[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1148},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm-related":248},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":232,"date":233,"description":234,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":237,"navigation":235,"path":238,"related":239,"seo":244,"stem":245,"term":246,"updated":233,"__hash__":247},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm.md","What Is a Prop Firm in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":224},"minimark",[9,13,18,27,30,41,49,52,55,59,67,70,74,104,107,123,127,130,144,162,184,188,216],[10,11,12],"p",{},"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.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,19,20,21,26],{},"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 ",[22,23,25],"a",{"href":24},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account","funded account"," under the same rulebook, where realised profit is split between trader and firm.",[10,28,29],{},"Three limits do almost all of the failing, and only one of them is the target.",[31,32,37],"pre",{"className":33,"code":35,"language":36},[34],"language-text","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","text",[38,39,35],"code",{"__ignoreMap":40},"",[10,42,43,44,48],{},"The ",[22,45,47],{"href":46},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","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.",[10,50,51],{},"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.",[10,53,54],{},"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.",[14,56,58],{"id":57},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,60,61,62,66],{},"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 ",[22,63,65],{"href":64},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing"," and daily loss discipline ahead of entry quality.",[10,68,69],{},"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.",[14,71,73],{"id":72},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,75,76,77,81,82,86,87,90,91,95,96,99,100,103],{},"The drawdown distribution across accounts published on ShowMyTrades shows how binding these limits are. Median deepest ",[22,78,80],{"href":79},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown"," is ",[83,84,85],"strong",{},"9.7%",". Only ",[83,88,89],{},"38.5%"," of accounts have stayed under 5% ",[22,92,94],{"href":93},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","peak-to-trough"," for their entire life, ",[83,97,98],{},"38.2%"," have gone past 20%, and ",[83,101,102],{},"17.6%"," past 50%. These figures describe the public accounts here with trading history, not traders in general.",[10,105,106],{},"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.",[10,108,109,110,113,114,117,118,122],{},"Running several accounts at once is normal here: ",[83,111,112],{},"699"," users have more than one account connected and ",[83,115,116],{},"429"," trade across more than one broker. ",[22,119,121],{"href":120},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","Keeping an evaluation, a funded account and a personal account side by side"," is the ordinary case.",[14,124,126],{"id":125},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,128,129],{},"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.",[10,131,43,132,135,136,139,140,143],{},[83,133,134],{},"Account Stats"," panel shows ",[83,137,138],{},"Drawdown",", measured on equity so floating losses on open positions count, next to ",[83,141,142],{},"DD on Balance",", measured on closed trades only. Most rulebooks measure on equity, so the first is the figure that maps to a limit.",[10,145,43,146,148,149,153,154,157,158,161],{},[83,147,138],{}," 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 ",[150,151,152],"em",{},"total"," or trailing limit reads, not a daily one — for day-level detail, the ",[83,155,156],{},"Calendar"," view of the ",[83,159,160],{},"Monthly Returns"," table shows each individual day's result, and Monthly Returns is also where a consistency rule becomes checkable.",[10,163,164,165,171,172,175,176,179,180,183],{},"The header carries what a firm can check independently: the ",[22,166,168],{"href":167},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record",[83,169,170],{},"Track Record"," and ",[83,173,174],{},"Trading Privileges"," badges, green when granted, alongside ",[83,177,178],{},"Real Account"," or ",[83,181,182],{},"Demo Account"," and the account's autotrading share.",[14,185,187],{"id":186},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[189,190,191,198,204,210],"ul",{},[192,193,194,197],"li",{},[83,195,196],{},"\"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.",[192,199,200,203],{},[83,201,202],{},"\"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.",[192,205,206,209],{},[83,207,208],{},"\"The profit target is the hard part.\""," The loss limits are. Targets are usually reachable; the limits remove candidates who would have reached them.",[192,211,212,215],{},[83,213,214],{},"\"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.",[10,217,218,219,223],{},"For how a record like this is read by someone who did not produce it: ",[22,220,222],{"href":221},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverified-vs-unverified-track-records","verified vs unverified track records",".",{"title":40,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":226},2,[227,228,229,230,231],{"id":16,"depth":225,"text":17},{"id":57,"depth":225,"text":58},{"id":72,"depth":225,"text":73},{"id":125,"depth":225,"text":126},{"id":186,"depth":225,"text":187},"Brokers","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","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.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm",[240,241,242,243],"what-is-a-funded-account","what-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","what-is-position-sizing","what-is-a-track-record",{"title":5,"description":234},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm","Prop Firm","PzDE4KdbNDkjttAPE6kUyqbcj4czhI_BPUQrAJsKcTg",[249,461,656,936],{"id":250,"title":251,"body":252,"category":449,"date":233,"description":450,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":451,"navigation":235,"path":46,"related":452,"seo":457,"stem":458,"term":459,"updated":233,"__hash__":460},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit.md","What Is a Daily Drawdown Limit? Rules and Reset Times",{"type":7,"value":253,"toc":442},[254,264,266,272,275,281,287,293,296,303,305,308,316,318,333,336,349,364,366,369,399,402,404,435],[10,255,256,257,260,261,263],{},"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 ",[22,258,259],{"href":238},"proprietary trading firm"," agreements, enforced automatically: breach it by a cent and the account is failed regardless of the overall result. Unlike ordinary ",[22,262,80],{"href":79},", it resets daily and is judged intraday.",[14,265,17],{"id":16},[31,267,270],{"className":268,"code":269,"language":36},[34],"Reference    = balance or equity captured at the daily reset\nDaily loss   = Reference − Current equity\nBreach when    Daily loss ≥ Limit % × Reference\n",[38,271,269],{"__ignoreMap":40},[10,273,274],{},"Three parameters decide what the rule actually means, and they differ between firms.",[10,276,277,280],{},[83,278,279],{},"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.",[10,282,283,286],{},[83,284,285],{},"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.",[10,288,289,292],{},[83,290,291],{},"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.",[10,294,295],{},"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.",[10,297,298,299,302],{},"It runs in parallel with ",[22,300,301],{"href":93},"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.",[14,304,58],{"id":57},[10,306,307],{},"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.",[10,309,310,311,315],{},"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 ",[22,312,314],{"href":313},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level","margin level",", and on a leveraged account usually the one reached first.",[14,317,73],{"id":72},[10,319,320,321,328,329,332],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[83,322,323,327],{},[22,324,326],{"href":325},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length","median trade length"," is 2.4 hours"," and the median account has ",[83,330,331],{},"171 closed trades",". These are accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,334,335],{},"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.",[10,337,338,339,341,342,171,345,348],{},"The depth figures set the scale: median deepest drawdown ",[83,340,85],{},", with ",[83,343,344],{},"38.5% under 5%",[83,346,347],{},"38.2% past 20%",". A 5% daily rule is calibrated to be uncomfortable, not generous.",[10,350,351,352,171,355,358,359,363],{},"Automation matters too: median autotrading share is ",[83,353,354],{},"99%",[83,356,357],{},"53.9% of accounts run above 90% automated",". An ",[22,360,362],{"href":361},"\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.",[14,365,126],{"id":125},[10,367,368],{},"ShowMyTrades does not set or enforce prop firm rules. It provides the day-level record needed to check whether one was respected.",[189,370,371,379,388,393],{},[192,372,43,373,375,376,378],{},[83,374,160],{}," module has a ",[83,377,156],{}," 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.",[192,380,381,384,385,387],{},[83,382,383],{},"Avg Daily %",", the third row of the ",[83,386,134],{}," panel, under Gain and Abs. Gain, gives the typical day an outlier is judged against.",[192,389,43,390,392],{},[83,391,138],{}," view in the charts viewer plots daily drawdown as bars over the account's life; days that approached a limit read as spikes.",[192,394,43,395,398],{},[83,396,397],{},"trades table",", with Duration, Profit (Gross), Swap and Commission per trade, is how a single day's loss is reconstructed.",[10,400,401],{},"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.",[14,403,187],{"id":186},[189,405,406,412,418,424],{},[192,407,408,411],{},[83,409,410],{},"\"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.",[192,413,414,417],{},[83,415,416],{},"\"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.",[192,419,420,423],{},[83,421,422],{},"\"The overall limit is the real risk.\""," The daily one is smaller and tested every session. It ends most accounts.",[192,425,426,429,430,434],{},[83,427,428],{},"\"Hedging pauses the loss.\""," Both legs still float, both carry ",[22,431,433],{"href":432},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread"," and swap, and combined equity is what the rule reads.",[10,436,437,438,223],{},"For how to read a single day in context of the month around it, see ",[22,439,441],{"href":440},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmonthly-returns-table-explained","the monthly returns table explained",{"title":40,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":443},[444,445,446,447,448],{"id":16,"depth":225,"text":17},{"id":57,"depth":225,"text":58},{"id":72,"depth":225,"text":73},{"id":125,"depth":225,"text":126},{"id":186,"depth":225,"text":187},"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.",{},[453,454,455,456],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-margin-level","what-is-risk-of-ruin",{"title":251,"description":450},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","Daily Drawdown Limit","pnA2cFIVCRvmJ1MVWvwNkuYA7LHY-cxSCLWEoBgyzz8",{"id":462,"title":463,"body":464,"category":232,"date":233,"description":646,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":647,"navigation":235,"path":24,"related":648,"seo":652,"stem":653,"term":654,"updated":233,"__hash__":655},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account.md","What Is a Funded Account in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":465,"toc":639},[466,473,475,486,489,495,504,510,513,515,521,524,526,536,550,561,563,566,587,598,604,606,632],[10,467,468,469,472],{},"A funded account is a trading account whose capital belongs to a firm — in the retail market, a ",[22,470,471],{"href":238},"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.",[14,474,17],{"id":16},[10,476,477,478,481,482,485],{},"There are normally two phases governed by the same rulebook. The ",[83,479,480],{},"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 ",[83,483,484],{},"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.",[10,487,488],{},"Two families of rule decide the outcome, and they fail in different ways.",[31,490,493],{"className":491,"code":492,"language":36},[34],"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",[38,494,492],{"__ignoreMap":40},[10,496,43,497,500,501,223],{},[83,498,499],{},"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 ",[22,502,503],{"href":46},"daily drawdown limit",[10,505,43,506,509],{},[83,507,508],{},"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.",[10,511,512],{},"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.",[14,514,58],{"id":57},[10,516,517,518,520],{},"A funded account converts risk management from a preference into a pass\u002Ffail test. On your own account a 15% ",[22,519,80],{"href":79}," 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.",[10,522,523],{},"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.",[14,525,73],{"id":72},[10,527,528,529,531,532,535],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history, ",[83,530,98],{}," have at some point been ",[22,533,534],{"href":93},"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.",[10,537,538,542,543,341,546,549],{},[22,539,541],{"href":540},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-recovery-factor","The returns those risks bought",": median time-weighted return ",[83,544,545],{},"+3.2%",[83,547,548],{},"63.0%"," of accounts positive. The constraint, not the return, is what most candidates run into first.",[10,551,552,555,556,560],{},[83,553,554],{},"37"," accounts here are ",[22,557,559],{"href":558},"\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.",[14,562,126],{"id":125},[10,564,565],{},"There is no funded-account module here and no integration with any programme. What the account page provides is the measurement.",[10,567,43,568,135,570,572,573,575,576,580,581,171,583,586],{},[83,569,134],{},[83,571,138],{},", computed on equity so floating losses on open positions are included, next to ",[83,574,142],{},", 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 ",[22,577,579],{"href":578},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","drawdown on balance"," and fails on the first figure. The same panel carries ",[83,582,383],{},[83,584,585],{},"Avg Monthly %",", the baselines a consistency rule measures a standout day against.",[10,588,43,589,591,592,594,595,597],{},[83,590,138],{}," 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 ",[83,593,160],{}," table shows whether gain is spread or concentrated, and its ",[83,596,156],{}," view resolves that to individual days.",[10,599,600,601,603],{},"Visibility is set per account: published, private, or ",[83,602,559],{}," — 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.",[14,605,187],{"id":186},[189,607,608,614,620,626],{},[192,609,610,613],{},[83,611,612],{},"\"Once funded, the money is mine.\""," It is the firm's throughout. Only the paid-out share of realised profit becomes yours.",[192,615,616,619],{},[83,617,618],{},"\"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.",[192,621,622,625],{},[83,623,624],{},"\"I only need to avoid the daily limit.\""," The total floor ends most accounts, and a trailing one tightens as you win.",[192,627,628,631],{},[83,629,630],{},"\"A big winning day is progress.\""," Under a consistency rule it can be the reason a payout is refused.",[10,633,634,635,223],{},"For how these limits behave over a full account history: ",[22,636,638],{"href":637},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaximum-drawdown-explained","maximum drawdown explained",{"title":40,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":640},[641,642,643,644,645],{"id":16,"depth":225,"text":17},{"id":57,"depth":225,"text":58},{"id":72,"depth":225,"text":73},{"id":125,"depth":225,"text":126},{"id":186,"depth":225,"text":187},"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.",{},[649,453,650,651],"what-is-a-prop-firm","what-is-drawdown-on-balance","what-is-an-unlisted-account",{"title":463,"description":646},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account","Funded Account","PK9Bug0k0UWhLwdsDy5-ftt0_ePtaAWrUqi7ezUXdjw",{"id":657,"title":658,"body":659,"category":925,"date":233,"description":926,"draft":235,"extension":236,"meta":927,"navigation":235,"path":928,"related":929,"seo":933,"stem":934,"term":170,"updated":233,"__hash__":935},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record.md","What Is a Track Record in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":660,"toc":918},[661,667,669,672,712,715,721,724,726,729,736,738,753,756,763,768,785,801,803,824,837,878,880,911],[10,662,663,664,223],{},"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 ",[22,665,666],{"href":167},"verified track record",[14,668,17],{"id":16},[10,670,671],{},"A record that carries evidence is trade-level, not summary-level. The minimum contents:",[189,673,674,680,691,697,703],{},[192,675,676,679],{},[83,677,678],{},"Every closed trade",", with open and close time, instrument, direction, volume, both prices and the result.",[192,681,682,685,686,690],{},[83,683,684],{},"The cost of each trade"," — ",[22,687,689],{"href":688},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","commission and swap"," kept separate from gross profit — because a summary that nets them together hides where the money went.",[192,692,693,696],{},[83,694,695],{},"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.",[192,698,699,702],{},[83,700,701],{},"The gaps."," Months without trading are information, as are deposits and withdrawals, which change what a percentage means.",[192,704,705,708,709,711],{},[83,706,707],{},"The cost that cannot be shown",", acknowledged: the ",[22,710,433],{"href":432}," sits inside every fill price and appears in no field.",[10,713,714],{},"Length runs on two independent clocks, and they do not convert into each other.",[31,716,719],{"className":717,"code":718,"language":36},[34],"Trade count    -> how much evidence there is about the edge\nCalendar time  -> how many market conditions the edge has met\n",[38,720,718],{"__ignoreMap":40},[10,722,723],{},"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.",[14,725,58],{"id":57},[10,727,728],{},"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.",[10,730,731,732,735],{},"This is why ",[22,733,734],{"href":93},"maximum drawdown"," 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.",[14,737,73],{"id":72},[10,739,740,741,744,745,748,749,752],{},"Across the published accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history — drawn from 10,000+ connected accounts and ",[83,742,743],{},"15,436,464"," synchronised trades — the median account has ",[83,746,747],{},"171"," closed trades and a median trade length of ",[83,750,751],{},"2.4 hours",". These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,754,755],{},"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.",[10,757,758],{},[759,760],"img",{"alt":761,"src":762},"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",[10,764,765],{},[150,766,767],{},"Count the trades, not the calendar, and let the shorter clock govern.",[10,769,770,771,773,774,776,777,779,780,341,782,784],{},"The consequence shows in the risk figures. Median deepest drawdown is ",[83,772,85],{},", yet ",[83,775,98],{}," of accounts have been more than 20% below their peak and ",[83,778,102],{}," more than 50%. Median time-weighted return is ",[83,781,545],{},[83,783,548],{}," positive. Those tails belong to the longer records; short ones have not had the chance to produce them.",[10,786,787,788,791,792,795,796,800],{},"One pair is worth reading side by side: median win rate ",[83,789,790],{},"68.8%",", median profit factor ",[83,793,794],{},"1.28",". ",[22,797,799],{"href":798},"\u002Fguides\u002Fwin-rate-is-not-an-edge","Most published accounts win most of their trades and still clear almost nothing"," — what a record measures and a headline never does.",[14,802,126],{"id":125},[10,804,805,806,809,810,813,814,817,818,820,821,823],{},"The account page is the track record. The trade clock sits in the ",[83,807,808],{},"Advanced Statistics"," module as ",[83,811,812],{},"Total Trades",", beside ",[83,815,816],{},"Avg. Trade Length","; multiply the two and you have the time the account actually spent holding positions. The calendar clock is read from the ",[83,819,160],{}," 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 ",[83,822,156],{}," view drills into a single month day by day.",[10,825,826,827,829,830,171,833,836],{},"The information icon beside ",[83,828,134],{}," shows ",[83,831,832],{},"Created",[83,834,835],{},"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.",[10,838,839,840,843,844,847,848,851,852,171,855,858,859,862,863,851,866,851,869,851,872,171,875,877],{},"Trade-level detail sits in the ",[83,841,842],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," table, one row per position, with ",[83,845,846],{},"Net P\u002FL"," always shown and ",[83,849,850],{},"Profit (Gross)",", ",[83,853,854],{},"Swap",[83,856,857],{},"Commission"," available as separate columns from the ",[83,860,861],{},"Display"," menu. The charts panel switches between ",[83,864,865],{},"Growth",[83,867,868],{},"Balance",[83,870,871],{},"Profit",[83,873,874],{},"Growth by Trade",[83,876,138],{},"; Growth by Trade replaces the calendar clock with the trade clock on the same data. Owners can hide individual modules from the public view.",[14,879,187],{"id":186},[189,881,882,888,894,905],{},[192,883,884,887],{},[83,885,886],{},"\"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.",[192,889,890,893],{},[83,891,892],{},"\"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.",[192,895,896,899,900,904],{},[83,897,898],{},"\"Published means verified.\""," They are different properties. A record can be complete, detailed and ",[22,901,903],{"href":902},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","entirely fabricated","; provenance is what the certification badges address.",[192,906,907,910],{},[83,908,909],{},"\"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.",[10,912,913,914,223],{},"For the arithmetic of sample size and the minimums worth applying: ",[22,915,917],{"href":916},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","how long before a track record means anything",{"title":40,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":919},[920,921,922,923,924],{"id":16,"depth":225,"text":17},{"id":57,"depth":225,"text":58},{"id":72,"depth":225,"text":73},{"id":125,"depth":225,"text":126},{"id":186,"depth":225,"text":187},"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",[930,454,931,932],"what-is-a-verified-track-record","what-is-a-profit-factor","what-is-cost-percentage",{"title":658,"description":926},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","K1aCBd9ixIw5BopJGReJHccEjG4V66m99Stl3sOBbKM",{"id":937,"title":938,"body":939,"category":449,"date":233,"description":1138,"draft":1139,"extension":236,"meta":1140,"navigation":235,"path":64,"related":1141,"seo":1144,"stem":1145,"term":1146,"updated":233,"__hash__":1147},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing.md","What Is Position Sizing? Formula and Lot Size Calculation",{"type":7,"value":940,"toc":1131},[941,947,949,952,958,961,967,975,978,998,1004,1009,1011,1014,1022,1024,1037,1040,1054,1056,1063,1091,1093,1124],[10,942,943,944,946],{},"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 ",[22,945,80],{"href":79}," profile, and it is chosen before the trade rather than discovered after it.",[14,948,17],{"id":16},[10,950,951],{},"Three steps, in order.",[31,953,956],{"className":954,"code":955,"language":36},[34],"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",[38,957,955],{"__ignoreMap":40},[10,959,960],{},"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:",[31,962,965],{"className":963,"code":964,"language":36},[34],"Risk amount   = 10,000 × 0.01      = $100\nPosition size = 100 \u002F (50 × 10)    = 0.20 lots\n",[38,966,964],{"__ignoreMap":40},[10,968,969,970,974],{},"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 ",[22,971,973],{"href":972},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop-loss"," placement cannot be decided separately.",[10,976,977],{},"Three methods dominate in practice:",[189,979,980,986,992],{},[192,981,982,985],{},[83,983,984],{},"Fixed lot."," Always 0.10 lots, whatever the stop or the balance. Simple, and the risk per trade drifts constantly as both change.",[192,987,988,991],{},[83,989,990],{},"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.",[192,993,994,997],{},[83,995,996],{},"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.",[10,999,1000],{},[759,1001],{"alt":1002,"src":1003},"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",[10,1005,1006],{},[150,1007,1008],{},"Which one an account uses is readable from the lot sizes alone.",[14,1010,58],{"id":57},[10,1012,1013],{},"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%.",[10,1015,1016,1017,1021],{},"Sizing is also where ",[22,1018,1020],{"href":1019},"\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.",[14,1023,73],{"id":72},[10,1025,1026,1027,1029,1030,1033,1034,1036],{},"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 — ",[83,1028,98],{}," have been ",[22,1031,1032],{"href":93},"more than 20% underwater"," at some point and ",[83,1035,102],{}," have lost more than half their peak value.",[10,1038,1039],{},"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.",[10,1041,1042,1043,1045,1046,1049,1050,1053],{},"Context for who is doing the sizing: the median autotrading share on these accounts is ",[83,1044,354],{},", and ",[83,1047,1048],{},"53.9%"," run above 90% automated, against ",[83,1051,1052],{},"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.",[14,1055,126],{"id":125},[10,1057,43,1058,1062],{},[22,1059,1061],{"href":1060},"\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.",[10,1064,1065,1066,1068,1069,1072,1073,1076,1077,1080,1081,1087,1088,1090],{},"On a published account page you can audit sizing rather than assume it. The ",[83,1067,397],{}," carries a ",[83,1070,1071],{},"Volume"," column showing the lot size of every individual trade, so a size that steps up after each loser is visible directly. ",[83,1074,1075],{},"Custom Analysis"," adds a ",[83,1078,1079],{},"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. ",[83,1082,1083],{},[22,1084,1086],{"href":1085},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-volume-analysis","Total Lots"," in the ",[83,1089,808],{}," module gives the aggregate; across published accounts it stands at 1,724,575 lots traded.",[14,1092,187],{"id":186},[189,1094,1095,1101,1112,1118],{},[192,1096,1097,1100],{},[83,1098,1099],{},"\"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.",[192,1102,1103,1106,1107,1111],{},[83,1104,1105],{},"\"I risk 1% per trade, so my worst case is 1%.\""," Only with one position open. ",[22,1108,1110],{"href":1109},"\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.",[192,1113,1114,1117],{},[83,1115,1116],{},"\"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.",[192,1119,1120,1123],{},[83,1121,1122],{},"\"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.",[10,1125,1126,1127,223],{},"For the full set of risk and sizing tools and when each one applies, see ",[22,1128,1130],{"href":1129},"\u002Fguides\u002Fforex-calculators-guide","the forex calculators guide",{"title":40,"searchDepth":225,"depth":225,"links":1132},[1133,1134,1135,1136,1137],{"id":16,"depth":225,"text":17},{"id":57,"depth":225,"text":58},{"id":72,"depth":225,"text":73},{"id":125,"depth":225,"text":126},{"id":186,"depth":225,"text":187},"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.",false,{},[453,454,1142,1143],"what-is-a-stop-loss","what-is-leverage",{"title":938,"description":1138},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","Position Sizing","qP5mfGAxSuWSiccKuy0i_N8LQtpN2UHwOG-ZOVxOViU",1787415694795]