[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1187},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip-related":300},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":284,"date":285,"description":286,"draft":287,"extension":288,"meta":289,"navigation":287,"path":290,"related":291,"seo":296,"stem":297,"term":298,"updated":285,"__hash__":299},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip.md","What Is a Pip in Forex? Pip vs Point vs Pipette",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":276},"minimark",[9,13,18,29,40,43,47,56,64,72,76,87,104,115,119,237,241,268],[10,11,12],"p",{},"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.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-it-works","How it works",[19,20,25],"pre",{"className":21,"code":23,"language":24},[22],"language-text","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","text",[26,27,23],"code",{"__ignoreMap":28},"",[10,30,31,35,36,39],{},[32,33,34],"strong",{},"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 ",[32,37,38],{},"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.",[10,41,42],{},"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.",[14,44,46],{"id":45},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,48,49,50,55],{},"Pip value is the bridge between a stop distance and a risk amount, which makes it the core input of ",[51,52,54],"a",{"href":53},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing",": 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.",[10,57,58,59,63],{},"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 ",[51,60,62],{"href":61},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-cent-account","cent account"," 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.",[10,65,66,67,71],{},"Percentages do not have this problem. ",[51,68,70],{"href":69},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","Time-weighted return"," is comparable across account sizes by construction. Pips never are.",[14,73,75],{"id":74},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,77,78,79,82,83,86],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), ",[32,80,81],{},"1,724,575 lots"," have been traded and ",[32,84,85],{},"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.",[10,88,89,90,93,94,93,97,93,100,103],{},"The figures that survive the comparison are the normalised ones: ",[32,91,92],{},"median TWR +3.2%",", ",[32,95,96],{},"63.0% of accounts positive over time",[32,98,99],{},"median deepest drawdown 9.7%",[32,101,102],{},"median 171 closed trades",". Those hold their meaning whether the account holds $500 or $500,000.",[10,105,106,107,110,111,114],{},"Cost shows the same trick applied in the other direction. Those accounts have paid ",[32,108,109],{},"$4,782,670 in commissions"," across 1,724,575 lots — roughly ",[32,112,113],{},"$2.77 per lot",". That number is comparable because it is divided by volume. The raw total is not.",[14,116,118],{"id":117},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[120,121,122,184,194,216,230],"ul",{},[123,124,125,128,129,133,134,93,137,140,141,144,145,93,148,140,151,154,155,161,162,93,168,93,171,93,174,93,177,140,180,183],"li",{},[32,126,127],{},"Advanced Statistics"," (the ",[130,131,132],"em",{},"Table"," view; the same panel also switches to ",[130,135,136],{},"Weekday",[130,138,139],{},"Hourly"," and ",[130,142,143],{},"Duration",") reports ",[32,146,147],{},"Total Pips",[32,149,150],{},"Best Trade (Pips)",[32,152,153],{},"Worst Trade (Pips)",", plus ",[51,156,158],{"href":157},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-expectancy",[32,159,160],{},"Expectancy",", which is printed in pips and in account currency side by side. Beside them sit ",[51,163,165],{"href":164},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-lot-in-forex",[32,166,167],{},"Total Lots",[32,169,170],{},"Total Trades",[32,172,173],{},"Win Rate",[32,175,176],{},"Avg. Trade Length",[32,178,179],{},"Total Commissions",[32,181,182],{},"Total Swap Paid",". Read pips next to lots or they mean nothing.",[123,185,186,189,190,193],{},[32,187,188],{},"Breakdown Statistics",", on the ",[130,191,192],{},"By Symbol"," tab, splits pips into long, short and total per instrument, so you can see which pairs actually produced the movement.",[123,195,196,197,200,201,204,205,208,209,140,212,215],{},"The ",[32,198,199],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[32,202,203],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," has a ",[32,206,207],{},"Pips"," column per ticket, computed from ",[32,210,211],{},"Open Price",[32,213,214],{},"Close Price"," using the correct digit convention for that symbol.",[123,217,196,218,221,222,225,226,229],{},[32,219,220],{},"Account Stats"," panel opens with ",[32,223,224],{},"Gain",", the time-weighted return, and prints ",[32,227,228],{},"Abs. Gain"," on the row directly below it. Those are the figures to quote when comparing yourself to anyone else.",[123,231,196,232,236],{},[51,233,235],{"href":234},"\u002Ftools\u002Fpip-calculator","pip calculator"," converts a pip into money for a specific pair, lot size and account currency.",[14,238,240],{"id":239},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[242,243,244,250,256,262],"ol",{},[123,245,246,249],{},[32,247,248],{},"\"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.",[123,251,252,255],{},[32,253,254],{},"\"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.",[123,257,258,261],{},[32,259,260],{},"\"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.",[123,263,264,267],{},[32,265,266],{},"\"Pips measure risk.\""," Pips measure distance. Risk is that distance converted into money and then divided by equity.",[10,269,270,271,275],{},"To convert pips, lots and margin into figures for your own account, see the ",[51,272,274],{"href":273},"\u002Fguides\u002Fforex-calculators-guide","guide to forex calculators",".",{"title":28,"searchDepth":277,"depth":277,"links":278},2,[279,280,281,282,283],{"id":16,"depth":277,"text":17},{"id":45,"depth":277,"text":46},{"id":74,"depth":277,"text":75},{"id":117,"depth":277,"text":118},{"id":239,"depth":277,"text":240},"Metrics","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","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.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip",[292,293,294,295],"what-is-position-sizing","what-is-a-spread","what-is-expectancy","what-is-time-weighted-return",{"title":5,"description":286},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip","Pip","3wEqyqDEVMgiEOyCpuz7tb7ySe1STFyTd5GsXjrhYFc",[301,516,748,962],{"id":302,"title":303,"body":304,"category":502,"date":285,"description":503,"draft":504,"extension":288,"meta":505,"navigation":287,"path":506,"related":507,"seo":512,"stem":513,"term":514,"updated":285,"__hash__":515},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread.md","What Is a Spread in Forex? Definition and Real Costs",{"type":7,"value":305,"toc":495},[306,309,311,314,320,327,338,354,356,364,367,369,375,382,387,393,400,402,453,455,490],[10,307,308],{},"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.",[14,310,17],{"id":16},[10,312,313],{},"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.",[19,315,318],{"className":316,"code":317,"language":24},[22],"Spread (pips)   = (Ask − Bid) \u002F Pip size\nCost per trade  = Spread (pips) × Pip value × Lots\n",[26,319,317],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,321,322,323,326],{},"On a standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD the ",[51,324,325],{"href":290},"pip value"," is $10, so a 1.0 pip spread costs $10 per lot, charged once on the round turn.",[10,328,329,330,333,334,337],{},"There are two ways brokers price it. ",[32,331,332],{},"Spread-only"," accounts widen the quote and charge nothing else — the cost is buried in your fill price. ",[32,335,336],{},"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.",[10,339,340,341,344,345,348,349,353],{},"Spreads are either ",[32,342,343],{},"fixed"," (constant, usually wider, quoted by a dealing desk) or ",[32,346,347],{},"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 ",[51,350,352],{"href":351},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop loss"," is most likely to be hit.",[14,355,46],{"id":45},[10,357,358,359,363],{},"Spread scales with turnover, not with skill. A system targeting 5 pips per trade gives away ",[51,360,362],{"href":361},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","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.",[10,365,366],{},"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.",[14,368,75],{"id":74},[10,370,371,372,374],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), traders have paid ",[32,373,109],{},". 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.",[10,376,377],{},[378,379],"img",{"alt":380,"src":381},"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",[10,383,384],{},[130,385,386],{},"Only one of the three arrives with a number attached to it.",[10,388,389,390,392],{},"The scale of that hidden half is easy to bound. Those accounts have traded ",[32,391,81],{},". 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.",[10,394,395,396,399],{},"And the conditions genuinely differ: those accounts connect through ",[32,397,398],{},"703 distinct broker servers",", and 429 users run accounts at more than one broker precisely to compare them.",[14,401,118],{"id":117},[120,403,404,421,431,447],{},[123,405,406,408,409,93,411,140,413,415,416,420],{},[32,407,127],{}," shows ",[32,410,179],{},[32,412,167],{},[32,414,147],{},". Divide the first by the second and you have ",[51,417,419],{"href":418},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbroker-cost-audit","that account's real commission per lot"," — a number brokers rarely publish in a comparable form.",[123,422,423,424,426,427,275],{},"The most useful check is ",[32,425,147],{}," against net profit. When an account is positive in pips but flat or negative in money, execution cost is consuming the edge. ",[51,428,430],{"href":429},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-cost-percentage","That gap is the spread and commission bill",[123,432,196,433,200,435,437,438,441,442,140,444,446],{},[32,434,199],{},[32,436,203],{}," carries a ",[32,439,440],{},"Commission"," column per ticket, alongside ",[32,443,211],{},[32,445,214],{},", so you can see what an individual fill actually cost.",[123,448,196,449,452],{},[32,450,451],{},"account header"," 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.",[14,454,240],{"id":239},[242,456,457,463,469,475],{},[123,458,459,462],{},[32,460,461],{},"\"Zero spread\" does not mean free."," Zero- or raw-spread accounts move the cost into commission. Compare the total, not the headline.",[123,464,465,468],{},[32,466,467],{},"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.",[123,470,471,474],{},[32,472,473],{},"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.",[123,476,477,480,481,140,485,489],{},[32,478,479],{},"Spread alone does not rank a broker."," ",[51,482,484],{"href":483},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","Swap",[51,486,488],{"href":487},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","slippage"," belong in the same comparison, and a tight spread with poor execution is the more expensive deal.",[10,491,492,493,275],{},"To put real numbers on your own instrument and lot size, see the ",[51,494,274],{"href":273},{"title":28,"searchDepth":277,"depth":277,"links":496},[497,498,499,500,501],{"id":16,"depth":277,"text":17},{"id":45,"depth":277,"text":46},{"id":74,"depth":277,"text":75},{"id":117,"depth":277,"text":118},{"id":239,"depth":277,"text":240},"Costs","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.",false,{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread",[508,509,510,511],"what-is-a-swap-in-forex","what-is-slippage","what-is-a-regulated-broker","what-is-a-profit-factor",{"title":303,"description":503},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","Spread","_HiS3N0q5xG6kWJPv01Kjk02mu226hR7wa-SzSCJ0_U",{"id":517,"title":518,"body":519,"category":284,"date":285,"description":740,"draft":287,"extension":288,"meta":741,"navigation":287,"path":157,"related":742,"seo":745,"stem":746,"term":160,"updated":285,"__hash__":747},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-expectancy.md","What Is Expectancy? Formula, Example, Real Data",{"type":7,"value":520,"toc":733},[521,524,526,532,539,542,548,551,553,561,569,576,578,592,611,628,630,642,678,695,697,726],[10,522,523],{},"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.",[14,525,17],{"id":16},[19,527,530],{"className":528,"code":529,"language":24},[22],"Expectancy = (Win Rate × Avg Win) − (Loss Rate × Avg Loss)\n\nLoss Rate = 1 − Win Rate\n",[26,531,529],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,533,534,535,538],{},"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 = ",[32,536,537],{},"+$60 per trade",". Four hundred trades a year is $24,000 of expected result, before position size changes and before anything goes wrong.",[10,540,541],{},"The same formula written in R multiples, where R is one average loss, strips out the account currency and makes systems comparable:",[19,543,546],{"className":544,"code":545,"language":24},[22],"Expectancy (R) = (Win Rate × Payoff) − (1 − Win Rate)\n\nPayoff = Avg Win \u002F Avg Loss\n",[26,547,545],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,549,550],{},"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.",[14,552,46],{"id":45},[10,554,555,556,560],{},"Expectancy is the bridge between a statistic and a plan. ",[51,557,559],{"href":558},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","Profit factor"," 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.",[10,562,563,564,568],{},"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 ",[51,565,567],{"href":566},"\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.",[10,570,571,572,575],{},"And it sets the cost floor. If a strategy expects +$8 a trade and the round-turn ",[51,573,574],{"href":506},"spread"," and commission cost $7, what is left is not a strategy.",[14,577,75],{"id":74},[10,579,580,581,584,585,588,589,275],{},"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 ",[32,582,583],{},"median win rate of 68.8%",", a ",[32,586,587],{},"median profit factor of 1.28"," and a ",[32,590,591],{},"median of 171 closed trades",[10,593,594,595,598,599,602,603,610],{},"Those numbers pin the expectancy of that middle account. Inverting the profit factor formula gives an average winner worth about ",[32,596,597],{},"0.58×"," its average loser, and the R form turns the rest into arithmetic: (0.688 × 0.58) − 0.312 = ",[32,600,601],{},"+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 ",[32,604,605,606,609],{},"median ",[51,607,608],{"href":69},"time-weighted return"," is only +3.2%"," despite nearly seven trades in ten closing green.",[10,612,613,614,140,616,619,620,623,624,627],{},"Costs are not a rounding error at that thickness. Published accounts have paid ",[32,615,109],{},[32,617,618],{},"$862,547 in swap",", and ",[32,621,622],{},"86.3%"," of the accounts that carry swap at all pay net negative swap. At a ",[32,625,626],{},"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.",[14,629,118],{"id":117},[10,631,632,634,635,637,638,641],{},[32,633,160],{}," is a row in the ",[32,636,127],{}," module on every published account page, inside the ",[130,639,640],{},"Performance Metrics"," 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.",[10,643,644,645,648,649,93,651,93,654,140,657,659,660,665,666,140,668,670,671,93,674,140,676,275],{},"Its four inputs are in the ",[130,646,647],{},"Trades"," group of the same module: ",[32,650,173],{},[32,652,653],{},"Avg. Win",[32,655,656],{},"Avg. Loss",[32,658,170],{},", next to ",[32,661,662],{},[51,663,176],{"href":664},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length",", which says whether a thin per-trade edge is being earned in hours or in weeks. The costs already deducted appear as ",[32,667,179],{},[32,669,182],{},", with the per-trade detail in the trades table under ",[32,672,673],{},"Profit (Gross)",[32,675,484],{},[32,677,440],{},[10,679,680,681,687,688,93,690,140,692,694],{},"To test whether an expectancy is one edge or an average of several, the ",[32,682,683],{},[51,684,686],{"href":685},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets","Custom Analysis"," slideover recomputes the whole block on a filtered subset — by symbol, magic number, direction, date range, weekday or hour — and Advanced Statistics adds ",[130,689,136],{},[130,691,139],{},[130,693,143],{}," views that split the same result without any filtering.",[14,696,240],{"id":239},[120,698,699,708,714,720],{},[123,700,701,704,705,707],{},[32,702,703],{},"\"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 ",[51,706,54],{"href":53}," question, not an expectancy one.",[123,709,710,713],{},[32,711,712],{},"\"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.",[123,715,716,719],{},[32,717,718],{},"\"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.",[123,721,722,725],{},[32,723,724],{},"\"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.",[10,727,728,729,275],{},"For the metrics worth tracking over time and the order to read them in, see ",[51,730,732],{"href":731},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","the guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":28,"searchDepth":277,"depth":277,"links":734},[735,736,737,738,739],{"id":16,"depth":277,"text":17},{"id":45,"depth":277,"text":46},{"id":74,"depth":277,"text":75},{"id":117,"depth":277,"text":118},{"id":239,"depth":277,"text":240},"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.",{},[511,743,292,744],"what-is-risk-reward-ratio","what-is-drawdown",{"title":518,"description":740},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-expectancy","U6yMG7Etb-uidsGFxazRu_6VJh-bM41wGZNqkAU1r7Q",{"id":749,"title":750,"body":751,"category":951,"date":285,"description":952,"draft":504,"extension":288,"meta":953,"navigation":287,"path":53,"related":954,"seo":958,"stem":959,"term":960,"updated":285,"__hash__":961},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing.md","What Is Position Sizing? Formula and Lot Size Calculation",{"type":7,"value":752,"toc":944},[753,761,763,766,772,775,781,788,791,811,817,822,824,827,835,837,853,856,870,872,879,905,907,938],[10,754,755,756,760],{},"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 ",[51,757,759],{"href":758},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown"," profile, and it is chosen before the trade rather than discovered after it.",[14,762,17],{"id":16},[10,764,765],{},"Three steps, in order.",[19,767,770],{"className":768,"code":769,"language":24},[22],"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",[26,771,769],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,773,774],{},"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:",[19,776,779],{"className":777,"code":778,"language":24},[22],"Risk amount   = 10,000 × 0.01      = $100\nPosition size = 100 \u002F (50 × 10)    = 0.20 lots\n",[26,780,778],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,782,783,784,787],{},"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 ",[51,785,786],{"href":351},"stop-loss"," placement cannot be decided separately.",[10,789,790],{},"Three methods dominate in practice:",[120,792,793,799,805],{},[123,794,795,798],{},[32,796,797],{},"Fixed lot."," Always 0.10 lots, whatever the stop or the balance. Simple, and the risk per trade drifts constantly as both change.",[123,800,801,804],{},[32,802,803],{},"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.",[123,806,807,810],{},[32,808,809],{},"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.",[10,812,813],{},[378,814],{"alt":815,"src":816},"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",[10,818,819],{},[130,820,821],{},"Which one an account uses is readable from the lot sizes alone.",[14,823,46],{"id":45},[10,825,826],{},"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%.",[10,828,829,830,834],{},"Sizing is also where ",[51,831,833],{"href":832},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","leverage"," 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.",[14,836,75],{"id":74},[10,838,839,840,843,844,848,849,852],{},"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 — ",[32,841,842],{},"38.2%"," have been ",[51,845,847],{"href":846},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","more than 20% underwater"," at some point and ",[32,850,851],{},"17.6%"," have lost more than half their peak value.",[10,854,855],{},"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.",[10,857,858,859,619,862,865,866,869],{},"Context for who is doing the sizing: the median autotrading share on these accounts is ",[32,860,861],{},"99%",[32,863,864],{},"53.9%"," run above 90% automated, against ",[32,867,868],{},"42.2%"," 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.",[14,871,118],{"id":117},[10,873,196,874,878],{},[51,875,877],{"href":876},"\u002Ftools\u002Fposition-size-calculator","position size calculator"," 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.",[10,880,881,882,437,885,888,889,891,892,895,896,901,902,904],{},"On a published account page you can audit sizing rather than assume it. The ",[32,883,884],{},"trades table",[32,886,887],{},"Volume"," column showing the lot size of every individual trade, so a size that steps up after each loser is visible directly. ",[32,890,686],{}," adds a ",[32,893,894],{},"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. ",[32,897,898],{},[51,899,167],{"href":900},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-volume-analysis"," in the ",[32,903,127],{}," module gives the aggregate; across published accounts it stands at 1,724,575 lots traded.",[14,906,240],{"id":239},[120,908,909,915,926,932],{},[123,910,911,914],{},[32,912,913],{},"\"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.",[123,916,917,920,921,925],{},[32,918,919],{},"\"I risk 1% per trade, so my worst case is 1%.\""," Only with one position open. ",[51,922,924],{"href":923},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-correlation-risk","Five correlated positions"," at 1% each are one 5% trade wearing a disguise, and correlated pairs move together precisely when it hurts.",[123,927,928,931],{},[32,929,930],{},"\"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.",[123,933,934,937],{},[32,935,936],{},"\"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.",[10,939,940,941,275],{},"For the full set of risk and sizing tools and when each one applies, see ",[51,942,943],{"href":273},"the forex calculators guide",{"title":28,"searchDepth":277,"depth":277,"links":945},[946,947,948,949,950],{"id":16,"depth":277,"text":17},{"id":45,"depth":277,"text":46},{"id":74,"depth":277,"text":75},{"id":117,"depth":277,"text":118},{"id":239,"depth":277,"text":240},"Risk","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.",{},[744,955,956,957],"what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-a-stop-loss","what-is-leverage",{"title":750,"description":952},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","Position Sizing","qP5mfGAxSuWSiccKuy0i_N8LQtpN2UHwOG-ZOVxOViU",{"id":963,"title":964,"body":965,"category":284,"date":285,"description":1178,"draft":287,"extension":288,"meta":1179,"navigation":287,"path":69,"related":1180,"seo":1183,"stem":1184,"term":1185,"updated":285,"__hash__":1186},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return.md","What Is Time-Weighted Return (TWR)?",{"type":7,"value":966,"toc":1171},[967,973,975,978,984,987,994,1000,1005,1014,1020,1023,1025,1028,1041,1043,1053,1072,1087,1089,1107,1132,1134,1164],[10,968,969,970,972],{},"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 ",[32,971,224],{}," on ShowMyTrades account pages.",[14,974,17],{"id":16},[10,976,977],{},"Money moving in or out changes the balance without anyone trading. TWR handles that by never letting a cash flow enter a return calculation:",[19,979,982],{"className":980,"code":981,"language":24},[22],"TWR = [(1 + r₁) × (1 + r₂) × … × (1 + rₙ)] − 1\n\nrᵢ = Profit in period i \u002F Balance at the start of period i\n",[26,983,981],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,985,986],{},"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.",[10,988,989,990,993],{},"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 = ",[32,991,992],{},"+30.9%",". The deposit itself earned nothing.",[10,995,996],{},[378,997],{"alt":998,"src":999},"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",[10,1001,1002],{},[130,1003,1004],{},"The balance jumps the day money arrives. Gain does not.",[10,1006,1007,1008,1013],{},"This is what separates it from ",[32,1009,1010],{},[51,1011,228],{"href":1012},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain",", the other percentage on the same panel:",[19,1015,1018],{"className":1016,"code":1017,"language":24},[22],"Abs. Gain = Net closed P&L \u002F Total deposits × 100\n",[26,1019,1017],{"__ignoreMap":28},[10,1021,1022],{},"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.",[14,1024,46],{"id":45},[10,1026,1027],{},"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.",[10,1029,1030,1031,1035,1036,1040],{},"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 ",[51,1032,1034],{"href":1033},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","equity curve"," of decisions — the only part a reader of a ",[51,1037,1039],{"href":1038},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","verified track record"," can hold the trader responsible for.",[14,1042,75],{"id":74},[10,1044,1045,1046,619,1049,1052],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the ",[32,1047,1048],{},"median time-weighted return is +3.2%",[32,1050,1051],{},"63.0%"," of them are positive on a time-weighted basis.",[10,1054,1055,1056,1062,1063,1065,1066,1068,1069,1071],{},"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 ",[32,1057,1058,1059,1061],{},"median deepest ",[51,1060,759],{"href":758}," of 9.7%",", so the typical account gave up about three times its eventual return along the way. The same set shows ",[32,1064,842],{}," of accounts having been ",[51,1067,847],{"href":846}," at some point, and ",[32,1070,851],{}," more than 50%.",[10,1073,1074,1075,1078,1079,1082,1083,275],{},"The median account here has ",[32,1076,1077],{},"171 closed trades",", drawn from ",[32,1080,1081],{},"15,436,464 synchronised trades"," overall. A large TWR on a short history is ",[51,1084,1086],{"href":1085},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","a statement about a few weeks, not about a method",[14,1088,118],{"id":117},[10,1090,1091,1093,1094,1096,1097,1099,1100,140,1103,1106],{},[32,1092,224],{}," is the first and boldest row of the ",[32,1095,220],{}," panel on every published account page, and it is TWR. ",[32,1098,228],{}," sits directly beneath it so the funding-sensitive figure is never far from the funding-neutral one. ",[32,1101,1102],{},"Avg Daily %",[32,1104,1105],{},"Avg Monthly %",", the next two rows down, are derived from the same time-weighted series.",[10,1108,196,1109,1112,1113,1116,1117,1120,1121,1124,1125,1131],{},[32,1110,1111],{},"charts viewer"," — one panel that switches views rather than a stack of charts — plots it two ways. ",[32,1114,1115],{},"Growth"," shows daily compounded TWR over the life of the account; ",[32,1118,1119],{},"Growth by Trade"," 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 ",[32,1122,1123],{},"Balance"," view shows the raw money, deposits and withdrawals included, which is exactly the picture TWR is designed to correct. The ",[32,1126,1127],{},[51,1128,1130],{"href":1129},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmonthly-returns-table-explained","monthly returns table"," breaks the same time-weighted series into months and years.",[14,1133,240],{"id":239},[120,1135,1136,1142,1152,1158],{},[123,1137,1138,1141],{},[32,1139,1140],{},"\"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.",[123,1143,1144,1147,1148,1151],{},[32,1145,1146],{},"\"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 ",[130,1149,1150],{},"raise"," the percentage the way the balance chart did.",[123,1153,1154,1157],{},[32,1155,1156],{},"\"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.",[123,1159,1160,1163],{},[32,1161,1162],{},"\"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.",[10,1165,1166,1167,275],{},"For worked examples, including how a deposit hides a drawdown, see ",[51,1168,1170],{"href":1169},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftime-weighted-return-explained","time-weighted return explained",{"title":28,"searchDepth":277,"depth":277,"links":1172},[1173,1174,1175,1176,1177],{"id":16,"depth":277,"text":17},{"id":45,"depth":277,"text":46},{"id":74,"depth":277,"text":75},{"id":117,"depth":277,"text":118},{"id":239,"depth":277,"text":240},"Time-weighted return compounds sub-period returns so deposits and withdrawals drop out. The formula, how it differs from Abs. Gain, and public accounts.",{},[1181,744,1182,294],"what-is-an-equity-curve","what-is-a-verified-track-record",{"title":964,"description":1178},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","Time-Weighted Return","xsUg8bgIFRZ18pjGPDUe3u66QKPQWOoj4hi9EmB2Cow",1787415687915]