[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1239},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number-related":258},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":243,"date":244,"description":245,"draft":246,"extension":247,"meta":248,"navigation":246,"path":249,"related":250,"seo":255,"stem":256,"term":156,"updated":244,"__hash__":257},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number.md","What Is a Magic Number in MT4 and MT5?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":235},"minimark",[9,24,29,32,43,46,69,72,76,84,87,91,102,126,130,162,198,202,228],[10,11,12,13,18,19,23],"p",{},"A magic number is an integer that an ",[14,15,17],"a",{"href":16},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","Expert Advisor"," writes onto every order it sends, and that ",[14,20,22],{"href":21},"\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.",[25,26,28],"h2",{"id":27},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,30,31],{},"The number is a parameter of the order-sending call, set by the code, not by the broker or the platform.",[33,34,39],"pre",{"className":35,"code":37,"language":38},[36],"language-text","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","text",[40,41,37],"code",{"__ignoreMap":42},"",[10,44,45],{},"Three properties follow from that, and all three catch people out.",[47,48,49,57,63],"ul",{},[50,51,52,56],"li",{},[53,54,55],"strong",{},"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.",[50,58,59,62],{},[53,60,61],{},"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.",[50,64,65,68],{},[53,66,67],{},"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.",[10,70,71],{},"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.",[25,73,75],{"id":74},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,77,78,79,83],{},"Run three strategies on one account and every headline number on the page is a blend. ",[14,80,82],{"href":81},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","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.",[10,85,86],{},"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.",[25,88,90],{"id":89},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,92,93,94,97,98,101],{},"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 ",[53,95,96],{},"median autotrading share is 99%"," and ",[53,99,100],{},"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.",[10,103,104,105,108,109,113,114,118,119,97,122,125],{},"The reason to label early is sample size. The ",[53,106,107],{},"median account has 171 closed trades",". Split across three strategies that is roughly fifty-seven each, below the point where ",[14,110,112],{"href":111},"\u002Fguides\u002Fwin-rate-is-not-an-edge","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 — ",[14,115,117],{"href":116},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","one account per strategy"," — is common here too: ",[53,120,121],{},"699 users run more than one account",[53,123,124],{},"429 across more than one broker",".",[25,127,129],{"id":128},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,131,132,133,136,137,141,142,145,146,149,150,153,154,157,158,161],{},"The ",[53,134,135],{},"Breakdown Statistics"," module — listed as ",[138,139,140],"em",{},"Currency Pair Statistics"," in your account settings — carries a ",[53,143,144],{},"By Magic Number"," tab next to ",[138,147,148],{},"By Symbol",", which appears as soon as the account has closed trades to break down. Each row shows ",[53,151,152],{},"EA \u002F Strategy",", the raw ",[53,155,156],{},"Magic Number",", trades, profit, and won\u002Flost counts with percentages. The row for magic 0 is labelled ",[53,159,160],{},"Manual",", and it is the one row that cannot be renamed: it is not a strategy, it is everything that arrived untagged.",[10,163,132,164,166,167,170,171,174,175,178,179,185,186,189,190,193,194,197],{},[53,165,152],{}," 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 ",[53,168,169],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[53,172,173],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," offers a ",[53,176,177],{},"Magic"," column carrying the raw integer per ticket, and the ",[14,180,182],{"href":181},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets",[53,183,184],{},"Custom Analysis"," slideover has a ",[53,187,188],{},"Magic Numbers"," filter whose chips read ",[138,191,192],{},"Manual (0)"," or ",[138,195,196],{},"Label - 55566",". Select one and every statistic on the page is recomputed for that strategy alone.",[25,199,201],{"id":200},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[47,203,204,210,216,222],{},[50,205,206,209],{},[53,207,208],{},"\"I will set magic numbers later.\""," Later does not exist. The field is written at order time and past trades cannot be re-tagged.",[50,211,212,215],{},[53,213,214],{},"\"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.",[50,217,218,221],{},[53,219,220],{},"\"Manual means I traded by hand.\""," The manual row is the untagged bucket: hand-placed trades plus every EA left at zero.",[50,223,224,227],{},[53,225,226],{},"\"The magic number tells you which robot it is.\""," It tells you nothing. 55566 is whatever the author typed.",[10,229,230,231,125],{},"The full workflow, from naming a strategy to finding the one quietly losing money: ",[14,232,234],{"href":233},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmagic-numbers-and-strategy-labels","magic numbers and strategy labels",{"title":42,"searchDepth":236,"depth":236,"links":237},2,[238,239,240,241,242],{"id":27,"depth":236,"text":28},{"id":74,"depth":236,"text":75},{"id":89,"depth":236,"text":90},{"id":128,"depth":236,"text":129},{"id":200,"depth":236,"text":201},"Automation","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","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.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number",[251,252,253,254],"what-is-an-expert-advisor","what-is-metatrader","what-is-a-profit-factor","what-is-backtesting",{"title":5,"description":245},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","Ia1tACbSKWH8AUhr-ic4ZHFe0wTge4PR_HDhPLl1iSY",[259,544,737,961],{"id":260,"title":261,"body":262,"category":533,"date":244,"description":534,"draft":535,"extension":247,"meta":536,"navigation":246,"path":81,"related":537,"seo":541,"stem":542,"term":430,"updated":244,"__hash__":543},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor.md","What Is Profit Factor? Formula, Good Values, Real Data",{"type":7,"value":263,"toc":526},[264,267,269,275,278,281,287,290,357,359,362,370,378,380,394,401,406,413,424,426,456,482,484,519],[10,265,266],{},"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.",[25,268,28],{"id":27},[33,270,273],{"className":271,"code":272,"language":38},[36],"Profit Factor = Gross Profit \u002F |Gross Loss|\n",[40,274,272],{"__ignoreMap":42},[10,276,277],{},"Note what the formula ignores: how long the account traded, how much capital it used, and how deep it fell along the way.",[10,279,280],{},"It can also be written in terms of win rate and average trade size, which is where it becomes diagnostic:",[33,282,285],{"className":283,"code":284,"language":38},[36],"Profit Factor = (Win Rate × Avg Win) \u002F ((1 − Win Rate) × Avg Loss)\n",[40,286,284],{"__ignoreMap":42},[10,288,289],{},"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.",[291,292,293,305],"table",{},[294,295,296],"thead",{},[297,298,299,302],"tr",{},[300,301,82],"th",{},[300,303,304],{},"Reading",[306,307,308,317,325,333,341,349],"tbody",{},[297,309,310,314],{},[311,312,313],"td",{},"Below 1.00",[311,315,316],{},"Loses money — structurally, not marginally",[297,318,319,322],{},[311,320,321],{},"1.00 – 1.10",[311,323,324],{},"Inside the noise. One bad week erases it",[297,326,327,330],{},[311,328,329],{},"1.10 – 1.30",[311,331,332],{},"Thin but real edge, if the sample is large",[297,334,335,338],{},[311,336,337],{},"1.30 – 2.00",[311,339,340],{},"A working strategy",[297,342,343,346],{},[311,344,345],{},"2.00 – 3.00",[311,347,348],{},"Strong. Check trade count and cost accounting",[297,350,351,354],{},[311,352,353],{},"Above 3.00",[311,355,356],{},"Rare on long histories: usually a short sample, a few outsized winners, or open losers not yet realised",[25,358,75],{"id":74},[10,360,361],{},"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.",[10,363,364,365,369],{},"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 ",[14,366,368],{"href":367},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","maximum drawdown",", or you are measuring the destination without the trip.",[10,371,372,373,377],{},"The same caution applies to a profit factor quoted from a ",[14,374,376],{"href":375},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","backtest",": optimisers maximise exactly this ratio, so a high backtested value often measures the fitting process rather than the strategy.",[25,379,90],{"id":89},[10,381,382,383,386,387,393],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the ",[53,384,385],{},"median profit factor is 1.28"," and the ",[53,388,389,392],{},[14,390,391],{"href":111},"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.",[10,395,396],{},[397,398],"img",{"alt":399,"src":400},"Medians across public ShowMyTrades accounts: a 68.8% win rate beside a 1.28 profit factor","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwin-rate-vs-payoff.svg",[10,402,403],{},[138,404,405],{},"Two medians from the same set: the win rate looks strong, the edge behind it is thin.",[10,407,408,409,412],{},"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 ",[53,410,411],{},"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.",[10,414,415,416,419,420,423],{},"The median Sharpe ratio on the same set is ",[53,417,418],{},"0.05",", and the median account has ",[53,421,422],{},"171 closed trades",". 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.",[25,425,129],{"id":128},[10,427,428,431,432,435,436,439,440,439,443,439,446,439,449,97,452,455],{},[53,429,430],{},"Profit Factor"," sits in the ",[53,433,434],{},"Advanced Statistics"," module on every published account page, alongside the numbers that explain it: ",[53,437,438],{},"Win Rate",", ",[53,441,442],{},"Avg. Win",[53,444,445],{},"Avg. Loss",[53,447,448],{},"Expectancy",[53,450,451],{},"Total Trades",[53,453,454],{},"Sharpe Ratio",". The six together say what the single ratio cannot.",[10,457,458,459,462,463,97,466,469,470,97,473,476,477,481],{},"Two product details matter. First, the costs already inside the ratio are itemised separately: the trades table carries ",[53,460,461],{},"Profit (Gross)"," with ",[53,464,465],{},"Swap",[53,467,468],{},"Commission"," as their own columns, and Advanced Statistics totals ",[53,471,472],{},"Total Commissions",[53,474,475],{},"Total Swap Paid",", 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, ",[14,478,479],{"href":181},[53,480,184],{}," 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.",[25,483,201],{"id":200},[47,485,486,496,507,513],{},[50,487,488,491,492,125],{},[53,489,490],{},"\"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 ",[14,493,495],{"href":494},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","once commission and swap are applied",[50,497,498,501,502,506],{},[53,499,500],{},"\"A high profit factor means low risk.\""," It says nothing about drawdown, position size or sequence. A martingale ",[14,503,505],{"href":504},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position-sizing"," progression can post 4.00 right up to the day it does not.",[50,508,509,512],{},[53,510,511],{},"\"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.",[50,514,515,518],{},[53,516,517],{},"\"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.",[10,520,521,522,125],{},"For which metrics to track over time and in what order, see ",[14,523,525],{"href":524},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","the guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":42,"searchDepth":236,"depth":236,"links":527},[528,529,530,531,532],{"id":27,"depth":236,"text":28},{"id":74,"depth":236,"text":75},{"id":89,"depth":236,"text":90},{"id":128,"depth":236,"text":129},{"id":200,"depth":236,"text":201},"Metrics","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,{},[538,539,540,254],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-position-sizing",{"title":261,"description":534},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","0loLRuqRU0mx9nEOfjdEFW6U1Fb_JAC1jN2JQSkIjuE",{"id":545,"title":546,"body":547,"category":243,"date":244,"description":729,"draft":246,"extension":247,"meta":730,"navigation":246,"path":16,"related":731,"seo":734,"stem":735,"term":17,"updated":244,"__hash__":736},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor.md","What Is an Expert Advisor? EAs in MetaTrader Explained",{"type":7,"value":548,"toc":722},[549,555,557,560,566,569,581,588,590,593,604,606,617,636,639,641,648,673,687,689,715],[10,550,551,552,554],{},"An Expert Advisor, or EA, is a program written in MetaQuotes' MQL language that runs inside a ",[14,553,22],{"href":21}," 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.",[25,556,28],{"id":27},[10,558,559],{},"You compile the code, drop it on a chart, and the terminal calls it every time the market moves.",[33,561,564],{"className":562,"code":563,"language":38},[36],"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",[40,565,563],{"__ignoreMap":42},[10,567,568],{},"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.",[10,570,571,572,575,576,580],{},"The critical detail is that an EA is ",[53,573,574],{},"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 ",[14,577,579],{"href":578},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps","VPS"," rather than a laptop that sleeps.",[10,582,583,584,587],{},"Each order the EA sends carries a ",[14,585,586],{"href":249},"magic number",", the integer that lets several EAs share one account and still be read apart afterwards.",[25,589,75],{"id":74},[10,591,592],{},"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.",[10,594,595,596,600,601,603],{},"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 ",[14,597,599],{"href":598},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-curve-fitting","curve fitting"," — which is why a broker-synced account outranks any ",[14,602,376],{"href":375}," 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.",[25,605,90],{"id":89},[10,607,608,609,439,611,97,613,616],{},"Automation is the default here, not a niche. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[53,610,96],{},[53,612,100],{},[53,614,615],{},"42.2% sit under 10%",". Two clusters, almost nothing between them: an account here is run either entirely by code or entirely by hand.",[10,618,619,620,627,628,631,632,635],{},"Automation did not flatten the outcomes. The same population shows a ",[53,621,622,623,626],{},"median ",[14,624,625],{"href":81},"profit factor"," of 1.28",", a ",[53,629,630],{},"median deepest drawdown of 9.7%",", and a long left tail: ",[53,633,634],{},"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.",[10,637,638],{},"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.",[25,640,129],{"id":128},[10,642,643,644,647],{},"The account header carries a badge reading the automation split — for example ",[138,645,646],{},"99% autotrading",". 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.",[10,649,650,651,654,655,658,659,662,663,193,666,669,670,672],{},"On an Expert Advisor connection, the ",[53,652,653],{},"Terminal & Open Charts"," module (",[53,656,657],{},"Terminal"," on MT4, whose EA does not report a chart list) shows the environment the code lives in, including ",[53,660,661],{},"Auto trading"," reading ",[138,664,665],{},"Allowed",[138,667,668],{},"Blocked"," — the one switch that silently stops an otherwise healthy EA from placing anything. Below the tiles, the open charts table names the ",[53,671,17],{}," 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.",[10,674,675,676,678,679,681,682,686],{},"Per-strategy results live in the ",[53,677,135],{}," module, under the ",[53,680,144],{}," tab, where each EA gets its own row of trades, profit and won\u002Flost split. The ",[14,683,684],{"href":181},[53,685,184],{}," slideover narrows every statistic on the page to a single magic number, isolating one EA.",[25,688,201],{"id":200},[47,690,691,697,703,709],{},[50,692,693,696],{},[53,694,695],{},"\"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.",[50,698,699,702],{},[53,700,701],{},"\"A great backtest means a great EA.\""," It means the code and the history agree. That is the minimum requirement, not evidence.",[50,704,705,708],{},[53,706,707],{},"\"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.",[50,710,711,714],{},[53,712,713],{},"\"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.",[10,716,717,718,125],{},"For the specific tells that separate a real automated record from a manufactured one: ",[14,719,721],{"href":720},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","how to spot fake EA results",{"title":42,"searchDepth":236,"depth":236,"links":723},[724,725,726,727,728],{"id":27,"depth":236,"text":28},{"id":74,"depth":236,"text":75},{"id":89,"depth":236,"text":90},{"id":128,"depth":236,"text":129},{"id":200,"depth":236,"text":201},"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.",{},[252,732,733,254],"what-is-a-magic-number","what-is-a-vps",{"title":546,"description":729},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","2d9v7b7Bxd9O_dMQs14Asam5zM2qY1_3PnoVl22PW6U",{"id":738,"title":739,"body":740,"category":950,"date":244,"description":951,"draft":535,"extension":247,"meta":952,"navigation":246,"path":375,"related":953,"seo":957,"stem":958,"term":959,"updated":244,"__hash__":960},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting.md","What Is Backtesting? Definition, Limits and Live Data",{"type":7,"value":741,"toc":943},[742,745,747,750,756,759,789,795,797,800,803,805,816,837,848,854,859,861,869,893,903,905,936],[10,743,744],{},"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.",[25,746,28],{"id":27},[10,748,749],{},"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:",[33,751,754],{"className":752,"code":753,"language":38},[36],"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",[40,755,753],{"__ignoreMap":42},[10,757,758],{},"Three settings decide how honest the output is:",[47,760,761,767,778],{},[50,762,763,766],{},[53,764,765],{},"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.",[50,768,769,772,773,777],{},[53,770,771],{},"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 ",[14,774,776],{"href":775},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread"," modelled at 0.8 pips and paid at 4.0 pips is a different strategy.",[50,779,780,783,784,788],{},[53,781,782],{},"Slippage and fill logic."," The tester assumes your order is filled at the requested price. ",[14,785,787],{"href":786},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","Slippage",", rejected orders, requotes and partial fills do not exist in it.",[10,790,791,792,794],{},"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 ",[14,793,599],{"href":598},", and it is the single largest gap between tested and live performance.",[25,796,75],{"id":74},[10,798,799],{},"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.",[10,801,802],{},"Anyone deciding where to put money should treat a backtest as a screening tool with a veto, never as evidence.",[25,804,90],{"id":89},[10,806,807,808,811,812,815],{},"ShowMyTrades publishes ",[53,809,810],{},"10,000+ accounts"," as public pages, resting on ",[53,813,814],{},"15,436,464 synchronised trades"," (August 2026). Not one of them is simulated: every trade in that count was filled by a broker and read back from it.",[10,817,818,819,822,823,825,826,829,830,825,834,836],{},"That published population is overwhelmingly automated — median autotrading share ",[53,820,821],{},"99%",", 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 ",[14,824,625],{"href":81}," is ",[53,827,828],{},"1.28"," and the median ",[14,831,833],{"href":832},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-the-sharpe-ratio","Sharpe ratio",[53,835,418],{},". Those are the figures the tester reports were competing against.",[10,838,839,840,843,844,847],{},"Costs are the line a simulation most often understates, and here they are billed rather than assumed: ",[53,841,842],{},"$4,782,670"," charged in commission and ",[53,845,846],{},"$862,547"," 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.",[10,849,850],{},[397,851],{"alt":852,"src":853},"Spread, commission and swap as three separate cost lines: $4,782,670 charged in commission and $862,547 in swap across public ShowMyTrades accounts","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwhere-costs-hide.svg",[10,855,856],{},[138,857,858],{},"A tester with a fixed spread and no swap has left out two of the three.",[25,860,129],{"id":128},[10,862,863,864,868],{},"Nowhere, deliberately. ShowMyTrades does not host backtests, upload simulations or accept a strategy report as a ",[14,865,867],{"href":866},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","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.",[10,870,871,872,97,874,876,877,879,880,97,883,886,887,889,890,892],{},"The modules that expose what a backtest hides are: ",[53,873,472],{},[53,875,475],{}," in the Advanced Statistics block, the real cost of the strategy in account currency; the ",[53,878,657],{}," panel, which reports ",[53,881,882],{},"Ping",[53,884,885],{},"Retransmission"," to the trade server, the conditions your fills were actually obtained under; and ",[53,888,173],{},", whose ",[53,891,169],{}," tab lists each executed order at the price it was genuinely filled at rather than the price a tester would have granted it.",[10,894,132,895,898,899,902],{},[53,896,897],{},"Track Record Verified"," badge, held by 65 accounts, and ",[53,900,901],{},"Trading Privileges Verified",", held by 264, mark the records where that broker-to-page chain has been checked rather than asserted.",[25,904,201],{"id":200},[47,906,907,913,924,930],{},[50,908,909,912],{},[53,910,911],{},"\"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.",[50,914,915,918,919,923],{},[53,916,917],{},"\"It was tested over ten years.\""," ",[14,920,922],{"href":921},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","Length is not independence",". A decade that contained one dominant regime is one observation, not 2,500.",[50,925,926,929],{},[53,927,928],{},"\"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.",[50,931,932,935],{},[53,933,934],{},"\"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.",[10,937,938,939,125],{},"Before you trust any performance figure, tested or live, work through ",[14,940,942],{"href":941},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverifying-trading-performance-claims","how to verify trading performance claims",{"title":42,"searchDepth":236,"depth":236,"links":944},[945,946,947,948,949],{"id":27,"depth":236,"text":28},{"id":74,"depth":236,"text":75},{"id":89,"depth":236,"text":90},{"id":128,"depth":236,"text":129},{"id":200,"depth":236,"text":201},"Strategy","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.",{},[954,955,956],"what-is-curve-fitting","what-is-a-verified-track-record","what-is-slippage",{"title":739,"description":951},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","Backtesting","he7JKboqSnysaWcJ_U_Uz3xPVvizet9GFQbrgkBSinQ",{"id":962,"title":963,"body":964,"category":1230,"date":244,"description":1231,"draft":246,"extension":247,"meta":1232,"navigation":246,"path":21,"related":1233,"seo":1236,"stem":1237,"term":22,"updated":244,"__hash__":1238},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader.md","What Is MetaTrader? MT4 vs MT5, Explained",{"type":7,"value":965,"toc":1223},[966,969,971,974,980,988,991,1062,1068,1070,1073,1080,1082,1108,1114,1116,1130,1147,1156,1188,1190,1216],[10,967,968],{},"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.",[25,970,28],{"id":27},[10,972,973],{},"Every MetaTrader setup has three parts, and confusing them is the source of most support questions.",[33,975,978],{"className":976,"code":977,"language":38},[36],"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",[40,979,977],{"__ignoreMap":42},[10,981,982,983,987],{},"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 ",[14,984,986],{"href":985},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","investor password",", which is read-only and is the standard credential for third-party verification.",[10,989,990],{},"What actually differs between the versions:",[291,992,993,1005],{},[294,994,995],{},[297,996,997,999,1002],{},[300,998],{},[300,1000,1001],{},"MT4",[300,1003,1004],{},"MT5",[306,1006,1007,1018,1029,1040,1051],{},[297,1008,1009,1012,1015],{},[311,1010,1011],{},"Language",[311,1013,1014],{},"MQL4",[311,1016,1017],{},"MQL5",[297,1019,1020,1023,1026],{},[311,1021,1022],{},"Accounting",[311,1024,1025],{},"Order-based: one order is one position",[311,1027,1028],{},"Deal and position based, netting or hedging",[297,1030,1031,1034,1037],{},[311,1032,1033],{},"Timeframes",[311,1035,1036],{},"9",[311,1038,1039],{},"21",[297,1041,1042,1045,1048],{},[311,1043,1044],{},"Markets",[311,1046,1047],{},"Forex and CFDs",[311,1049,1050],{},"Adds exchange-traded instruments and depth of market",[297,1052,1053,1056,1059],{},[311,1054,1055],{},"Strategy tester",[311,1057,1058],{},"Single symbol, single thread",[311,1060,1061],{},"Multi-symbol, multi-threaded, real ticks",[10,1063,1064,1065,1067],{},"They are not two versions of one product in any practical sense. MQL4 code does not compile as MQL5, an ",[14,1066,17],{"href":16}," does not port between them, and account history does not move. Migrating means starting a new account.",[25,1069,75],{"id":74},[10,1071,1072],{},"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.",[10,1074,1075,1076,1079],{},"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 ",[14,1077,1078],{"href":866},"track records",": a read-only credential, an open feed, and no file the trader gets to edit on the way out.",[25,1081,90],{"id":89},[10,1083,1084,1085,1088,1089,1092,1093,97,1097,1101,1102,1105,1106,125],{},"MetaTrader is very nearly the whole market we see. Of the ",[53,1086,1087],{},"10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades"," (August 2026), the overwhelming majority run ",[53,1090,1091],{},"MT4 or MT5",", alongside ",[14,1094,1096],{"href":1095},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader","cTrader",[14,1098,1100],{"href":1099},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker","TradeLocker",". Those accounts reach ",[53,1103,1104],{},"703 distinct broker servers"," and have produced ",[53,1107,814],{},[10,1109,1110,1111,1113],{},"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 ",[53,1112,96],{}," — only possible because both versions run code natively, with no bridge, no API key and no third-party plumbing.",[25,1115,129],{"id":128},[10,1117,1118,1119,439,1122,439,1125,193,1127,1129],{},"The account header shows the platform as a badge — ",[53,1120,1121],{},"MetaTrader 4",[53,1123,1124],{},"MetaTrader 5",[53,1126,1096],{},[53,1128,1100],{}," — beside the broker, the account currency, the leverage and the automation split.",[10,1131,1132,1133,97,1136,1139,1140,97,1143,1146],{},"When you add an account, the connection picker names the difference directly: ",[138,1134,1135],{},"MetaTrader 4 with EA",[138,1137,1138],{},"MetaTrader 5 with EA"," are marked recommended because updates are far more frequent, while ",[138,1141,1142],{},"MetaTrader 4 Direct Connection",[138,1144,1145],{},"MetaTrader 5 Direct Connection",", both still labelled Beta, sync from the broker using the investor password with nothing installed in your terminal.",[10,1148,1149,1150,1152,1153,1155],{},"That choice changes what the page can show, on either version. Only an EA connection produces the ",[53,1151,653],{}," 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 ",[53,1154,657],{},", because the MT4 EA does not report the chart list at all — we show nothing rather than claim no charts are open.",[10,1157,1158,1159,1165,1166,1169,1170,97,1173,1176,1177,1180,1181,1184,1185,1187],{},"Verification is version-neutral. The header carries a ",[53,1160,1161],{},[14,1162,1164],{"href":1163},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","Track Record"," badge, green once the read-only investor password is on file, and a ",[53,1167,1168],{},"Trading Privileges"," badge, green once a pending order carrying your ShowMyTrades user ID in the comment field has been placed. Across the connected accounts, ",[53,1171,1172],{},"65 hold Track Record Verified",[53,1174,1175],{},"264 Trading Privileges Verified",". ",[14,1178,1179],{"href":233},"Per-strategy reporting"," in ",[53,1182,1183],{},"Breakdown Statistics → By Magic Number"," is an MT4 and MT5 capability, because the ",[14,1186,586],{"href":249}," field is a MetaTrader concept.",[25,1189,201],{"id":200},[47,1191,1192,1198,1204,1210],{},[50,1193,1194,1197],{},[53,1195,1196],{},"\"MetaTrader is my broker.\""," It is software your broker licenses. Deposits, withdrawals, spreads and execution are the broker's, and complaints go to them.",[50,1199,1200,1203],{},[53,1201,1202],{},"\"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.",[50,1205,1206,1209],{},[53,1207,1208],{},"\"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.",[50,1211,1212,1215],{},[53,1213,1214],{},"\"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.",[10,1217,1218,1219,125],{},"To turn a MetaTrader login into a record other people can check: ",[14,1220,1222],{"href":1221},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","how to verify your trading account",{"title":42,"searchDepth":236,"depth":236,"links":1224},[1225,1226,1227,1228,1229],{"id":27,"depth":236,"text":28},{"id":74,"depth":236,"text":75},{"id":89,"depth":236,"text":90},{"id":128,"depth":236,"text":129},{"id":200,"depth":236,"text":201},"Platforms","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.",{},[1234,251,732,733,1235],"what-is-an-mt4-investor-password","what-is-ctrader",{"title":963,"description":1231},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader","MKdDWOKBnGlWX-ZwLgaS8-7RFBIRZWEdssYltOPR2Z8",1787415691223]