5490,5491,5492,5494],{},"An Expert Advisor, or EA, is a program written in MetaQuotes' MQL language that runs inside a ",[15,5493,1536],{"href":1535}," terminal and can open, modify and close orders without anyone at the keyboard. It is attached to a single chart, reacts to the price ticks arriving there, and applies the rules it was compiled with. An EA is a way of executing a strategy, not a strategy that works.",[21,5496,24],{"id":23},[11,5498,5499],{},"You compile the code, drop it on a chart, and the terminal calls it every time the market moves.",[29,5501,5504],{"className":5502,"code":5503,"language":34},[32],"Price tick arrives on the chart\n  → the EA's tick handler runs\n  → rules are evaluated against price, indicators and open positions\n  → an order is sent, stamped with a magic number\n  → the broker's trade server accepts, rejects or requeues it\n",[36,5505,5503],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,5507,5508],{},"Three conditions must hold at once: the terminal is running and logged in, automated trading is permitted, and the broker accepts the request. Break one and the EA keeps running silently while placing nothing.",[11,5510,5511,5512,5515,5516,5518],{},"The critical detail is that an EA is ",[49,5513,5514],{},"client-side",": it is a guest process inside a program running on a machine you own. The broker's server holds nothing of it except a stop loss or take profit already attached to an open position. Close the terminal and the code is simply not there any more, which is why an unattended strategy belongs on a ",[15,5517,4669],{"href":4665}," rather than a laptop that sleeps.",[11,5520,5521,5522,5525],{},"Each order the EA sends carries a ",[15,5523,5524],{"href":984},"magic number",", the integer that lets several EAs share one account and still be read apart afterwards.",[21,5527,74],{"id":73},[11,5529,5530],{},"An EA removes hesitation, fatigue and the 3 a.m. problem. It also removes the judgement that would have switched it off. An EA has no idea that its edge stopped working; it will execute a broken rule set with exactly the same discipline it executed a good one.",[11,5532,5533,5534,5536,5537,5539],{},"Consistency of execution is the benefit on offer. Consistency is not profitability, and the gap between the two is where most automated money is lost. A strategy that looks flawless in the tester has usually been fitted to the sample it was tested on — see ",[15,5535,2106],{"href":2105}," — which is why a broker-synced account outranks any ",[15,5538,2083],{"href":976}," report. The tester shows what the code did to history; the account shows what the code, the broker and the machine did to money together.",[21,5541,107],{"id":106},[11,5543,5544,5545,377,5547,364,5549,5552],{},"Automation is the default here, not a niche. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,5546,1594],{},[49,5548,1597],{},[49,5550,5551],{},"42.2% sit under 10%",". Two clusters, almost nothing between them: an account here is run either entirely by code or entirely by hand.",[11,5554,5555,5556,2988,5562,5565,5566,5569],{},"Automation did not flatten the outcomes. The same population shows a ",[49,5557,5558,5559,5561],{},"median ",[15,5560,1394],{"href":1393}," of 1.28",[49,5563,5564],{},"median deepest drawdown of 9.7%",", and a long left tail: ",[49,5567,5568],{},"38.2% of accounts have been more than 20% under water, 17.6% more than 50%",". Running a strategy by code changes who presses the button, not what the strategy is worth.",[11,5571,5572],{},"One boundary we hold to: we never estimate which commercial EA is running on an account. The same product installs with a different magic number on every account that buys it, so nothing in the broker feed identifies software, and a guess published as a fact would be worse than no answer.",[21,5574,132],{"id":131},[11,5576,5577,5578,5580],{},"The account header carries a badge reading the automation split — for example ",[163,5579,4616],{},". It is not self-declared: a trade counts as automated when it arrives carrying a non-zero magic number, so the badge is a tally of the EA's own fingerprints on the order flow.",[11,5582,5583,5584,5586,5587,5589,5590,5592,5593,516,5596,5599,5600,5602],{},"On an Expert Advisor connection, the ",[49,5585,356],{}," module (",[49,5588,352],{}," on MT4, whose EA does not report a chart list) shows the environment the code lives in, including ",[49,5591,1080],{}," reading ",[163,5594,5595],{},"Allowed",[163,5597,5598],{},"Blocked"," — the one switch that silently stops an otherwise healthy EA from placing anything. Below the tiles, the open charts table names the ",[49,5601,800],{}," loaded on each chart with its symbol, timeframe and indicators: what is running, rather than what is claimed. A password-only Direct Connection never touches your machine, so it reports none of this.",[11,5604,5605,5606,5608,5609,5611,5612,5616],{},"Per-strategy results live in the ",[49,5607,160],{}," module, under the ",[49,5610,1634],{}," tab, where each EA gets its own row of trades, profit and won\u002Flost split. The ",[15,5613,5614],{"href":1667},[49,5615,180],{}," slideover narrows every statistic on the page to a single magic number, isolating one EA.",[21,5618,189],{"id":188},[43,5620,5621,5627,5633,5639],{},[46,5622,5623,5626],{},[49,5624,5625],{},"\"The EA is the strategy.\""," The EA is the executor. Two EAs implementing the same rules produce the same trades; the rules are what has value.",[46,5628,5629,5632],{},[49,5630,5631],{},"\"A great backtest means a great EA.\""," It means the code and the history agree. That is the minimum requirement, not evidence.",[46,5634,5635,5638],{},[49,5636,5637],{},"\"Auto trading is on, so it is trading.\""," Permission is not activity: with the AutoTrading button off the EA still loads and runs, it simply cannot send orders. Accounts go quiet this way for weeks.",[46,5640,5641,5644],{},[49,5642,5643],{},"\"It runs while my computer is off.\""," It does not. Only the server-held stop loss and take profit survive a terminal that is down.",[11,5646,5647,5648,223],{},"For the specific tells that separate a real automated record from a manufactured one: ",[15,5649,5650],{"href":1123},"how to spot fake EA results",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":5652},[5653,5654,5655,5656,5657],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"An Expert Advisor is a program that trades inside MetaTrader on your behalf. What it can do, what it cannot, and how automated the accounts published here are.",{},[1729,4862,5661,1135],"what-is-a-vps",{"title":5486,"description":5658},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","2d9v7b7Bxd9O_dMQs14Asam5zM2qY1_3PnoVl22PW6U",{"id":5666,"title":5667,"body":5668,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":5806,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":5807,"navigation":235,"path":4353,"related":5808,"seo":5809,"stem":5810,"term":5811,"updated":233,"__hash__":5812},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password.md","What Is an MT4 Investor Password? Read-Only Access",{"type":8,"value":5669,"toc":5799},[5670,5676,5678,5681,5687,5690,5705,5707,5710,5716,5718,5724,5731,5733,5741,5760,5762,5794],[11,5671,5672,5673,223],{},"The investor password is the second password on every MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 account: it logs in to the same account as the master password but in read-only mode. Whoever holds it can watch the account in full detail and change nothing about it. That asymmetry is why it became the standard credential for ",[15,5674,5675],{"href":1054},"third-party verification",[21,5677,24],{"id":23},[11,5679,5680],{},"MetaTrader accounts ship with two credentials against the same login number. The master password grants trading rights. The investor password grants observation.",[29,5682,5685],{"className":5683,"code":5684,"language":34},[32],"Investor password CAN          Investor password CANNOT\n- see balance and equity       - open a position\n- see open positions           - modify or close a position\n- see closed trade history     - place or delete pending orders\n- see margin and free margin   - withdraw or transfer funds\n- attach charts and indicators - change account settings\n",[36,5686,5684],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,5688,5689],{},"A terminal logged in with the investor password shows the New Order button greyed out. The restriction is enforced by the broker's trade server, not by the client, so it cannot be worked around by patching the terminal.",[11,5691,5692,5693,5696,5697,5700,5701,5704],{},"You set it yourself, and you can change it at any time. In MT4: ",[49,5694,5695],{},"Tools → Options → Server",", then ",[163,5698,5699],{},"Change"," next to the investor password. In MT5: ",[49,5702,5703],{},"Tools → Options → Account → Change Password",", selecting the investor option. Changing it revokes access for everyone holding the old one, immediately.",[21,5706,74],{"id":73},[11,5708,5709],{},"It solves a problem that has no other clean solution: proving your results to a stranger without giving that stranger the ability to trade your money. Before read-only credentials, the alternatives were screenshots and broker statements, both of which are files the trader produces.",[11,5711,5712,5713,5715],{},"It also has a limit worth stating plainly. An investor password proves the trades are real; it does not prove they are yours, because the password can be forwarded to anyone. That is why a full ",[15,5714,3646],{"href":2753}," needs a second, separate check of ownership.",[21,5717,107],{"id":106},[11,5719,5720,5721,5723],{},"The credential covers most of the market we see: of the 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026), the overwhelming majority are ",[15,5722,1536],{"href":1535},", spread over 703 distinct broker servers. Every one of those MetaTrader accounts can be verified with a password its owner sets, without changing anything about how the account trades.",[11,5725,5726,5727,5730],{},"Almost nobody does. Only ",[49,5728,5729],{},"65 accounts carry Track Record Verified",", out of 10,000+ published pages. The friction is not technical; it is that the step is optional, and an unverified page still displays numbers.",[21,5732,132],{"id":131},[11,5734,147,5735,5737,5738,5740],{},[49,5736,4448],{}," field is in the account settings. Fill it in and the ",[49,5739,1047],{}," badge in the account page header turns green; clear it and the badge turns grey on the same save.",[11,5742,5743,5744,364,5747,5750,5751,5753,5754,5756,5757,5759],{},"It also appears earlier, when you add an account: the ",[163,5745,5746],{},"MetaTrader 4 Direct Connection",[163,5748,5749],{},"MetaTrader 5 Direct Connection"," options in the connection picker sync trades using the investor password alone, with nothing installed in your terminal. The ",[15,5752,800],{"href":799}," option updates far more frequently, and it is the only one that can also report the state of the machine running the strategy in the ",[49,5755,356],{}," module — a password-only connection never touches your computer, so it has nothing to report about it. That trade-off is the one thing to weigh before choosing: less setup, or a fuller page. If the strategy runs unattended on a ",[15,5758,4669],{"href":4665},", the Expert Advisor is what makes that visible.",[21,5761,189],{"id":188},[43,5763,5764,5770,5776,5782,5788],{},[46,5765,5766,5769],{},[49,5767,5768],{},"\"Giving out the investor password is risky.\""," It is read-only and enforced server-side. The real consideration is privacy, not security: whoever holds it sees your balance and every trade you take, live.",[46,5771,5772,5775],{},[49,5773,5774],{},"\"It reveals my strategy.\""," It reveals your fills, not your logic. Anyone can already see the trades on a public page you publish yourself.",[46,5777,5778,5781],{},[49,5779,5780],{},"\"Changing the master password changes the investor one.\""," It does not. They are set separately, and platforms holding an unchanged investor password keep working.",[46,5783,5784,5787],{},[49,5785,5786],{},"\"Some brokers do not offer it.\""," MT4 and MT5 both support it as standard. What varies is whether the broker lets you set it in the terminal or only through their client area.",[46,5789,5790,5793],{},[49,5791,5792],{},"\"A read-only login means the data is verified.\""," Only if a platform is actually holding that connection open and publishing what it sees. A password in a private message proves nothing to a third party.",[11,5795,5796,5797,223],{},"The full walkthrough, including the ownership check that the password cannot provide: ",[15,5798,4491],{"href":4490},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":5800},[5801,5802,5803,5804,5805],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"The MT4 investor password is a read-only credential: it shows balance, equity and every trade, but it cannot open, modify or close a position, or withdraw.",{},[1136,4503,5661],{"title":5667,"description":5806},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","MT4 Investor Password","xK2dYJaK7fxuwcWoqaPqTsvMELQIwuxpmmw_VrzKLRk",{"id":5814,"title":5815,"body":5816,"category":3886,"date":233,"description":5981,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":5982,"navigation":235,"path":1237,"related":5983,"seo":5985,"stem":5986,"term":5987,"updated":233,"__hash__":5988},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-unlisted-account.md","What Is an Unlisted Account? Link-Only Records",{"type":8,"value":5817,"toc":5974},[5818,5821,5823,5830,5837,5857,5860,5870,5872,5883,5892,5895,5897,5904,5906,5927,5937,5939,5968],[11,5819,5820],{},"An unlisted account is a published ShowMyTrades account that has been removed from every listing on the platform: the page renders in full for anyone holding the URL, but nothing on the site points to it. It sits between private, where nobody but the owner can load the page at all, and published, where the page is both readable and discoverable.",[21,5822,24],{"id":23},[11,5824,5825,5826,5829],{},"Unlisted is not a separate kind of page, and not a separate value in the visibility field. Internally the account stays ",[36,5827,5828],{},"published"," and carries a boolean link-only flag, which is why the page, the statistics, the widgets, the followers and the slug all behave exactly as they did before the switch — no public endpoint had to change to support it. Only listings change.",[11,5831,5832,5833,5836],{},"Three public listings filter unlisted entities out, each by the same ",[36,5834,5835],{},"unlisted = false"," condition on its query:",[43,5838,5839,5845,5851],{},[46,5840,5841,5844],{},[49,5842,5843],{},"Your public trader profile",", which is the same endpoint that fills the \"other accounts by this trader\" suggestions at the foot of every account page.",[46,5846,5847,5850],{},[49,5848,5849],{},"The Explore feed",", and the community counters that sit on it.",[46,5852,5853,5856],{},[49,5854,5855],{},"The public account search"," used by the Widget Builder, so nobody can find the account by name or ID and embed it.",[11,5858,5859],{},"Two more places exclude them by choice rather than by listing logic: the referral page will not offer an unlisted account as the link you share publicly, and the AI analysis job filters them out, so no new analysis is generated. Analyses produced before the switch stay on the page.",[11,5861,5862,5863,5866,5867,223],{},"Everything else is untouched. The account page loads for anyone with the address, the widget endpoints serve it, the ",[15,5864,5865],{"href":4331},"widgets"," you already embedded keep rendering, and a custom slug change still leaves a 301 redirect behind. The same option and the same semantics apply to ",[15,5868,5869],{"href":657},"portfolios",[21,5871,74],{"id":73},[11,5873,5874,5875,5878,5879,5882],{},"Because \"show one person\" and \"publish to the world\" are different requests, and most platforms only offer the second. An unlisted page is the version you send to ",[15,5876,5877],{"href":695},"a prop firm"," reviewing your application, to an investor doing due diligence, or to one client of the twenty you track — without that account joining your public profile, ",[15,5880,5881],{"href":1115},"appearing in the community feed",", or turning up in a widget somebody else builds.",[11,5884,5885,5886,5888,5889,5891],{},"Be precise about what it does not do. It is ",[49,5887,3929],{}," private: anyone holding the link sees the whole page, trades included. It carries no ",[36,5890,4200],{}," tag and stays in the sitemap, which is a deliberate decision rather than an oversight — an unlisted page that Google indexes is an accepted outcome. Followers who followed the account before the switch keep seeing it under Following, because they already have the link. Platform counters keep counting it as published. And the owner does not see their own unlisted accounts on their own public profile; they are managed from the private dashboard.",[11,5893,5894],{},"If a page must not be readable by a stranger who guesses or is forwarded the URL, the correct setting is private, not unlisted.",[21,5896,107],{"id":106},[11,5898,5899,5900,5903],{},"Of the 10,000+ accounts published on ShowMyTrades, ",[49,5901,5902],{},"37 are unlisted"," (August 2026). It is a deliberately narrow tool used by a small number of owners, and the shape of that usage matches the design: people who track many accounts and want to hand out one of them.",[21,5905,132],{"id":131},[11,5907,5908,5909,5912,5913,377,5916,364,5919,5922,5923,5926],{},"In ",[49,5910,5911],{},"Account Settings → General → Visibility"," the dropdown holds exactly three entries, each prefixed with a small icon: ",[49,5914,5915],{},"Private - Only you can view",[49,5917,5918],{},"Published - Visible to others",[49,5920,5921],{},"Unlisted - Only via direct link",". On the dashboard page for that account an amber ",[49,5924,5925],{},"Unlisted"," badge sits next to the copy-link and open-page buttons. In the dashboard Accounts and Portfolios tables it is a third state in the Status column, in amber, with a matching entry in the Status filter. The admin panel's Visibility column distinguishes it too, though its filter does not yet offer it as a choice.",[11,5928,5929,5930,364,5933,5936],{},"One behaviour worth knowing: the bulk ",[49,5931,5932],{},"Publish",[49,5934,5935],{},"Hide"," actions in those tables always clear the flag. Publishing something is meant to make it genuinely public, and hiding it is not meant to leave a link-only flag armed for the next time it is published.",[21,5938,189],{"id":188},[43,5940,5941,5947,5956,5962],{},[46,5942,5943,5946],{},[49,5944,5945],{},"\"Unlisted means private with a link.\""," It means published, minus discovery. The page is fully public to anyone who has the address.",[46,5948,5949,5952,5953,5955],{},[49,5950,5951],{},"\"Search engines will not find it.\""," They can. There is no ",[36,5954,4200],{},", and the page stays in the sitemap.",[46,5957,5958,5961],{},[49,5959,5960],{},"\"Making an account unlisted breaks my embeds.\""," It does not. Widgets serve published accounts, and unlisted accounts are published. Setting the account to private is what breaks them.",[46,5963,5964,5967],{},[49,5965,5966],{},"\"Nobody can see it any more.\""," Existing followers still can, and so can anyone the link was forwarded to.",[11,5969,5970,5971,223],{},"For how visibility, slugs and the public profile fit together, see ",[15,5972,5973],{"href":4220},"the public profile and custom slugs guide",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":5975},[5976,5977,5978,5979,5980],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Unlisted is a third visibility state: the account page works for anyone holding the link, but it is absent from Explore, search and your public profile.",{},[5984,1136,4333,1331],"what-is-a-trading-widget",{"title":5815,"description":5981},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-unlisted-account","Unlisted Account","FVRTTzXCzFmko9mbcQK10j8smAzQsA1wr0gslNmswe0",{"id":5990,"title":5991,"body":5992,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":6173,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":6174,"navigation":235,"path":171,"related":6175,"seo":6177,"stem":6178,"term":174,"updated":233,"__hash__":6179},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length.md","What Is Average Trade Length? Formula and Real Data",{"type":8,"value":5993,"toc":6166},[5994,5997,5999,6002,6008,6011,6018,6025,6028,6030,6033,6045,6055,6057,6066,6075,6083,6085,6095,6116,6139,6141,6161],[11,5995,5996],{},"Average trade length is the mean time a position stayed open, measured from the moment it was opened to the moment it was closed, across every closed trade on the account. It describes the holding period a strategy actually used, as recorded by the broker, rather than the one it was designed around. It is the fastest single check on whether a described strategy and a published track record are the same thing.",[21,5998,24],{"id":23},[11,6000,6001],{},"Every closed trade carries an open time and a close time. The metric is the arithmetic mean of the gaps, calculated on our servers from the account's trade log and sent to the page ready to display.",[29,6003,6006],{"className":6004,"code":6005,"language":34},[32],"Avg. trade length = Σ (close time − open time) \u002F closed trades carrying both timestamps\n",[36,6007,6005],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,6009,6010],{},"Three properties of that formula decide how to read it.",[11,6012,6013,6014,6017],{},"It is a ",[49,6015,6016],{},"mean, not a median",". One position left open for three months sits in the same average as four hundred trades that lasted ninety seconds, and moves the result far more than any of them. A short average is therefore strong evidence of short trades; a long one can come from a handful of outliers.",[11,6019,6020,6021,6024],{},"It counts ",[49,6022,6023],{},"closed trades only",", and only buy and sell orders — deposits, withdrawals and cancelled pending orders are excluded. A floating loser held open for a year contributes nothing until the day it is finally closed, at which point the average jumps.",[11,6026,6027],{},"Positions are counted separately, not merged. A grid running twenty concurrent orders logs twenty durations, so the figure answers \"how long was a trade open\", not \"how long was the account exposed\".",[21,6029,74],{"id":73},[11,6031,6032],{},"Holding period is the one structural fact about a strategy that a trade log cannot hide. A track record described as swing trading, with a four-minute average, is not swing trading, whatever the description says. Neither reading is better than the other; the mismatch is the finding.",[11,6034,6035,6036,1003,6039,6041,6042,6044],{},"It also decides ",[15,6037,6038],{"href":394},"which costs dominate",[15,6040,3253],{"href":88}," and commission are paid once per trade, so they weigh heaviest on the shortest holds. ",[15,6043,154],{"href":17}," accrues per night and only touches positions carried through the rollover. Two systems with identical gross results and different holding periods pay for entirely different things.",[11,6046,6047,6048,6051,6052,6054],{},"And it sets ",[15,6049,6050],{"href":3877},"how much a track record can prove per unit of time",". An account averaging two hours produces evidence quickly; one averaging three weeks needs years to reach the same number of independent outcomes, which is why holding period and ",[15,6053,1394],{"href":1393}," have to be read together.",[21,6056,107],{"id":106},[11,6058,6059,6060,6063,6064,223],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the published accounts with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,6061,6062],{},"median trade lasts 2.4 hours"," and the median account holds ",[49,6065,770],{},[11,6067,6068,6069,4560,6071,6074],{},"That is an intraday population. The median account opens and closes inside the same session, so most of its positions never reach a rollover — yet the same records carry ",[49,6070,113],{},[49,6072,6073],{},"86.3% of accounts with any swap pay net negative swap",". The overnight cost is concentrated in the minority of accounts that carry positions, and for them it is a real line item rather than a rounding error.",[11,6076,6077,6078,364,6080,6082],{},"The automation figures explain the short median. The ",[49,6079,1594],{},[49,6081,1597],{},". Programs close positions when a rule fires, not at the end of the working day.",[21,6084,132],{"id":131},[11,6086,6087,6089,6090,1455,6092,6094],{},[49,6088,174],{}," is the last row of the ",[163,6091,1439],{},[49,6093,373],{},", in the Table view, on the owner's dashboard and on the public account page alike. It adapts its unit: minutes below an hour, one decimal of hours below a day, then days and hours above that.",[11,6096,6097,6098,6100,6101,6104,6105,364,6108,6111,6112,6115],{},"The same panel turns holding time into a distribution. The ",[49,6099,1467],{}," button, fourth in the Table \u002F Weekday \u002F Hourly \u002F Duration switch, opens a scatter plot titled ",[163,6102,6103],{},"Trade Duration vs Profitability",": hours held on the horizontal axis, profit or loss on the vertical, bubbles sized by volume in lots and split into ",[163,6106,6107],{},"Winning Trades",[163,6109,6110],{},"Losing Trades",". One limit worth knowing: it plots the ",[49,6113,6114],{},"most recent 200 closed trades",", not the whole history, so it reads current behaviour rather than a lifetime. Every result on it is net of commission and swap. Hovering gives the ticket, symbol, volume, duration, P\u002FL and the open and close times to the minute.",[11,6117,1451,6118,6120,6121,6123,6124,377,6127,377,6130,377,6133,516,6136,223],{},[49,6119,404],{}," table carries an optional ",[49,6122,1467],{}," column — closed trades only, off by default, switched on from the column menu — formatted as ",[36,6125,6126],{},"2d 5h",[36,6128,6129],{},"3h 14m",[36,6131,6132],{},"12m",[36,6134,6135],{},"4m 20s",[36,6137,6138],{},"42s",[21,6140,189],{"id":188},[43,6142,6143,6149,6155],{},[46,6144,6145,6148],{},[49,6146,6147],{},"\"The average is the typical trade.\""," It is a mean, and holding times have a long right tail. Check the Duration scatter before assuming the average describes any real trade.",[46,6150,6151,6154],{},[49,6152,6153],{},"\"A short average proves scalping.\""," It can also come from a system that closes winners in minutes and holds losers for weeks — the average shortens while the risk lengthens.",[46,6156,6157,6160],{},[49,6158,6159],{},"\"Open trades count.\""," They do not, until they close. A long-running floating position is invisible here by construction.",[11,6162,6163,6164,223],{},"For how holding period reads alongside every other number on an account page, see ",[15,6165,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":6167},[6168,6169,6170,6171,6172],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Average trade length is the mean time a closed position stayed open. The formula, why it is a mean rather than a typical trade, and what thousands of accounts show.",{},[2363,1730,678,6176],"what-is-terminal-ping",{"title":5991,"description":6173},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length","9YnXyNSu-z6VH6wi48WXe0RefoTtl4UCdlKjuXMrfUQ",{"id":6181,"title":6182,"body":6183,"category":2122,"date":233,"description":6375,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":6376,"navigation":235,"path":976,"related":6377,"seo":6378,"stem":6379,"term":6380,"updated":233,"__hash__":6381},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting.md","What Is Backtesting? Definition, Limits and Live Data",{"type":8,"value":6184,"toc":6368},[6185,6188,6190,6193,6199,6202,6229,6235,6237,6240,6243,6245,6255,6271,6280,6285,6290,6292,6299,6321,6330,6332,6361],[11,6186,6187],{},"Backtesting is the simulation of a trading strategy against historical price data to estimate how it would have performed. It produces an equity curve, a profit factor and a drawdown figure without a single order ever reaching a broker. Those outputs are a hypothesis about the strategy, not a record of it.",[21,6189,24],{"id":23},[11,6191,6192],{},"The tester replays historical bars or ticks, applies the strategy's entry and exit rules to each one, and records a simulated fill. Everything that separates the simulation from reality lives in the cost and fill model:",[29,6194,6197],{"className":6195,"code":6196,"language":34},[32],"Net result per trade = Gross P&L − spread − commission − swap − slippage\n\nSpread cost  = spread (in price) × contract size × lots\nSwap         = swap rate × lots × nights held\n",[36,6198,6196],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,6200,6201],{},"Three settings decide how honest the output is:",[43,6203,6204,6210,6219],{},[46,6205,6206,6209],{},[49,6207,6208],{},"Modelling quality."," MT4 and MT5 report it as a percentage. \"Every tick\" interpolates from 1-minute bars unless you supply real tick data; \"control points\" and \"open prices only\" are approximations that flatter intrabar strategies badly.",[46,6211,6212,6215,6216,6218],{},[49,6213,6214],{},"Spread assumption."," Most testers default to a fixed spread. Live spread widens at the rollover, on news and at the session open — exactly the moments many systems trade. A ",[15,6217,89],{"href":88}," modelled at 0.8 pips and paid at 4.0 pips is a different strategy.",[46,6220,6221,6224,6225,6228],{},[49,6222,6223],{},"Slippage and fill logic."," The tester assumes your order is filled at the requested price. ",[15,6226,6227],{"href":924},"Slippage",", rejected orders, requotes and partial fills do not exist in it.",[11,6230,6231,6232,6234],{},"There is a fourth problem the software does not report: the parameter set itself survived a search. If you ran 400 variants and kept the best one, the result you are reading was selected by hindsight. That is ",[15,6233,2106],{"href":2105},", and it is the single largest gap between tested and live performance.",[21,6236,74],{"id":73},[11,6238,6239],{},"A backtest is the cheapest way to reject a bad idea and the most expensive way to confirm a good one. It can establish that a rule set is mechanically coherent, that it survives a rough cost assumption, and that its drawdown profile is something you could sit through. It cannot establish that the edge exists, because every input it uses is a reconstruction and every parameter it uses was chosen after the data was seen.",[11,6241,6242],{},"Anyone deciding where to put money should treat a backtest as a screening tool with a veto, never as evidence.",[21,6244,107],{"id":106},[11,6246,6247,6248,6251,6252,6254],{},"ShowMyTrades publishes ",[49,6249,6250],{},"10,000+ accounts"," as public pages, resting on ",[49,6253,4977],{}," (August 2026). Not one of them is simulated: every trade in that count was filled by a broker and read back from it.",[11,6256,6257,6258,6260,6261,555,6263,6265,6266,555,6268,6270],{},"That published population is overwhelmingly automated — median autotrading share ",[49,6259,792],{},", with 53.9% of accounts running above 90% automation and 42.2% below 10%. The automated portion consists, in the main, of strategies that were backtested before they were funded. Across the whole published set the median ",[15,6262,1394],{"href":1393},[49,6264,566],{}," and the median ",[15,6267,3352],{"href":3351},[49,6269,2519],{},". Those are the figures the tester reports were competing against.",[11,6272,6273,6274,6276,6277,6279],{},"Costs are the line a simulation most often understates, and here they are billed rather than assumed: ",[49,6275,1016],{}," charged in commission and ",[49,6278,1020],{}," in swap, with 86.3% of the accounts that carry any swap paying it net negative. A backtest set to zero swap on a strategy that holds positions overnight is not slightly optimistic; it is missing a recurring charge.",[11,6281,6282],{},[2498,6283],{"alt":6284,"src":3138},"Spread, commission and swap as three separate cost lines: $4,782,670 charged in commission and $862,547 in swap across public ShowMyTrades accounts",[11,6286,6287],{},[163,6288,6289],{},"A tester with a fixed spread and no swap has left out two of the three.",[21,6291,132],{"id":131},[11,6293,6294,6295,6298],{},"Nowhere, deliberately. ShowMyTrades does not host backtests, upload simulations or accept a strategy report as a ",[15,6296,6297],{"href":3889},"track record",". Every account page is synced read-only from the broker, which is why the numbers above describe executed trades rather than modelled ones.",[11,6300,6301,6302,364,6304,6306,6307,6309,6310,364,6312,6314,6315,6317,6318,6320],{},"The modules that expose what a backtest hides are: ",[49,6303,143],{},[49,6305,139],{}," in the Advanced Statistics block, the real cost of the strategy in account currency; the ",[49,6308,352],{}," panel, which reports ",[49,6311,363],{},[49,6313,367],{}," to the trade server, the conditions your fills were actually obtained under; and ",[49,6316,404],{},", whose ",[49,6319,400],{}," tab lists each executed order at the price it was genuinely filled at rather than the price a tester would have granted it.",[11,6322,147,6323,6325,6326,6329],{},[49,6324,2967],{}," badge, held by 65 accounts, and ",[49,6327,6328],{},"Trading Privileges Verified",", held by 264, mark the records where that broker-to-page chain has been checked rather than asserted.",[21,6331,189],{"id":188},[43,6333,6334,6340,6349,6355],{},[46,6335,6336,6339],{},[49,6337,6338],{},"\"It used every tick, so it is accurate.\""," Tick modelling improves the price path, not the fill. Your broker's spread, execution and rejections are still absent.",[46,6341,6342,947,6345,6348],{},[49,6343,6344],{},"\"It was tested over ten years.\"",[15,6346,6347],{"href":3877},"Length is not independence",". A decade that contained one dominant regime is one observation, not 2,500.",[46,6350,6351,6354],{},[49,6352,6353],{},"\"Only three parameters were optimised.\""," Three parameters at twenty values each is 8,000 experiments. The winner of 8,000 experiments is partly lucky by construction.",[46,6356,6357,6360],{},[49,6358,6359],{},"\"The demo forward test confirmed it.\""," Demo servers fill optimistically and never reject. A demo result is a second simulation, not a first live test.",[11,6362,6363,6364,223],{},"Before you trust any performance figure, tested or live, work through ",[15,6365,6367],{"href":6366},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverifying-trading-performance-claims","how to verify trading performance claims",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":6369},[6370,6371,6372,6373,6374],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Backtesting simulates a trading strategy on historical price data. What it can prove, what it cannot, and why live broker-synced results almost always differ.",{},[2128,1136,468],{"title":6182,"description":6375},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","Backtesting","he7JKboqSnysaWcJ_U_Uz3xPVvizet9GFQbrgkBSinQ",{"id":6383,"title":6384,"body":6385,"category":2122,"date":233,"description":6592,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":6593,"navigation":235,"path":6594,"related":6595,"seo":6597,"stem":6598,"term":6599,"updated":233,"__hash__":6600},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-copy-trading.md","What Is Copy Trading? How Copied Results Diverge",{"type":8,"value":6386,"toc":6585},[6387,6390,6392,6395,6398,6404,6410,6413,6439,6441,6444,6447,6449,6457,6470,6491,6493,6514,6539,6547,6549,6579],[11,6388,6389],{},"Copy trading is an arrangement in which orders placed on one trading account are automatically reproduced on another, so the follower holds broadly the same positions as the source. The follower delegates entries, exits and timing, but keeps their own broker, their own account size and their own fills. That last part is why two accounts following the same signal almost never end the month with the same number.",[21,6391,24],{"id":23},[11,6393,6394],{},"A copier sits between the two accounts. It watches the source for a new order, converts the size, and sends the equivalent order to the follower's account, usually within a fraction of a second. Closes, partial closes and stop modifications are relayed the same way.",[11,6396,6397],{},"The conversion step is where most of the outcome is decided. Three modes are common:",[29,6399,6402],{"className":6400,"code":6401,"language":34},[32],"Fixed lot      follower lot = 0.10                                 (same size every trade)\nProportional   follower lot = source lot × (follower equity \u002F source equity)\nRisk-adjusted  follower lot = follower equity × risk% \u002F (stop distance × pip value)\n",[36,6403,6401],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,6405,6406,6407,6409],{},"Fixed lot ignores account size entirely and is the mode that ruins small accounts copying large ones. Proportional keeps the ratio but inherits the source's risk appetite whole. Risk-adjusted is the only mode that is really ",[15,6408,1399],{"href":1398}," rather than mirroring, and it requires the source to use stops.",[11,6411,6412],{},"Three things then pull the copied result away from the original:",[43,6414,6415,6424,6433],{},[46,6416,6417,6420,6421,6423],{},[49,6418,6419],{},"Latency."," The copier reacts after the source fills. On fast entries the follower buys a slightly worse price, every time, in one direction. That is structural ",[15,6422,3234],{"href":924},", not bad luck.",[46,6425,6426,6429,6430,6432],{},[49,6427,6428],{},"Spread and commission at your broker."," The source's edge was measured against the source's costs. Your ",[15,6431,89],{"href":88}," is a different number on the same instrument at the same second, and it is subtracted from every trade.",[46,6434,6435,6438],{},[49,6436,6437],{},"Account size and rounding."," Minimum lot steps force rounding. On a small account a 0.03 lot signal becomes 0.01 or 0.10, and the proportion the copier was built to preserve is gone.",[21,6440,74],{"id":73},[11,6442,6443],{},"You inherit the source account's drawdown without inheriting the reason the trader stays in it. The person running the strategy knows why the position is open. You see only the loss, which is why followers usually disconnect near the bottom of a decline that the source rides out.",[11,6445,6446],{},"Costs also compound against you. A strategy with a small average win per trade can be profitable on the source's cost structure and unprofitable on yours, with identical trades, purely through spread and commission. Before copying anything, the source account is what you audit — not the marketing around it.",[21,6448,107],{"id":106},[11,6450,6451,6452,767,6454,6456],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the median closed trade lasts ",[49,6453,2003],{},[49,6455,770],{},". Short trades are where copier latency does the most damage, because a fixed delay is a larger share of a two-hour move than of a two-week one.",[11,6458,6459,6460,4560,6462,6465,6466,6469],{},"Venue matters too, and it varies enormously: the connected accounts sit on ",[49,6461,315],{},[49,6463,6464],{},"429 users"," run accounts at more than one broker. The ",[15,6467,6468],{"href":452},"same strategy is genuinely executed at hundreds of different cost structures"," here.",[11,6471,6472,6473,6476,6477,6479,6480,6482,6483,6485,6486,6490],{},"The risk you would be adopting is not small either. The ",[15,6474,6475],{"href":740},"median deepest drawdown"," on those accounts is ",[49,6478,562],{},", but ",[49,6481,1211],{}," have been more than 20% below their peak and ",[49,6484,2698],{}," have lost more than half of it. And of 10,000+ published accounts, only ",[49,6487,2964,6488],{},[15,6489,2967],{"href":2753}," — provenance is the exception, so check it before you copy.",[21,6492,132],{"id":131},[11,6494,147,6495,6497,6498,520,6500,364,6502,6504,6505,377,6507,377,6509,364,6511,6513],{},[49,6496,150],{}," is the due-diligence tool. Every closed trade shows Open Time, Close Time, Type, Symbol, Open Price, Close Price and ",[49,6499,3813],{},[49,6501,413],{},[49,6503,416],{}," on by default and ",[49,6506,1467],{},[49,6508,154],{},[49,6510,2559],{},[49,6512,1663],{}," available from the column menu. That is where you see whether entries are reachable at your latency and whether the strategy actually uses stops — which decides whether risk-adjusted copying is possible at all.",[11,6515,5908,6516,6518,6519,6521,6522,377,6526,364,6528,6530,6531,6521,6533,6535,6536,6538],{},[49,6517,373],{},", the ",[163,6520,1439],{}," section carries ",[49,6523,6524],{},[15,6525,174],{"href":171},[49,6527,143],{},[49,6529,139],{},": the source's real cost load, which yours will differ from. The ",[163,6532,4802],{},[49,6534,604],{},", the average result per trade that your extra spread eats into, and ",[49,6537,4798],{},", which says whether wins and losses arrive in streaks — the streak is what a follower has to sit through.",[11,6540,6541,6543,6544,6546],{},[49,6542,160],{}," shows trade count and profit per symbol, split into Longs, Shorts and Total, so you can tell whether the record rests on majors or on instruments where spreads diverge most between brokers. The header's ",[163,6545,342],{}," group names the platform, broker and leverage the record was produced on. None of the three is necessarily yours.",[21,6548,189],{"id":188},[43,6550,6551,6557,6563,6569],{},[46,6552,6553,6556],{},[49,6554,6555],{},"\"Same signals means same results.\""," It does not. Different broker, different fills, different costs, different size. Divergence is the default, not a malfunction.",[46,6558,6559,6562],{},[49,6560,6561],{},"\"Proportional sizing makes it safe.\""," It makes it scaled. A 40% drawdown proportionally copied is still a 40% drawdown.",[46,6564,6565,6568],{},[49,6566,6567],{},"\"The provider takes the risk.\""," The provider takes a fee. The margin call arrives on your account.",[46,6570,6571,6574,6575,6578],{},[49,6572,6573],{},"\"A long track record on the source is enough.\""," Only if the data path is verified. Without ",[15,6576,5675],{"href":6577},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-third-party-verification",", a long record is a long claim.",[11,6580,6581,6582,223],{},"Before you mirror anyone's orders, read ",[15,6583,6584],{"href":6366},"how to verify performance claims",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":6586},[6587,6588,6589,6590,6591],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Copy trading reproduces one account's orders on another. Here are the three sizing modes, and why your result never matches the source account exactly.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-copy-trading",[468,241,1516,6596],"what-is-third-party-verification",{"title":6384,"description":6592},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-copy-trading","Copy Trading","pyBosJcIC3D0CgfG1-pBCtOuV2lDHvxehjgx-mi3Zhc",{"id":6602,"title":6603,"body":6604,"category":888,"date":233,"description":6882,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":6883,"navigation":235,"path":3945,"related":6884,"seo":6886,"stem":6887,"term":6888,"updated":233,"__hash__":6889},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-correlation-risk.md","What Is Correlation Risk? Why Diversification Fails",{"type":8,"value":6605,"toc":6875},[6606,6609,6611,6619,6625,6628,6689,6692,6695,6734,6737,6739,6745,6751,6757,6759,6773,6780,6792,6794,6837,6839,6869],[11,6607,6608],{},"Correlation risk is the exposure created when positions or accounts that look independent are driven by the same factor and therefore lose together. It is why an apparently diversified book produces a single, undiversified drawdown: the risk was counted once per position, but it arrives all at once.",[21,6610,24],{"id":23},[11,6612,6613,6614,6618],{},"The pairwise coefficient belongs to ",[15,6615,6617],{"href":6616},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-forex-pair-correlation","forex pair correlation",". At book level what matters is how many independent bets it leaves you with.",[29,6620,6623],{"className":6621,"code":6622,"language":34},[32],"Independent bets = n ÷ ( 1 + (n − 1) × ρ )\n\nn = number of positions\nρ = average correlation between them\n",[36,6624,6622],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,6626,6627],{},"Three positions each risking 1% of the account:",[1761,6629,6630,6643],{},[1764,6631,6632],{},[1767,6633,6634,6637,6640],{},[1770,6635,6636],{},"Average correlation",[1770,6638,6639],{},"Combined risk",[1770,6641,6642],{},"Independent bets",[1780,6644,6645,6656,6667,6678],{},[1767,6646,6647,6650,6653],{},[1785,6648,6649],{},"ρ = 0",[1785,6651,6652],{},"1.73%",[1785,6654,6655],{},"3.0",[1767,6657,6658,6661,6664],{},[1785,6659,6660],{},"ρ = 0.7",[1785,6662,6663],{},"2.68%",[1785,6665,6666],{},"1.25",[1767,6668,6669,6672,6675],{},[1785,6670,6671],{},"ρ = 1",[1785,6673,6674],{},"3.00%",[1785,6676,6677],{},"1.0",[1767,6679,6680,6683,6686],{},[1785,6681,6682],{},"ρ = −0.5 (the floor for three)",[1785,6684,6685],{},"≈ 0%",[1785,6687,6688],{},"—",[11,6690,6691],{},"The trader believed they had risked 1% three times. At ρ = 1 they risked 3% once. Nothing on the platform announces the difference.",[11,6693,6694],{},"Correlated exposure arrives through five channels, and most books carry several at once:",[43,6696,6697,6703,6712,6718,6728],{},[46,6698,6699,6702],{},[49,6700,6701],{},"A shared currency leg."," Long EUR\u002FUSD, GBP\u002FUSD and AUD\u002FUSD is one short-dollar position in three costumes.",[46,6704,6705,6708,6709,6711],{},[49,6706,6707],{},"One strategy across many symbols."," A single ",[15,6710,800],{"href":799}," trading twelve pairs generates twelve positions from one signal condition.",[46,6713,6714,6717],{},[49,6715,6716],{},"One strategy across many accounts."," The same EA copied onto four accounts is one bet at four times the size; total capital at risk is what matters, not capital per account.",[46,6719,6720,6723,6724,6727],{},[49,6721,6722],{},"A shared regime dependency."," Every ",[15,6725,6726],{"href":2068},"trend-following"," system in a book suffers the same choppy market, whatever it trades.",[46,6729,6730,6733],{},[49,6731,6732],{},"A shared venue."," Same broker, same price feed, same execution. A feed outage or a requote storm hits every position at once.",[11,6735,6736],{},"And ρ is not a constant: in quiet markets the components decouple and the book genuinely looks diversified, then in a liquidity event they converge toward 1.",[21,6738,74],{"id":73},[11,6740,6741,6742,6744],{},"Correlation risk breaks the arithmetic ",[15,6743,1399],{"href":1398}," depends on. A 1%-per-trade rule is a promise about the worst case, and it only holds if the trades are independent. Ten correlated positions at 1% is a 10% day through a rule followed exactly.",[11,6746,6747,6748,6750],{},"It hits ",[15,6749,754],{"href":753}," the same way: correlated positions move into floating loss together, so equity falls across the whole book while used margin stays put, and the stop-out threshold approaches faster than any single-position analysis predicted.",[11,6752,6753,6754,6756],{},"It also makes track records misleading. Four accounts each showing a modest ",[15,6755,701],{"href":700}," may have printed all four on the same three days: four data points read separately, one in fact.",[21,6758,107],{"id":106},[11,6760,6761,6762,364,6764,6766,6767,364,6769,6772],{},"On ShowMyTrades (August 2026), ",[49,6763,1617],{},[49,6765,4966],{},". Across the public accounts with trading history, median autotrading share is ",[49,6768,792],{},[49,6770,6771],{},"53.9% run above 90% automated",". These describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,6774,6775,6776,6779],{},"Those figures set the scale. More than half of all users hold multiple accounts and roughly a third spread them across brokers, usually to avoid depending on one counterparty. That diversifies the counterparty, not the strategy: if the same automated system runs on both, ",[15,6777,6778],{"href":452},"two brokers deliver one equity curve twice",", and a near-total autotrading share makes that the default case.",[11,6781,6782,6783,555,6786,3749,6788,6791],{},"The outcomes are consistent. ",[15,6784,6785],{"href":740},"Median deepest drawdown",[49,6787,562],{},[49,6789,6790],{},"17.6% of accounts have passed 50%",". Falls of that depth are rarely one position going wrong; they are a set of positions that turned out to be the same position.",[21,6793,132],{"id":131},[43,6795,6796,6807,6820,6825,6832],{},[46,6797,147,6798,6800,6801,6803,6804,6806],{},[49,6799,160],{}," module and its ",[163,6802,1634],{}," tab, which splits the record by strategy rather than by instrument. Two ",[15,6805,985],{"href":984}," with the same good and bad stretches are one system wearing two labels.",[46,6808,6809,6813,6814,364,6817,6819],{},[49,6810,6811],{},[15,6812,180],{"href":1667},", which filters by ",[49,6815,6816],{},"Symbols",[49,6818,1673],{},". Recomputing the figures with one magic number excluded shows how much of the record depended on it. The saved preset list is hidden on public pages; the filters are not.",[46,6821,147,6822,6824],{},[49,6823,3828],{}," view in the charts viewer, read across two account pages. Two curves with the same peaks and troughs on the same dates are one strategy whatever they are called.",[46,6826,4683,6827,6831],{},[49,6828,6829],{},[15,6830,658],{"href":657},", which merges several accounts into one aggregated view — equity curve, statistics and metrics combined. That total is what correlation risk applies to, not the per-account figures.",[46,6833,147,6834,6836],{},[49,6835,150],{}," with its Magic Number and Comment columns, showing which system opened what and when.",[21,6838,189],{"id":188},[43,6840,6841,6847,6853,6859],{},[46,6842,6843,6846],{},[49,6844,6845],{},"\"I trade eight pairs, so I am diversified.\""," If seven quote against the dollar, you hold one dollar position sized eight times.",[46,6848,6849,6852],{},[49,6850,6851],{},"\"Different brokers means diversified risk.\""," It diversifies counterparty and execution, which is worth having. It does not diversify a strategy running identically on both.",[46,6854,6855,6858],{},[49,6856,6857],{},"\"Correlation is stable enough to plan around.\""," It is measured in normal conditions and converges toward 1 in the conditions that create large drawdowns.",[46,6860,6861,6864,6865,6868],{},[49,6862,6863],{},"\"Long one pair and short a correlated one cancels the risk.\""," It replaces a directional bet with a cross bet, and you pay two ",[15,6866,6867],{"href":88},"spreads"," and two swaps to hold it.",[11,6870,6871,6872,223],{},"For how to see combined exposure rather than four separate pages, read ",[15,6873,6874],{"href":1612},"tracking multiple accounts in a portfolio",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":6876},[6877,6878,6879,6880,6881],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Correlation risk is running several positions or accounts that are really one bet. How correlated exposure multiplies drawdown, and what thousands of traders show.",{},[6885,893,1516,895],"what-is-forex-pair-correlation",{"title":6603,"description":6882},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-correlation-risk","Correlation Risk","GNhwqG_ozOXL3dDKSqbVGKoxSZ4aW1o00RqKg9Mychw",{"id":6891,"title":6892,"body":6893,"category":232,"date":233,"description":7092,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":7093,"navigation":235,"path":394,"related":7094,"seo":7095,"stem":7096,"term":7097,"updated":233,"__hash__":7098},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage.md","What Is Cost Percentage in Trading?",{"type":8,"value":6894,"toc":7085},[6895,6898,6900,6903,6909,6912,6915,6925,6931,6937,6942,6944,6953,6956,6958,6971,6978,6989,6991,6994,7017,7044,7051,7053,7079],[11,6896,6897],{},"Cost percentage is the share of an account's gross trading result consumed by commission and swap, expressed as a percentage. It answers the question a raw cost total cannot: not how much you paid, but how much of what the strategy produced you were allowed to keep. Two accounts can pay identical commissions and be in completely different businesses.",[21,6899,24],{"id":23},[11,6901,6902],{},"Costs are already deducted from every profit figure shown on an account page, so the ratio starts by adding them back to reconstruct what the strategy generated.",[29,6904,6907],{"className":6905,"code":6906,"language":34},[32],"Gross result = Net result + Commissions paid + Swap paid\nCost %       = (Commissions paid + Swap paid) \u002F Gross result x 100\n",[36,6908,6906],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,6910,6911],{},"Enter both cost figures as positive amounts — you are undoing a deduction, not applying one. Swap runs either way: an account that is a net receiver holds a credit, not a cost, and it does not belong in the numerator.",[11,6913,6914],{},"Worked quickly: an account showing $4,900 of commissions, $700 of swap paid and a net result of +$2,100 produced a gross result of $7,700, of which $5,600 went to the broker. That is 72.7%; the trader kept the other $2,100.",[11,6916,6917,6918,6921,6922,223],{},"The same totals, divided by lots and by trade count, say ",[163,6919,6920],{},"why",". A ratio driven by the rate per lot is a broker problem; one driven by the number of times that rate was paid is a strategy problem, and only the first is ",[15,6923,6924],{"href":389},"fixed by moving accounts",[11,6926,6927,6928,6930],{},"One cost cannot be added back: the ",[15,6929,89],{"href":88},". It is paid inside the entry and exit prices, so it appears as a line item nowhere — not in MetaTrader, not here. Every cost percentage computed from published figures is therefore a floor, and the gap widens the shorter the average trade.",[11,6932,6933],{},[2498,6934],{"alt":6935,"src":6936},"Gross profit falling through three deductions — spread, commission and swap — to the net result that reaches the balance","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fgross-to-net.svg",[11,6938,6939],{},[163,6940,6941],{},"Two of the three can be added back from the page. The spread never appears as a line at all.",[21,6943,74],{"id":73},[11,6945,6946,6947,6949,6950,6952],{},"The median ",[15,6948,1394],{"href":1393}," across public accounts on ShowMyTrades is 1.28, and that figure is already net of costs: commission and ",[15,6951,18],{"href":17}," are folded into each trade before any statistic is computed. Twenty-eight cents of winnings per dollar of losses is the entire margin of survival for the typical published account.",[11,6954,6955],{},"At that thickness, cost percentage decides which side of 1.0 an account lands on. A strategy that is gross-profitable and net-flat looks healthy from outside: green curve, more green months than red, profit factor above 1.0. Nothing on the page is broken. The edge simply has a silent partner taking most of it.",[21,6957,107],{"id":106},[11,6959,6960,6961,6963,6964,6966,6967,6970],{},"Accounts published on ShowMyTrades have paid ",[49,6962,1016],{}," in commissions and ",[49,6965,1020],{}," in swap, over ",[49,6968,6969],{},"1,724,575"," lots. These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[11,6972,6973,6974,6977],{},"Swap is not symmetric. Of the accounts carrying any swap at all, ",[49,6975,6976],{},"86.3%"," pay net negative swap. Holding overnight is a cost for close to nine accounts in ten; the minority who collect it are usually doing so deliberately.",[11,6979,6980,6981,6983,6984,5153,6986,6988],{},"Set that against the trading pattern: a median of ",[49,6982,3725],{}," closed trades per account, with a ",[15,6985,765],{"href":171},[49,6987,2003],{},". A population trading that frequently pays the cost line often, and the shorter the hold, the larger the share of gross result that never reaches the balance.",[21,6990,132],{"id":131},[11,6992,6993],{},"There is no Cost % figure on the page, and none is computed behind it either — no field, no tile, no stored value. What the page publishes are the inputs, and the ratio is a two-minute calculation on them.",[11,6995,147,6996,6998,6999,7001,7002,377,7004,377,7006,364,7008,7010,7011,7013,7014,7016],{},[49,6997,373],{}," module, ",[163,7000,1439],{}," column, carries ",[49,7003,143],{},[49,7005,139],{},[49,7007,380],{},[49,7009,2054],{},". Total Swap Paid is coloured — red for a net payer, green for a net receiver — so its direction is readable without checking the sign. The net result to divide by is ",[49,7012,3833],{},", in the ",[49,7015,827],{}," panel beside the charts.",[11,7018,7019,7020,7022,7023,7025,7026,377,7028,364,7030,7032,7033,7035,7036,7038,7039,364,7041,7043],{},"Per-trade detail sits in the ",[49,7021,404],{}," table. ",[49,7024,3813],{}," is always shown; ",[49,7027,2553],{},[49,7029,154],{},[49,7031,2559],{}," are separate columns that are hidden by default and switched on from the ",[49,7034,3824],{}," menu. ",[49,7037,160],{}," splits the record ",[49,7040,165],{},[49,7042,1634],{},", but its columns are Trades, Pips and Profit — net of costs, with no cost line of its own, so it localises where the volume and the result concentrate rather than the spend itself.",[11,7045,7046,7047,7050],{},"Two caveats. An owner can ",[15,7048,7049],{"href":4220},"hide any of these modules from their public page",", so an account showing no cost block is not an account without costs. And the per-lot cost benchmark our backend computes is shown to the account owner in their own dashboard only, never on a public page.",[21,7052,189],{"id":188},[43,7054,7055,7061,7067,7073],{},[46,7056,7057,7060],{},[49,7058,7059],{},"\"My commissions are low, so costs are not my problem.\""," Low against what? Four thousand dollars is a rounding error on eighty thousand of gross result and fatal on forty-two hundred. The absolute figure means nothing alone.",[46,7062,7063,7066],{},[49,7064,7065],{},"\"Above 100% is impossible.\""," It is common. It means the strategy produced a gross profit and the account still finished negative.",[46,7068,7069,7072],{},[49,7070,7071],{},"\"The spread is included.\""," It is not, anywhere. Treat any computed ratio as a floor.",[46,7074,7075,7078],{},[49,7076,7077],{},"\"Swap only matters to long-term traders.\""," It accrues on any position held past the broker's rollover, including one opened in the afternoon and closed the next morning.",[11,7080,7081,7082,223],{},"The full method, with the diagnosis for each range of the ratio: ",[15,7083,7084],{"href":83},"trading cost percentage explained",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":7086},[7087,7088,7089,7090,7091],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Cost percentage is the share of gross trading result taken by commission and swap. Here is the formula, why spread is missing, and what real accounts pay.",{},[241,240,1730,2811],{"title":6892,"description":7092},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","Cost Percentage","LgRbnF5abnxaaiE6z0jnuw6vMqX85daCthhRUX1svkY",{"id":7100,"title":7101,"body":7102,"category":4328,"date":7213,"description":7214,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":7215,"navigation":235,"path":7216,"related":7217,"seo":7218,"stem":7219,"term":7220,"updated":7213,"__hash__":7221},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader.md","What Is cTrader? The Platform and How Tracking Works",{"type":8,"value":7103,"toc":7206},[7104,7110,7112,7115,7121,7132,7139,7141,7144,7151,7153,7156,7159,7161,7171,7177,7179,7199],[11,7105,7106,7107,7109],{},"cTrader is a trading platform built by Spotware and licensed to brokers, in the same arrangement MetaTrader uses: the broker runs the server, you run the client. It is the main alternative to ",[15,7108,1536],{"href":1535}," for retail forex and CFD accounts, and it is usually chosen by brokers who want to advertise their execution model rather than hide it.",[21,7111,24],{"id":23},[11,7113,7114],{},"Three parts, as with any platform of this kind, but the split is different.",[29,7116,7119],{"className":7117,"code":7118,"language":34},[32],"cTrader Desktop \u002F Web \u002F Mobile   ← charts, cBots, client-side logic\n    ↕ FIX or Open API\nBroker server                    ← order matching, positions, balance\ncAlgo (C#)                       ← the language cBots and indicators are written in\n",[36,7120,7118],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,7122,7123,7124,7127,7128,7131],{},"Two differences matter in practice. Automation is written in ",[49,7125,7126],{},"C#"," rather than MQL, which brings a mainstream language and a debugger with it. And cTrader is ",[49,7129,7130],{},"position-based",": several orders on the same symbol merge into one position with one average price, where MT4 keeps every ticket separate. That single design choice changes how you count trades, and therefore how win rate, average trade length and volume are calculated on any record built from a cTrader account.",[11,7133,7134,7135,7138],{},"Access for third parties runs through the ",[49,7136,7137],{},"cTrader Open API"," with OAuth2 authorisation. You are sent to cTrader, you approve the connection there, and the tracking service receives a token. No password is handed over, and you can revoke the token from your cTrader account at any time — the tracker cannot place, modify or close an order with it.",[21,7140,74],{"id":73},[11,7142,7143],{},"If you trade on cTrader and want a public track record, the platform choice has until recently been a dead end. The two best known tracking sites grew up around MetaTrader and neither connects a cTrader account, so the usual advice — connect it somewhere and send the link — was not available to you at all.",[11,7145,7146,7147,7150],{},"The OAuth route is also the cleanest of the credential models in this category. A read-only ",[15,7148,7149],{"href":4353},"investor password"," is safe but permanent until you change it; an OAuth token is revocable from the platform's own settings, without touching your trading credentials.",[21,7152,107],{"id":106},[11,7154,7155],{},"ShowMyTrades connects MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker, and the cTrader accounts here carry exactly the same public page as the MetaTrader ones: broker-synced, verified, embeddable.",[11,7157,7158],{},"That is the whole point, and it is a short one. The two best known trackers in this category do not read cTrader at all, so a cTrader trader who wants a public record has had nowhere to put it.",[21,7160,132],{"id":131},[11,7162,7163,7164,7167,7168,7170],{},"A cTrader account carries the id prefix ",[36,7165,7166],{},"ctr-"," and appears exactly like any other: the same stats panel, the same charts viewer, the same monthly returns table, the same ",[15,7169,3646],{"href":2753}," badges.",[11,7172,7173,7174,7176],{},"Two honest differences. There are no terminal diagnostics — ping, packet retransmission, terminal build — because there is no MetaTrader terminal in the loop to measure. And ",[15,7175,985],{"href":984}," do not exist in cTrader as they do in MQL, so every trade arrives in the Manual bucket rather than split by strategy.",[21,7178,189],{"id":188},[43,7180,7181,7187,7193],{},[46,7182,7183,7186],{},[49,7184,7185],{},"\"cTrader means better execution.\""," The platform exposes more about execution and is often paired with a raw-spread account, but execution quality belongs to the broker, not to the software. Measure it on your own account rather than assuming it from the logo.",[46,7188,7189,7192],{},[49,7190,7191],{},"\"A cBot is an EA.\""," Same idea, different language and different runtime. A strategy written in MQL does not run on cTrader without being rewritten.",[46,7194,7195,7198],{},[49,7196,7197],{},"\"Trade counts should match my MetaTrader record.\""," They will not. Position-based merging means a scale-in that MT4 records as four tickets appears as one position with one average price.",[11,7200,7201,7202,7205],{},"Connecting one takes about a minute: see ",[15,7203,7204],{"href":4357},"cTrader account tracking"," for the OAuth flow and what ends up on the page.",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":7207},[7208,7209,7210,7211,7212],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z","cTrader is the main alternative to MetaTrader for retail forex. What it does differently, how OAuth authorisation works, and the real platform split we see.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader",[1729,4502,466,1136],{"title":7101,"description":7214},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader","cTrader","xtpx3lcZbxBN632V-c-yfKFtsTMTTwFY9UNJNBXKeSY",{"id":7223,"title":7224,"body":7225,"category":2122,"date":233,"description":7398,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":7399,"navigation":235,"path":2105,"related":7400,"seo":7401,"stem":7402,"term":7403,"updated":233,"__hash__":7404},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-curve-fitting.md","What Is Curve Fitting? How to Spot an Overfit Strategy",{"type":8,"value":7226,"toc":7391},[7227,7230,7232,7235,7241,7244,7247,7277,7279,7282,7288,7290,7306,7312,7319,7321,7330,7358,7360,7386],[11,7228,7229],{},"Curve fitting, also called overfitting, is tuning a strategy's parameters until it fits the historical data it was tested on, including that data's noise. The result describes the past precisely and predicts nothing. It is the most common reason a system that looked excellent in testing loses money the month it goes live.",[21,7231,24],{"id":23},[11,7233,7234],{},"Every adjustable input is a degree of freedom. Search a grid of values and you are not testing one strategy, you are running one experiment per combination:",[29,7236,7239],{"className":7237,"code":7238,"language":34},[32],"Experiments = v1 × v2 × ... × vk\n\n4 parameters × 15 values each = 50,625 backtests\nThe best of 50,625 is chosen partly for its edge and\npartly for the noise it happened to land on\n",[36,7240,7238],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,7242,7243],{},"The more experiments you run against a fixed history, the more certain it becomes that the winner owes its ranking to luck. The tester does not report this. It reports the winner as if it were the only candidate.",[11,7245,7246],{},"Four signs, in rough order of reliability:",[43,7248,7249,7259,7265,7271],{},[46,7250,7251,7254,7255,7258],{},[49,7252,7253],{},"Parameter cliffs."," Move a setting one notch either way and performance collapses. A real edge degrades gently; a fitted one falls off a table. A ",[15,7256,7257],{"href":2125},"moving average"," that only works at period 47 is the textbook case.",[46,7260,7261,7264],{},[49,7262,7263],{},"Too many parameters for the sample."," A rule set with six inputs validated on 150 trades is under-determined. There is no fixed ratio, but the direction is not in dispute.",[46,7266,7267,7270],{},[49,7268,7269],{},"A suspiciously smooth equity curve."," Real returns are jagged. A near-straight diagonal in a backtest usually means either a fitted parameter set or a system that survives by not closing losers.",[46,7272,7273,7276],{},[49,7274,7275],{},"Out-of-sample collapse."," Performance that holds in the fitting window and evaporates outside it. This is the definitive test, and it is only definitive the first time you look at the out-of-sample data.",[21,7278,74],{"id":73},[11,7280,7281],{},"A curve-fitted system fails in a specific and expensive way: it does not lose slowly from the start. It behaves acceptably while the market resembles the fitting period, then breaks when the regime changes, usually with size on. The trader reads it as bad luck rather than as the model doing exactly what it was built to do.",[11,7283,7284,7285,7287],{},"The antidote is not a cleverer test. It is a live record, carrying real spread, commission and ",[15,7286,3234],{"href":924},", long enough to have met conditions the developer never saw.",[21,7289,107],{"id":106},[11,7291,7292,7293,947,7295,7297,7298,947,7300,7302,7303,7305],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026): median ",[15,7294,1394],{"href":1393},[49,7296,566],{},", median deepest ",[15,7299,701],{"href":700},[49,7301,562],{},", and a median of ",[49,7304,770],{}," per account.",[11,7307,7308,7309,7311],{},"Those three numbers are the honest reference distribution. 38.2% of accounts have reached a drawdown over 20% and 17.6% over 50%. When a strategy is advertised with a profit factor above 3.0 and a ",[15,7310,2471],{"href":740}," of 4%, it is not claiming talent, it is claiming a position outside a distribution built from 15.4 million synchronised trades. That claim can be true. It requires evidence, and the evidence is live.",[11,7313,7314,7315,7318],{},"The median of 171 closed trades is worth holding onto separately: it is ",[15,7316,7317],{"href":3877},"a small sample for validating anything",", and it is the sample most live accounts are actually judged on.",[21,7320,132],{"id":131},[11,7322,147,7323,7325,7326,7329],{},[49,7324,3836],{}," chart in the charts viewer indexes the curve by trade number instead of by date, which strips out the flattering effect of long idle periods and exposes whether the account is still working or merely still open. The ",[49,7327,7328],{},"Monthly Returns table"," shows every red month and every \"No Activity\" gap — a strategy quietly re-optimised after a bad month usually leaves a visible pause there.",[11,7331,7332,7333,7335,7336,364,7341,7343,7344,7346,7347,364,7349,7352,7353,7357],{},"In the Advanced Statistics block, read ",[49,7334,2530],{}," beside ",[49,7337,7338],{},[15,7339,7340],{"href":5134},"Standard Deviation",[49,7342,4798],{},": a strong profit factor resting on unusually uniform trade returns describes an account too smooth to have met varied conditions, which is what a parameter set shaped around a single period tends to produce. The ",[49,7345,180],{}," panel's ",[49,7348,1673],{},[49,7350,7351],{},"Comment Filter"," let you isolate one expert advisor on a multi-strategy account and read its statistics alone. The ",[49,7354,7355],{},[15,7356,2967],{"href":2753}," badge, on 65 accounts today, confirms the data came from the broker rather than from a report file.",[21,7359,189],{"id":188},[43,7361,7362,7368,7374,7380],{},[46,7363,7364,7367],{},[49,7365,7366],{},"\"It passed out-of-sample.\""," Once you have looked at the out-of-sample results and adjusted anything, that data is in-sample. You get one look.",[46,7369,7370,7373],{},[49,7371,7372],{},"\"More history prevents overfitting.\""," What matters is the ratio of observations to free parameters, not the calendar span. Adding years while adding filters can make it worse.",[46,7375,7376,7379],{},[49,7377,7378],{},"\"Walk-forward optimisation solves it.\""," It reduces the problem and can reproduce it: re-optimising every window on the same instrument is still a search over one history.",[46,7381,7382,7385],{},[49,7383,7384],{},"\"It's live, so it can't be curve fitted.\""," A system re-tuned every time it stumbles is being fitted in production. The account is real; the edge is still being invented backwards.",[11,7387,7388,7389,223],{},"To see what separates a record that settles this question from one that cannot, read ",[15,7390,2798],{"href":2797},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":7392},[7393,7394,7395,7396,7397],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Curve fitting is optimising a strategy until it describes past data perfectly and predicts nothing. The warning signs, and why only live results settle it.",{},[1135,1730,1136],{"title":7224,"description":7398},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-curve-fitting","Curve Fitting","vqLjOQR1TVBKQwjtcbTsRhfF1UU3Px_k_Vsr9UBTTqY",{"id":7406,"title":7407,"body":7408,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":7586,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":7587,"navigation":235,"path":700,"related":7588,"seo":7590,"stem":7591,"term":833,"updated":233,"__hash__":7592},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown.md","What Is Drawdown? Definition, Formula and Real Numbers",{"type":8,"value":7409,"toc":7579},[7410,7413,7415,7418,7424,7427,7430,7461,7463,7466,7472,7477,7480,7489,7491,7496,7506,7509,7511,7528,7543,7545,7574],[11,7411,7412],{},"Drawdown is the decline in an account's value from a previous peak down to a subsequent low, expressed as a percentage of that peak. It measures how far the account fell from its own best point, not how much it lost on any single trade. Because it accumulates, a 20% drawdown can be built out of forty small losses just as easily as out of one disaster.",[21,7414,24],{"id":23},[11,7416,7417],{},"Every account carries a running high-water mark: the highest value it has ever reached. Drawdown is the distance below that mark at any given moment.",[29,7419,7422],{"className":7420,"code":7421,"language":34},[32],"Drawdown % = (Peak value − Current value) \u002F Peak value × 100\n",[36,7423,7421],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,7425,7426],{},"The mark only moves up. When a new high is printed, the high-water mark resets to it and drawdown returns to zero. Until then, every day below the peak is a day in drawdown, whether the account is falling or grinding sideways.",[11,7428,7429],{},"Three distinctions decide what the number actually means:",[43,7431,7432,7442,7448],{},[46,7433,7434,7437,7438,7441],{},[49,7435,7436],{},"Relative vs absolute."," Relative drawdown is the percentage above. Absolute drawdown, as MetaTrader reports it, is the fall below the ",[163,7439,7440],{},"initial deposit"," in currency — a completely different figure that can read 0% on an account currently 40% below its peak.",[46,7443,7444,7447],{},[49,7445,7446],{},"Equity vs balance."," Equity drawdown counts floating losses on open positions. Balance drawdown counts only closed trades, so a loss that is never realised never appears in it.",[46,7449,7450,7453,7454,7456,7457,7460],{},[49,7451,7452],{},"Current vs maximum."," Current drawdown is where the account sits today. The historical worst is ",[15,7455,2471],{"href":740},", and it is the figure most ",[15,7458,7459],{"href":3889},"track records"," quote.",[21,7462,74],{"id":73},[11,7464,7465],{},"Drawdown is the constraint that decides whether a strategy is investable, because losses and gains do not compound symmetrically. A 20% fall needs a 25% gain to get back to even. A 50% fall needs 100%.",[11,7467,7468],{},[2498,7469],{"alt":7470,"src":7471},"A 10% loss needs an 11.1% gain to undo it, 25% needs 33.3%, 50% needs 100%, 70% needs 233%","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Frecovery-asymmetry.svg",[11,7473,7474],{},[163,7475,7476],{},"Past 50%, the recovery is a bigger job than the loss that caused it.",[11,7478,7479],{},"It is also the number that removes people from the market. Almost nobody quits during a fast, violent fall — the emotion there is hope. They quit in month nine of a flat recovery. Depth is only half of it; duration is the other half, and it is invisible on a returns chart.",[11,7481,7482,7483,364,7485,7488],{},"And drawdown is the direct output of ",[15,7484,1399],{"href":1398},[15,7486,7487],{"href":1924},"stop-loss"," discipline, far more than of entry quality. Two traders with identical signals and different lot sizes produce identical win rates and completely different survivability.",[21,7490,107],{"id":106},[11,7492,7493,7494,223],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades. They are not a survey of traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), drawn from 15,436,464 synchronised trades, the median deepest drawdown ever reached is ",[49,7495,562],{},[11,7497,7498,7499,555,7501,4560,7503,7505],{},"Set that against what the same accounts earned. The median ",[15,7500,554],{"href":553},[49,7502,558],{},[49,7504,1006],{}," of them are positive over time. The middle account here therefore gave up roughly three times its eventual return in peak-to-trough decline along the way: the risk absorbed is larger than the result, and larger by a multiple rather than a margin.",[11,7507,7508],{},"That ratio, not the raw depth, is what makes a drawdown figure readable. A published claim of large gains beside a two- or three-percent drawdown is not impossible, but it sits at the outer edge of this distribution, and the rest of the account page is where an edge case has to be justified.",[21,7510,132],{"id":131},[11,7512,7513,7514,7516,7517,7519,7520,7522,7523,7527],{},"On every published account page, the ",[49,7515,827],{}," panel carries two figures on consecutive rows, immediately below ",[49,7518,1266],{},": ",[49,7521,833],{},", measured on equity so floating losses on open positions are included, and ",[49,7524,7525],{},[15,7526,1255],{"href":1259},", measured on closed results only. Both are historical maxima rather than today's reading, and both come from the broker feed rather than from the account owner.",[11,7529,7530,7531,7533,7534,7537,7538,7542],{},"The charts module has a ",[49,7532,833],{}," view that plots daily drawdown as bars over the life of the account. That is where the ",[163,7535,7536],{},"duration"," of a decline becomes readable instead of inferred, which no single headline percentage can convey. The ",[15,7539,7541],{"href":7540},"\u002Ftools\u002Fdrawdown-calculator","drawdown calculator"," runs the recovery arithmetic on your own balance.",[21,7544,189],{"id":188},[43,7546,7547,7553,7559,7568],{},[46,7548,7549,7552],{},[49,7550,7551],{},"\"Drawdown is my biggest losing trade.\""," It is not. It is a cumulative peak-to-trough path that can contain hundreds of trades, including winners.",[46,7554,7555,7558],{},[49,7556,7557],{},"\"My drawdown went back to zero after I recovered.\""," Current drawdown did. Maximum drawdown never falls, by design — it stops a good quarter from erasing a bad one.",[46,7560,7561,7564,7565,223],{},[49,7562,7563],{},"\"Low drawdown means low risk.\""," On a young account it usually means untested. The median published account here has 171 closed trades; below a few hundred, ",[15,7566,7567],{"href":3877},"a small drawdown is a sample size, not a risk profile",[46,7569,7570,7573],{},[49,7571,7572],{},"\"Balance drawdown is the real one.\""," It is the flattering one. Grid and averaging-down systems keep balance drawdown small precisely by refusing to close losers.",[11,7575,7576,7577,223],{},"For how drawdown reads alongside every other number on an account page, see ",[15,7578,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":7580},[7581,7582,7583,7584,7585],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Drawdown is the peak-to-trough fall in an account's value, in percent. Here is the formula, why it is cumulative, and what thousands of real trading accounts show.",{},[894,1516,7589,1730],"what-is-a-stop-loss",{"title":7407,"description":7586},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","DMQq_wxULyvtTewFH3EendlyxckASOfp4LLweDXbTKY",{"id":7594,"title":7595,"body":7596,"category":888,"date":233,"description":7785,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":7786,"navigation":235,"path":1259,"related":7787,"seo":7789,"stem":7790,"term":1255,"updated":233,"__hash__":7791},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance.md","What Is Drawdown on Balance? DD on Balance",{"type":8,"value":7597,"toc":7778},[7598,7613,7615,7618,7624,7627,7630,7633,7659,7661,7664,7669,7674,7683,7685,7705,7717,7719,7733,7745,7747,7773],[11,7599,7600,7601,7604,7605,7607,7608,7610,7611,223],{},"Drawdown on balance is the deepest peak-to-trough fall an account's ",[49,7602,7603],{},"closed"," balance has ever taken, ignoring the unrealised profit and loss of open positions. It counts a loss only once realised, which makes it the more forgiving of the two drawdown figures on a ",[15,7606,6297],{"href":3889},". On ShowMyTrades it is published as ",[49,7609,1255],{},", always beside the equity-based ",[49,7612,833],{},[21,7614,24],{"id":23},[11,7616,7617],{},"Both are worst-ever readings against the same high-water mark, drawn on balance. What differs is the value compared against it, and how often:",[29,7619,7622],{"className":7620,"code":7621,"language":34},[32],"Peak = high-water mark of closed balance, rescaled by every cash flow\n\nDD on Balance % = worst of (Balance − Peak) \u002F Peak × 100              at every trade\nDrawdown %      = worst of (min(Balance, Equity) − Peak) \u002F Peak × 100  once a day\n                  where Equity = Balance + floating P&L on open positions\n",[36,7623,7621],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,7625,7626],{},"The balance rolls forward from the account's own history, every closed trade entering net of its commission and swap. The peak ratchets upward on trading gains and never falls on its own. Both are historical worsts, not today's position, so neither ever improves.",[11,7628,7629],{},"Cash flows are handled deliberately: a deposit or withdrawal scales the peak by exactly the factor it scales the balance, so money moving in or out neither creates a drawdown nor repairs one. Both are floored at −100%, so a balance driven below zero by a stop-out reads as a total loss.",[11,7631,7632],{},"Because the two share a peak, the pair reads as one measurement:",[43,7634,7635,7641,7647,7653],{},[46,7636,7637,7640],{},[49,7638,7639],{},"The two are close."," Positions are closed near where they went wrong. Little is being carried.",[46,7642,7643,7646],{},[49,7644,7645],{},"Equity drawdown is far larger."," Losers are being held open. The account reports its losses late, and the balance figure is describing bookkeeping rather than risk.",[46,7648,7649,7652],{},[49,7650,7651],{},"The two are identical."," Either no floating loss ever coincided with a high-water moment, or no floating history exists for that stretch.",[46,7654,7655,7658],{},[49,7656,7657],{},"Balance drawdown is the larger one."," Usually the sampling gap: balance is checked at every trade, equity only on daily closing values, so a hole opened and refilled inside one day shows in the first and not the second.",[21,7660,74],{"id":73},[11,7662,7663],{},"The gap between them is the clearest single tell for a system that never closes a loser. Grid, martingale and averaging-down strategies produce a smooth balance curve by construction: a position that is never closed never touches the balance. Their equity tells a different story, and it is the equity story that ends the account.",[11,7665,7666],{},[2498,7667],{"alt":7668,"src":5276},"A smooth balance line beside an equity line pulled below it by open positions held at a loss",[11,7670,7671],{},[163,7672,7673],{},"The gap between the two lines is the loss the balance figure has not been told about yet.",[11,7675,7676,7677,7679,7680,7682],{},"That is not interpretation. Margin is calculated on equity, so ",[15,7678,754],{"href":753}," and any ",[15,7681,2929],{"href":1947}," follow the equity line and ignore the balance line entirely. A record showing solid gains against a 3% balance drawdown next to a 45% equity drawdown is not a low-risk system: it was 45% underwater and had not admitted it. Where the two converge, that convergence is evidence in its own right — losses were taken when they occurred.",[21,7684,107],{"id":106},[11,7686,7687,7688,7690,7691,555,7693,7695,7696,7698,7699,7701,7702,7704],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the ",[49,7689,4973],{}," (August 2026), the median deepest ",[15,7692,701],{"href":700},[49,7694,562],{},". The tails are wide: ",[49,7697,2687],{}," of accounts have never been more than 5% below their peak, while ",[49,7700,1211],{}," have been more than 20% underwater and ",[49,7703,2698],{}," more than 50%.",[11,7706,7707,7708,7710,7711,364,7714,7716],{},"That first group is where the pair earns its keep: a record under 5% is either tight risk control or a floating loss not yet realised, and the two look identical on a balance chart. Most of this population is automated — the median account runs ",[49,7709,792],{}," of its trades through an ",[15,7712,7713],{"href":799},"automated system",[49,7715,4778],{}," are more than 90% automated — and a robot holding a loser neither tires nor loses its nerve.",[21,7718,132],{"id":131},[11,7720,7721,7723,7724,5215,7726,7728,7729,7732],{},[49,7722,1255],{}," sits directly under ",[49,7725,833],{},[49,7727,827],{}," panel, on every published account page and in the ",[15,7730,7731],{"href":4319},"Complete Dashboard widget",". Those two rows are the panel's whole risk block, set off by a rule with no heading above them. The value comes from our statistics service, computed over the account's synchronised history rather than entered by anyone, and printed without its minus sign.",[11,7734,7735,7736,7738,7739,7741,7742,7744],{},"Two other places on the page complete the picture. The ",[49,7737,1877],{}," row shows equity as a percentage of balance — under 100% means open positions are underwater right now, and that shortfall is exactly what DD on Balance excludes. In the charts viewer, the ",[49,7740,833],{}," view plots daily drawdown as bars over the account's life, making the ",[163,7743,7536],{}," of a decline visible rather than inferred.",[21,7746,189],{"id":188},[43,7748,7749,7755,7761,7767],{},[46,7750,7751,7754],{},[49,7752,7753],{},"\"The lower number is the real risk.\""," The lower number is usually DD on Balance, and it is the optimistic one by construction.",[46,7756,7757,7760],{},[49,7758,7759],{},"\"It excludes trading costs.\""," It does not. Every closed trade enters the balance with its commission and swap already applied.",[46,7762,7763,7766],{},[49,7764,7765],{},"\"A withdrawal shows up as a drawdown.\""," It does not. A cash movement scales the high-water mark by the same factor as the balance. Deposits cannot mend a drawdown either.",[46,7768,7769,7772],{},[49,7770,7771],{},"\"Both numbers see the same detail.\""," The equity figure is sampled once a day, so a fall and full recovery inside one session leaves no trace in it.",[11,7774,7775,7776,223],{},"For the full method, including why depth and duration are separate questions, see ",[15,7777,1319],{"href":1318},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":7779},[7780,7781,7782,7783,7784],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"DD on Balance is the deepest peak-to-trough fall in closed results only. How to read it against equity drawdown, and what published accounts show.",{},[893,894,895,7788],"what-is-absolute-gain",{"title":7595,"description":7785},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","YNssKoit9sr03-dJpxHlpf4_3O1G9oJAiUxBNeg6S-M",{"id":7793,"title":7794,"body":7795,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":7994,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":7995,"navigation":235,"path":2254,"related":7996,"seo":7998,"stem":7999,"term":604,"updated":233,"__hash__":8000},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-expectancy.md","What Is Expectancy? Formula, Example, Real Data",{"type":8,"value":7796,"toc":7987},[7797,7800,7802,7808,7815,7818,7824,7827,7829,7835,7843,7849,7851,7862,7878,7892,7894,7905,7936,7951,7953,7982],[11,7798,7799],{},"Expectancy is the average result of a single trade, expressed in currency or in pips: what the account earns, on average, every time it opens a position. It is built from four numbers — win rate, average win, loss rate, average loss — and it answers \"does this system make money per trade\" in units you can multiply by a trade count. Positive expectancy repeated often enough is a business; negative expectancy is a countdown.",[21,7801,24],{"id":23},[29,7803,7806],{"className":7804,"code":7805,"language":34},[32],"Expectancy = (Win Rate × Avg Win) − (Loss Rate × Avg Loss)\n\nLoss Rate = 1 − Win Rate\n",[36,7807,7805],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,7809,7810,7811,7814],{},"A system that wins 40% of the time, makes $300 on a winner and loses $100 on a loser: (0.40 × $300) − (0.60 × $100) = $120 − $60 = ",[49,7812,7813],{},"+$60 per trade",". Four hundred trades a year is $24,000 of expected result, before position size changes and before anything goes wrong.",[11,7816,7817],{},"The same formula written in R multiples, where R is one average loss, strips out the account currency and makes systems comparable:",[29,7819,7822],{"className":7820,"code":7821,"language":34},[32],"Expectancy (R) = (Win Rate × Payoff) − (1 − Win Rate)\n\nPayoff = Avg Win \u002F Avg Loss\n",[36,7823,7821],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,7825,7826],{},"Two things decide whether the output means anything. First, costs must already sit inside the inputs: spread, commission and swap come out of every trade, shrinking each winner and enlarging each loser. Second, the averages need enough trades that one outsized result cannot set them.",[21,7828,74],{"id":73},[11,7830,7831,7832,7834],{},"Expectancy is the bridge between a statistic and a plan. ",[15,7833,1582],{"href":1393}," tells you the ratio of money won to money lost; expectancy tells you what one more trade is worth, which is the number you multiply by frequency to get an expected month.",[11,7836,7837,7838,7842],{},"It also exposes the trade-off that a win rate hides. A win rate is only half of an edge — the other half is the ",[15,7839,7841],{"href":7840},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-risk-reward-ratio","risk-reward ratio",", and expectancy is where the two meet. Move either one and the result moves; keep both and no amount of narrative changes it.",[11,7844,7845,7846,7848],{},"And it sets the cost floor. If a strategy expects +$8 a trade and the round-turn ",[15,7847,89],{"href":88}," and commission cost $7, what is left is not a strategy.",[21,7850,107],{"id":106},[11,7852,7853,7854,2988,7857,999,7859,223],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Take the middle of the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026): a ",[49,7855,7856],{},"median win rate of 68.8%",[49,7858,1002],{},[49,7860,7861],{},"median of 171 closed trades",[11,7863,7864,7865,7867,7868,7871,7872,7877],{},"Those numbers pin the expectancy of that middle account. Inverting the profit factor formula gives an average winner worth about ",[49,7866,2512],{}," its average loser, and the R form turns the rest into arithmetic: (0.688 × 0.58) − 0.312 = ",[49,7869,7870],{},"+0.087R",". Nine hundredths of one average losing trade, per trade taken. Over 171 trades the entire record adds up to roughly fifteen average losses' worth of profit — which is why the ",[49,7873,5558,7874,7876],{},[15,7875,554],{"href":553}," is only +3.2%"," despite nearly seven trades in ten closing green.",[11,7879,7880,7881,364,7883,4560,7885,7887,7888,7891],{},"Costs are not a rounding error at that thickness. Published accounts have paid ",[49,7882,117],{},[49,7884,113],{},[49,7886,6976],{}," of the accounts that carry swap at all pay net negative swap. At a ",[49,7889,7890],{},"median trade length of 2.4 hours",", an edge of 0.087R survives only if the cost of a round turn stays small against the average loss.",[21,7893,132],{"id":131},[11,7895,7896,7898,7899,7901,7902,7904],{},[49,7897,604],{}," is a row in the ",[49,7900,373],{}," module on every published account page, inside the ",[163,7903,4802],{}," group. It prints both units on one line — pips first, then account currency — because a pip figure travels between symbols and a currency figure travels between position sizes, and neither alone is complete.",[11,7906,7907,7908,7910,7911,377,7913,377,7915,364,7917,7919,7920,7924,7925,364,7927,7929,7930,377,7932,364,7934,223],{},"Its four inputs are in the ",[163,7909,1439],{}," group of the same module: ",[49,7912,2266],{},[49,7914,598],{},[49,7916,601],{},[49,7918,2054],{},", next to ",[49,7921,7922],{},[15,7923,174],{"href":171},", which says whether a thin per-trade edge is being earned in hours or in weeks. The costs already deducted appear as ",[49,7926,143],{},[49,7928,139],{},", with the per-trade detail in the trades table under ",[49,7931,2553],{},[49,7933,154],{},[49,7935,2559],{},[11,7937,7938,7939,7943,7944,377,7946,364,7948,7950],{},"To test whether an expectancy is one edge or an average of several, the ",[49,7940,7941],{},[15,7942,180],{"href":1667}," slideover recomputes the whole block on a filtered subset — by symbol, magic number, direction, date range, weekday or hour — and Advanced Statistics adds ",[163,7945,2236],{},[163,7947,2239],{},[163,7949,1467],{}," views that split the same result without any filtering.",[21,7952,189],{"id":188},[43,7954,7955,7964,7970,7976],{},[46,7956,7957,7960,7961,7963],{},[49,7958,7959],{},"\"Positive expectancy means I will make money.\""," It means the average trade is profitable. Size the positions wrong and a positive-expectancy system still ends at zero: survival is a ",[15,7962,1399],{"href":1398}," question, not an expectancy one.",[46,7965,7966,7969],{},[49,7967,7968],{},"\"Expectancy is just my average trade.\""," Only if the average is taken net. Computed on gross profit it ignores commission and swap, which is exactly where thin edges disappear.",[46,7971,7972,7975],{},[49,7973,7974],{},"\"A high win rate implies positive expectancy.\""," It implies nothing on its own. At a 0.58 payoff, a 60% win rate is a losing system.",[46,7977,7978,7981],{},[49,7979,7980],{},"\"The number is stable.\""," On a few hundred trades it is not. One outsized winner can lift a whole record's expectancy, and removing it is a fair test.",[11,7983,7984,7985,223],{},"For the metrics worth tracking over time and the order to read them in, see ",[15,7986,2611],{"href":2113},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":7988},[7989,7990,7991,7992,7993],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Expectancy is the average profit or loss of one trade: (win rate × avg win) − (loss rate × avg loss). The formula, a worked example, and public accounts.",{},[1730,7997,1516,893],"what-is-risk-reward-ratio",{"title":7794,"description":7994},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-expectancy","U6yMG7Etb-uidsGFxazRu_6VJh-bM41wGZNqkAU1r7Q",{"id":8002,"title":8003,"body":8004,"category":2122,"date":233,"description":8225,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":8226,"navigation":235,"path":6616,"related":8227,"seo":8229,"stem":8230,"term":8231,"updated":233,"__hash__":8232},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-forex-pair-correlation.md","What Is Forex Pair Correlation? Hidden Concentration",{"type":8,"value":8005,"toc":8218},[8006,8013,8015,8018,8024,8030,8041,8043,8046,8052,8055,8066,8068,8076,8089,8099,8101,8143,8151,8177,8179,8212],[11,8007,8008,8009,8012],{},"Forex pair correlation is the degree to which two currency pairs move together, expressed as a coefficient between −1 and +1. It exists because every pair is a ratio of two currencies, so any two pairs sharing a currency are partly the same bet. A trader holding ",[15,8010,8011],{"href":3945},"three correlated positions"," is not diversified across three trades — they hold one larger position, sized by accident rather than by decision.",[21,8014,24],{"id":23},[11,8016,8017],{},"The coefficient is the covariance of two return series divided by the product of their standard deviations.",[29,8019,8022],{"className":8020,"code":8021,"language":34},[32],"ρ = cov(A, B) \u002F (σA × σB)\n\nρ = +1.0        identical movement\nρ =  0.0        unrelated\nρ = −1.0        exactly opposite\n|ρ| > 0.7       treat the two as one position for sizing\n",[36,8023,8021],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,8025,8026,8027,8029],{},"The mechanism is arithmetic, not sentiment. Long EUR\u002FUSD, long GBP\u002FUSD and long AUD\u002FUSD are three ways of being short the dollar; when the dollar strengthens, all three lose at once. Long EUR\u002FUSD, long EUR\u002FGBP and long EUR\u002FJPY are three ways of being long the euro. And a pair can be inversely correlated by construction: EUR\u002FUSD and USD\u002FCHF have the dollar on opposite sides, so long one and long the other is close to holding nothing at all while paying ",[15,8028,89],{"href":88}," on both.",[11,8031,8032,8033,8036,8037,8040],{},"Two properties make it dangerous. Correlation is ",[49,8034,8035],{},"unstable"," — a coefficient measured over the last month is not a fact about the pairs, it is an observation about the last month. And it ",[49,8038,8039],{},"rises in stress",": exactly when diversification is supposed to help, correlations converge towards 1 as flows move into and out of the dollar wholesale.",[21,8042,74],{"id":73},[11,8044,8045],{},"Risk from correlated positions multiplies rather than adds. Combined exposure follows the same rule as any two-asset portfolio.",[29,8047,8050],{"className":8048,"code":8049,"language":34},[32],"σ_total = √( σA² + σB² + 2 × ρ × σA × σB )\n",[36,8051,8049],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,8053,8054],{},"At ρ = 0, two 1% positions combine to about 1.4% of exposure. At ρ = 0.9, they combine to about 1.95% — nearly the full sum. Three such trades, each within a sensible per-trade risk limit, breach the account limit together while every individual rule was respected.",[11,8056,8057,8058,8060,8061,8065],{},"This is how accounts with disciplined ",[15,8059,1399],{"href":1398}," still produce large drawdowns. Nothing in the rulebook was broken. It counted positions instead of exposure, and the ",[15,8062,8064],{"href":8063},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-volatility","volatility"," of the combined book was two or three times what the trader believed.",[21,8067,107],{"id":106},[11,8069,2187,8070,8072,8073,8075],{},[49,8071,322],{}," have been traded, and the median account holds ",[49,8074,770],{}," — enough for concentration to be visible on the symbol breakdown, and enough for a single correlated cluster to dominate the record.",[11,8077,8078,8079,555,8081,6479,8083,8085,8086,8088],{},"The drawdown distribution is where undeclared concentration shows up. ",[15,8080,6785],{"href":740},[49,8082,562],{},[49,8084,1211],{}," of accounts have fallen more than 20% from a peak and ",[49,8087,2698],{}," have lost over half their peak value. Losses of that size on an account trading small individual sizes usually mean many positions moved as one.",[11,8090,8091,8092,364,8094,4560,8096,8098],{},"Offsetting the exposure instead of closing it has a running cost, and it shows up in the totals. These accounts have paid ",[49,8093,117],{},[49,8095,113],{},[49,8097,6976],{}," of the accounts that hold positions overnight pay net negative swap. Two pairs held against each other keep that meter running while cancelling much of the risk they were opened for.",[21,8100,132],{"id":131},[11,8102,147,8103,8105,8106,8108,8109,377,8112,364,8115,8118,8119,377,8121,8123,8124,8127,8128,8131,8132,8135,8136,364,8139,8142],{},[49,8104,160],{}," module is the concentration check. Its ",[163,8107,165],{}," tab lists every instrument the account traded with ",[49,8110,8111],{},"Longs",[49,8113,8114],{},"Shorts",[49,8116,8117],{},"Total"," columns, each carrying ",[49,8120,1439],{},[49,8122,2291],{}," and profit, plus ",[49,8125,8126],{},"Won(%)",". Read the ",[49,8129,8130],{},"Currency"," column first: several rows sharing USD, all on the same side, is a single dollar position spread across tickers. The ",[163,8133,8134],{},"Chart"," view plots ",[163,8137,8138],{},"Trades by Currency Pair",[163,8140,8141],{},"Profit by Currency Pair",", so concentration in the largest few instruments is visible without reading the table.",[11,8144,147,8145,8150],{},[15,8146,8147,8149],{"href":1715},[163,8148,1634],{}," tab"," does the same for strategies, showing whether one Expert Advisor produced every correlated row or several are colliding on the same currency.",[11,8152,8153,8154,8156,8157,8160,8161,8163,8164,8167,8168,8171,8172,947,8174,8176],{},"In the ",[49,8155,150],{},", read the ",[49,8158,8159],{},"Open Time"," column and look for clusters: several tickets opened within the same minute on different symbols is a correlated entry, not a diversified one. The ",[49,8162,180],{}," slideover filters by symbols, magic numbers and ",[49,8165,8166],{},"Buy (Long)"," \u002F ",[49,8169,8170],{},"Sell (Short)",", so you can recompute the statistics with one currency group excluded and see how much of the record depended on it. The ",[49,8173,5377],{},[163,8175,833],{}," view then shows the effect: correlated books fall in one step rather than in several.",[21,8178,189],{"id":188},[43,8180,8181,8187,8196,8206],{},[46,8182,8183,8186],{},[49,8184,8185],{},"\"A pair is one instrument.\""," It is two currencies. EUR\u002FUSD is a euro position and a dollar position at once, which is why it moves with everything else quoting either.",[46,8188,8189,8192,8193,8195],{},[49,8190,8191],{},"\"The coefficient tells me how much to size.\""," It says how two positions move together, not how far. Sizing needs correlation and ",[15,8194,8064],{"href":8063}," together: a tight correlation between two quiet instruments is a small problem.",[46,8197,8198,8201,8202,8205],{},[49,8199,8200],{},"\"Correlation is one number per pair.\""," It is one number per pair ",[163,8203,8204],{},"per window",": two instruments can look unrelated hour to hour and move as one week to week.",[46,8207,8208,8211],{},[49,8209,8210],{},"\"It only applies to forex majors.\""," Gold, indices and crypto pairs quoted against the dollar belong to the same cluster as EUR\u002FUSD more often than traders expect.",[11,8213,8214,8215,223],{},"For reading concentration through volume rather than through profit, see ",[15,8216,8217],{"href":1504},"trading volume analysis",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":8219},[8220,8221,8222,8223,8224],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Currency pairs that share a currency move together. Correlation measures how tightly, and it is what turns three separate-looking trades into one position.",{},[4064,8228,1516,242],"what-is-volatility",{"title":8003,"description":8225},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-forex-pair-correlation","Forex Pair Correlation","DjTTfH0Fxqi8uUIDqE9m2BfJJBAgW-YXUr2gcejQcgo",{"id":8234,"title":8235,"body":8236,"category":888,"date":233,"description":8426,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":8427,"navigation":235,"path":101,"related":8428,"seo":8429,"stem":8430,"term":102,"updated":233,"__hash__":8431},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage.md","What Is Leverage in Forex? Formula and Real Numbers",{"type":8,"value":8237,"toc":8419},[8238,8241,8243,8246,8252,8255,8303,8306,8309,8318,8320,8323,8326,8339,8341,8344,8350,8353,8355,8358,8384,8386,8412],[11,8239,8240],{},"Leverage is the ratio between the size of a position and the capital required to hold it. A broker offering 1:100 lets you control $100,000 of currency with $1,000 of your own money set aside as margin. It is a borrowing facility, not a strategy: it changes how much capital a trade ties up, and nothing else about the trade.",[21,8242,24],{"id":23},[11,8244,8245],{},"Margin is the deposit the broker freezes while a position is open. The arithmetic is short.",[29,8247,8250],{"className":8248,"code":8249,"language":34},[32],"Position value  = Contract size × Lots × Price\nRequired margin = Position value ÷ Leverage\n\nEffective leverage = Total open position value ÷ Account equity\n",[36,8251,8249],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,8253,8254],{},"One standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD is 100,000 units. At 1.0850 the position is worth $108,500.",[1761,8256,8257,8270],{},[1764,8258,8259],{},[1767,8260,8261,8264,8267],{},[1770,8262,8263],{},"Account leverage",[1770,8265,8266],{},"Margin frozen",[1770,8268,8269],{},"Cost of a 50-pip adverse move",[1780,8271,8272,8283,8293],{},[1767,8273,8274,8277,8280],{},[1785,8275,8276],{},"1:30",[1785,8278,8279],{},"$3,616.67",[1785,8281,8282],{},"$500",[1767,8284,8285,8288,8291],{},[1785,8286,8287],{},"1:100",[1785,8289,8290],{},"$1,085.00",[1785,8292,8282],{},[1767,8294,8295,8298,8301],{},[1785,8296,8297],{},"1:500",[1785,8299,8300],{},"$217.00",[1785,8302,8282],{},[11,8304,8305],{},"The position is identical in all three rows. Leverage moved the margin, never the risk.",[11,8307,8308],{},"The number that actually describes exposure is effective leverage: the notional value of everything open divided by equity. A trader on a 1:500 account running 0.05 lots on $10,000 sits at 0.54:1 — less exposed than someone who paid cash for the same currency. A trader on a 1:30 account running 2.5 lots on the same $10,000 sits at 27:1, pressed against the ceiling the regulator set. The tier says nothing about either of them; the position size says everything.",[11,8310,8311,8312,2487,8316,223],{},"Run it on your own instrument with the ",[15,8313,8315],{"href":8314},"\u002Ftools\u002Fleverage-calculator","leverage calculator",[15,8317,1828],{"href":1827},[21,8319,74],{"id":73},[11,8321,8322],{},"High leverage does not lose money. It removes the constraint that used to stop you.",[11,8324,8325],{},"On a 1:30 account, $10,000 of equity caps you at about 2.7 standard lots of EUR\u002FUSD before margin runs out — the broker enforces a position-size ceiling on your behalf. On 1:500 the same $10,000 supports 46 lots. Nothing improved; a ceiling was removed.",[11,8327,8328,8329,8332,8333,8335,8336,8338],{},"The chain that empties accounts is always the same. Leverage permits a large position, the large position produces a loss too big to sit through, and the resulting drawdown demands a return arithmetic will not supply — ",[15,8330,8331],{"href":1318},"a 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back to flat",". Leverage is where the chain starts, but the link that does the damage is size, which is why ",[15,8334,1399],{"href":1398}," is the control worth having and the ",[15,8337,2929],{"href":1947}," is the symptom rather than the cause.",[21,8340,107],{"id":106},[11,8342,8343],{},"The 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026) sit across 703 distinct broker servers, on MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker. Effectively every leverage tier on the market is represented somewhere in that set, from a regulated 1:30 cap to offshore 1:500 and beyond.",[11,8345,8346,8347,8349],{},"The outcomes do not sort by tier. Across the public accounts with trading history, the median ",[15,8348,1855],{"href":740}," is 9.7% — but 38.5% of them never went more than 5% underwater, while 38.2% gave back more than a fifth of their peak and 17.6% more than half of it.",[11,8351,8352],{},"Two groups of almost identical size, drawn from the same pool of leverage settings, ending an order of magnitude apart. What separates them is not what the broker permitted. These figures describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general, and within that population the variable that moved was size.",[21,8354,132],{"id":131},[11,8356,8357],{},"The leverage the broker granted appears as a badge in the account page header, next to the broker name and the account currency. It is read from the terminal, not typed in by the owner.",[11,8359,8360,8361,8363,8364,1003,8367,364,8369,8373,8374,8378,8379,364,8381,8383],{},"What the trader did with it shows up elsewhere. ",[49,8362,380],{}," in the advanced statistics is the ",[15,8365,8366],{"href":1504},"cumulative volume actually traded",[49,8368,833],{},[49,8370,8371],{},[15,8372,1255],{"href":1259}," in the account stats panel show what that volume cost at the worst moment — the first on equity including open positions, the second on closed balance only. The ",[49,8375,8376],{},[15,8377,1883],{"href":3500}," in the charts viewer plots ",[49,8380,1874],{},[49,8382,1877],{}," together, and the gap between the two lines is where an oversized open position hides until it is closed.",[21,8385,189],{"id":188},[43,8387,8388,8394,8400,8406],{},[46,8389,8390,8393],{},[49,8391,8392],{},"\"1:500 is riskier than 1:30.\""," The account setting is not risk. Two accounts holding identical positions carry identical risk whatever the broker permits. Higher leverage only widens the range of sizes you are allowed to choose badly from.",[46,8395,8396,8399],{},[49,8397,8398],{},"\"More leverage means more profit.\""," It means less capital tied up as margin. Profit and loss are set by position size and price movement, both unchanged by the tier.",[46,8401,8402,8405],{},[49,8403,8404],{},"\"Free margin is spare buying power.\""," Free margin is the distance between you and a stop out. Spending it is how a manageable loss becomes a liquidation.",[46,8407,8408,8411],{},[49,8409,8410],{},"\"My broker caps me at 1:30, so I am safe.\""," A regulatory cap limits maximum total size, not the risk on any single trade. An account can still be lost on one badly sized position well inside a 1:30 limit.",[11,8413,8414,8415,8418],{},"Every number above has a calculator behind it — see ",[15,8416,8417],{"href":2350},"the guide to forex calculators"," for how they fit together.",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":8420},[8421,8422,8423,8424,8425],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Leverage is the ratio between position size and the capital backing it. Here is the margin formula, a worked example, and drawdown data from thousands of accounts.",{},[3058,1516,894],{"title":8235,"description":8426},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","9fzrPGzcUcu5W9wxB-HAiIpCi3gDQHwpcPzkOAH6NtA",{"id":8433,"title":8434,"body":8435,"category":888,"date":233,"description":8681,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":8682,"navigation":235,"path":753,"related":8683,"seo":8684,"stem":8685,"term":8686,"updated":233,"__hash__":8687},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level.md","What Is Margin Level? Formula and Stop Out Levels",{"type":8,"value":8436,"toc":8674},[8437,8440,8442,8448,8451,8457,8531,8534,8540,8569,8571,8577,8579,8588,8591,8602,8604,8607,8641,8643,8669],[11,8438,8439],{},"Margin level is account equity divided by the margin locked up by open positions, expressed as a percentage. It is the number a broker watches to decide whether your positions are still adequately funded; below published thresholds the platform warns you, then closes positions for you.",[21,8441,24],{"id":23},[29,8443,8446],{"className":8444,"code":8445,"language":34},[32],"Equity       = Balance + floating P&L of open positions\nUsed margin  = Σ (position size × contract size × price) ÷ leverage\nMargin level = (Equity ÷ Used margin) × 100\nFree margin  = Equity − Used margin\n",[36,8447,8445],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,8449,8450],{},"500% means equity is five times the collateral in use; 100% means it exactly equals it. Below that the account is funding positions it can no longer cover.",[11,8452,8453,8454,8456],{},"Worked example: a $10,000 account opens 5 lots of EUR\u002FUSD at 1:100 ",[15,8455,1832],{"href":101},". Used margin is about $5,400, margin level starts at 185%, and one pip on that size is $50.",[1761,8458,8459,8474],{},[1764,8460,8461],{},[1767,8462,8463,8466,8468,8471],{},[1770,8464,8465],{},"Adverse move",[1770,8467,1877],{},[1770,8469,8470],{},"Margin level",[1770,8472,8473],{},"Free margin",[1780,8475,8476,8490,8504,8518],{},[1767,8477,8478,8481,8484,8487],{},[1785,8479,8480],{},"0 pips",[1785,8482,8483],{},"$10,000",[1785,8485,8486],{},"185%",[1785,8488,8489],{},"$4,600",[1767,8491,8492,8495,8498,8501],{},[1785,8493,8494],{},"−60 pips",[1785,8496,8497],{},"$7,000",[1785,8499,8500],{},"130%",[1785,8502,8503],{},"$1,600",[1767,8505,8506,8509,8512,8515],{},[1785,8507,8508],{},"−120 pips",[1785,8510,8511],{},"$4,000",[1785,8513,8514],{},"74%",[1785,8516,8517],{},"−$1,400",[1767,8519,8520,8523,8526,8528],{},[1785,8521,8522],{},"−146 pips",[1785,8524,8525],{},"$2,700",[1785,8527,1801],{},[1785,8529,8530],{},"−$2,700",[11,8532,8533],{},"A 146-pip move, routine on EUR\u002FUSD in a news week, takes that account from apparently comfortable to liquidated at the broker's thresholds — typically 100% and 50%, but always set in the contract rather than by any universal standard.",[11,8535,8536,8539],{},[49,8537,8538],{},"Why it collapses fastest when you are already losing."," With size held constant the ratio falls in a straight line, but four things break that assumption at exactly the wrong moment:",[43,8541,8542,8548,8554,8560],{},[46,8543,8544,8547],{},[49,8545,8546],{},"The denominator does not shrink with you."," Used margin is frozen at the size you opened, so every dollar of floating loss comes off the numerator alone.",[46,8549,8550,8553],{},[49,8551,8552],{},"Losing traders add size."," Averaging down, grid and martingale systems open more positions as price moves against them: equity falls while used margin rises, so the ratio drops non-linearly.",[46,8555,8556,8559],{},[49,8557,8558],{},"Margin requirements rise in volatility."," Brokers cut leverage before major releases and weekends. Used margin increases on positions you never touched, with no price move at all.",[46,8561,8562,8565,8566,8568],{},[49,8563,8564],{},"Spreads widen with the loss."," Equity is marked at the price that would close the position, so a ",[15,8567,89],{"href":88}," blowout reprices the whole book at once.",[21,8570,74],{"id":73},[11,8572,8573,8574,8576],{},"Margin level converts an unrealised loss into a forced, realised one at the worst point of the move — the mechanism behind a ",[15,8575,2929],{"href":1947},". It also reframes sizing: opening a position is choosing how much price movement the account can absorb before someone else takes over the exits, and that buffer, in pips, is knowable before you click.",[21,8578,107],{"id":106},[11,8580,760,8581,555,8583,6479,8585,771],{},[15,8582,6475],{"href":740},[49,8584,562],{},[49,8586,8587],{},"17.6% have passed 50%",[11,8589,8590],{},"Hold that 50% against the ratio. Margin level scales with equity: an account at a comfortable-looking 200% is already at 100% — the usual call threshold — once equity has halved, and reaching a 50% stop out takes a fall of roughly three quarters. Falls past half are about one published account in six.",[11,8592,8593,8594,8596,8597,8601],{},"The gap between the two published drawdown figures tells the rest. ",[49,8595,833],{}," is measured on equity and includes floating losses; ",[49,8598,8599],{},[15,8600,1255],{"href":1259}," counts closed results only. A first figure far larger than the second means the account carried deep unrealised losses — another way of saying its margin level was low.",[21,8603,132],{"id":131},[11,8605,8606],{},"Used margin is not published, so no account page carries a margin-level gauge. The numerator and the two variables behind the denominator are all visible.",[43,8608,8609,8621,8626,8636],{},[46,8610,8611,364,8613,8615,8616,5215,8618,8620],{},[49,8612,1874],{},[49,8614,1877],{},", the two rows immediately below ",[49,8617,1255],{},[49,8619,827],{}," panel, where Equity carries its own percentage in brackets — equity as a share of balance. Well under 100% is an account holding floating losses right now, its margin level falling with them.",[46,8622,147,8623,8625],{},[49,8624,1832],{}," badge in the account header, beside the broker and the account currency: it divides the notional value of every position, fixing the denominator before the first order.",[46,8627,147,8628,8632,8633,8635],{},[49,8629,8630],{},[15,8631,1454],{"href":1504}," column in the ",[49,8634,150],{},", in lots, which is the other half of used margin. Several tickets open at once on large volume means a large denominator against the same equity.",[46,8637,8638,8640],{},[49,8639,5423],{},", the peak balance on the row directly under Equity, showing how far equity now sits below the account's own best.",[21,8642,189],{"id":188},[43,8644,8645,8651,8657,8663],{},[46,8646,8647,8650],{},[49,8648,8649],{},"\"Margin level is my leverage.\""," Related but not the same. Leverage is set per instrument and determines used margin; margin level is a live ratio that changes on every tick.",[46,8652,8653,8656],{},[49,8654,8655],{},"\"1,000% is safe.\""," It is safe for that position set. Open four more of the same size and the same equity covers five times the collateral.",[46,8658,8659,8662],{},[49,8660,8661],{},"\"Free margin is money I can withdraw.\""," It is unencumbered equity, including floating profit that has not been realised and can disappear.",[46,8664,8665,8668],{},[49,8666,8667],{},"\"Closing one position fixes it.\""," Not proportionally. Closing the largest releases the most margin and lifts the ratio fastest; closing the smallest may not lift it above the threshold at all. Which one the platform picks at a stop out is not your choice.",[11,8670,8671,8672,223],{},"For how equity, balance and drawdown read together, see ",[15,8673,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":8675},[8676,8677,8678,8679,8680],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Margin level is equity divided by used margin, as a percentage. The formula, the margin call and stop out thresholds, and why it falls fastest when you lose.",{},[3058,242,1516,2810],{"title":8434,"description":8681},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level","Margin Level","Q9Dx6hpaBEKrz852D0ibuqsOObwtB7xfIPla6pe6iSc",{"id":8689,"title":8690,"body":8691,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":8981,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":8982,"navigation":235,"path":740,"related":8983,"seo":8984,"stem":8985,"term":8986,"updated":233,"__hash__":8987},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown.md","What Is Maximum Drawdown? Formula and Recovery Maths",{"type":8,"value":8692,"toc":8974},[8693,8700,8702,8705,8711,8714,8764,8770,8787,8789,8792,8853,8856,8863,8865,8871,8877,8882,8893,8913,8915,8928,8941,8943,8969],[11,8694,8695,8696,8699],{},"Maximum drawdown is the largest ",[15,8697,8698],{"href":700},"peak-to-trough decline"," an account has recorded over its entire history, expressed as a percentage of the peak. It is the worst loss the strategy has actually inflicted, as opposed to the worst loss its owner expects. It never decreases: once printed, a 34% maximum drawdown stays at 34% through every subsequent new high.",[21,8701,24],{"id":23},[11,8703,8704],{},"Walk the equity curve forward one point at a time, keeping the highest value seen so far. At each point, measure the fall below that running high. The maximum drawdown is the deepest fall found anywhere on the walk.",[29,8706,8709],{"className":8707,"code":8708,"language":34},[32],"MaxDD % = max over t of [ (Peak(0..t) − Value(t)) \u002F Peak(0..t) ] × 100\n",[36,8710,8708],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,8712,8713],{},"The result depends entirely on which curve you walk, and ShowMyTrades publishes both.",[1761,8715,8716,8732],{},[1764,8717,8718],{},[1767,8719,8720,8723,8726,8729],{},[1770,8721,8722],{},"Metric",[1770,8724,8725],{},"Measured on",[1770,8727,8728],{},"Open positions counted?",[1770,8730,8731],{},"What it tells you",[1780,8733,8734,8749],{},[1767,8735,8736,8740,8743,8746],{},[1785,8737,8738],{},[49,8739,833],{},[1785,8741,8742],{},"Equity (balance + floating P&L)",[1785,8744,8745],{},"Yes",[1785,8747,8748],{},"The real fall in what the account was worth at that moment",[1767,8750,8751,8755,8758,8761],{},[1785,8752,8753],{},[49,8754,1255],{},[1785,8756,8757],{},"Closed balance only",[1785,8759,8760],{},"No",[1785,8762,8763],{},"The fall in realised results",[11,8765,8766,8769],{},[15,8767,8768],{"href":1259},"Balance drawdown"," is the more flattering figure, and it is flattering by construction: an unrealised loss is invisible to it. That is the mechanism behind grid, martingale and averaging-down systems — they keep the balance curve smooth by never closing losers.",[11,8771,8772,8773,364,8776,8779,8780,8783,8784,8786],{},"So an account showing ",[49,8774,8775],{},"Drawdown 41%",[49,8777,8778],{},"DD on Balance 6%"," is not broken. It was 41% underwater while its closed results claimed a rough patch of 6%. The equity figure is the honest one, and the ",[163,8781,8782],{},"gap between the two"," is a description of the strategy. When the two sit close together, positions are being closed near the point where damage is taken — which is what a ",[15,8785,7487],{"href":1924}," is for.",[21,8788,74],{"id":73},[11,8790,8791],{},"Recovery is asymmetric, because the gain has to compound off a smaller base than the loss did.",[1761,8793,8794,8804],{},[1764,8795,8796],{},[1767,8797,8798,8801],{},[1770,8799,8800],{},"Maximum drawdown",[1770,8802,8803],{},"Gain needed to reach the old peak",[1780,8805,8806,8814,8822,8830,8837,8845],{},[1767,8807,8808,8811],{},[1785,8809,8810],{},"10%",[1785,8812,8813],{},"11.1%",[1767,8815,8816,8819],{},[1785,8817,8818],{},"20%",[1785,8820,8821],{},"25.0%",[1767,8823,8824,8827],{},[1785,8825,8826],{},"30%",[1785,8828,8829],{},"42.9%",[1767,8831,8832,8834],{},[1785,8833,1801],{},[1785,8835,8836],{},"100.0%",[1767,8838,8839,8842],{},[1785,8840,8841],{},"70%",[1785,8843,8844],{},"233.3%",[1767,8846,8847,8850],{},[1785,8848,8849],{},"90%",[1785,8851,8852],{},"900.0%",[11,8854,8855],{},"Under 20% the asymmetry is a nuisance. Past 50% it becomes the dominant fact of the account: you have to double your money with the same strategy that just halved it.",[11,8857,8858,8859,8862],{},"Maximum drawdown is also the number that sets your practical leverage ceiling. If a system has historically drawn down 30%, running it at double ",[15,8860,8861],{"href":1398},"position size"," implies a 60% drawdown you have no evidence you can sit through.",[21,8864,107],{"id":106},[11,8866,8867,8868,8870],{},"The numbers here come from accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not from traders at large. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the median deepest drawdown is ",[49,8869,562],{},", and the spread around that median is wide in both directions.",[11,8872,8873],{},[2498,8874],{"alt":8875,"src":8876},"Deepest drawdown across public ShowMyTrades accounts: 38.5% under 5%, 23.3% between 5% and 20%, 20.6% between 20% and 50%, 17.6% over 50%","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fdrawdown-distribution.svg",[11,8878,8879],{},[163,8880,8881],{},"Median 9.7%, and the tail is longer than most published claims allow for.",[11,8883,8884,8885,8888,8889,8892],{},"At the far end, ",[49,8886,8887],{},"17.6% have fallen more than 50%"," below their peak and ",[49,8890,8891],{},"38.2% have been more than 20% underwater",". Roughly one account in six has therefore faced the 50% row of the recovery table above: a 100% gain required just to get back to level.",[11,8894,8895,8896,8898,8899,8901,8902,5153,8904,8906,8907,8910,8911,223],{},"The near end deserves the same scepticism: ",[49,8897,2687],{}," record a maximum drawdown under 5%. Some of those are genuinely conservative. Many are simply young. The median published account holds ",[49,8900,770],{}," at a ",[15,8903,765],{"href":171},[49,8905,2003],{},"; on a sample that size, a small maximum drawdown records what has not happened yet rather than what cannot. A maximum drawdown is a claim about the tail of a distribution, and ",[15,8908,8909],{"href":3877},"tails need history behind them"," — which is why the figure is only worth much on a ",[15,8912,3646],{"href":2753},[21,8914,132],{"id":131},[11,8916,147,8917,8919,8920,364,8922,8924,8925,8927],{},[49,8918,827],{}," panel on every published account page shows ",[49,8921,833],{},[49,8923,1255],{}," on consecutive rows below ",[49,8926,1266],{},", both derived from the broker feed rather than self-reported. Compare them first; the divergence is the fastest read on the page.",[11,8929,8930,8931,8933,8934,8937,8938,8940],{},"The charts module includes a dedicated ",[49,8932,833],{}," view, which plots daily drawdown as bars and so answers the question the headline percentage cannot: how ",[163,8935,8936],{},"long"," the account stayed below its high-water mark. A 25% drawdown recovered in seven weeks and a 25% drawdown still open fourteen months later print the identical number and are not the same account. The ",[15,8939,7541],{"href":7540}," runs the recovery table above against your own balance.",[21,8942,189],{"id":188},[43,8944,8945,8951,8957,8963],{},[46,8946,8947,8950],{},[49,8948,8949],{},"\"My maximum drawdown improved this year.\""," It cannot improve. It is a historical maximum, and a good year cannot un-print it.",[46,8952,8953,8956],{},[49,8954,8955],{},"\"The two drawdown figures should match.\""," They match only when positions are closed near the loss. A wide gap is the signature of held losers, not a data error.",[46,8958,8959,8962],{},[49,8960,8961],{},"\"Small max drawdown, low risk.\""," Not on a short history. Ask how many trades and how many months produced it before treating it as a risk measure.",[46,8964,8965,8968],{},[49,8966,8967],{},"\"Percentage drawdown and money drawdown are interchangeable.\""," A 30% fall on a $2,000 account and on a $200,000 account are the same risk profile and very different experiences — but only the percentage is comparable between accounts.",[11,8970,8971,8972,223],{},"For maximum drawdown in context with every other metric on a live account page, read ",[15,8973,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":8975},[8976,8977,8978,8979,8980],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Maximum drawdown is the deepest peak-to-trough fall an account ever recorded. The formula, the recovery table, and the real spread across thousands of accounts.",{},[893,1516,1136,1730],{"title":8690,"description":8981},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","Maximum Drawdown","ApNMddCmg0QCLnuOwuyL_buXf8nvEi3z-WICzHc5jDU",{"id":8989,"title":8990,"body":8991,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":9243,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":9244,"navigation":235,"path":1535,"related":9245,"seo":9247,"stem":9248,"term":1536,"updated":233,"__hash__":9249},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader.md","What Is MetaTrader? MT4 vs MT5, Explained",{"type":8,"value":8992,"toc":9236},[8993,8996,8998,9001,9007,9013,9016,9087,9093,9095,9098,9104,9106,9129,9135,9137,9151,9166,9175,9203,9205,9231],[11,8994,8995],{},"MetaTrader is a trading platform built by MetaQuotes and licensed to brokers, who run their own servers and give clients the terminal to install. Two versions are in active use: MetaTrader 4, released in 2005, and MetaTrader 5, released in 2010. MetaTrader is not a broker and holds no money — it is the software layer between you and whichever broker issued your login.",[21,8997,24],{"id":23},[11,8999,9000],{},"Every MetaTrader setup has three parts, and confusing them is the source of most support questions.",[29,9002,9005],{"className":9003,"code":9004,"language":34},[32],"Terminal (your PC or VPS)      ← charts, Expert Advisors, client-side logic\n    ↕ round trip measured as ping\nTrade server (your broker)     ← balance, order matching, server-held SL\u002FTP\nMQL (MQL4 or MQL5)             ← the language EAs and indicators are written in\n",[36,9006,9004],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,9008,9009,9010,9012],{},"You log in with an account number, a server name and a password. There are two passwords against the same account: the master password, which can trade, and the ",[15,9011,7149],{"href":4353},", which is read-only and is the standard credential for third-party verification.",[11,9014,9015],{},"What actually differs between the versions:",[1761,9017,9018,9030],{},[1764,9019,9020],{},[1767,9021,9022,9024,9027],{},[1770,9023],{},[1770,9025,9026],{},"MT4",[1770,9028,9029],{},"MT5",[1780,9031,9032,9043,9054,9065,9076],{},[1767,9033,9034,9037,9040],{},[1785,9035,9036],{},"Language",[1785,9038,9039],{},"MQL4",[1785,9041,9042],{},"MQL5",[1767,9044,9045,9048,9051],{},[1785,9046,9047],{},"Accounting",[1785,9049,9050],{},"Order-based: one order is one position",[1785,9052,9053],{},"Deal and position based, netting or hedging",[1767,9055,9056,9059,9062],{},[1785,9057,9058],{},"Timeframes",[1785,9060,9061],{},"9",[1785,9063,9064],{},"21",[1767,9066,9067,9070,9073],{},[1785,9068,9069],{},"Markets",[1785,9071,9072],{},"Forex and CFDs",[1785,9074,9075],{},"Adds exchange-traded instruments and depth of market",[1767,9077,9078,9081,9084],{},[1785,9079,9080],{},"Strategy tester",[1785,9082,9083],{},"Single symbol, single thread",[1785,9085,9086],{},"Multi-symbol, multi-threaded, real ticks",[11,9088,9089,9090,9092],{},"They are not two versions of one product in any practical sense. MQL4 code does not compile as MQL5, an ",[15,9091,800],{"href":799}," does not port between them, and account history does not move. Migrating means starting a new account.",[21,9094,74],{"id":73},[11,9096,9097],{},"Whichever version you run, the terminal is only the window. Your fills, your spread, your swap and your stop triggers are decided by the broker's trade server, and the same MT5 build produces different results at different brokers.",[11,9099,9100,9101,9103],{},"What MetaTrader does give you, and what has made it the default for two decades, is a machine-readable record that a third party can read directly from the broker. That is the whole basis of published ",[15,9102,7459],{"href":3889},": a read-only credential, an open feed, and no file the trader gets to edit on the way out.",[21,9105,107],{"id":106},[11,9107,9108,9109,9112,9113,9116,9117,364,9119,9123,9124,9126,9127,223],{},"MetaTrader is very nearly the whole market we see. Of the ",[49,9110,9111],{},"10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades"," (August 2026), the overwhelming majority run ",[49,9114,9115],{},"MT4 or MT5",", alongside ",[15,9118,7220],{"href":7216},[15,9120,9122],{"href":9121},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker","TradeLocker",". Those accounts reach ",[49,9125,315],{}," and have produced ",[49,9128,4977],{},[11,9130,9131,9132,9134],{},"MT5 outnumbers MT4 by more than four to one here. That is a statement about the accounts arriving on this platform in 2026, not a verdict on either version; plenty of long-running MT4 records are still the better track record on the page. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,9133,1594],{}," — only possible because both versions run code natively, with no bridge, no API key and no third-party plumbing.",[21,9136,132],{"id":131},[11,9138,9139,9140,377,9143,377,9146,516,9148,9150],{},"The account header shows the platform as a badge — ",[49,9141,9142],{},"MetaTrader 4",[49,9144,9145],{},"MetaTrader 5",[49,9147,7220],{},[49,9149,9122],{}," — beside the broker, the account currency, the leverage and the automation split.",[11,9152,9153,9154,364,9157,9160,9161,364,9163,9165],{},"When you add an account, the connection picker names the difference directly: ",[163,9155,9156],{},"MetaTrader 4 with EA",[163,9158,9159],{},"MetaTrader 5 with EA"," are marked recommended because updates are far more frequent, while ",[163,9162,5746],{},[163,9164,5749],{},", both still labelled Beta, sync from the broker using the investor password with nothing installed in your terminal.",[11,9167,9168,9169,9171,9172,9174],{},"That choice changes what the page can show, on either version. Only an EA connection produces the ",[49,9170,356],{}," module, where the terminal reports on its own host and link and lists the charts and Expert Advisors currently loaded. On MT4 the same module is titled simply ",[49,9173,352],{},", because the MT4 EA does not report the chart list at all — we show nothing rather than claim no charts are open.",[11,9176,9177,9178,9182,9183,9185,9186,364,9189,1003,9192,9195,9196,9199,9200,9202],{},"Verification is version-neutral. The header carries a ",[49,9179,9180],{},[15,9181,1047],{"href":2753}," badge, green once the read-only investor password is on file, and a ",[49,9184,1050],{}," badge, green once a pending order carrying your ShowMyTrades user ID in the comment field has been placed. Across the connected accounts, ",[49,9187,9188],{},"65 hold Track Record Verified",[49,9190,9191],{},"264 Trading Privileges Verified",[15,9193,9194],{"href":1715},"Per-strategy reporting"," in ",[49,9197,9198],{},"Breakdown Statistics → By Magic Number"," is an MT4 and MT5 capability, because the ",[15,9201,5524],{"href":984}," field is a MetaTrader concept.",[21,9204,189],{"id":188},[43,9206,9207,9213,9219,9225],{},[46,9208,9209,9212],{},[49,9210,9211],{},"\"MetaTrader is my broker.\""," It is software your broker licenses. Deposits, withdrawals, spreads and execution are the broker's, and complaints go to them.",[46,9214,9215,9218],{},[49,9216,9217],{},"\"MT5 is MT4 with more features.\""," It is a rewrite. EAs, indicators and scripts have to be rebuilt, which is why many working systems never moved.",[46,9220,9221,9224],{},[49,9222,9223],{},"\"MT5 does not allow hedging.\""," It supports both netting and hedging; which one applies is set by the broker when the account is opened, and it cannot be changed afterwards.",[46,9226,9227,9230],{},[49,9228,9229],{},"\"The platform decides my fills.\""," The trade server does. Two terminals of the same build, on two brokers, will not fill the same order the same way.",[11,9232,9233,9234,223],{},"To turn a MetaTrader login into a record other people can check: ",[15,9235,4491],{"href":4490},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":9237},[9238,9239,9240,9241,9242],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"MetaTrader is the platform most retail forex accounts run on. What separates MT4 from MT5, what the investor password does, and the real platform split we see.",{},[4502,1728,4862,5661,9246],"what-is-ctrader",{"title":8990,"description":9243},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader","MKdDWOKBnGlWX-ZwLgaS8-7RFBIRZWEdssYltOPR2Z8",{"id":9251,"title":9252,"body":9253,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":9419,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":9420,"navigation":235,"path":4367,"related":9421,"seo":9422,"stem":9423,"term":4368,"updated":233,"__hash__":9424},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-myfxbook.md","What Is Myfxbook? Definition and How It Works",{"type":8,"value":9254,"toc":9412},[9255,9258,9260,9266,9269,9272,9274,9283,9285,9302,9305,9307,9314,9338,9355,9376,9378,9404],[11,9256,9257],{},"Myfxbook is an online analytics and community platform for forex traders, launched in 2009. A trader links a MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 account to it, and the platform publishes that account's statistics on a public page that can be shared or embedded elsewhere. It is one of the oldest third-party trading trackers, and its public pages are a common form in which trading results are circulated.",[21,9259,24],{"id":23},[11,9261,9262,9263,9265],{},"An account is connected either with the ",[15,9264,4354],{"href":4353}," or with an Expert Advisor installed in the terminal. From there the platform reads the account continuously and derives the usual statistics — gain, drawdown, profit factor, monthly returns, per-symbol breakdowns — onto a public \"system\" page.",[11,9267,9268],{},"Alongside the tracking, the site hosts community features and market tools: forums, an economic calendar, position-size and pip calculators, aggregated market sentiment, and broker comparison pages. Public pages can be embedded on other sites through widgets and forum signature images, so a page is often encountered indirectly — as a link or a banner attached to a claim made somewhere else.",[11,9270,9271],{},"Verification is tiered: a connected account can be shown as tracked, and separately as having had its trading privileges or its broker data confirmed. Which tier a given page carries is stated on the page itself.",[21,9273,74],{"id":73},[11,9275,9276,9277,9279,9280,223],{},"Signal sellers, EA vendors and managed-account offers frequently support a claim with a link to a tracker page, and Myfxbook is one of the platforms those links point to, so knowing how to read one is a practical skill. The habit is the same on any tracker: check the verification state before reading a single number, then read ",[15,9278,701],{"href":700}," before gain, then check ",[15,9281,9282],{"href":3877},"how long the history actually is",[21,9284,107],{"id":106},[11,9286,9287,9288,9290,9291,9293,9294,947,9296,9298,9299,9301],{},"We cannot see inside another platform's database, so the only distribution we can quote is our own. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026): median time-weighted return ",[49,9289,558],{},", median deepest drawdown ",[49,9292,562],{},", median ",[15,9295,1394],{"href":1393},[49,9297,566],{},", median 171 closed trades per account, median win rate ",[49,9300,574],{},". Those public pages have been visited 94,710 times.",[11,9303,9304],{},"Two of those figures are worth holding together, because they are the ones a tracker page tends to be quoted for. A 68.8% median win rate sits alongside a median profit factor of 1.28: most trades close green, and the aggregate edge is still thin. Any tracker page, on any platform, can be read selectively by quoting the first number without the second.",[21,9306,132],{"id":131},[11,9308,9309,9310,223],{},"ShowMyTrades is a tracker of the same kind, so most of what this entry describes has a direct counterpart here, under our own names. Where the two differ, and where Myfxbook is the better tool, is laid out row by row in ",[15,9311,9313],{"href":9312},"\u002Fshowmytrades-vs-myfxbook","ShowMyTrades vs Myfxbook",[11,9315,9316,9319,9320,364,9322,9324,9325,9328,9329,9331,9332,9334,9335,9337],{},[49,9317,9318],{},"The connection step."," The picker offers ",[163,9321,9156],{},[163,9323,9159],{},", the two ",[163,9326,9327],{},"Direct Connection"," options that use the ",[15,9330,7149],{"href":4353}," alone, ",[163,9333,7220],{}," through OAuth2 authorisation, and ",[163,9336,9122],{}," through its REST API. Between them those four routes carry the 10,000+ accounts connected here, across 703 distinct broker servers.",[11,9339,9340,9343,9344,9346,9347,9349,9350,9352,9353,223],{},[49,9341,9342],{},"The verification state."," Two named badges in the ",[49,9345,1034],{}," group of the account header, rather than a single word: ",[49,9348,1047],{},", granted when the read-only feed is in place, and ",[49,9351,1050],{},", granted when ownership has been proved. Of 10,000+ published accounts, 65 carry the first and 264 the second. Which badge a page carries is the thing to read; see ",[15,9354,3646],{"href":2753},[11,9356,9357,947,9360,9363,9364,364,9367,9369,9370,9372,9373,9375],{},[49,9358,9359],{},"The embeds.",[15,9361,9362],{"href":4319},"Seven widget formats",", from ",[163,9365,9366],{},"Stats Card",[163,9368,1883],{}," to the full ",[163,9371,4452],{},", which carries the verification badges into the embed itself. Accounts running on a ",[15,9374,4669],{"href":4665}," can additionally publish the terminal's live state.",[21,9377,189],{"id":188},[43,9379,9380,9386,9392,9398],{},[46,9381,9382,9385],{},[49,9383,9384],{},"\"Verified\" does not mean one thing across platforms."," Each tracker defines its own tiers. Read which specific badge a page carries rather than trusting the domain it sits on.",[46,9387,9388,9391],{},[49,9389,9390],{},"A signature image is not a live record."," A banner pasted into a forum post is an image; the link under it is the record. Click it.",[46,9393,9394,9397],{},[49,9395,9396],{},"Being listed anywhere is not an endorsement."," Trackers publish what traders connect. Nobody vetted the strategy.",[46,9399,9400,9403],{},[49,9401,9402],{},"The same account can show different numbers on two platforms."," Time-weighted return, absolute gain and deposit handling are computed differently by different vendors, and a drawdown figure may be measured on equity or on closed balance only. Compare like with like before concluding one of them is wrong.",[11,9405,9406,9407,9409,9410,223],{},"If you are about to trust a ",[15,9408,6297],{"href":3889}," on any platform, run it through the checklist first: ",[15,9411,6367],{"href":6366},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":9413},[9414,9415,9416,9417,9418],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Myfxbook is a forex analytics and community platform: traders connect an MT4 or MT5 account and it publishes the statistics on a public, shareable page.",{},[1136,4502,5661],{"title":9252,"description":9419},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-myfxbook","JCd0nf2ykiaenlwUVNiEBC5SamluNl7WkwypIrjRbws",{"id":9426,"title":9427,"body":9428,"category":461,"date":233,"description":9634,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":9635,"navigation":235,"path":305,"related":9636,"seo":9639,"stem":9640,"term":9641,"updated":233,"__hash__":9642},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-order-execution.md","What Is Order Execution? Types, Requotes and Fills",{"type":8,"value":9429,"toc":9627},[9430,9437,9439,9442,9451,9461,9472,9475,9481,9487,9489,9492,9495,9497,9505,9508,9519,9521,9590,9592,9621],[11,9431,9432,9433,9436],{},"Order execution is the process by which a broker turns an order request into a filled position at a specific price. It covers everything between your terminal sending the request and the server confirming a fill: ",[15,9434,9435],{"href":464},"routing",", price validation, and the decision to accept, requote or reject. Two accounts running identical logic at different brokers can produce different results for this reason alone, with no difference in the strategy at all.",[21,9438,24],{"id":23},[11,9440,9441],{},"MetaTrader documents four execution modes — Request, Instant, Market and Exchange — but retail forex accounts run on two of them, and the difference between those two is what happens when the price moves while your request is in flight.",[11,9443,9444,9447,9448,223],{},[49,9445,9446],{},"Market execution."," The order fills at whatever price exists when it reaches the server. It cannot be rejected for price movement, so it effectively always fills — and it can ",[15,9449,9450],{"href":924},"slip",[11,9452,9453,9456,9457,9460],{},[49,9454,9455],{},"Instant execution."," You request a specific price. If the market has moved beyond the broker's tolerance, the server returns a ",[49,9458,9459],{},"requote",": a new price you must accept or decline. No slippage, but no guarantee the trade opens at all.",[11,9462,9463,9464,9467,9468,9471],{},"Two further outcomes matter. A ",[49,9465,9466],{},"partial fill"," occurs when the size available at your price is smaller than your order, so part fills and the remainder either fills worse or is cancelled. A ",[49,9469,9470],{},"rejection"," returns an error code and no position.",[11,9473,9474],{},"The elapsed time decomposes cleanly:",[29,9476,9479],{"className":9477,"code":9478,"language":34},[32],"Round-trip time = terminal -> trade server        (network path)\n                + order validation and matching   (broker)\n                + trade server -> terminal        (confirmation)\n",[36,9480,9478],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,9482,9483,9484,9486],{},"Only the middle term is the broker's execution speed. The first and third are network path, which is why moving a terminal onto a ",[15,9485,4669],{"href":4665}," near the trade server changes measured execution without the broker changing anything.",[21,9488,74],{"id":73},[11,9490,9491],{},"Execution is where a strategy stops being arithmetic. A backtest fills every order at the requested price, never gets requoted and never misses an entry. Live, each of those assumptions costs something, and the shorter the holding period the larger the share of the edge that execution decides rather than the signal.",[11,9493,9494],{},"Rejections are the under-counted half. Slippage at least shows up in the fill price, so it can be reasoned about after the fact. A trade that never opened leaves no record anywhere — and a strategy judged on the trades it managed to place is a survivorship-biased version of itself.",[21,9496,107],{"id":106},[11,9498,9499,9500,4560,9502,9504],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), orders are sent to ",[49,9501,315],{},[49,9503,2193],{}," have been read back from them. There is no single execution environment here: seven hundred independently configured servers stand between the same instruction and the same market.",[11,9506,9507],{},"Every one of those 15,436,464 records is a fill. None is an attempt — broker history reports positions that opened, so requotes, rejections and cancelled remainders are missing from the count by construction, on this platform and on every other one built from broker records.",[11,9509,9510,9511,364,9513,7519,9515,9518],{},"Comparison is still possible, but only by repetition. ",[49,9512,1617],{},[49,9514,4966],{},[15,9516,9517],{"href":452},"holding the logic constant and varying the server"," is the nearest thing to a controlled execution test a retail trader has.",[21,9520,132],{"id":131},[43,9522,9523,9548,9570,9585],{},[46,9524,147,9525,353,9527,357,9529,9533,9534,9539,9540,377,9542,377,9544,364,9546,223],{},[49,9526,352],{},[49,9528,356],{},[49,9530,9531],{},[15,9532,363],{"href":360},", the round-trip time to the broker's trade server, and ",[49,9535,9536],{},[15,9537,367],{"href":9538},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-packet-retransmission",", the share of network packets that had to be sent again. Under 50 ms is excellent; above 200 ms can mean slower order execution and more slippage. The same panel shows ",[49,9541,1074],{},[49,9543,1077],{},[49,9545,1080],{},[49,9547,1083],{},[46,9549,147,9550,401,9552,9554,9555,377,9557,377,9559,377,9561,377,9563,377,9565,364,9567,9569],{},[49,9551,400],{},[49,9553,404],{}," carries ",[49,9556,407],{},[49,9558,410],{},[49,9560,413],{},[49,9562,416],{},[49,9564,1467],{},[49,9566,2559],{},[49,9568,154],{}," per ticket. Comparing where an exit was set against where it actually landed is the closest read on execution available from broker records.",[46,9571,9572,374,9574,9576,9577,377,9581,364,9583,223],{},[49,9573,373],{},[49,9575,2250],{}," — an outlier far beyond the account's usual stop distance is the fingerprint of a gapped or badly filled exit rather than a bad entry — plus ",[49,9578,9579],{},[15,9580,174],{"href":171},[49,9582,143],{},[49,9584,380],{},[46,9586,147,9587,9589],{},[49,9588,342],{}," row in the account header carries the broker badge with the trade server name in its tooltip, next to platform, currency and leverage. The server, not the brand, identifies the execution environment.",[21,9591,189],{"id":188},[421,9593,9594,9600,9606,9615],{},[46,9595,9596,9599],{},[49,9597,9598],{},"\"Market execution is worse than instant.\""," Neither is better. One buys price certainty at the cost of fill certainty; the other does the reverse. Which one hurts depends on the strategy.",[46,9601,9602,9605],{},[49,9603,9604],{},"\"ECN, STP and NDD describe execution.\""," They are marketing labels, not regulated definitions, and they are not audited. Measure the account instead.",[46,9607,9608,9611,9612,9614],{},[49,9609,9610],{},"\"Slow fills are the broker's fault.\""," Often the network path is. Check ",[49,9613,363],{}," before drawing a conclusion about the server.",[46,9616,9617,9620],{},[49,9618,9619],{},"\"Fast execution is good execution.\""," Speed without price quality is worthless. An order filled instantly three pips away is still three pips away.",[11,9622,9623,9624,223],{},"For a method to compare execution and cost between two brokers, see the ",[15,9625,9626],{"href":389},"broker cost audit guide",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":9628},[9629,9630,9631,9632,9633],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Order execution is how a broker turns your request into a filled trade. Market vs instant execution, requotes, partial fills, and how to measure quality.",{},[468,9637,9638,241],"what-is-server-latency","what-is-a-b-book-broker",{"title":9427,"description":9634},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-order-execution","Order Execution","oUI1tlc8dL3qnxp3T8uMtQ9xtrmbuLPGNNx8qX9JQho",{"id":9644,"title":9645,"body":9646,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":9812,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":9813,"navigation":235,"path":9538,"related":9814,"seo":9815,"stem":9816,"term":367,"updated":233,"__hash__":9817},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-packet-retransmission.md","What Is Packet Retransmission in MetaTrader?",{"type":8,"value":9647,"toc":9805},[9648,9651,9653,9656,9662,9668,9671,9673,9678,9681,9684,9694,9697,9699,9706,9720,9726,9728,9754,9764,9771,9773,9799],[11,9649,9650],{},"Packet retransmission is the share of network packets that had to be sent a second time because the first copy was lost or never acknowledged, expressed as a percentage. On a healthy connection it sits at zero. It measures whether the link between a MetaTrader terminal and the outside world is reliable — a different question from how fast it is, and a more useful one.",[21,9652,24],{"id":23},[11,9654,9655],{},"TCP, the protocol carrying everything between terminal and trade server, guarantees delivery by re-sending. The sender waits for an acknowledgement; if none arrives before a timeout, the packet goes out again.",[29,9657,9660],{"className":9658,"code":9659,"language":34},[32],"Retransmission % = packets re-sent \u002F packets sent × 100\n",[36,9661,9659],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,9663,9664,9665,223],{},"MetaTrader exposes this as a terminal property, the Expert Advisor forwards it with the rest of the environment data, and ShowMyTrades formats it to two decimals — so anything below 0.005% displays as ",[49,9666,9667],{},"0.00%",[11,9669,9670],{},"Two properties matter when reading it. The value comes from the machine's own network stack rather than an isolated probe of one connection, so other software on the same VPS or home line contributes to it. And it is a rate, not an event count: any non-zero value means loss is ongoing, not a one-off.",[21,9672,74],{"id":73},[11,9674,9675,9677],{},[15,9676,363],{"href":360}," is an average, and averages describe the good case. A connection can post an excellent mean round trip and still drop packets, because loss lives in the tail that the average smooths away. Retransmission is the tail, measured directly.",[11,9679,9680],{},"The cost of a single retransmission is not one extra round trip. The sender has to wait out a timeout before deciding the packet is gone, and that wait is typically several times the normal round trip. So a 1% retransmission rate does not make everything 1% slower — it makes 1% of messages dramatically slower, while the other 99% look perfect. Every average you can compute stays reassuring.",[11,9682,9683],{},"TCP also delivers in order, so while a lost packet is recovered everything behind it waits. That is the familiar symptom: quotes stop, then arrive in a burst.",[11,9685,9686,9687,9690,9691,9693],{},"What a rising rate predicts is therefore concrete. Requotes on ",[15,9688,9689],{"href":305},"instant execution",", because the price the terminal is working from is stale by the time the request lands. Wider realised ",[15,9692,3234],{"href":924}," on market execution. Expert Advisor actions that fire late or not at all. And, if it keeps climbing, a dropped session and a terminal that stops sending data entirely.",[11,9695,9696],{},"It is also the earlier signal of the two. Ping degrades when the route changes; retransmission degrades when the link itself is failing, usually well before a disconnection.",[21,9698,107],{"id":106},[11,9700,9701,9702,9705],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Only MetaTrader accounts have a terminal to report on, and they are the overwhelming majority of the ",[49,9703,9704],{},"10,000+ connected accounts",". cTrader and TradeLocker accounts run through broker APIs with no terminal and no network readings of their own.",[11,9707,9708,9709,4560,9711,9713,9714,9716,9717,9719],{},"The reason it matters here is automation. The ",[49,9710,1594],{},[49,9712,1597],{},". Those terminals run unattended, often on a rented server their owner has not logged into for weeks. A discretionary trader notices a stuttering connection within minutes; the screen is in front of them. An ",[15,9715,800],{"href":799}," on a degrading ",[15,9718,4669],{"href":4665}," at three in the morning notices nothing, and neither does anyone else, until the results come out wrong.",[11,9721,9722,9723,9725],{},"Those accounts reach ",[49,9724,315],{},", and the path to each one is different.",[21,9727,132],{"id":131},[11,9729,9730,9732,9733,9735,9736,9738,9739,9741,9742,9744,9745,377,9747,377,9749,364,9751,9753],{},[49,9731,367],{}," is the second of six tiles in the ",[49,9734,352],{}," panel — ",[49,9737,356],{}," on MT5, plain ",[49,9740,352],{}," on MT4 — immediately after ",[49,9743,363],{},", followed by ",[49,9746,1074],{},[49,9748,1077],{},[49,9750,1080],{},[49,9752,1083],{},". The tile shows a percentage to two decimals, and its tooltip states the reading directly: close to 0% means a stable connection, while consistently higher values point to an unreliable network or a trade server that is far away.",[11,9755,9756,9757,377,9759,516,9761,9763],{},"Read it with the panel header, which carries a status badge — ",[163,9758,4598],{},[163,9760,4601],{},[163,9762,4604],{}," — and the age of the last reading; an account silent for 11 minutes is marked offline. Retransmission climbing while that timestamp falls behind is the sequence that precedes a terminal going quiet.",[11,9765,9766,9767,9770],{},"The panel is owner-only and lives on the account's dashboard page: terminal data, including the Expert Advisors running on open charts, is never published on ",[15,9768,9769],{"href":4220},"public pages"," or in widgets. cTrader and TradeLocker accounts have no terminal, so no such panel.",[21,9772,189],{"id":188},[43,9774,9775,9781,9787,9793],{},[46,9776,9777,9780],{},[49,9778,9779],{},"\"0.00% means a perfect connection.\""," It means below the display's two decimals at the last sync. It is a snapshot, and one clean reading does not describe the night.",[46,9782,9783,9786],{},[49,9784,9785],{},"\"It is the broker's fault.\""," It describes the network path and the machine at the near end of it. A busy VPS raises it with no help from the broker at all.",[46,9788,9789,9792],{},[49,9790,9791],{},"\"If ping is low, retransmission does not matter.\""," That combination is the specific case worth worrying about: a fast average hiding a fat tail.",[46,9794,9795,9798],{},[49,9796,9797],{},"\"It only affects the data feed, not my orders.\""," Quotes and orders travel the same TCP connection. Whatever stalls one stalls the other.",[11,9800,9801,9802,223],{},"The terminal readings arrive with the same Expert Advisor you install when connecting an account — see ",[15,9803,9804],{"href":4490},"how to verify your account",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":9806},[9807,9808,9809,9810,9811],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Retransmission is the share of network packets that had to be sent again. Why it reads stability better than ping, and what a rising rate does to execution.",{},[6176,5661,466,468],{"title":9645,"description":9812},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-packet-retransmission","Lo__3cF3heoDhsvPaIFDJmhYPfY78nSNIrbvxg21lRk",{"id":9819,"title":9820,"body":9821,"category":888,"date":233,"description":10002,"draft":2620,"extension":236,"meta":10003,"navigation":235,"path":1398,"related":10004,"seo":10005,"stem":10006,"term":10007,"updated":233,"__hash__":10008},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing.md","What Is Position Sizing? Formula and Lot Size Calculation",{"type":8,"value":9822,"toc":9995},[9823,9829,9831,9834,9840,9843,9849,9855,9858,9878,9884,9889,9891,9894,9900,9902,9914,9917,9928,9930,9935,9957,9959,9989],[11,9824,9825,9826,9828],{},"Position sizing is the decision of how large a trade to open, derived from how much of the account you are willing to lose if the trade fails. It converts a risk percentage into a lot size using two inputs: the distance to your stop and the value of one pip at that size. It is the single variable that determines an account's ",[15,9827,701],{"href":700}," profile, and it is chosen before the trade rather than discovered after it.",[21,9830,24],{"id":23},[11,9832,9833],{},"Three steps, in order.",[29,9835,9838],{"className":9836,"code":9837,"language":34},[32],"1. Risk amount   = Account balance × Risk %\n2. Pip value     = Contract size × Pip in quote currency × FX rate to account currency\n3. Position size = Risk amount \u002F (Stop distance in pips × Pip value per lot)\n",[36,9839,9837],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,9841,9842],{},"A worked example on a $10,000 account risking 1% per trade, with a 50-pip stop on EUR\u002FUSD, where one standard lot moves $10 per pip:",[29,9844,9847],{"className":9845,"code":9846,"language":34},[32],"Risk amount   = 10,000 × 0.01      = $100\nPosition size = 100 \u002F (50 × 10)    = 0.20 lots\n",[36,9848,9846],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,9850,9851,9852,9854],{},"Widen the stop to 100 pips and the same $100 of risk buys 0.10 lots. The risk stays constant; the size adapts. That inversion is the whole idea, and it is why sizing and ",[15,9853,7487],{"href":1924}," placement cannot be decided separately.",[11,9856,9857],{},"Three methods dominate in practice:",[43,9859,9860,9866,9872],{},[46,9861,9862,9865],{},[49,9863,9864],{},"Fixed lot."," Always 0.10 lots, whatever the stop or the balance. Simple, and the risk per trade drifts constantly as both change.",[46,9867,9868,9871],{},[49,9869,9870],{},"Percentage risk (fixed fractional)."," The formula above. Risk stays proportional, so losses shrink in currency terms as the account falls — the mechanism that makes recovery arithmetically possible.",[46,9873,9874,9877],{},[49,9875,9876],{},"Martingale progression."," Size increases after a loss to recover it. Wins are frequent and small, the equity curve looks immaculate, and the distribution of outcomes has a fat left tail that arrives all at once.",[11,9879,9880],{},[2498,9881],{"alt":9882,"src":9883},"Doubling the lot size after every loss against a fixed fraction of equity: same win rate, same market, opposite outcomes","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Flot-progression.svg",[11,9885,9886],{},[163,9887,9888],{},"Which one an account uses is readable from the lot sizes alone.",[21,9890,74],{"id":73},[11,9892,9893],{},"Entries decide whether you win. Sizing decides whether you are still there for the next one. Two traders taking identical signals with identical stops produce identical win rates and completely different accounts, because one risked 0.5% and the other risked 8%.",[11,9895,9896,9897,9899],{},"Sizing is also where ",[15,9898,1832],{"href":101}," does its actual damage. High leverage is not itself risk — it is permission to take risk. The risk arrives when that permission is used to open a size whose stop distance implies a loss the account cannot absorb twice in a row.",[21,9901,107],{"id":106},[11,9903,9904,9905,9907,9908,9910,9911,9913],{},"Sizing leaves its signature in the drawdown tail. Across the accounts published on ShowMyTrades that have trading history (August 2026) — accounts published here, not traders in general — ",[49,9906,1211],{}," have been ",[15,9909,4237],{"href":740}," at some point and ",[49,9912,2698],{}," have lost more than half their peak value.",[11,9915,9916],{},"A properly sized fixed-fractional account rarely reaches that last band. Losing 50% at 1% risk per trade requires roughly 69 consecutive losses. Accounts in that tail generally arrived another way: escalating size after losses, or a size chosen without reference to the stop at all.",[11,9918,9919,9920,4560,9922,9924,9925,9927],{},"Context for who is doing the sizing: the median autotrading share on these accounts is ",[49,9921,792],{},[49,9923,4778],{}," run above 90% automated, against ",[49,9926,4782],{}," under 10%. On more than half of the published set, position size is a line in an EA's settings — configured once and never revisited as the balance moves.",[21,9929,132],{"id":131},[11,9931,147,9932,9934],{},[15,9933,1475],{"href":1474}," runs the formula above with live prices, in your account currency, for percentage or fixed-amount risk and for stops expressed in price or pips.",[11,9936,9937,9938,2981,9940,9942,9943,9945,9946,9949,9950,5215,9954,9956],{},"On a published account page you can audit sizing rather than assume it. The ",[49,9939,150],{},[49,9941,1454],{}," column showing the lot size of every individual trade, so a size that steps up after each loser is visible directly. ",[49,9944,180],{}," adds a ",[49,9947,9948],{},"Lot Size"," min\u002Fmax filter: set a floor above the account's normal size and see whether the surviving trades cluster immediately after losses, which is the martingale signature. ",[49,9951,9952],{},[15,9953,380],{"href":1504},[49,9955,373],{}," module gives the aggregate; across published accounts it stands at 1,724,575 lots traded.",[21,9958,189],{"id":188},[43,9960,9961,9967,9977,9983],{},[46,9962,9963,9966],{},[49,9964,9965],{},"\"Risking 2% means using 2% of my account.\""," No. 2% is the loss if the stop is hit. The margin the position occupies is a separate figure entirely, set by leverage.",[46,9968,9969,9972,9973,9976],{},[49,9970,9971],{},"\"I risk 1% per trade, so my worst case is 1%.\""," Only with one position open. ",[15,9974,9975],{"href":3945},"Five correlated positions"," at 1% each are one 5% trade wearing a disguise, and correlated pairs move together precisely when it hurts.",[46,9978,9979,9982],{},[49,9980,9981],{},"\"No stop loss, so no risk to calculate.\""," Without a stop, the position size formula has no denominator — the risk is not small, it is undefined, and its true value is the margin call.",[46,9984,9985,9988],{},[49,9986,9987],{},"\"Compounding means scaling up.\""," Fixed-fractional sizing scales both ways. Increasing lots after wins while holding them constant after losses is not compounding; it is a slow ratchet toward a drawdown you never sized for.",[11,9990,9991,9992,223],{},"For the full set of risk and sizing tools and when each one applies, see ",[15,9993,9994],{"href":2350},"the forex calculators guide",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":9996},[9997,9998,9999,10000,10001],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Position sizing turns a risk percentage into a lot size using your stop distance and pip value. The formula, the three common methods, and what bad sizing costs.",{},[893,894,7589,242],{"title":9820,"description":10002},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","Position Sizing","qP5mfGAxSuWSiccKuy0i_N8LQtpN2UHwOG-ZOVxOViU",{"id":10010,"title":10011,"body":10012,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":10218,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":10219,"navigation":235,"path":1221,"related":10220,"seo":10222,"stem":10223,"term":10224,"updated":233,"__hash__":10225},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-recovery-factor.md","What Is Recovery Factor? Formula, Bands and Real Data",{"type":8,"value":10013,"toc":10211},[10014,10017,10019,10025,10028,10034,10037,10082,10089,10091,10097,10106,10108,10117,10124,10133,10135,10141,10159,10165,10175,10177,10206],[11,10015,10016],{},"Recovery factor is net profit divided by maximum drawdown: how much return an account produced for each unit of decline it put its owner through. A value of 2.0 means the account earned twice what it gave up at its worst point. Below 1.0 it has not yet earned back the size of the hole it dug.",[21,10018,24],{"id":23},[29,10020,10023],{"className":10021,"code":10022,"language":34},[32],"Recovery Factor = Net Profit \u002F Maximum Drawdown\n",[36,10024,10022],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,10026,10027],{},"The formula is trivial; the units are not. Two versions circulate and they do not agree:",[29,10029,10032],{"className":10030,"code":10031,"language":34},[32],"Currency form    = Net profit ($) \u002F Maximum drawdown ($)\nPercentage form  = Total return (%) \u002F Maximum drawdown (%)\n",[36,10033,10031],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,10035,10036],{},"Both sides must be measured the same way. Mixing a currency numerator with a percentage denominator produces a figure that looks like a ratio and means nothing.",[1761,10038,10039,10048],{},[1764,10040,10041],{},[1767,10042,10043,10046],{},[1770,10044,10045],{},"Recovery factor",[1770,10047,2410],{},[1780,10049,10050,10058,10066,10074],{},[1767,10051,10052,10055],{},[1785,10053,10054],{},"Below 1.0",[1785,10056,10057],{},"The account has not out-earned its worst decline",[1767,10059,10060,10063],{},[1785,10061,10062],{},"1.0 – 2.0",[1785,10064,10065],{},"Working, but the reward is close to the risk absorbed",[1767,10067,10068,10071],{},[1785,10069,10070],{},"2.0 – 3.0",[1785,10072,10073],{},"Solid, if the history is long enough to have found the real maximum",[1767,10075,10076,10079],{},[1785,10077,10078],{},"Above 3.0",[1785,10080,10081],{},"Strong — check trade count and account age before believing it",[11,10083,10084,10085,10088],{},"One caveat outranks the whole table. Recovery factor rises with time on its own: the numerator accumulates as long as the account keeps earning, while the denominator is a historical maximum that only moves when things get worse. ",[15,10086,10087],{"href":3877},"A five-year account and a six-month account are not comparable here"," — the older one has simply had longer to divide by a fixed number.",[21,10090,74],{"id":73},[11,10092,10093,10094,10096],{},"Profit and drawdown are usually quoted apart, and separately both are easy to present well. Recovery factor refuses to let them be separate. It is the compact form of the question every ",[15,10095,6297],{"href":3889}," has to answer: was the pain worth it?",[11,10098,10099,10100,10102,10103,10105],{},"It also fills the gaps left by its neighbours. ",[15,10101,1582],{"href":1393}," compares gross wins to gross losses and ignores sequence, so an account that made everything in one month scores like one that ground upward every week. The ",[15,10104,3352],{"href":3351}," measures dispersion but not depth. Recovery factor is the only common metric where the worst moment appears explicitly in the denominator.",[21,10107,107],{"id":106},[11,10109,2483,10110,2487,10115,223],{},[49,10111,5558,10112,10114],{},[15,10113,554],{"href":553}," is +3.2%",[49,10116,5337],{},[11,10118,10119,10120,10123],{},"Those medians come from different accounts, so they do not give a population median for the ratio. But an account sitting on both would carry a recovery factor of about ",[49,10121,10122],{},"0.33"," in the percentage form: roughly one unit of return for every three units of decline endured to get it — worth holding next to the convention that anything under 3.0 is unremarkable.",[11,10125,10126,10127,10129,10130,10132],{},"The tail matters too. ",[49,10128,1211],{}," of these accounts have been down more than 20%, and ",[49,10131,1006],{}," are positive over time — so more than a third have a negative numerator. For those the ratio is not low, it is meaningless: dividing a loss by a drawdown produces a number no band interprets.",[21,10134,132],{"id":131},[11,10136,10137,10140],{},[49,10138,10139],{},"Recovery factor is not a metric on ShowMyTrades."," No panel, chart or widget displays it under that name or any other, and our statistics engine does not calculate one. You compute it in one step from figures the account page does publish, all derived from the platform feed rather than typed in by the owner.",[11,10142,10143,10144,10146,10147,10149,10150,10152,10153,10155,10156,10158],{},"For the percentage form, take ",[49,10145,2305],{}," from the ",[49,10148,827],{}," panel and divide it by ",[49,10151,833],{},", four rows below it in the same panel. Both are percentages, so the division is valid. Note what each is: ",[49,10154,2305],{}," is time-weighted return, which strips out deposits and withdrawals, so it cannot be inflated by adding capital to a losing account; ",[49,10157,833],{}," is the worst equity decline recorded.",[11,10160,10161,10162,10164],{},"For the currency form, ",[49,10163,3833],{}," in the same panel gives net closed profit and loss, after commission and swap, but we do not publish maximum drawdown as a currency figure, so there is no second number to divide by. Use the percentage form, or rebuild the equity path from the closed trade list, which the trades table offers as a CSV download.",[11,10166,10167,10168,10170,10171,10174],{},"Either way, open the ",[49,10169,833],{}," chart view beside that panel first. It plots drawdown day by day as bars, showing ",[163,10172,10173],{},"when"," the maximum was set and how long the account spent below its peak — the duration the ratio cannot express.",[21,10176,189],{"id":188},[43,10178,10179,10185,10191,10200],{},[46,10180,10181,10184],{},[49,10182,10183],{},"\"Higher is always better.\""," Not across different histories. The ratio grows with age at constant risk, so compare only comparable track record lengths.",[46,10186,10187,10190],{},[49,10188,10189],{},"\"It is the same as profit factor.\""," Profit factor divides gross wins by gross losses. Recovery factor divides the final result by the single worst peak-to-trough decline.",[46,10192,10193,10196,10197,10199],{},[49,10194,10195],{},"\"It shows how fast I recover.\""," It shows magnitude, not time — see ",[15,10198,701],{"href":700}," for why duration removes more traders than depth.",[46,10201,10202,10205],{},[49,10203,10204],{},"\"Use DD on Balance for a cleaner denominator.\""," That is the flattering denominator: strategies that never close losers keep balance drawdown small by construction. Prefer the equity figure, and say which you used.",[11,10207,10208,10209,223],{},"For how the denominator is measured, and why the maximum never falls, see the guide to ",[15,10210,2471],{"href":1318},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":10212},[10213,10214,10215,10216,10217],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Recovery factor is net profit divided by maximum drawdown: return earned per unit of decline. Here is the formula, the bands, and where to find the inputs.",{},[894,893,1730,10221],"what-is-the-sharpe-ratio",{"title":10011,"description":10218},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-recovery-factor","Recovery Factor","PEuiM5pQPFw3EDZ1EoqyqYWRrmfWCLdpkwGvVfRHmqY",{"id":10227,"title":10228,"body":10229,"category":888,"date":233,"description":10493,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":10494,"navigation":235,"path":10495,"related":10496,"seo":10497,"stem":10498,"term":10499,"updated":233,"__hash__":10500},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-risk-of-ruin.md","What Is Risk of Ruin? Formula and Sizing Table",{"type":8,"value":10230,"toc":10486},[10231,10234,10236,10239,10245,10252,10323,10326,10334,10336,10342,10345,10351,10353,10361,10370,10381,10383,10386,10445,10447,10480],[11,10232,10233],{},"Risk of ruin is the probability that an account loses a defined share of its capital before its edge has time to pay out. It is a survival probability rather than a forecast of returns, computed from win rate, payoff ratio and risk per trade. A system with a genuine positive edge can still have a high risk of ruin, and the variable that decides is almost always position size.",[21,10235,24],{"id":23},[11,10237,10238],{},"The classic closed form assumes a fixed fractional bet with a 1:1 payoff and defines ruin as reaching zero.",[29,10240,10243],{"className":10241,"code":10242,"language":34},[32],"RoR = (q \u002F p) ^ N\n\np = probability of winning a trade\nq = 1 − p\nN = capital ÷ risk per trade   (units of risk available)\n",[36,10244,10242],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,10246,10247,10248,10251],{},"The exponent is what matters: halving risk per trade doubles ",[36,10249,10250],{},"N",", and doubling an exponent squares the probability. Take a system winning 52% of trades at 1:1, where the only thing changing down the table is lot size.",[1761,10253,10254,10267],{},[1764,10255,10256],{},[1767,10257,10258,10261,10264],{},[1770,10259,10260],{},"Risk per trade",[1770,10262,10263],{},"Units of risk",[1770,10265,10266],{},"Risk of ruin",[1780,10268,10269,10280,10291,10302,10313],{},[1767,10270,10271,10274,10277],{},[1785,10272,10273],{},"1%",[1785,10275,10276],{},"100",[1785,10278,10279],{},"0.03%",[1767,10281,10282,10285,10288],{},[1785,10283,10284],{},"2%",[1785,10286,10287],{},"50",[1785,10289,10290],{},"1.8%",[1767,10292,10293,10296,10299],{},[1785,10294,10295],{},"4%",[1785,10297,10298],{},"25",[1785,10300,10301],{},"13.5%",[1767,10303,10304,10307,10310],{},[1785,10305,10306],{},"5%",[1785,10308,10309],{},"20",[1785,10311,10312],{},"20.2%",[1767,10314,10315,10317,10320],{},[1785,10316,8810],{},[1785,10318,10319],{},"10",[1785,10321,10322],{},"44.9%",[11,10324,10325],{},"Going from 1% to 2% multiplies the probability of ruin by more than fifty. Going from 1% to 10% turns a rounding error into a coin flip. The edge never changed.",[11,10327,10328,10329,10333],{},"Real systems do not pay 1:1 and their trades are not independent, so the closed form is a teaching device rather than an answer. Practical estimates simulate thousands of trade sequences and count the paths that reach the loss level. That is how the ",[15,10330,10332],{"href":10331},"\u002Ftools\u002Frisk-of-ruin-calculator","risk of ruin calculator"," works; it also reports risk of drawdown, the probability of reaching a given decline without going to zero, which is the number most traders actually need.",[21,10335,74],{"id":73},[11,10337,10338,10339,10341],{},"Risk of ruin is the bridge between ",[15,10340,5142],{"href":2254}," and survival: expectancy says what the average trade is worth, risk of ruin says whether you will still be trading when the average arrives.",[11,10343,10344],{},"It is also why two traders running the same signals reach opposite outcomes. Identical entries and exits, different lot sizes: same win rate, same profit factor, one account compounding and one closed. Nothing in the strategy explains the difference.",[11,10346,10347,10348,10350],{},"The practical use is inversion — fix the probability you are willing to accept and solve backwards for the ",[15,10349,8861],{"href":1398}," that delivers it.",[21,10352,107],{"id":106},[11,10354,2187,10355,4560,10358,6772],{},[49,10356,10357],{},"17.6% have recorded a deepest drawdown of more than 50%",[49,10359,10360],{},"38.2% have passed 20%",[11,10362,10363,10364,10366,10367,223],{},"That 17.6% is the empirical counterpart to the table above: losing more than half an account is roughly one in six, not a rare tail. The median deepest drawdown is ",[49,10365,562],{},", so the population splits between accounts that stayed recoverable and a large minority at a level ",[15,10368,10369],{"href":1318},"needing a 100% gain to undo",[11,10371,10372,10373,555,10375,10377,10378,10380],{},"The inputs point the same way. Median ",[15,10374,1394],{"href":1393},[49,10376,566],{}," and median win rate is ",[49,10379,574],{},", which together imply an average payoff ratio near 0.6: losses larger than wins, an account carried by frequency. That shape has a modest expectancy and a fat left tail, and both feed the exponent in the formula.",[21,10382,132],{"id":131},[11,10384,10385],{},"There is no live ruin probability on an account page, but every input to one is published.",[43,10387,10388,10403,10411,10426,10440],{},[46,10389,10390,377,10392,377,10394,364,10396,5215,10398,10400,10401,223],{},[49,10391,2266],{},[49,10393,2530],{},[49,10395,598],{},[49,10397,601],{},[49,10399,373],{}," module. Avg. Win divided by Avg. Loss is the payoff ratio the formula needs; Win Rate is ",[36,10402,11],{},[46,10404,10405,10407,10408,10410],{},[49,10406,604],{},", in pips and in currency, is the edge a simulation samples from, and ",[49,10409,4798],{}," beside it says whether wins and losses arrived in streaks — the clustering the independence assumption ignores.",[46,10412,10413,364,10415,10419,10420,10422,10423,10425],{},[49,10414,2054],{},[49,10416,10417],{},[15,10418,174],{"href":171},", in the same module: the median published account holds ",[49,10421,3725],{}," closed trades at a median length of ",[49,10424,2003],{}," — enough for a win rate, thin for a tail estimate.",[46,10427,10428,364,10430,10432,10433,364,10435,5215,10437,10439],{},[49,10429,833],{},[49,10431,1255],{},", the two rows between ",[49,10434,1266],{},[49,10436,1874],{},[49,10438,827],{}," panel: the realised outcome the probability was describing.",[46,10441,147,10442,10444],{},[49,10443,833],{}," view in the charts viewer, where every approach toward a loss level appears as bars over time rather than as one headline number.",[21,10446,189],{"id":188},[43,10448,10449,10455,10461,10470],{},[46,10450,10451,10454],{},[49,10452,10453],{},"\"A positive expectancy means I cannot go broke.\""," Only if you bet infinitesimally small amounts an infinite number of times. At 10% per trade, a positive edge and a 45% chance of ruin coexist comfortably.",[46,10456,10457,10460],{},[49,10458,10459],{},"\"A high win rate protects me.\""," Win rate is one of two inputs. At 68.8% wins with a payoff ratio near 0.6, the arithmetic sits far closer to break-even than the headline suggests.",[46,10462,10463,10466,10467,10469],{},[49,10464,10465],{},"\"Ruin means a zero balance.\""," It means whatever level ends the account: a prop firm's ",[15,10468,1183],{"href":891},", an investor's redemption, or the point where you stop trusting the system.",[46,10471,10472,10475,10476,10479],{},[49,10473,10474],{},"\"Risk of ruin is a fixed property of my strategy.\""," It is a property of the strategy ",[163,10477,10478],{},"and"," the sizing. The first is slow to change; the second changes before the next order.",[11,10481,10482,10483,223],{},"For why a high hit rate says less about survival than it appears to, read ",[15,10484,10485],{"href":570},"win rate is not an edge",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":10487},[10488,10489,10490,10491,10492],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Risk of ruin is the probability of losing a set share of your capital before your edge arrives. The formula, the sizing table, and what thousands of accounts show.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-risk-of-ruin",[1516,894,2363,2810],{"title":10228,"description":10493},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-risk-of-ruin","Risk of Ruin","mEpVDBHuPEuSk64LoiORWfVJUCDi2UMFh4921fCe1QM",{"id":10502,"title":10503,"body":10504,"category":888,"date":233,"description":10749,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":10750,"navigation":235,"path":7840,"related":10751,"seo":10752,"stem":10753,"term":10754,"updated":233,"__hash__":10755},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-risk-reward-ratio.md","What Is Risk-Reward Ratio? Break-Even Table",{"type":8,"value":10505,"toc":10742},[10506,10512,10514,10520,10523,10529,10590,10593,10596,10598,10601,10609,10611,10626,10637,10648,10650,10671,10697,10705,10707,10736],[11,10507,10508,10509,10511],{},"The risk-reward ratio is how much a trade stands to gain compared with what it stands to lose, written as 1:2 when the target is twice the distance of the stop. It is a plan before it is a result: risk is the distance to the ",[15,10510,7487],{"href":1924},", reward is the distance to the target. Its only real job is to set the win rate you need in order to break even.",[21,10513,24],{"id":23},[29,10515,10518],{"className":10516,"code":10517,"language":34},[32],"Risk-Reward = Reward per trade \u002F Risk per trade\n",[36,10519,10517],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,10521,10522],{},"A $100 stop and a $250 target is 1:2.5. That ratio maps directly onto a required win rate:",[29,10524,10527],{"className":10525,"code":10526,"language":34},[32],"Break-even Win Rate = 1 \u002F (1 + Risk-Reward)\n",[36,10528,10526],{"__ignoreMap":38},[1761,10530,10531,10541],{},[1764,10532,10533],{},[1767,10534,10535,10538],{},[1770,10536,10537],{},"Risk-reward",[1770,10539,10540],{},"Break-even win rate",[1780,10542,10543,10551,10559,10567,10575,10582],{},[1767,10544,10545,10548],{},[1785,10546,10547],{},"1:0.5",[1785,10549,10550],{},"66.7%",[1767,10552,10553,10556],{},[1785,10554,10555],{},"1:1",[1785,10557,10558],{},"50.0%",[1767,10560,10561,10564],{},[1785,10562,10563],{},"1:1.5",[1785,10565,10566],{},"40.0%",[1767,10568,10569,10572],{},[1785,10570,10571],{},"1:2",[1785,10573,10574],{},"33.3%",[1767,10576,10577,10580],{},[1785,10578,10579],{},"1:3",[1785,10581,8821],{},[1767,10583,10584,10587],{},[1785,10585,10586],{},"1:5",[1785,10588,10589],{},"16.7%",[11,10591,10592],{},"Read the table in both directions. At 1:3, being wrong three times out of four still leaves the account flat. At 1:0.5 — the shape of most take-quick-profits systems — two trades in three must win before a single dollar is made.",[11,10594,10595],{},"Two adjustments make the planned ratio honest. Costs come off the reward and add to the risk, so a 1:2 on paper is nearer 1:1.8 on a tight stop. And the ratio holds only if the stop executes: one skipped in a gap is a risk figure that was never real.",[21,10597,74],{"id":73},[11,10599,10600],{},"Risk-reward is the lever that a trader controls directly. Win rate is largely handed over by the market; the payoff is set when the order is placed, and it decides how much of the win rate is available to be wrong with.",[11,10602,10603,10604,10606,10607,223],{},"It is also the number that reveals a comfortable but losing habit. Cutting winners early and giving losers room raises the win rate and lowers the payoff at the same time. The screen looks better and the account gets worse — an outcome invisible in a win rate, obvious in ",[15,10605,5142],{"href":2254}," and in ",[15,10608,1394],{"href":1393},[21,10610,107],{"id":106},[11,10612,10613,10614,8901,10616,10618,10619,10621,10622,10625],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. The realised payoff of the typical published account runs the wrong way round. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), a ",[49,10615,1002],{},[49,10617,7856],{}," implies an average winner worth about ",[49,10620,2512],{}," the average loser — a payoff of roughly ",[49,10623,10624],{},"1:0.58",", upside down relative to how risk-reward is normally taught.",[11,10627,10628,10629,10632,10633,10636],{},"The break-even win rate for that payoff is ",[49,10630,10631],{},"63.3%",". The median account wins 68.8% of the time and is therefore operating about ",[49,10634,10635],{},"five and a half percentage points"," above the line where it makes nothing at all.",[11,10638,10639,10640,10644,10645,10647],{},"That is the whole margin. It explains why the ",[49,10641,5558,10642,10114],{},[15,10643,554],{"href":553}," on accounts that win nearly seven trades in ten, and why the ",[49,10646,5337],{}," — roughly three times the eventual return. A payoff that thin needs the win rate held near 70% permanently, and a run of ordinary losses is enough to push it under 63.3% for a quarter.",[21,10649,132],{"id":131},[11,10651,10652,10653,364,10655,10657,10658,10660,10661,10663,10664,377,10666,364,10668,10670],{},"The realised payoff is on every published account page even though no row is labelled \"risk-reward\": ",[49,10654,598],{},[49,10656,601],{}," sit next to each other in the ",[163,10659,1439],{}," group of the ",[49,10662,373],{}," module, and their ratio is the payoff the account actually achieved rather than the one it intended. ",[49,10665,2266],{},[49,10667,604],{},[49,10669,2530],{}," are in the same module, which is enough to run the break-even arithmetic above on any account in a few seconds.",[11,10672,10673,10674,10676,10677,364,10679,10681,10682,377,10684,364,10686,10688,10689,377,10692,364,10694,10696],{},"The planned ratio, trade by trade, is in the ",[49,10675,150],{},": the ",[49,10678,413],{},[49,10680,416],{}," columns show where the stop and target were set, alongside ",[49,10683,2291],{},[49,10685,2553],{},[49,10687,1467],{},". An account whose T\u002FP is consistently nearer than its S\u002FL is declaring its payoff in advance. Where the owner has chosen to ",[15,10690,10691],{"href":4220},"hide those columns on the public page",[49,10693,2247],{},[49,10695,2250],{}," in Advanced Statistics still bound the distribution.",[11,10698,10699,10700,10704],{},"To check whether a payoff holds outside its best conditions, the ",[49,10701,10702],{},[15,10703,180],{"href":1667}," slideover recomputes Avg. Win, Avg. Loss and Expectancy on a filtered subset — one symbol, one magic number, one direction.",[21,10706,189],{"id":188},[43,10708,10709,10715,10721,10730],{},[46,10710,10711,10714],{},[49,10712,10713],{},"\"A high risk-reward ratio is always better.\""," It is not free. Distant targets are hit less often, so 1:5 comes with a win rate that can fall below 17% and still be fine — and most traders cannot sit through that.",[46,10716,10717,10720],{},[49,10718,10719],{},"\"My risk-reward is 1:3 because that is how I set the orders.\""," That is the intended ratio. The realised one comes from Avg. Win and Avg. Loss, and manual exits, partial closes and slippage move it every time.",[46,10722,10723,10726,10727,10729],{},[49,10724,10725],{},"\"Risk-reward measures risk.\""," It measures the shape of one trade. Account risk comes from ",[15,10728,1399],{"href":1398}," and correlation across open trades, not from the ratio.",[46,10731,10732,10735],{},[49,10733,10734],{},"\"A losing system can be fixed by widening the target.\""," Only if price actually reaches it. Widening a target without evidence lowers the win rate by exactly enough to leave expectancy where it was.",[11,10737,10738,10739,223],{},"For the full arithmetic behind the 68.8% \u002F 1.28 gap and how to run it on your own account, see ",[15,10740,10741],{"href":570},"why win rate is not an edge",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":10743},[10744,10745,10746,10747,10748],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Risk-reward is reward per unit risked, and it sets the win rate you need to break even. The table, the formula, and what public ShowMyTrades accounts run.",{},[2363,7589,1730,1516],{"title":10503,"description":10749},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-risk-reward-ratio","Risk-Reward Ratio","o27nAQN-jwtsWN-TvadhvQkVr75UEQr2Ph6p4md2QYg",{"id":10757,"title":10758,"body":10759,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":10920,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":10921,"navigation":235,"path":10922,"related":10923,"seo":10924,"stem":10925,"term":10926,"updated":233,"__hash__":10927},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-server-latency.md","What Is Server Latency? Ping, Retransmission, Slippage",{"type":8,"value":10760,"toc":10913},[10761,10770,10772,10778,10784,10790,10797,10799,10805,10808,10811,10813,10832,10843,10845,10857,10871,10877,10879,10908],[11,10762,10763,10764,10769],{},"Server latency is the time a message takes to travel from your trading terminal to the broker's trade server and back. MetaTrader reports it as ",[49,10765,10766],{},[15,10767,10768],{"href":360},"ping",", in milliseconds. It is a property of the route between two specific machines — not of your internet plan, and not of the broker alone.",[21,10771,24],{"id":23},[29,10773,10776],{"className":10774,"code":10775,"language":34},[32],"Ping (ms) = terminal → trade server → terminal, one round trip\n",[36,10777,10775],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,10779,10780,10781,10783],{},"Two things dominate it: physical distance and the number of network hops in between. Bandwidth barely enters into it. Light covers roughly 200 km per millisecond through fibre, the return leg doubles that, and every router adds its own queueing delay. A 500 Mbit home line in Sydney reaching a London server will always lose to a 10 Mbit ",[15,10782,4669],{"href":4665}," in the same datacentre as the trade server.",[11,10785,10786,10787,10789],{},"Latency is charged twice per trade, in both directions. Prices reach your terminal late, so an ",[15,10788,800],{"href":799}," decides on a quote that has already aged; then the order takes the same trip back, so the market has moved again before the server sees it.",[11,10791,10792,10796],{},[49,10793,10794],{},[15,10795,367],{"href":9538}," measures something different and, when it is high, worse. TCP guarantees delivery by re-sending any packet that is lost or unacknowledged, and the retransmission figure is the share that had to be sent again. A lost packet does not cost you one extra hop, it costs a timeout — so retransmission does not raise your average delay smoothly, it injects spikes. An account with 40 ms ping and visible retransmission has a less predictable link than one sitting steadily at 90 ms, and the spikes land at random moments relative to your open positions.",[21,10798,74],{"id":73},[11,10800,10801,10802,10804],{},"Latency is the half of ",[15,10803,3234],{"href":924}," you can actually measure. Every millisecond between decision and fill is time in which the price can move, and the direction it moves is not random when the market is trending or reacting to news.",[11,10806,10807],{},"The exposure scales with how often you trade, not with how much you make. A position held for three weeks does not notice 200 ms; a system opening several trades a day pays that gap on every entry and every exit.",[11,10809,10810],{},"The asymmetry is what hurts: a link degrades under the same load that makes the market move, so your slowest round trip and your fastest price tend to arrive together rather than independently.",[21,10812,107],{"id":106},[11,10814,10815,10816,10822,10823,10825,10826,10831],{},"Latency is billed per order, so what matters is how often an account trades and how thin its margin is. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,10817,10818,10821],{},[15,10819,10820],{"href":171},"median trade"," lasts 2.4 hours",", the median account has closed ",[49,10824,1999],{},", and the ",[49,10827,5558,10828,10830],{},[15,10829,1394],{"href":1393}," is 1.28",". At that margin, execution quality is not a rounding error on the result — it is a component of it.",[11,10833,9722,10834,10836,10837,10839,10840,10842],{},[49,10835,315],{}," across ",[49,10838,4977],{},": seven hundred matching engines in seven hundred buildings, each a different distance from wherever the terminal happens to be running. And ",[49,10841,1597],{},", which means most orders here are sent the instant a condition is met, by something that cannot decide to wait for a calmer moment.",[21,10844,132],{"id":131},[11,10846,10847,10848,10850,10851,10853,10854,10856],{},"Almost no public track record says anything about the machine that produced it. On an Expert Advisor connection, ours does: the ",[49,10849,356],{}," module publishes ",[49,10852,363],{}," to the trade server and ",[49,10855,367],{}," beside the terminal's build, memory and permissions, with a connection badge, the time since the terminal last reported, and how many of your terminals are online.",[11,10858,10859,10860,10863,10864,10867,10868,10870],{},"Both figures are the terminal's own measurement of the route it is genuinely using, not an estimate from your location, and the thresholds we read them against sit in the tooltips rather than in anyone's head: under ",[49,10861,10862],{},"50 ms"," ping is excellent, above ",[49,10865,10866],{},"200 ms"," can mean slower execution and more slippage, and retransmission close to ",[49,10869,5115],{}," means a stable connection while consistently higher values point to an unreliable network or a distant trade server.",[11,10872,10873,10874,10876],{},"Two notes. A Direct Connection never touches your machine, so it reports none of this. And on MT4 the module is titled simply ",[49,10875,352],{},", because the MT4 EA does not send the chart list.",[21,10878,189],{"id":188},[43,10880,10881,10887,10893,10899],{},[46,10882,10883,10886],{},[49,10884,10885],{},"\"Ping is my execution speed.\""," Ping measures the network round trip and nothing else. The broker's own processing, its queue and any dealer intervention sit on top of that number and are invisible inside it.",[46,10888,10889,10892],{},[49,10890,10891],{},"\"Faster internet lowers it.\""," An order is a few hundred bytes, so the width of the pipe is never the constraint. Its length is, which is why proximity to the trade server beats a bigger connection every time.",[46,10894,10895,10898],{},[49,10896,10897],{},"\"The average looks fine, so the link is fine.\""," An average conceals spikes, and spikes are precisely what the retransmission figure is reporting. Orders are not sent at the average moment; they cluster where the market moves.",[46,10900,10901,10904,10905,10907],{},[49,10902,10903],{},"\"Connected means the terminal is alive.\""," The flag is the last value the terminal reported, which on a machine switched off weeks ago still reads connected. Freshness decides — that is why the badge falls back to ",[163,10906,4604],{}," when the data has gone stale.",[11,10909,10910,10911,223],{},"For how latency reads next to every other number on an account page: ",[15,10912,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":10914},[10915,10916,10917,10918,10919],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Server latency is the round-trip time between your terminal and the broker's trade server. Why it converts into slippage, and how retransmission exposes a bad link.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-server-latency",[468,5661,1729,1728],{"title":10758,"description":10920},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-server-latency","Server Latency","RZp7rUnHKs42nH8XzjZDD51SK-WSO7ors7A6_UcCACA",{"id":10929,"title":10930,"body":10931,"category":232,"date":233,"description":11112,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":11113,"navigation":235,"path":924,"related":11114,"seo":11115,"stem":11116,"term":6227,"updated":233,"__hash__":11117},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage.md","What Is Slippage? Definition, Causes and Real Data",{"type":8,"value":10932,"toc":11105},[10933,10936,10938,10944,10947,10952,10958,10967,10974,10976,10986,10992,10994,11008,11017,11019,11022,11071,11073,11099],[11,10934,10935],{},"Slippage is the difference between the price you expected when you sent an order and the price at which it was actually filled. It happens because the market moves in the interval between your terminal sending the request and the broker's server matching it. It can run against you or in your favour, but it is not symmetric in practice: the conditions that produce large slippage are the same conditions in which a precise fill matters most.",[21,10937,24],{"id":23},[29,10939,10942],{"className":10940,"code":10941,"language":34},[32],"Slippage (pips) = (Fill price − Requested price) \u002F Pip size\n                  sign reversed for sell orders\n",[36,10943,10941],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,10945,10946],{},"Three things produce it.",[11,10948,10949,10951],{},[49,10950,6419],{}," Every millisecond between request and execution is time in which the price can change. Latency comes from the network path to the trade server, the terminal's own processing, and the broker's matching queue.",[11,10953,10954,10957],{},[49,10955,10956],{},"Liquidity."," Your order is filled against the book. If the size available at the quoted price is smaller than your order, the remainder fills at the next level. This is why slippage grows with position size and shrinks with market depth.",[11,10959,10960,10963,10964,10966],{},[49,10961,10962],{},"Order type."," Market orders fill at whatever price exists and therefore slip. Limit orders never slip, but they fail to fill, which is its own cost. Stop orders — including a ",[15,10965,1925],{"href":1924}," — become market orders the moment they trigger, which is the single most important consequence: a stop guarantees your exit, not your exit price.",[11,10968,10969,10970,10973],{},"The worst conditions are predictable: scheduled economic releases, the thin window around the daily rollover, the Sunday open gap, and the moment a cluster of stops is triggered and drains the book. ",[49,10971,10972],{},"Positive slippage"," exists too — a fill better than requested — and a broker that passes it on while also passing on the negative is behaving symmetrically. One that keeps the good fills and gives you the bad ones is not.",[21,10975,74],{"id":73},[11,10977,10978,10979,10981,10982,10985],{},"Slippage is the gap between a strategy on paper and the same strategy on a server. A ",[15,10980,2083],{"href":976}," run on historical bid prices with zero slippage assumes an execution model that does not exist, and the shorter the ",[15,10983,10984],{"href":171},"average trade",", the larger the share of the edge that assumption invents.",[11,10987,10988,10989,10991],{},"The arithmetic is unforgiving at small targets. Half a pip of adverse slippage is a tenth of a five-pip target and a four-hundredth of a two-hundred-pip one, and it lands on top of ",[15,10990,89],{"href":88}," and commission rather than instead of them.",[21,10993,107],{"id":106},[11,10995,10996,10997,4560,10999,11001,11002,3665,11004,11007],{},"Execution quality matters most to systems that fire without waiting for a convenient moment, and that is most of the platform. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[49,10998,1594],{},[49,11000,1597],{}," (42.2% are under 10%). Those accounts reach ",[49,11003,315],{},[15,11005,11006],{"href":452},"the same strategy, sent to seven hundred different matching engines",", with seven hundred different latency profiles.",[11,11009,11010,11011,11013,11014,11016],{},"Holding periods make the exposure worse. On those accounts the ",[49,11012,6062],{}," and the median account has closed ",[49,11015,1999],{},": execution cost is charged often, and each trade has little time for price movement to absorb it.",[21,11018,132],{"id":131},[11,11020,11021],{},"We do not record the price your terminal requested, so per-trade slippage is not a metric we publish, and no honest platform can publish it from broker data alone. What we do publish is the measurable half — the latency that produces it.",[43,11023,11024,11048,11064],{},[46,11025,147,11026,353,11028,357,11030,11034,11035,11039,11040,377,11042,377,11044,364,11046,223],{},[49,11027,352],{},[49,11029,356],{},[49,11031,11032],{},[15,11033,363],{"href":360},", the round-trip time between the terminal and the broker's trade server, and ",[49,11036,11037],{},[15,11038,367],{"href":9538},", the share of network packets that had to be sent again. Under 50 ms ping is excellent; above 200 ms can mean slower execution and more slippage. Consistently high retransmission points to an unreliable network or a distant trade server. The same panel shows ",[49,11041,1074],{},[49,11043,1077],{},[49,11045,1080],{},[49,11047,1083],{},[46,11049,147,11050,401,11052,9554,11054,364,11056,11058,11059,364,11061,11063],{},[49,11051,400],{},[49,11053,404],{},[49,11055,407],{},[49,11057,410],{}," per ticket, next to the ",[49,11060,413],{},[49,11062,416],{}," columns. Comparing where an exit was set against where it actually landed is the closest reading of slippage available from broker records.",[46,11065,11066,9195,11068,11070],{},[49,11067,2250],{},[49,11069,373],{}," is the fast check. A worst trade far deeper than the account's intended stop distance is the fingerprint of a gapped or slipped exit, not of a bad entry.",[21,11072,189],{"id":188},[421,11074,11075,11081,11087,11093],{},[46,11076,11077,11080],{},[49,11078,11079],{},"A stop loss guarantees the exit, not the price."," In a gap it fills at the first available price, which can be far beyond the level.",[46,11082,11083,11086],{},[49,11084,11085],{},"\"Zero slippage\" is not a promise anyone can keep"," on a market order. Guaranteed stops exist, but they are a separate product and they are paid for.",[46,11088,11089,11092],{},[49,11090,11091],{},"Slippage is not always a loss."," Check whether your fills are ever better than requested; if they never are, that is information about the broker.",[46,11094,11095,11098],{},[49,11096,11097],{},"Demo results are optimistic."," Demo servers do not model queue position or book depth, so a strategy that is flawless on demo can be marginal live.",[11,11100,11101,11102,223],{},"For how ping, retransmission and the rest of the page fit together, read the ",[15,11103,11104],{"href":221},"guide to reading a trading account dashboard",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":11106},[11107,11108,11109,11110,11111],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Slippage is the difference between the price you expected and the price you got. Why it is worst when it hurts most, and how latency makes it measurable.",{},[241,7589,5661,1135],{"title":10930,"description":11112},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","JLOyPs_NTBij0Irz000OtvybQcW-dMK5fckGo-AXXJo",{"id":11119,"title":11120,"body":11121,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":11346,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":11347,"navigation":235,"path":5134,"related":11348,"seo":11350,"stem":11351,"term":7340,"updated":233,"__hash__":11352},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-standard-deviation-in-trading.md","What Is Standard Deviation in Trading? Formula and Data",{"type":8,"value":11122,"toc":11339},[11123,11126,11128,11134,11152,11187,11190,11192,11195,11204,11207,11233,11235,11243,11246,11255,11257,11278,11303,11305,11334],[11,11124,11125],{},"Standard deviation is the typical distance between a single trade's result and the account's average trade result. On ShowMyTrades it is reported in the account currency, so it answers a direct question: how much does one trade usually differ from the ordinary trade on this account? A small figure means results cluster; a large one means the history is made of outliers.",[21,11127,24],{"id":23},[29,11129,11132],{"className":11130,"code":11131,"language":34},[32],"Standard Deviation = √( Σ (rᵢ − mean)² \u002F n )\n",[36,11133,11131],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,11135,11136,11137,11140,11141,377,11144,11147,11148,11151],{},"Where ",[36,11138,11139],{},"rᵢ"," is the net result of closed trade ",[163,11142,11143],{},"i",[36,11145,11146],{},"mean"," is the average of those results, and ",[36,11149,11150],{},"n"," is the number of closed trades. Four details decide what the number means:",[43,11153,11154,11162,11168,11181],{},[46,11155,11156,947,11159,11161],{},[49,11157,11158],{},"Each trade enters net of costs.",[36,11160,11139],{}," is profit + commission + swap, so commission-heavy and swap-heavy trades widen the dispersion exactly as much as they narrow the profit.",[46,11163,11164,11167],{},[49,11165,11166],{},"Only closed buy and sell trades count."," Deposits and withdrawals are filtered out before the series is built, so funding the account is not a giant outlier.",[46,11169,11170,11173,11174,11176,11177,11180],{},[49,11171,11172],{},"It is the population form",", dividing by ",[36,11175,11150],{}," rather than ",[36,11178,11179],{},"n − 1",". With fewer than two closed trades the metric reads 0.00.",[46,11182,11183,11186],{},[49,11184,11185],{},"It is in currency, not percent."," A $50 standard deviation on a $2,000 account and on a $200,000 account describe completely different behaviour. Always read it against the account balance.",[11,11188,11189],{},"Because distances are squared before averaging, one exceptional trade moves the figure far more than a dozen ordinary ones — which is what makes it catch the trade that does not belong.",[21,11191,74],{"id":73},[11,11193,11194],{},"Standard deviation is the honest test of the word \"consistent\": anyone can call an equity curve steady, and this puts a currency value on how steady the trades were.",[11,11196,11197,11198,11200,11201,11203],{},"It is also the denominator of our ",[15,11199,3352],{"href":3351},": Sharpe is the average trade expressed in units of this figure. And it is the natural companion to ",[15,11202,5142],{"href":2254},", which gives the average outcome per trade with no indication of how reliably that average is delivered.",[11,11205,11206],{},"The most useful reading is comparative, against the two averages sitting a few rows away:",[43,11208,11209,11215,11227],{},[46,11210,11211,11214],{},[49,11212,11213],{},"Close to Avg. Win"," — results are tight. The account behaves the same way most of the time.",[46,11216,11217,11220,11221,364,11224,11226],{},[49,11218,11219],{},"Several times Avg. Win"," — a handful of trades carries the history. Check ",[49,11222,11223],{},"Best Trade (P&L)",[49,11225,3379],{}," before trusting the totals.",[46,11228,11229,11232],{},[49,11230,11231],{},"Much larger than Avg. Loss"," — at least one loss sits far outside the routine.",[21,11234,107],{"id":106},[11,11236,2483,11237,11240,11241,223],{},[49,11238,11239],{},"median Sharpe ratio is 0.05"," on a ",[49,11242,7861],{},[11,11244,11245],{},"Run our own definition backwards and that pairing is precise about dispersion: since Sharpe is the mean trade divided by this standard deviation, a median of 0.05 means the average trade on the middle account is worth roughly one twentieth of the standard deviation of its trades. Routine variation between one trade and the next is about twenty times larger than the edge extracted from them.",[11,11247,11248,11249,11254],{},"On a ",[49,11250,11251,11253],{},[15,11252,765],{"href":171}," of 2.4 hours",", that is why a full day of results teaches a trader nothing: a day sits well inside the dispersion. It is also why a low figure on a young account is not evidence of control — the sample may simply not contain the outlier the strategy can produce, and squared distances mean that when it arrives, it arrives loudly.",[21,11256,132],{"id":131},[11,11258,11259,11261,11262,11264,11265,11267,11268,11270,11271,11273,11274,11277],{},[49,11260,7340],{}," is the exact label, in the ",[49,11263,373],{}," module of the account page, inside the ",[163,11266,4802],{}," column, formatted in the account currency and carrying a tooltip. It sits directly above ",[49,11269,2546],{},", the ratio it divides, below ",[49,11272,2530],{},", and is calculated on our servers from the stored closed trades. The module is shown by default on published account pages, though ",[15,11275,11276],{"href":4220},"the owner can hide it",", and it is not part of the embeddable widgets.",[11,11279,11280,11281,11283,11284,377,11286,377,11288,377,11290,364,11292,11294,11295,11297,11298,11302],{},"Read it across to the ",[163,11282,1439],{}," column of the same module, where ",[49,11285,598],{},[49,11287,601],{},[49,11289,11223],{},[49,11291,3379],{},[49,11293,2054],{}," give the figure its context. The module's ",[49,11296,1467],{}," view makes the dispersion visual: every closed trade is one point, holding time in hours across the bottom and profit or loss up the side, so the spread becomes a shape rather than a number. ",[49,11299,11300],{},[15,11301,180],{"href":1667}," recomputes the whole block on a filtered subset — Date Range, Symbols, Magic Numbers, Trade Type, Lot Size and more — which shows whether the dispersion belongs to the strategy or to one instrument.",[21,11304,189],{"id":188},[43,11306,11307,11313,11322,11328],{},[46,11308,11309,11312],{},[49,11310,11311],{},"\"It is a percentage.\""," Ours is an amount of money per trade. Comparing it between accounts of different size is meaningless without the balance beside it.",[46,11314,11315,11318,11319,11321],{},[49,11316,11317],{},"\"It measures market volatility.\""," It measures the ",[15,11320,8064],{"href":8063}," of your results. A calm market traded with escalating size produces a large figure.",[46,11323,11324,11327],{},[49,11325,11326],{},"\"Low standard deviation means low risk.\""," Only closed trades enter it. Systems that hold losers open post uniformly small closed results while the real exposure sits in floating positions.",[46,11329,11330,11333],{},[49,11331,11332],{},"\"A low figure on 30 trades is reassuring.\""," Below a few hundred trades, treat it as provisional.",[11,11335,11336,11337,223],{},"For how many trades a set of statistics needs before it means anything, see the guide on ",[15,11338,4849],{"href":3877},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":11340},[11341,11342,11343,11344,11345],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Standard deviation measures how far a single trade lands from your average trade. Here is the formula we use, net of costs, and how to read it on thousands of accounts.",{},[10221,8228,2363,11349],"what-is-the-sortino-ratio",{"title":11120,"description":11346},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-standard-deviation-in-trading","erd9RmXvwGmqWy07DwcKxdN6CBwW8ySYP01l-ftXMHQ",{"id":11354,"title":11355,"body":11356,"category":4328,"date":233,"description":11543,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":11544,"navigation":235,"path":360,"related":11545,"seo":11547,"stem":11548,"term":11549,"updated":233,"__hash__":11550},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-terminal-ping.md","What Is Terminal Ping? Latency to Your Trade Server",{"type":8,"value":11357,"toc":11536},[11358,11364,11366,11369,11375,11378,11381,11410,11413,11415,11418,11421,11424,11426,11435,11446,11453,11455,11479,11489,11500,11502,11526],[11,11359,11360,11361,223],{},"Terminal ping is the round-trip time between a MetaTrader terminal and the broker's trade server: how long a packet takes to travel out and come back, measured in milliseconds. It is a property of the network path, not of the strategy running on top of it: the dead time inside which a requested price is only a hope. MetaTrader reports it in microseconds; ShowMyTrades converts and displays it as milliseconds to one decimal, so 12,245 µs reads ",[49,11362,11363],{},"12.2 ms",[21,11365,24],{"id":23},[11,11367,11368],{},"The terminal records the last known round trip to the trade server. Everything an order does is layered on top of it.",[29,11370,11373],{"className":11371,"code":11372,"language":34},[32],"Ping (ms) = last measured round trip terminal ↔ trade server\n\nOrder latency ≈ ping\u002F2   (request travelling out)\n              + broker matching and validation\n              + ping\u002F2   (confirmation travelling back)\n",[36,11374,11372],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,11376,11377],{},"Only the middle term belongs to the broker. The first and third are geography and routing, which is why the same broker gives a 3 ms reading to a terminal in the same data centre and 280 ms to a home connection across the world.",[11,11379,11380],{},"Useful bands:",[43,11382,11383,11392,11398],{},[46,11384,11385,11388,11389,11391],{},[49,11386,11387],{},"Under 50 ms"," — excellent, which is the word the tile's own tooltip uses. Typical of a ",[15,11390,4669],{"href":4665}," near the broker's data centre.",[46,11393,11394,11397],{},[49,11395,11396],{},"50 to 150 ms"," — ordinary for a home or office connection to a regional server.",[46,11399,11400,11403,11404,11407,11408,223],{},[49,11401,11402],{},"Above 200 ms"," — the tooltip's warning threshold: measurably slower ",[15,11405,11406],{"href":305},"order execution"," and wider realised ",[15,11409,3234],{"href":924},[11,11411,11412],{},"One distinction decides how much any of this matters. Stop loss and take profit orders live on the trade server, not in the terminal, so they trigger however bad the connection is. Ping delays only what the terminal initiates: entries, manual closes, modifications, and any trailing logic implemented inside an Expert Advisor rather than as a server-side order.",[21,11414,74],{"id":73},[11,11416,11417],{},"Latency converts directly into cost on market execution, because the fill happens at whatever price exists when the request arrives, not the one that was on screen when it left. A 200 ms round trip is a fifth of a second in which the market is free to move, and it moves furthest precisely when orders matter most.",[11,11419,11420],{},"Whether that fifth of a second is expensive depends entirely on the target. A position held for hours, aiming at a fifty-pip move, absorbs it without noticing. A system targeting three to five pips can lose a meaningful share of its edge in the same interval, on every trade. Backtests are silent on this: they fill at the requested price, instantly, always.",[11,11422,11423],{},"Ping is the first thing to check before blaming a broker. Poor fills with a 300 ms reading is a network problem wearing a broker's name.",[21,11425,107],{"id":106},[11,11427,11428,11429,11431,11432,11434],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. A terminal reading only exists where there is a terminal, and the overwhelming majority of the ",[49,11430,9704],{}," run ",[15,11433,1536],{"href":1535},". cTrader and TradeLocker accounts connect through broker APIs with no local terminal, so they have no ping to report.",[11,11436,11437,11438,364,11440,11442,11443,11445],{},"Sensitivity across that population is high. The ",[49,11439,1594],{},[49,11441,1597],{},", so almost every order is machine-sent, travelling the round trip without a human pausing to check the price. Those accounts reach ",[49,11444,315],{},", so there is no single latency environment here.",[11,11447,147,11448,11452],{},[49,11449,11450,766],{},[15,11451,765],{"href":171},", which puts the median account outside the range where milliseconds decide anything. The tail that trades in seconds is where this number earns its place on the page.",[21,11454,132],{"id":131},[11,11456,11457,11459,11460,11462,11463,11465,11466,11468,11469,377,11471,377,11473,377,11475,364,11477,223],{},[49,11458,363],{}," is the first of six tiles in the ",[49,11461,352],{}," panel, on the owner's own dashboard page for the account. The header reads ",[49,11464,356],{}," on MT5, where the terminal also reports the charts it has open, and plain ",[49,11467,352],{}," on MT4, whose Expert Advisor does not collect that list. The other tiles are ",[49,11470,367],{},[49,11472,1074],{},[49,11474,1077],{},[49,11476,1080],{},[49,11478,1083],{},[11,11480,11481,11482,377,11484,516,11486,11488],{},"Beside the header sits a status badge — ",[163,11483,4598],{},[163,11485,4601],{},[163,11487,4604],{}," — and the age of the reading. Freshness overrules the flag: after 11 minutes without an update the account is shown as offline, whatever the terminal last said.",[11,11490,11491,11492,11495,11496,11499],{},"Two limits matter. The panel is owner-only, served by an endpoint that refuses anyone else's account, so terminal readings — including the names of ",[15,11493,11494],{"href":799},"Expert Advisors"," on open charts — never appear on public pages or ",[15,11497,11498],{"href":4319},"in widgets",". And it exists only for MetaTrader: cTrader and TradeLocker accounts have no terminal, and the panel does not render at all until one has reported.",[21,11501,189],{"id":188},[43,11503,11504,11510,11520],{},[46,11505,11506,11509],{},[49,11507,11508],{},"\"Low ping means a good broker.\""," It measures the path, not the counterparty. A 2 ms reading to a server with poor fills is a fast route to a bad price.",[46,11511,11512,11515,11516,11519],{},[49,11513,11514],{},"\"One reading is the truth.\""," It is the last value at the last sync. Stability matters more than the number, which is what ",[15,11517,11518],{"href":9538},"retransmission"," adds.",[46,11521,11522,11525],{},[49,11523,11524],{},"\"A VPS fixes execution.\""," It fixes the network path. Matching speed, price feed and spread policy stay exactly where they were.",[11,11527,11528,11529,11532,11533,223],{},"The same round trip described from the network's side, rather than from this tile, is ",[15,11530,11531],{"href":10922},"server latency",". For a method that separates latency from cost when the same strategy runs at two brokers, see ",[15,11534,11535],{"href":452},"same strategy, different brokers",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":11537},[11538,11539,11540,11541,11542],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Terminal ping is the round trip between a MetaTrader terminal and the broker's trade server. What good and bad look like in ms, and how it becomes slippage.",{},[11546,468,5661,466],"what-is-packet-retransmission",{"title":11355,"description":11543},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-terminal-ping","Terminal Ping","bgiP3vxFYvRY7BpOYCK3dm8FftKf9R2Oxi2BN1clobU",{"id":11552,"title":11553,"body":11554,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":11724,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":11725,"navigation":235,"path":3351,"related":11726,"seo":11728,"stem":11729,"term":2546,"updated":233,"__hash__":11730},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sharpe-ratio.md","What Is the Sharpe Ratio? Formula, Limits and Real Data",{"type":8,"value":11555,"toc":11717},[11556,11559,11561,11564,11570,11573,11579,11585,11588,11590,11593,11598,11606,11608,11619,11629,11632,11634,11660,11663,11680,11682,11711],[11,11557,11558],{},"The Sharpe ratio is average return divided by the standard deviation of those returns: how much return an account produced per unit of volatility. Two accounts that finish a year at the same gain can carry very different Sharpe ratios, and the higher one got there on a smoother path.",[21,11560,24],{"id":23},[11,11562,11563],{},"The textbook definition uses periodic returns and subtracts a risk-free rate:",[29,11565,11568],{"className":11566,"code":11567,"language":34},[32],"Sharpe Ratio = (Mean return − Risk-free rate) \u002F Standard deviation of returns\n",[36,11569,11567],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,11571,11572],{},"ShowMyTrades computes it on closed trades rather than on calendar periods, and does not subtract a risk-free rate:",[29,11574,11577],{"className":11575,"code":11576,"language":34},[32],"Sharpe Ratio = Mean per-trade result \u002F Standard deviation of per-trade results\n",[36,11578,11576],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,11580,11581,11582,11584],{},"Each trade enters the series as profit + commission + swap, so the inputs are already net of costs. Only closed buy and sell trades count: deposits, withdrawals and balance operations are filtered out before the series is built. The denominator is the population standard deviation of that same series — squared distances divided by the number of trades, not by that number minus one — which is why ",[15,11583,5135],{"href":5134}," sits immediately above the ratio in our statistics table: it is literally the divisor. An account with fewer than two closed trades reads 0.00.",[11,11586,11587],{},"Measuring per trade rather than per month means the figure is not annualised, so the usual conventions do not transfer. \"Above 1.0 is good, above 2.0 is excellent\" describes an annualised Sharpe on periodic returns. On a per-trade series, 1.00 would mean the average trade is worth a full standard deviation of trade outcomes — almost no account with a meaningful trade count reaches it.",[21,11589,74],{"id":73},[11,11591,11592],{},"Gain alone says where an account ended. Sharpe says something about how it travelled. A strategy with a small, dependable edge repeated often will show a modest but positive ratio; a strategy carried by two lucky trades will show a large mean sitting on an even larger dispersion, and the ratio collapses.",[11,11594,11595,11596,223],{},"It is also the honest counter to a chart that merely looks smooth, built from the same closed trades that produce ",[15,11597,1394],{"href":1393},[11,11599,11600,11601,11605],{},"What it cannot do is distinguish good volatility from bad. A trade that overshoots to the upside raises the denominator exactly as much as one that overshoots to the downside. That objection is the reason the ",[15,11602,11604],{"href":11603},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sortino-ratio","Sortino ratio"," exists.",[21,11607,107],{"id":106},[11,11609,2483,11610,11612,11613,999,11615,223],{},[49,11611,11239],{},", on a ",[49,11614,7861],{},[49,11616,11617,11253],{},[15,11618,765],{"href":171},[11,11620,11621,11622,555,11624,364,11626,11628],{},"Read through our own formula, 0.05 says something concrete: on the median account the average trade is worth about one twentieth of a standard deviation of trade results. Roughly twenty parts noise to one part signal. That is not a failing set of accounts — the median ",[15,11623,554],{"href":553},[49,11625,558],{},[49,11627,1006],{}," of them are positive over time. It is what a real edge looks like at the level of a single trade.",[11,11630,11631],{},"It also explains why short samples prove nothing. At that signal-to-noise ratio, a run of twenty green trades is an ordinary outcome for an account with no edge at all, and a week of red says nothing about an account that has one.",[21,11633,132],{"id":131},[11,11635,11636,11261,11638,11264,11640,11642,11643,11645,11646,377,11648,377,11650,377,11652,364,11654,11656,11657,223],{},[49,11637,2546],{},[49,11639,373],{},[163,11641,4802],{}," column and carrying a tooltip. It sits directly under ",[49,11644,7340],{}," — its own denominator — and beside ",[49,11647,2530],{},[49,11649,4798],{},[49,11651,604],{},[49,11653,5182],{},[49,11655,5185],{},". It is calculated on our servers from the stored closed trades, printed to two decimals, and coloured green from 1.00 up, yellow from 0 to 1, red below zero. The module is shown by default on published account pages, though the owner can hide it, and it is not part of the ",[15,11658,11659],{"href":4319},"embeddable widgets",[11,11661,11662],{},"One warning about our own page: the tooltip on that label still quotes the conventional bands, above 1.0 good and above 2.0 excellent. Those bands belong to an annualised Sharpe on periodic returns, not to the per-trade figure printed beside them.",[11,11664,11665,11666,377,11668,377,11670,364,11672,11674,11675,11679],{},"The same module offers ",[49,11667,2232],{},[49,11669,2236],{},[49,11671,2239],{},[49,11673,1467],{}," views, and ",[49,11676,11677],{},[15,11678,180],{"href":1667}," recomputes the whole block on a filtered subset — Date Range, Symbols, Magic Numbers, Trade Type, Trading Hours, Lot Size and more. Recomputing Sharpe without an account's best symbol shows whether the ratio describes a system or an episode.",[21,11681,189],{"id":188},[43,11683,11684,11690,11699,11705],{},[46,11685,11686,11689],{},[49,11687,11688],{},"\"Above 1.0 is good.\""," True of an annualised Sharpe on periodic returns. Ours is per trade, so the threshold does not apply.",[46,11691,11692,11695,11696,11698],{},[49,11693,11694],{},"\"Sharpe measures risk.\""," It measures dispersion of closed trade results. It knows nothing about how deep the account fell — that is ",[15,11697,701],{"href":700},", reported separately.",[46,11700,11701,11704],{},[49,11702,11703],{},"\"A high Sharpe means a safe account.\""," Grid and averaging systems post tight, uniform closed trades precisely because they refuse to realise losers. Floating losses never enter the series.",[46,11706,11707,11710],{},[49,11708,11709],{},"\"I can compare my Sharpe with any account.\""," Only at comparable trade frequency and holding period: a scalper closing 200 trades a month and a swing trader closing 8 are measured in different units.",[11,11712,11713,11714,223],{},"For how Sharpe reads next to every other number on an account page, see the guide to ",[15,11715,11716],{"href":221},"reading a trading account dashboard",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":11718},[11719,11720,11721,11722,11723],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"The Sharpe ratio is average return divided by the volatility of those returns. Here is the formula, how we compute it per trade, and why our median is 0.05.",{},[5247,11349,11727,1730],"what-is-recovery-factor",{"title":11553,"description":11724},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sharpe-ratio","ba1NCAQnPXiXHA3mQUH2kyWz1dokcPnUnzXgxtvFftA",{"id":11732,"title":11733,"body":11734,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":11913,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":11914,"navigation":235,"path":11603,"related":11915,"seo":11916,"stem":11917,"term":11918,"updated":233,"__hash__":11919},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sortino-ratio.md","What Is the Sortino Ratio? Downside Risk Explained",{"type":8,"value":11735,"toc":11906},[11736,11739,11741,11747,11753,11758,11761,11775,11778,11780,11790,11793,11799,11801,11814,11817,11830,11832,11860,11873,11875,11901],[11,11737,11738],{},"The Sortino ratio is the Sharpe ratio with a narrower denominator: instead of dividing return by the volatility of all results, it divides by the volatility of the results that fell below a chosen target. Upside swings do not count as risk. It answers the objection that a trader punished for large winners is being punished for the wrong thing.",[21,11740,24],{"id":23},[29,11742,11745],{"className":11743,"code":11744,"language":34},[32],"Sortino Ratio = (Mean return − Target return) \u002F Downside deviation\n",[36,11746,11744],{"__ignoreMap":38},[29,11748,11751],{"className":11749,"code":11750,"language":34},[32],"Downside deviation = √( Σ min(rᵢ − Target, 0)² \u002F n )\n",[36,11752,11750],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,11754,11755,11756,223],{},"Every observation above the target contributes zero to the denominator. Everything below contributes its squared shortfall, exactly as in ",[15,11757,5135],{"href":5134},[11,11759,11760],{},"Two choices sit inside that formula, and both change the number:",[43,11762,11763,11769],{},[46,11764,11765,11768],{},[49,11766,11767],{},"The target."," Zero, the risk-free rate, or a required return. A Sortino computed against 0% and one computed against 4% a year are different statistics wearing the same name.",[46,11770,11771,11774],{},[49,11772,11773],{},"The divisor."," Some implementations divide by the total count of observations, others only by the count of below-target ones. The second always produces a larger, friendlier ratio.",[11,11776,11777],{},"Because neither choice is standardised, a Sortino ratio quoted without its target and its convention is not a comparable figure. That is a practical problem, not a pedantic one: it is the reason two platforms can report different Sortino ratios for the same account and both be correct.",[21,11779,74],{"id":73},[11,11781,11782,11783,11785,11786,11789],{},"The idea behind Sortino is sound. Investors do not experience a 5% up-month as risk, and a measure that treats it as such misprices strategies with positive skew — ",[15,11784,2069],{"href":2068},", for instance, where a few very large winners carry the whole result and inflate the ",[15,11787,11788],{"href":3351},"Sharpe"," denominator.",[11,11791,11792],{},"But treating upside volatility as free is a modelling choice, not a law, and it cuts the wrong way for a whole family of trading systems. Grid, martingale and averaging-down strategies produce their up-moves and their down-moves from the same mechanism: adding size against the position. Score them with Sortino and the ordinary small profits stay in the numerator while most of the dispersion drops out of the denominator, until the day the mechanism fails. Sortino flatters exactly the strategies whose risk is hardest to see in closed trades.",[11,11794,11795,11796,11798],{},"The safe reading is that Sortino is a useful second opinion on a return series, never a verdict, and never a substitute for ",[15,11797,2471],{"href":740},", which measures the thing an investor actually lives through.",[21,11800,107],{"id":106},[11,11802,2483,11803,11805,11806,11808,11809,11811,11812,9913],{},[49,11804,5337],{},", but the distribution is where the argument sits: ",[49,11807,2687],{}," never fell more than 5%, while ",[49,11810,1211],{}," have been down more than 20% and ",[49,11813,2698],{},[11,11815,11816],{},"Two nearly equal groups, at opposite ends of the range. That shape is why downside-only statistics are attractive and why they are dangerous on the same data: the accounts in the deep tail did not get there through symmetric wobble, they got there through one direction. Any measure that discards half the distribution has to be right about which half.",[11,11818,11819,11820,11822,11823,11825,11826,11829],{},"One more asymmetry is already built into the raw numbers. Published accounts have paid ",[49,11821,1020],{}," in swap, and ",[49,11824,6976],{}," of the accounts that carry swap at all ",[15,11827,11828],{"href":96},"pay net negative swap",". The drift on the average holding cost points down, before any strategy makes a decision.",[21,11831,132],{"id":131},[11,11833,11834,11835,11838,11839,10850,11841,364,11843,11845,11846,11848,11849,11851,11852,11854,11855,11859],{},"Nowhere, and it is worth being exact about that. ",[49,11836,11837],{},"No panel, chart, widget or export on ShowMyTrades displays a Sortino ratio",", and our statistics engine does not calculate one either — there is no stored value waiting behind the interface. The ",[49,11840,373],{},[49,11842,2546],{},[49,11844,7340],{}," in its ",[163,11847,4802],{}," column; the ",[49,11850,827],{}," panel publishes ",[49,11853,833],{},", the worst equity drawdown, and ",[49,11856,11857],{},[15,11858,1255],{"href":1259},", the worst drawdown measured on closed results alone. Those are the downside figures our pages carry today.",[11,11861,11862,11863,377,11865,377,11867,364,11869,11872],{},"If you want a Sortino on a published account, you can build one. The trades table on an account page has a CSV download of the closed trade list, one row per trade with ",[49,11864,3833],{},[49,11866,154],{},[49,11868,2559],{},[49,11870,11871],{},"Net profit"," columns — that last column is the same series our Sharpe ratio is computed on. Pick your target, state it, and the number is reproducible by anyone else with the same file. That is a better outcome than an unlabelled ratio on a page, and it is the standard we would have to meet before publishing one.",[21,11874,189],{"id":188},[43,11876,11877,11883,11889,11895],{},[46,11878,11879,11882],{},[49,11880,11881],{},"\"Sortino is a better Sharpe.\""," It is a different question, not a strictly better answer. It measures shortfall against a target; Sharpe measures dispersion. Both ignore drawdown depth.",[46,11884,11885,11888],{},[49,11886,11887],{},"\"A high Sortino means small losses.\""," It means few or small results below the target. A single catastrophic trade that has not happened yet is absent from both ratios.",[46,11890,11891,11894],{},[49,11892,11893],{},"\"Sortino ratios are comparable across sites.\""," Only when the target and the divisor convention match, and they usually are not published.",[46,11896,11897,11900],{},[49,11898,11899],{},"\"ShowMyTrades hides its Sortino.\""," There is nothing to hide: we do not compute one. The closed-trade export lets you compute your own.",[11,11902,11903,11904,223],{},"For the measure we do publish on the downside, and how to read it, see the guide to ",[15,11905,2471],{"href":1318},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":11907},[11908,11909,11910,11911,11912],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"The Sortino ratio replaces total volatility with downside deviation. Here is the formula, the modelling choice inside it, and why we do not publish one.",{},[10221,5247,894,11727],{"title":11733,"description":11913},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sortino-ratio","Sortino Ratio","McckUz-i7wK1j0jeiRBNXe71AOkmVU22WIMkpahZ1N4",{"id":11921,"title":11922,"body":11923,"category":3886,"date":233,"description":12082,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":12083,"navigation":235,"path":6577,"related":12084,"seo":12086,"stem":12087,"term":12088,"updated":233,"__hash__":12089},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-third-party-verification.md","What Is Third-Party Verification in Trading?",{"type":8,"value":11924,"toc":12075},[11925,11928,11930,11933,11939,11945,11951,11956,11959,11961,11970,11977,11979,11991,12000,12002,12013,12025,12041,12043,12069],[11,11926,11927],{},"Third-party verification is an arrangement where an independent platform reads trading results directly from the broker, over a path that carries data one way, so the published record has no step at which the trader could edit it. The trader supplies access, not data. That single distinction separates evidence from a claim, and it is the whole of what verification does.",[21,11929,24],{"id":23},[11,11931,11932],{},"The chain has three links and one rule.",[29,11934,11937],{"className":11935,"code":11936,"language":34},[32],"broker server → independent read path → tracking platform → public page\n                          ↑\n              the trader can revoke this, but never edit it\n",[36,11938,11936],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,11940,11941,11942,11944],{},"The connection is not the same on every platform. On MetaTrader it is the ",[15,11943,7149],{"href":4353},", a second credential the broker issues that can read balance, equity and full closed history but cannot open, modify or close a position — read-only by construction. On cTrader it is an OAuth2 authorisation granted through the trader's own cTrader ID, withdrawable whenever the trader chooses. On TradeLocker it is a REST connection whose credentials are held encrypted server-side and used only to read. What the three have in common is the part that matters: the record is read from the broker, and the trader has no step at which they can edit it.",[11,11946,11947],{},[2498,11948],{"alt":11949,"src":11950},"Four read-only connections: MT4 and MT5 by investor password, cTrader by OAuth, TradeLocker by REST API with credentials encrypted server-side","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Ffour-platforms.svg",[11,11952,11953],{},[163,11954,11955],{},"Different credentials, one property in common: none of them can send an order.",[11,11957,11958],{},"Two separate questions hide inside the phrase, and they need two separate answers. Whether the data is real is settled by the connection. Whether the publisher is the person who traded it is not — an investor password can be handed to anyone — so proving ownership requires an action only a full-access holder can perform inside the platform.",[21,11960,74],{"id":73},[11,11962,11963,11964,11966,11967,223],{},"Everything downstream of the connection is arithmetic on the inputs. If the inputs are editable, the profit factor, the ",[15,11965,701],{"href":700}," and the equity curve are decoration, however detailed the page looks. Screenshots, PDF statements and spreadsheets share one defect: ",[15,11968,11969],{"href":2797},"they are produced by the party asking to be trusted",[11,11971,11972,11973,11976],{},"What verification does not prove is equally definite. It says nothing about skill, nothing about whether the strategy survives the next regime, nothing about the other accounts the same person runs and did not publish, and nothing about whether the record is worth ",[15,11974,11975],{"href":6594},"copying",". It removes a specific set of lies from the table so that the uncertainty left over is honest uncertainty. That is a real service and a narrow one.",[21,11978,107],{"id":106},[11,11980,11981,11982,11985,11986,10836,11988,11990],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. ",[49,11983,11984],{},"10,000+ accounts are connected"," here (August 2026), resting on ",[49,11987,4977],{},[49,11989,315],{},". That is the volume of data the question applies to.",[11,11992,11993,11994,364,11997,11999],{},"Against it, ",[49,11995,11996],{},"65 published accounts carry Track Record Verified",[49,11998,2970],{},". The distance between those two counts is the informative part: proving you can trade an account is a cheaper action than opening an independent read path into it, and it is the read path that decides whether the numbers are evidence. Roughly three published pages in a hundred carry that badge, so \"where did this data come from\" gets a different answer on almost every page you open.",[21,12001,132],{"id":131},[11,12003,12004,12005,12009,12010,12012],{},"Which mechanism verified a page is written on the page itself. The ",[49,12006,12007],{},[15,12008,1047],{"href":2753}," badge in the account header carries a tooltip naming the path used for that account — the read-only investor password on MT4 and MT5, the cTrader Open API authorisation on cTrader. The ",[49,12011,1050],{}," badge names its own: on MetaTrader, a pending order placed with the owner's ShowMyTrades user ID in the comment field, an action only a full-access holder can perform. Read both tooltips and you know which of the two questions above the page has answered.",[11,12014,12015,12016,12018,12019,6518,12022,12024],{},"Next to them, the ",[163,12017,342],{}," group of the same header prints the ",[49,12020,12021],{},"platform",[49,12023,2984],{}," with its trade server behind the tooltip, the account currency, the leverage and whether the account trades manually or automatically. None of that is typed in by the owner; it arrives with the feed, which makes it the quickest cross-check against whatever the page claims in words.",[11,12026,12027,12028,12030,12031,377,12033,12035,12036,12040],{},"Everything below the header — ",[49,12029,827],{},", the charts viewer, ",[49,12032,813],{},[49,12034,373],{},", the trades table — is arithmetic on that same feed, and the header travels with the ",[49,12037,12038],{},[15,12039,4452],{"href":4319}," widget, so an embed on someone else's site carries its provenance rather than borrowing the host's.",[21,12042,189],{"id":188},[43,12044,12045,12051,12057,12063],{},[46,12046,12047,12050],{},[49,12048,12049],{},"Read-only describes the data path, not your money."," An investor password cannot place, modify or close an order, and a verified feed gives the platform no ability to trade the account it reads.",[46,12052,12053,12056],{},[49,12054,12055],{},"Verification is a live state, not a stamp."," Revoke the credential and the feed stops and the badge turns grey. It attests to a connection that is open now, not to a claim made once.",[46,12058,12059,12062],{},[49,12060,12061],{},"The two badges answer different questions."," Provenance and ownership are separate problems, and a page can settle one without settling the other — 264 against 65 is what that looks like at scale.",[46,12064,12065,12068],{},[49,12066,12067],{},"Nothing about the strategy is certified."," What remains after verification is genuine uncertainty about method, regime and sample size, and it is still the larger part of the decision.",[11,12070,12071,12072,223],{},"The full treatment — what each badge establishes, and the four things neither can prove — is in ",[15,12073,12074],{"href":1054},"what third-party verification actually proves",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":12076},[12077,12078,12079,12080,12081],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Third-party verification means an independent party reads the results straight from the broker, and the trader has no step where they can edit the record.",{},[1136,4502,4503,12085],"what-is-copy-trading",{"title":11922,"description":12082},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-third-party-verification","Third-Party Verification","7uukXYP-rYIBVYNmit2aCt9mQPDa_HDPRNRavt-V9jk",{"id":12091,"title":12092,"body":12093,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":12288,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":12289,"navigation":235,"path":553,"related":12290,"seo":12291,"stem":12292,"term":12293,"updated":233,"__hash__":12294},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return.md","What Is Time-Weighted Return (TWR)?",{"type":8,"value":12094,"toc":12281},[12095,12101,12103,12106,12112,12115,12122,12128,12133,12141,12147,12150,12152,12155,12164,12166,12174,12192,12204,12206,12222,12242,12244,12274],[11,12096,12097,12098,12100],{},"Time-weighted return, or TWR, measures the return produced by trading decisions alone, with deposits and withdrawals removed. It cuts the account's history at every cash flow, measures each piece separately, and compounds the pieces together. It is the number shown as ",[49,12099,2305],{}," on ShowMyTrades account pages.",[21,12102,24],{"id":23},[11,12104,12105],{},"Money moving in or out changes the balance without anyone trading. TWR handles that by never letting a cash flow enter a return calculation:",[29,12107,12110],{"className":12108,"code":12109,"language":34},[32],"TWR = [(1 + r₁) × (1 + r₂) × … × (1 + rₙ)] − 1\n\nrᵢ = Profit in period i \u002F Balance at the start of period i\n",[36,12111,12109],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,12113,12114],{},"Each period runs between cash flows. A deposit ends one period and starts the next at the new, larger balance; it never appears in a numerator. On ShowMyTrades the sub-periods are days: each day's return is measured against the balance standing at its start, net of the costs charged inside it, and the days are compounded.",[11,12116,12117,12118,12121],{},"Worth stating plainly. Fund an account with $10,000 and make $2,000: the first period returned 20%. Deposit another $10,000, taking the balance to $22,000, then make $2,000 again: the second period returned 9.1%, because the base was larger. The balance shows +$4,000 on $20,000 put in. TWR shows (1 + 0.20) × (1 + 0.091) − 1 = ",[49,12119,12120],{},"+30.9%",". The deposit itself earned nothing.",[11,12123,12124],{},[2498,12125],{"alt":12126,"src":12127},"A $10,000 deposit steps the balance line up while the time-weighted return line stays exactly where it was","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fdeposit-vs-twr.svg",[11,12129,12130],{},[163,12131,12132],{},"The balance jumps the day money arrives. Gain does not.",[11,12134,12135,12136,12140],{},"This is what separates it from ",[49,12137,12138],{},[15,12139,590],{"href":589},", the other percentage on the same panel:",[29,12142,12145],{"className":12143,"code":12144,"language":34},[32],"Abs. Gain = Net closed P&L \u002F Total deposits × 100\n",[36,12146,12144],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,12148,12149],{},"Abs. Gain answers what the account returned on the money put in; TWR answers how well the money was traded. Both are honest, but only one is comparable across accounts of different sizes and funding patterns.",[21,12151,74],{"id":73},[11,12153,12154],{},"TWR is the reason a track record can be compared at all. Without it, a percentage can be improved by depositing into a drawdown: a $5,000 loss on a $10,000 account is −50%, and a $10,000 top-up the next day makes the same unrecovered hole read as −33% of the new balance.",[11,12156,12157,12158,12160,12161,12163],{},"It cuts the other way too, which is why it is the fair number rather than the flattering one. A withdrawal does not raise TWR, and a well-timed deposit before a good month does not either. What remains is the ",[15,12159,3501],{"href":3500}," of decisions — the only part a reader of a ",[15,12162,3646],{"href":2753}," can hold the trader responsible for.",[21,12165,107],{"id":106},[11,12167,2483,12168,4560,12171,12173],{},[49,12169,12170],{},"median time-weighted return is +3.2%",[49,12172,1006],{}," of them are positive on a time-weighted basis.",[11,12175,12176,12177,12183,12184,12186,12187,12189,12190,7704],{},"Two readings follow. First, a majority of published accounts do make money by this measure — the distribution is not the wasteland the internet claims. Second, the middle of that distribution is small: +3.2% against a ",[49,12178,12179,12180,12182],{},"median deepest ",[15,12181,701],{"href":700}," of 9.7%",", so the typical account gave up about three times its eventual return along the way. The same set shows ",[49,12185,1211],{}," of accounts having been ",[15,12188,4237],{"href":740}," at some point, and ",[49,12191,2698],{},[11,12193,12194,12195,12197,12198,12200,12201,223],{},"The median account here has ",[49,12196,770],{},", drawn from ",[49,12199,4977],{}," overall. A large TWR on a short history is ",[15,12202,12203],{"href":3877},"a statement about a few weeks, not about a method",[21,12205,132],{"id":131},[11,12207,12208,12210,12211,12213,12214,12216,12217,364,12219,12221],{},[49,12209,2305],{}," is the first and boldest row of the ",[49,12212,827],{}," panel on every published account page, and it is TWR. ",[49,12215,590],{}," sits directly beneath it so the funding-sensitive figure is never far from the funding-neutral one. ",[49,12218,823],{},[49,12220,1266],{},", the next two rows down, are derived from the same time-weighted series.",[11,12223,147,12224,12226,12227,12229,12230,12232,12233,12235,12236,12241],{},[49,12225,5377],{}," — one panel that switches views rather than a stack of charts — plots it two ways. ",[49,12228,3828],{}," shows daily compounded TWR over the life of the account; ",[49,12231,3836],{}," plots the same series against trade number instead of the calendar, which makes frequency visible: two accounts at +40% look identical on a calendar and completely different when one took 90 trades and the other 9,000. The ",[49,12234,1874],{}," view shows the raw money, deposits and withdrawals included, which is exactly the picture TWR is designed to correct. The ",[49,12237,12238],{},[15,12239,12240],{"href":879},"monthly returns table"," breaks the same time-weighted series into months and years.",[21,12243,189],{"id":188},[43,12245,12246,12252,12262,12268],{},[46,12247,12248,12251],{},[49,12249,12250],{},"\"TWR is how much money I made.\""," It is not a currency figure. An account can show +80% TWR and a small profit if it was traded at a small size for most of its life.",[46,12253,12254,12257,12258,12261],{},[49,12255,12256],{},"\"My deposit lowered my Gain.\""," It cannot. A deposit ends one measurement period and starts another; it contributes no return in either direction. What people usually notice is that the deposit failed to ",[163,12259,12260],{},"raise"," the percentage the way the balance chart did.",[46,12263,12264,12267],{},[49,12265,12266],{},"\"TWR and Abs. Gain should agree.\""," They agree only on an account with a single deposit and no withdrawals. Any divergence is information about funding, not an error.",[46,12269,12270,12273],{},[49,12271,12272],{},"\"It is an annual figure.\""," It is cumulative since the account's first trade, and it is not annualised. A +3.2% over three years and a +3.2% over three months are different results.",[11,12275,12276,12277,223],{},"For worked examples, including how a deposit hides a drawdown, see ",[15,12278,12280],{"href":12279},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftime-weighted-return-explained","time-weighted return explained",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":12282},[12283,12284,12285,12286,12287],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Time-weighted return compounds sub-period returns so deposits and withdrawals drop out. The formula, how it differs from Abs. Gain, and public accounts.",{},[5064,893,1136,2363],{"title":12092,"description":12288},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","Time-Weighted Return","xsUg8bgIFRZ18pjGPDUe3u66QKPQWOoj4hi9EmB2Cow",{"id":12296,"title":12297,"body":12298,"category":4328,"date":7213,"description":12405,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":12406,"navigation":235,"path":9121,"related":12407,"seo":12408,"stem":12409,"term":9122,"updated":7213,"__hash__":12410},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker.md","What Is TradeLocker? The Prop Firm Platform, Explained",{"type":8,"value":12299,"toc":12398},[12300,12303,12305,12308,12314,12328,12331,12333,12336,12343,12345,12348,12351,12353,12360,12369,12371,12391],[11,12301,12302],{},"TradeLocker is a browser-based trading platform licensed to brokers and prop firms, who put their own brand on it and issue it to clients instead of a desktop terminal. If your firm gave you a login to a trading screen that runs in a tab and carries their logo rather than a MetaQuotes one, it is very likely TradeLocker underneath.",[21,12304,24],{"id":23},[11,12306,12307],{},"There is no terminal to install and no MQL layer. The platform runs in the browser and everything reaches it over a REST API and a websocket stream, which is the reason it appeared and the reason it spread through the prop firm market so quickly: a firm can hand a new client a working account through a link, with no download, no VPS and no installer to support.",[29,12309,12312],{"className":12310,"code":12311,"language":34},[32],"Browser (or the firm's white-labelled app)\n    ↕ REST + websocket\nTradeLocker infrastructure\n    ↕\nBroker or prop firm liquidity and account records\n",[36,12313,12311],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,12315,12316,12317,12320,12321,12324,12325,12327],{},"Authentication is by email, password and server name, and every request against ",[36,12318,12319],{},"\u002Ftrade\u002F*"," carries an ",[36,12322,12323],{},"accNum"," header identifying which of your accounts it refers to — one login can hold several. There is no read-only credential equivalent to the MetaTrader ",[15,12326,7149],{"href":4353},": the platform issues one set of credentials, and a tracker that connects has to hold them.",[11,12329,12330],{},"That is a real difference and worth stating plainly rather than glossing. On ShowMyTrades the password is encrypted server-side with AES-256-CBC before storage and is never returned to the browser, and the connection only ever reads. But the credential model is the platform's, not ours, and it is stricter on MetaTrader.",[21,12332,74],{"id":73},[11,12334,12335],{},"Prop firm traders have been in an odd position. An evaluation or a funded account is exactly the kind of record worth publishing — it is recent, it is rule-bound, and someone else has already checked it — and until now there has been no way to publish it at all, because no tracking service reads TradeLocker.",[11,12337,12338,12339,12342],{},"The consequence is a whole population of traders whose only proof is a screenshot of their firm's dashboard, which is the weakest form of evidence there is. See ",[15,12340,12341],{"href":2753},"what a verified track record is"," for why that matters more than it sounds.",[21,12344,107],{"id":106},[11,12346,12347],{},"TradeLocker is the newest platform on ShowMyTrades, live here since July 2026, alongside MT4, MT5 and cTrader.",[11,12349,12350],{},"The figure that matters is not ours, it is everyone else's: no other track record service in this category reads a TradeLocker account at all. For a trader on a prop firm that issues it, the choice is not between platforms — it is between a public record and none.",[21,12352,132],{"id":131},[11,12354,12355,12356,12359],{},"A TradeLocker account carries the id prefix ",[36,12357,12358],{},"tlk-"," and produces the same public page as any other: stats panel, charts viewer, monthly returns, currency pair breakdown, and the verification badges in the header. Profit, commission and swap come from the platform's own closed-trade history rather than being derived, so the cost lines are the real ones.",[11,12361,12362,12363,12365,12366,12368],{},"Two absences, for the same reason as ",[15,12364,7220],{"href":7216},": no terminal diagnostics, because there is no terminal, and no ",[15,12367,985],{"href":984},", because the platform has no MQL layer to stamp them. Where a numeric strategy id is present it is mapped into the magic number field; where it is not, trades land in the Manual bucket.",[21,12370,189],{"id":188},[43,12372,12373,12379,12385],{},[46,12374,12375,12378],{},[49,12376,12377],{},"\"TradeLocker is a broker.\""," It is not, and it holds no money. It is the software your broker or prop firm licensed, the same relationship MetaQuotes has with MetaTrader.",[46,12380,12381,12384],{},[49,12382,12383],{},"\"My firm built this themselves.\""," Most did not. The white-labelling is thorough enough that many traders never learn the platform's name until they go looking for a tracker that supports it.",[46,12386,12387,12390],{},[49,12388,12389],{},"\"An EA will run on it.\""," No. There is no MQL runtime. Automation happens through the API, not through a program dropped into a terminal folder.",[11,12392,12393,12394,12397],{},"If your firm runs TradeLocker, ",[15,12395,12396],{"href":4362},"TradeLocker tracking"," covers what connecting one involves and what ends up on the public page.",{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":12399},[12400,12401,12402,12403,12404],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"TradeLocker is the browser platform many prop firms issue instead of MetaTrader. How it works, why it exists, and how a track record gets published from one.",{},[1729,9246,1331,2809],{"title":12297,"description":12405},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker","9MR2iPdazMbR9_jtudY9MLf0A3R6oT5WgsumnsfSnqw",{"id":12412,"title":12413,"body":12414,"category":2122,"date":233,"description":12570,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":12571,"navigation":235,"path":2068,"related":12572,"seo":12574,"stem":12575,"term":12576,"updated":233,"__hash__":12577},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-trend-following.md","What Is Trend Following? Definition and Real Numbers",{"type":8,"value":12415,"toc":12563},[12416,12419,12421,12427,12430,12436,12439,12445,12447,12450,12456,12458,12479,12482,12488,12490,12515,12530,12532,12558],[11,12417,12418],{},"Trend following is a class of strategy that enters in the direction of a price move already under way and stays in until the move ends. It usually wins fewer than half its trades and earns its return from a small number of large winners. The defining property is the shape of the payoff, not the entry signal.",[21,12420,24],{"id":23},[11,12422,12423,12424,12426],{},"The entry is deliberately unremarkable: a breakout of an N-day range, a ",[15,12425,7257],{"href":2125}," crossover, a new high in a ranked universe. The exit does the work — a trailing stop that keeps the position while the move continues and gives back a fixed portion of the profit when it stops.",[11,12428,12429],{},"Everything then hangs on one arithmetic identity, the same one the platform uses for Expectancy:",[29,12431,12434],{"className":12432,"code":12433,"language":34},[32],"Expectancy = (Win rate × Avg win) − (Loss rate × Avg loss)\n\nTrend example:  0.35 × 3.0R − 0.65 × 1.0R = +0.40R per trade\nScalping example: 0.85 × 0.4R − 0.15 × 2.0R = +0.04R per trade\n",[36,12435,12433],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,12437,12438],{},"Both are profitable. The first loses on nearly two trades out of three and is the stronger system. A win rate read without the average win and average loss beside it carries no information at all.",[11,12440,12441,12442,12444],{},"Because the return is concentrated in a handful of trades, ",[15,12443,1399],{"href":1398}," is not a refinement here, it is the strategy. Size too small on the trades that run and the tail that pays for everything is cut off.",[21,12446,74],{"id":73},[11,12448,12449],{},"The cost of the structure is time spent losing. A trend system will produce long flat stretches punctuated by sharp advances, and the flat stretches are where people abandon it — usually shortly before the move that would have paid for them. Judging one over a quarter tells you about that quarter's market, not about the system.",[11,12451,12452,12453,12455],{},"It also means the ",[15,12454,701],{"href":700}," is not a malfunction. It is the entry fee, paid in advance, every time.",[21,12457,107],{"id":106},[11,12459,12460,12461,12463,12464,555,12466,12468,12469,12471,12472,12474,12475,5153,12477,223],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the median win rate is ",[49,12462,574],{},", the median ",[15,12465,1394],{"href":1393},[49,12467,566],{},", and the median trade lasts ",[49,12470,2003],{},". The median account has closed ",[49,12473,1999],{}," and shows a ",[15,12476,3352],{"href":3351},[49,12478,2519],{},[11,12480,12481],{},"That is close to the mirror image of a trend follower: high hit rate, short holding period, and a profit factor barely above break-even — the classic signature of many small wins funding occasional large losses. It is worth knowing what the crowd you are being compared against actually looks like.",[11,12483,12484,12485,223],{},"The sample point matters too. At a median of 171 closed trades, a trend system winning 35% of the time has produced roughly 60 winners, and the bulk of its return may sit in eight or ten of them. Remove those and the record is negative. That is not fragility in the account, it is what the payoff structure guarantees, and it is why these systems ",[15,12486,12487],{"href":3877},"need years rather than months before the numbers mean anything",[21,12489,132],{"id":131},[11,12491,12492,12493,12495,12496,377,12498,364,12500,12502,12503,12507,12508,364,12511,12514],{},"The Advanced Statistics block is where the structure becomes visible. Read ",[49,12494,2266],{}," together with ",[49,12497,598],{},[49,12499,601],{},[49,12501,604],{}," — a low win rate beside a large average win is a working trend system, and a high win rate beside a much larger average loss is the opposite. ",[49,12504,12505],{},[15,12506,174],{"href":171}," tells you whether the holding period matches the claimed style; a \"trend following\" account whose average trade lasts nine minutes is something else. ",[49,12509,12510],{},"Longs Won",[49,12512,12513],{},"Shorts Won"," show whether the record is a genuine two-sided system or a directional bet on one market that trended.",[11,12516,147,12517,12519,12520,12524,12525,7346,12527,12529],{},[49,12518,833],{}," view in the charts viewer is the underwater plot: it shows how deep, how often and above all how long, which is the number that decides whether a trend system is investable. The ",[49,12521,12522],{},[15,12523,7328],{"href":879}," exposes the flat and red stretches the equity curve smooths over, and the ",[49,12526,180],{},[49,12528,2044],{}," filter lets you separate the long holds from the noise on a mixed account.",[21,12531,189],{"id":188},[43,12533,12534,12540,12546,12552],{},[46,12535,12536,12539],{},[49,12537,12538],{},"\"A 35% win rate means the system is broken.\""," It means nothing on its own. Pair it with Avg. Win and Avg. Loss, then read Expectancy.",[46,12541,12542,12545],{},[49,12543,12544],{},"\"I'll tighten the stop to raise the win rate.\""," Tighter stops raise the hit rate and cut the tail that produces the return. It is the most reliable way to convert a profitable trend system into a losing one.",[46,12547,12548,12551],{},[49,12549,12550],{},"\"It underperformed for eight months, so it stopped working.\""," Eight flat months is a normal interval for this structure, not a verdict.",[46,12553,12554,12557],{},[49,12555,12556],{},"\"The 68.8% win rate account is safer.\""," A high win rate is the easiest metric to engineer and the least predictive. Check the average loss before concluding anything.",[11,12559,12560,12561,223],{},"Every metric named above is explained module by module in ",[15,12562,222],{"href":221},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":12564},[12565,12566,12567,12568,12569],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Trend following buys strength and sells weakness, taking many small losses to catch a few large wins. Why the payoff structure matters more than the win rate.",{},[12573,1730,893],"what-is-a-moving-average",{"title":12413,"description":12570},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-trend-following","Trend Following","ansAwU3eNBt0UEtY5gNktLLC3lMWY3UVH_0PfLw4gIA",{"id":12579,"title":12580,"body":12581,"category":2359,"date":233,"description":12758,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":12759,"navigation":235,"path":8063,"related":12760,"seo":12761,"stem":12762,"term":12763,"updated":233,"__hash__":12764},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-volatility.md","What Is Volatility? How It Is Measured in Trading",{"type":8,"value":12582,"toc":12751},[12583,12586,12588,12591,12597,12600,12607,12609,12615,12621,12624,12626,12633,12646,12658,12660,12679,12694,12713,12715,12746],[11,12584,12585],{},"Volatility is the dispersion of returns around their own average — how far individual results scatter from the mean, not which direction they point. It is measured with standard deviation, and it is symmetrical: a strategy that occasionally gains 8% in a day is exactly as volatile as one that occasionally loses 8%. Volatility is therefore not risk. It is the multiplier that turns a given position size into a given amount of risk.",[21,12587,24],{"id":23},[11,12589,12590],{},"Take the series of returns — per day, per month, or per trade — find the mean, and measure the typical distance from it.",[29,12592,12595],{"className":12593,"code":12594,"language":34},[32],"σ = √( Σ (rᵢ − r̄)² \u002F (n − 1) )\n\nrᵢ = return of period i\nr̄  = mean return across all n periods\nn  = number of periods\n",[36,12596,12594],{"__ignoreMap":38},[11,12598,12599],{},"Standard deviation comes out in the same units as the inputs: percent if you fed it percentages, account currency if you fed it per-trade profit and loss. To compare across timeframes it is scaled by the square root of time, which is why an annualised figure from daily data is multiplied by √252, the number of trading days in a year.",[11,12601,12602,12603,12606],{},"Two properties matter in practice. Volatility is ",[49,12604,12605],{},"not constant"," — it clusters, so quiet weeks are followed by quiet weeks and violent days arrive in groups. And it is the denominator of every risk-adjusted metric: the Sharpe ratio family divides return by exactly this number, which is how two strategies with the same gain end up rated very differently.",[21,12608,74],{"id":73},[11,12610,12611,12612,12614],{},"Position size is meaningless without it. One lot of a pair moving 40 pips a day and one lot of a pair moving 140 pips a day are two completely different bets wearing the same label. Sizing by lots rather than by expected movement is the single most common way an account's risk profile drifts without the trader deciding anything, and it is why ",[15,12613,1399],{"href":1398}," rules are written in currency risked rather than in lots.",[11,12616,12617,12618,12620],{},"Volatility is also what converts into ",[15,12619,701],{"href":700},". Depth of decline is roughly volatility multiplied by exposure multiplied by time spent wrong. Halve the volatility of the instruments you trade and, at constant size, you halve the drawdown you have to survive — and the return along with it.",[11,12622,12623],{},"Finally, it changes underneath you. A strategy sized correctly in a calm quarter is oversized when volatility doubles, and it does not need to make a single new decision to become dangerous. Stops widen, spreads widen, and the same lot size now risks twice what it was authorised to risk.",[21,12625,107],{"id":106},[11,12627,12628,12629,12632],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the median ",[49,12630,12631],{},"Sharpe Ratio is 0.05",". That is a return barely distinguishable from the noise around it: the middle account's average result per period is tiny compared with the dispersion of those periods.",[11,12634,12635,12636,9290,12638,377,12640,12642,12643,12645],{},"The rest of the distribution reads the same way: median time-weighted return ",[49,12637,558],{},[49,12639,562],{},[49,12641,770],{}," at a median length of ",[49,12644,2003],{},". Small edge, risk absorbed several times larger than the result produced.",[11,12647,12648,12649,12651,12652,12654,12655,12657],{},"Dispersion also explains the gap between how often these accounts win and what they end up with. The median win rate is ",[49,12650,574],{}," and the median profit factor ",[49,12653,566],{},": most trades close green, and the minority that do not are large enough to consume most of the gain. ",[49,12656,1006],{}," of accounts are positive over time — a majority, by a margin much thinner than the scatter of the results behind it.",[21,12659,132],{"id":131},[11,12661,5908,12662,6518,12664,12666,12667,364,12671,12673,12674,12678],{},[49,12663,373],{},[163,12665,4802],{}," section shows ",[49,12668,12669],{},[15,12670,7340],{"href":5134},[49,12672,2546],{}," one under the other. Standard Deviation there is printed in the account currency and measures the spread of individual trade results: a large figure next to a small ",[49,12675,12676],{},[15,12677,604],{"href":2254}," is a strategy whose outcome depends heavily on which trades happen to land in the sample.",[11,12680,147,12681,12683,12684,364,12686,12688,12689,12693],{},[49,12682,827],{}," panel carries ",[49,12685,823],{},[49,12687,1266],{}," on the two rows below Gain and Abs. Gain. Those are averages, so read them against the ",[49,12690,12691],{},[15,12692,813],{"href":879}," table, where the month-to-month scatter is visible directly: two accounts with the same average monthly percentage can have wildly different rows.",[11,12695,147,12696,12698,12699,12701,12702,12704,12705,12707,12708,364,12710,12712],{},[49,12697,5377],{}," is one panel that switches views: ",[163,12700,3836],{}," makes clustering obvious, ",[163,12703,833],{}," shows what the dispersion cost. ",[49,12706,373],{}," adds ",[163,12709,2236],{},[163,12711,2239],{}," views, which show when results concentrate — usually when volatility does.",[21,12714,189],{"id":188},[43,12716,12717,12723,12729,12735],{},[46,12718,12719,12722],{},[49,12720,12721],{},"\"Volatility is risk.\""," Risk is the chance of a loss you cannot survive. Volatility is dispersion in both directions and says nothing about your capital base.",[46,12724,12725,12728],{},[49,12726,12727],{},"\"Low volatility means safe.\""," Strategies that sell tails — grids, martingales, unhedged carry — read as low volatility right up to the event they were built to lose to.",[46,12730,12731,12734],{},[49,12732,12733],{},"\"High Sharpe means a better trader.\""," It means better return per unit of dispersion, over the sample measured. With 171 trades the estimate is noisy.",[46,12736,12737,12740,12741,12743,12744,223],{},[49,12738,12739],{},"\"Volatility is a property of the instrument.\""," It is a property of the instrument ",[163,12742,10478],{}," the period. The same pair changes regime several times a year, and pairs that share a currency change together — see ",[15,12745,6617],{"href":6616},[11,12747,12748,12749,223],{},"Volatility only matters once it becomes a real loss, and how that reads is covered in ",[15,12750,1319],{"href":1318},{"title":38,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":12752},[12753,12754,12755,12756,12757],{"id":23,"depth":225,"text":24},{"id":73,"depth":225,"text":74},{"id":106,"depth":225,"text":107},{"id":131,"depth":225,"text":132},{"id":188,"depth":225,"text":189},"Volatility is the dispersion of returns around their average, measured with standard deviation. It is not risk by itself, but it decides what a lot size means.",{},[893,1516,894,6885],{"title":12580,"description":12758},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-volatility","Volatility","Bayb0Tk2swP7kUxrPVVIleTDEsNs63g6l6-gKxo5cjE",1787415688640]