[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1334},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record-related":328},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":312,"date":313,"description":314,"draft":315,"extension":316,"meta":317,"navigation":315,"path":318,"related":319,"seo":324,"stem":325,"term":326,"updated":313,"__hash__":327},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record.md","What Is a Track Record in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":304},"minimark",[9,19,24,27,72,75,86,89,93,96,104,108,123,126,133,139,162,178,182,205,220,262,266,297],[10,11,12,13,18],"p",{},"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 ",[14,15,17],"a",{"href":16},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","verified track record",".",[20,21,23],"h2",{"id":22},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,25,26],{},"A record that carries evidence is trade-level, not summary-level. The minimum contents:",[28,29,30,38,49,55,61],"ul",{},[31,32,33,37],"li",{},[34,35,36],"strong",{},"Every closed trade",", with open and close time, instrument, direction, volume, both prices and the result.",[31,39,40,43,44,48],{},[34,41,42],{},"The cost of each trade"," — ",[14,45,47],{"href":46},"\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.",[31,50,51,54],{},[34,52,53],{},"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.",[31,56,57,60],{},[34,58,59],{},"The gaps."," Months without trading are information, as are deposits and withdrawals, which change what a percentage means.",[31,62,63,66,67,71],{},[34,64,65],{},"The cost that cannot be shown",", acknowledged: the ",[14,68,70],{"href":69},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread"," sits inside every fill price and appears in no field.",[10,73,74],{},"Length runs on two independent clocks, and they do not convert into each other.",[76,77,82],"pre",{"className":78,"code":80,"language":81},[79],"language-text","Trade count    -> how much evidence there is about the edge\nCalendar time  -> how many market conditions the edge has met\n","text",[83,84,80],"code",{"__ignoreMap":85},"",[10,87,88],{},"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.",[20,90,92],{"id":91},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,94,95],{},"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.",[10,97,98,99,103],{},"This is why ",[14,100,102],{"href":101},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","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.",[20,105,107],{"id":106},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,109,110,111,114,115,118,119,122],{},"Across the published accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history — drawn from 10,000+ connected accounts and ",[34,112,113],{},"15,436,464"," synchronised trades — the median account has ",[34,116,117],{},"171"," closed trades and a median trade length of ",[34,120,121],{},"2.4 hours",". These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,124,125],{},"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.",[10,127,128],{},[129,130],"img",{"alt":131,"src":132},"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",[10,134,135],{},[136,137,138],"em",{},"Count the trades, not the calendar, and let the shorter clock govern.",[10,140,141,142,145,146,149,150,153,154,157,158,161],{},"The consequence shows in the risk figures. Median deepest drawdown is ",[34,143,144],{},"9.7%",", yet ",[34,147,148],{},"38.2%"," of accounts have been more than 20% below their peak and ",[34,151,152],{},"17.6%"," more than 50%. Median time-weighted return is ",[34,155,156],{},"+3.2%",", with ",[34,159,160],{},"63.0%"," positive. Those tails belong to the longer records; short ones have not had the chance to produce them.",[10,163,164,165,168,169,172,173,177],{},"One pair is worth reading side by side: median win rate ",[34,166,167],{},"68.8%",", median profit factor ",[34,170,171],{},"1.28",". ",[14,174,176],{"href":175},"\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.",[20,179,181],{"id":180},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,183,184,185,188,189,192,193,196,197,200,201,204],{},"The account page is the track record. The trade clock sits in the ",[34,186,187],{},"Advanced Statistics"," module as ",[34,190,191],{},"Total Trades",", beside ",[34,194,195],{},"Avg. Trade Length","; multiply the two and you have the time the account actually spent holding positions. The calendar clock is read from the ",[34,198,199],{},"Monthly Returns"," 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 ",[34,202,203],{},"Calendar"," view drills into a single month day by day.",[10,206,207,208,211,212,215,216,219],{},"The information icon beside ",[34,209,210],{},"Account Stats"," shows ",[34,213,214],{},"Created"," and ",[34,217,218],{},"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.",[10,221,222,223,226,227,230,231,234,235,215,238,241,242,245,246,234,249,234,252,234,255,215,258,261],{},"Trade-level detail sits in the ",[34,224,225],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," table, one row per position, with ",[34,228,229],{},"Net P\u002FL"," always shown and ",[34,232,233],{},"Profit (Gross)",", ",[34,236,237],{},"Swap",[34,239,240],{},"Commission"," available as separate columns from the ",[34,243,244],{},"Display"," menu. The charts panel switches between ",[34,247,248],{},"Growth",[34,250,251],{},"Balance",[34,253,254],{},"Profit",[34,256,257],{},"Growth by Trade",[34,259,260],{},"Drawdown","; Growth by Trade replaces the calendar clock with the trade clock on the same data. Owners can hide individual modules from the public view.",[20,263,265],{"id":264},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[28,267,268,274,280,291],{},[31,269,270,273],{},[34,271,272],{},"\"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.",[31,275,276,279],{},[34,277,278],{},"\"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.",[31,281,282,285,286,290],{},[34,283,284],{},"\"Published means verified.\""," They are different properties. A record can be complete, detailed and ",[14,287,289],{"href":288},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","entirely fabricated","; provenance is what the certification badges address.",[31,292,293,296],{},[34,294,295],{},"\"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.",[10,298,299,300,18],{},"For the arithmetic of sample size and the minimums worth applying: ",[14,301,303],{"href":302},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","how long before a track record means anything",{"title":85,"searchDepth":305,"depth":305,"links":306},2,[307,308,309,310,311],{"id":22,"depth":305,"text":23},{"id":91,"depth":305,"text":92},{"id":106,"depth":305,"text":107},{"id":180,"depth":305,"text":181},{"id":264,"depth":305,"text":265},"Verification","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","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.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record",[320,321,322,323],"what-is-a-verified-track-record","what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-a-profit-factor","what-is-cost-percentage",{"title":5,"description":314},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","Track Record","K1aCBd9ixIw5BopJGReJHccEjG4V66m99Stl3sOBbKM",[329,608,793,1023],{"id":330,"title":331,"body":332,"category":596,"date":313,"description":597,"draft":598,"extension":316,"meta":599,"navigation":315,"path":600,"related":601,"seo":605,"stem":606,"term":498,"updated":313,"__hash__":607},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor.md","What Is Profit Factor? Formula, Good Values, Real Data",{"type":7,"value":333,"toc":589},[334,337,339,345,348,351,357,360,428,430,433,439,447,449,463,469,474,481,492,494,521,546,548,582],[10,335,336],{},"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.",[20,338,23],{"id":22},[76,340,343],{"className":341,"code":342,"language":81},[79],"Profit Factor = Gross Profit \u002F |Gross Loss|\n",[83,344,342],{"__ignoreMap":85},[10,346,347],{},"Note what the formula ignores: how long the account traded, how much capital it used, and how deep it fell along the way.",[10,349,350],{},"It can also be written in terms of win rate and average trade size, which is where it becomes diagnostic:",[76,352,355],{"className":353,"code":354,"language":81},[79],"Profit Factor = (Win Rate × Avg Win) \u002F ((1 − Win Rate) × Avg Loss)\n",[83,356,354],{"__ignoreMap":85},[10,358,359],{},"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.",[361,362,363,376],"table",{},[364,365,366],"thead",{},[367,368,369,373],"tr",{},[370,371,372],"th",{},"Profit factor",[370,374,375],{},"Reading",[377,378,379,388,396,404,412,420],"tbody",{},[367,380,381,385],{},[382,383,384],"td",{},"Below 1.00",[382,386,387],{},"Loses money — structurally, not marginally",[367,389,390,393],{},[382,391,392],{},"1.00 – 1.10",[382,394,395],{},"Inside the noise. One bad week erases it",[367,397,398,401],{},[382,399,400],{},"1.10 – 1.30",[382,402,403],{},"Thin but real edge, if the sample is large",[367,405,406,409],{},[382,407,408],{},"1.30 – 2.00",[382,410,411],{},"A working strategy",[367,413,414,417],{},[382,415,416],{},"2.00 – 3.00",[382,418,419],{},"Strong. Check trade count and cost accounting",[367,421,422,425],{},[382,423,424],{},"Above 3.00",[382,426,427],{},"Rare on long histories: usually a short sample, a few outsized winners, or open losers not yet realised",[20,429,92],{"id":91},[10,431,432],{},"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.",[10,434,435,436,438],{},"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 ",[14,437,102],{"href":101},", or you are measuring the destination without the trip.",[10,440,441,442,446],{},"The same caution applies to a profit factor quoted from a ",[14,443,445],{"href":444},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","backtest",": optimisers maximise exactly this ratio, so a high backtested value often measures the fitting process rather than the strategy.",[20,448,107],{"id":106},[10,450,451,452,455,456,462],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the ",[34,453,454],{},"median profit factor is 1.28"," and the ",[34,457,458,461],{},[14,459,460],{"href":175},"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.",[10,464,465],{},[129,466],{"alt":467,"src":468},"Medians across public ShowMyTrades accounts: a 68.8% win rate beside a 1.28 profit factor","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwin-rate-vs-payoff.svg",[10,470,471],{},[136,472,473],{},"Two medians from the same set: the win rate looks strong, the edge behind it is thin.",[10,475,476,477,480],{},"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 ",[34,478,479],{},"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.",[10,482,483,484,487,488,491],{},"The median Sharpe ratio on the same set is ",[34,485,486],{},"0.05",", and the median account has ",[34,489,490],{},"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.",[20,493,181],{"id":180},[10,495,496,499,500,502,503,234,506,234,509,234,512,234,515,215,517,520],{},[34,497,498],{},"Profit Factor"," sits in the ",[34,501,187],{}," module on every published account page, alongside the numbers that explain it: ",[34,504,505],{},"Win Rate",[34,507,508],{},"Avg. Win",[34,510,511],{},"Avg. Loss",[34,513,514],{},"Expectancy",[34,516,191],{},[34,518,519],{},"Sharpe Ratio",". The six together say what the single ratio cannot.",[10,522,523,524,526,527,215,529,531,532,215,535,538,539,545],{},"Two product details matter. First, the costs already inside the ratio are itemised separately: the trades table carries ",[34,525,233],{}," with ",[34,528,237],{},[34,530,240],{}," as their own columns, and Advanced Statistics totals ",[34,533,534],{},"Total Commissions",[34,536,537],{},"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, ",[14,540,542],{"href":541},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets",[34,543,544],{},"Custom Analysis"," 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.",[20,547,265],{"id":264},[28,549,550,559,570,576],{},[31,551,552,555,556,18],{},[34,553,554],{},"\"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 ",[14,557,558],{"href":46},"once commission and swap are applied",[31,560,561,564,565,569],{},[34,562,563],{},"\"A high profit factor means low risk.\""," It says nothing about drawdown, position size or sequence. A martingale ",[14,566,568],{"href":567},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position-sizing"," progression can post 4.00 right up to the day it does not.",[31,571,572,575],{},[34,573,574],{},"\"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.",[31,577,578,581],{},[34,579,580],{},"\"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.",[10,583,584,585,18],{},"For which metrics to track over time and in what order, see ",[14,586,588],{"href":587},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","the guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":85,"searchDepth":305,"depth":305,"links":590},[591,592,593,594,595],{"id":22,"depth":305,"text":23},{"id":91,"depth":305,"text":92},{"id":106,"depth":305,"text":107},{"id":180,"depth":305,"text":181},{"id":264,"depth":305,"text":265},"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,{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor",[602,321,603,604],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-position-sizing","what-is-backtesting",{"title":331,"description":597},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","0loLRuqRU0mx9nEOfjdEFW6U1Fb_JAC1jN2JQSkIjuE",{"id":609,"title":610,"body":611,"category":312,"date":313,"description":784,"draft":598,"extension":316,"meta":785,"navigation":315,"path":16,"related":786,"seo":789,"stem":790,"term":791,"updated":313,"__hash__":792},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record.md","What Is a Verified Track Record? Definition and Checks",{"type":7,"value":612,"toc":777},[613,616,618,640,646,649,655,660,662,674,677,679,689,703,705,726,737,739,770],[10,614,615],{},"A verified track record is a record of trading results that arrives directly from the broker through a read-only connection, continuously, with no step in the chain where the publisher can edit, delete or re-order anything. It is the difference between a claim and evidence. Two separate questions hide inside the phrase, and most arguments about verification come from confusing them.",[20,617,23],{"id":22},[10,619,620,621,234,625,629,630,634,635,639],{},"The first question is whether the data is real. That is answered by the connection itself: a channel that can read the account but never write to it, running without interruption, so the record is built continuously rather than exported at a convenient moment. On ShowMyTrades that channel is one of four — an Expert Advisor installed in MetaTrader 4 or 5, a direct connection using the ",[14,622,624],{"href":623},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","MT4 investor password",[14,626,628],{"href":627},"\u002Fctrader-account-tracking","cTrader OAuth2 authorisation",", or the ",[14,631,633],{"href":632},"\u002Ftradelocker-tracking","TradeLocker REST API",". None of them can place, modify or close an order. Read-only credentials are the industry mechanism for this, and third-party trackers such as ",[14,636,638],{"href":637},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-myfxbook","Myfxbook"," connect MetaTrader accounts the same way.",[76,641,644],{"className":642,"code":643,"language":81},[79],"broker server → read-only connection → ShowMyTrades → public page\n                no editable step anywhere in the chain\n",[83,645,643],{"__ignoreMap":85},[10,647,648],{},"The second question is whether the person publishing the page owns the account. A read-only feed proves the trades exist; it does not prove whose they are, because an investor password can be handed to anyone. Closing that gap requires an action only someone with trading rights can perform: placing a pending order at an unreachable price with the publisher's user ID in the comment field. On cTrader, one OAuth authorisation answers both questions at once.",[10,650,651],{},[129,652],{"alt":653,"src":654},"Track Record Verified answers whether the data arrived from the broker through a channel that cannot place, modify or close an order; Trading Privileges Verified answers whether the publisher controls the account","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Ftwo-badges.svg",[10,656,657],{},[136,658,659],{},"A record can pass one and fail the other, which is why they are counted separately.",[20,661,92],{"id":91},[10,663,664,665,455,669,673],{},"Everything downstream of the connection is arithmetic. If the inputs can be edited, the profit factor, the ",[14,666,668],{"href":667},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown",[14,670,672],{"href":671},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","equity curve"," are all decoration, no matter how detailed the page looks. A screenshot, a PDF statement and a spreadsheet share the same defect: they are produced by the person asking you to trust them.",[10,675,676],{},"Continuity matters as much as read-only access. A record that can be paused and resumed lets a bad month disappear. When the feed is continuous, an interruption is itself visible on the page — which is information, not an absence of it.",[20,678,107],{"id":106},[10,680,681,682,215,685,688],{},"Verification is opt-in and requires effort, and the numbers reflect that. Across the 10,000+ accounts published on ShowMyTrades (August 2026), only ",[34,683,684],{},"65 carry Track Record Verified",[34,686,687],{},"264 carry Trading Privileges Verified",". More accounts prove ownership than prove data provenance, because placing one pending order is easier than changing a password at the broker.",[10,690,691,692,696,697,699,700,702],{},"Verified does not mean good. Across the public accounts with trading history, median ",[14,693,695],{"href":694},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","time-weighted return"," is ",[34,698,156],{},", 63.0% are positive, and the median deepest drawdown is ",[34,701,144],{}," — with 17.6% of accounts having lost more than half their peak value at some point. That distribution, built from 15,436,464 synchronised trades, is what an honest record looks like, and it is nothing like the ones used in advertising.",[20,704,181],{"id":180},[10,706,707,708,711,712,215,714,717,718,721,722,725],{},"Both badges sit in the ",[34,709,710],{},"Certifications"," group in the header of every account page, above the numbers: ",[34,713,326],{},[34,715,716],{},"Trading Privileges",", green when granted and grey when not, each with a tooltip explaining what it certifies for that platform. The same group also shows ",[34,719,720],{},"Real Account"," or ",[34,723,724],{},"Demo Account",", derived from the broker server rather than self-declared.",[10,727,728,729,732,733,736],{},"Verification is managed in the account settings, where the ",[34,730,731],{},"Investor Password (Optional)"," field lives — clear it and the Track Record badge turns grey on the same save. Both badges are also rendered inside the ",[34,734,735],{},"Complete Dashboard"," widget, which embeds the account header, so an embed on someone else's site carries its own provenance.",[20,738,265],{"id":264},[28,740,741,752,758,764],{},[31,742,743,746,747,751],{},[34,744,745],{},"A link to a tracking site is not verification."," ",[14,748,750],{"href":749},"\u002Fguides\u002Fthird-party-verification-explained","Any platform can host an unverified account",". Look for the badge on the page, not for the domain in the URL.",[31,753,754,757],{},[34,755,756],{},"Track Record Verified does not prove ownership."," It proves the trades are real. Someone reselling another trader's investor password can produce a genuine feed of trades that are not theirs.",[31,759,760,763],{},[34,761,762],{},"Verified is not the same as profitable."," The badge certifies provenance and nothing else. Read gain and drawdown together afterwards.",[31,765,766,769],{},[34,767,768],{},"A verified demo account is still a demo account."," Demo fills are optimistic in exactly the conditions where live fills hurt.",[10,771,772,773,18],{},"The procedure for both badges, step by step: ",[14,774,776],{"href":775},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","how to verify your trading account",{"title":85,"searchDepth":305,"depth":305,"links":778},[779,780,781,782,783],{"id":22,"depth":305,"text":23},{"id":91,"depth":305,"text":92},{"id":106,"depth":305,"text":107},{"id":180,"depth":305,"text":181},{"id":264,"depth":305,"text":265},"A verified track record is performance data pulled straight from the broker through a read-only link, continuously, with nothing the publisher can edit.",{},[787,788,602],"what-is-an-mt4-investor-password","what-is-myfxbook",{"title":610,"description":784},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","Verified Track Record","im3JV0qh8wz_ZbgStl23aUhUUL79OEa_VDXyYyMF254",{"id":794,"title":795,"body":796,"category":1012,"date":313,"description":1013,"draft":315,"extension":316,"meta":1014,"navigation":315,"path":46,"related":1015,"seo":1019,"stem":1020,"term":1021,"updated":313,"__hash__":1022},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage.md","What Is Cost Percentage in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":797,"toc":1005},[798,801,803,806,812,815,818,829,835,841,846,848,860,863,865,880,887,901,903,906,932,962,970,972,998],[10,799,800],{},"Cost percentage is the share of an account's gross trading result consumed by commission and swap, expressed as a percentage. It answers the question a raw cost total cannot: not how much you paid, but how much of what the strategy produced you were allowed to keep. Two accounts can pay identical commissions and be in completely different businesses.",[20,802,23],{"id":22},[10,804,805],{},"Costs are already deducted from every profit figure shown on an account page, so the ratio starts by adding them back to reconstruct what the strategy generated.",[76,807,810],{"className":808,"code":809,"language":81},[79],"Gross result = Net result + Commissions paid + Swap paid\nCost %       = (Commissions paid + Swap paid) \u002F Gross result x 100\n",[83,811,809],{"__ignoreMap":85},[10,813,814],{},"Enter both cost figures as positive amounts — you are undoing a deduction, not applying one. Swap runs either way: an account that is a net receiver holds a credit, not a cost, and it does not belong in the numerator.",[10,816,817],{},"Worked quickly: an account showing $4,900 of commissions, $700 of swap paid and a net result of +$2,100 produced a gross result of $7,700, of which $5,600 went to the broker. That is 72.7%; the trader kept the other $2,100.",[10,819,820,821,824,825,18],{},"The same totals, divided by lots and by trade count, say ",[136,822,823],{},"why",". A ratio driven by the rate per lot is a broker problem; one driven by the number of times that rate was paid is a strategy problem, and only the first is ",[14,826,828],{"href":827},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbroker-cost-audit","fixed by moving accounts",[10,830,831,832,834],{},"One cost cannot be added back: the ",[14,833,70],{"href":69},". It is paid inside the entry and exit prices, so it appears as a line item nowhere — not in MetaTrader, not here. Every cost percentage computed from published figures is therefore a floor, and the gap widens the shorter the average trade.",[10,836,837],{},[129,838],{"alt":839,"src":840},"Gross profit falling through three deductions — spread, commission and swap — to the net result that reaches the balance","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fgross-to-net.svg",[10,842,843],{},[136,844,845],{},"Two of the three can be added back from the page. The spread never appears as a line at all.",[20,847,92],{"id":91},[10,849,850,851,854,855,859],{},"The median ",[14,852,853],{"href":600},"profit factor"," across public accounts on ShowMyTrades is 1.28, and that figure is already net of costs: commission and ",[14,856,858],{"href":857},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","swap"," are folded into each trade before any statistic is computed. Twenty-eight cents of winnings per dollar of losses is the entire margin of survival for the typical published account.",[10,861,862],{},"At that thickness, cost percentage decides which side of 1.0 an account lands on. A strategy that is gross-profitable and net-flat looks healthy from outside: green curve, more green months than red, profit factor above 1.0. Nothing on the page is broken. The edge simply has a silent partner taking most of it.",[20,864,107],{"id":106},[10,866,867,868,871,872,875,876,879],{},"Accounts published on ShowMyTrades have paid ",[34,869,870],{},"$4,782,670"," in commissions and ",[34,873,874],{},"$862,547"," in swap, over ",[34,877,878],{},"1,724,575"," lots. These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,881,882,883,886],{},"Swap is not symmetric. Of the accounts carrying any swap at all, ",[34,884,885],{},"86.3%"," pay net negative swap. Holding overnight is a cost for close to nine accounts in ten; the minority who collect it are usually doing so deliberately.",[10,888,889,890,892,893,897,898,900],{},"Set that against the trading pattern: a median of ",[34,891,117],{}," closed trades per account, with a ",[14,894,896],{"href":895},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length","median trade length"," of ",[34,899,121],{},". A population trading that frequently pays the cost line often, and the shorter the hold, the larger the share of gross result that never reaches the balance.",[20,902,181],{"id":180},[10,904,905],{},"There is no Cost % figure on the page, and none is computed behind it either — no field, no tile, no stored value. What the page publishes are the inputs, and the ratio is a two-minute calculation on them.",[10,907,908,909,911,912,915,916,234,918,234,920,215,923,925,926,928,929,931],{},"The ",[34,910,187],{}," module, ",[136,913,914],{},"Trades"," column, carries ",[34,917,534],{},[34,919,537],{},[34,921,922],{},"Total Lots",[34,924,191],{},". Total Swap Paid is coloured — red for a net payer, green for a net receiver — so its direction is readable without checking the sign. The net result to divide by is ",[34,927,254],{},", in the ",[34,930,210],{}," panel beside the charts.",[10,933,934,935,937,938,940,941,234,943,215,945,947,948,950,951,954,955,215,958,961],{},"Per-trade detail sits in the ",[34,936,225],{}," table. ",[34,939,229],{}," is always shown; ",[34,942,233],{},[34,944,237],{},[34,946,240],{}," are separate columns that are hidden by default and switched on from the ",[34,949,244],{}," menu. ",[34,952,953],{},"Breakdown Statistics"," splits the record ",[34,956,957],{},"By Symbol",[34,959,960],{},"By Magic Number",", but its columns are Trades, Pips and Profit — net of costs, with no cost line of its own, so it localises where the volume and the result concentrate rather than the spend itself.",[10,963,964,965,969],{},"Two caveats. An owner can ",[14,966,968],{"href":967},"\u002Fguides\u002Fpublic-profile-and-custom-slugs","hide any of these modules from their public page",", so an account showing no cost block is not an account without costs. And the per-lot cost benchmark our backend computes is shown to the account owner in their own dashboard only, never on a public page.",[20,971,265],{"id":264},[28,973,974,980,986,992],{},[31,975,976,979],{},[34,977,978],{},"\"My commissions are low, so costs are not my problem.\""," Low against what? Four thousand dollars is a rounding error on eighty thousand of gross result and fatal on forty-two hundred. The absolute figure means nothing alone.",[31,981,982,985],{},[34,983,984],{},"\"Above 100% is impossible.\""," It is common. It means the strategy produced a gross profit and the account still finished negative.",[31,987,988,991],{},[34,989,990],{},"\"The spread is included.\""," It is not, anywhere. Treat any computed ratio as a floor.",[31,993,994,997],{},[34,995,996],{},"\"Swap only matters to long-term traders.\""," It accrues on any position held past the broker's rollover, including one opened in the afternoon and closed the next morning.",[10,999,1000,1001,18],{},"The full method, with the diagnosis for each range of the ratio: ",[14,1002,1004],{"href":1003},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-cost-percentage","trading cost percentage explained",{"title":85,"searchDepth":305,"depth":305,"links":1006},[1007,1008,1009,1010,1011],{"id":22,"depth":305,"text":23},{"id":91,"depth":305,"text":92},{"id":106,"depth":305,"text":107},{"id":180,"depth":305,"text":181},{"id":264,"depth":305,"text":265},"Costs","Cost percentage is the share of gross trading result taken by commission and swap. Here is the formula, why spread is missing, and what real accounts pay.",{},[1016,1017,322,1018],"what-is-a-spread","what-is-a-swap-in-forex","what-is-a-track-record",{"title":795,"description":1013},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","Cost Percentage","LgRbnF5abnxaaiE6z0jnuw6vMqX85daCthhRUX1svkY",{"id":1024,"title":1025,"body":1026,"category":596,"date":313,"description":1327,"draft":598,"extension":316,"meta":1328,"navigation":315,"path":101,"related":1329,"seo":1330,"stem":1331,"term":1332,"updated":313,"__hash__":1333},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown.md","What Is Maximum Drawdown? Formula and Recovery Maths",{"type":7,"value":1027,"toc":1320},[1028,1035,1037,1040,1046,1049,1100,1107,1126,1128,1131,1193,1196,1203,1205,1211,1217,1222,1233,1254,1256,1270,1285,1287,1313],[10,1029,1030,1031,1034],{},"Maximum drawdown is the largest ",[14,1032,1033],{"href":667},"peak-to-trough decline"," an account has recorded over its entire history, expressed as a percentage of the peak. It is the worst loss the strategy has actually inflicted, as opposed to the worst loss its owner expects. It never decreases: once printed, a 34% maximum drawdown stays at 34% through every subsequent new high.",[20,1036,23],{"id":22},[10,1038,1039],{},"Walk the equity curve forward one point at a time, keeping the highest value seen so far. At each point, measure the fall below that running high. The maximum drawdown is the deepest fall found anywhere on the walk.",[76,1041,1044],{"className":1042,"code":1043,"language":81},[79],"MaxDD % = max over t of [ (Peak(0..t) − Value(t)) \u002F Peak(0..t) ] × 100\n",[83,1045,1043],{"__ignoreMap":85},[10,1047,1048],{},"The result depends entirely on which curve you walk, and ShowMyTrades publishes both.",[361,1050,1051,1067],{},[364,1052,1053],{},[367,1054,1055,1058,1061,1064],{},[370,1056,1057],{},"Metric",[370,1059,1060],{},"Measured on",[370,1062,1063],{},"Open positions counted?",[370,1065,1066],{},"What it tells you",[377,1068,1069,1084],{},[367,1070,1071,1075,1078,1081],{},[382,1072,1073],{},[34,1074,260],{},[382,1076,1077],{},"Equity (balance + floating P&L)",[382,1079,1080],{},"Yes",[382,1082,1083],{},"The real fall in what the account was worth at that moment",[367,1085,1086,1091,1094,1097],{},[382,1087,1088],{},[34,1089,1090],{},"DD on Balance",[382,1092,1093],{},"Closed balance only",[382,1095,1096],{},"No",[382,1098,1099],{},"The fall in realised results",[10,1101,1102,1106],{},[14,1103,1105],{"href":1104},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","Balance drawdown"," is the more flattering figure, and it is flattering by construction: an unrealised loss is invisible to it. That is the mechanism behind grid, martingale and averaging-down systems — they keep the balance curve smooth by never closing losers.",[10,1108,1109,1110,215,1113,1116,1117,1120,1121,1125],{},"So an account showing ",[34,1111,1112],{},"Drawdown 41%",[34,1114,1115],{},"DD on Balance 6%"," is not broken. It was 41% underwater while its closed results claimed a rough patch of 6%. The equity figure is the honest one, and the ",[136,1118,1119],{},"gap between the two"," is a description of the strategy. When the two sit close together, positions are being closed near the point where damage is taken — which is what a ",[14,1122,1124],{"href":1123},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop-loss"," is for.",[20,1127,92],{"id":91},[10,1129,1130],{},"Recovery is asymmetric, because the gain has to compound off a smaller base than the loss did.",[361,1132,1133,1143],{},[364,1134,1135],{},[367,1136,1137,1140],{},[370,1138,1139],{},"Maximum drawdown",[370,1141,1142],{},"Gain needed to reach the old peak",[377,1144,1145,1153,1161,1169,1177,1185],{},[367,1146,1147,1150],{},[382,1148,1149],{},"10%",[382,1151,1152],{},"11.1%",[367,1154,1155,1158],{},[382,1156,1157],{},"20%",[382,1159,1160],{},"25.0%",[367,1162,1163,1166],{},[382,1164,1165],{},"30%",[382,1167,1168],{},"42.9%",[367,1170,1171,1174],{},[382,1172,1173],{},"50%",[382,1175,1176],{},"100.0%",[367,1178,1179,1182],{},[382,1180,1181],{},"70%",[382,1183,1184],{},"233.3%",[367,1186,1187,1190],{},[382,1188,1189],{},"90%",[382,1191,1192],{},"900.0%",[10,1194,1195],{},"Under 20% the asymmetry is a nuisance. Past 50% it becomes the dominant fact of the account: you have to double your money with the same strategy that just halved it.",[10,1197,1198,1199,1202],{},"Maximum drawdown is also the number that sets your practical leverage ceiling. If a system has historically drawn down 30%, running it at double ",[14,1200,1201],{"href":567},"position size"," implies a 60% drawdown you have no evidence you can sit through.",[20,1204,107],{"id":106},[10,1206,1207,1208,1210],{},"The numbers here come from accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not from traders at large. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the median deepest drawdown is ",[34,1209,144],{},", and the spread around that median is wide in both directions.",[10,1212,1213],{},[129,1214],{"alt":1215,"src":1216},"Deepest drawdown across public ShowMyTrades accounts: 38.5% under 5%, 23.3% between 5% and 20%, 20.6% between 20% and 50%, 17.6% over 50%","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fdrawdown-distribution.svg",[10,1218,1219],{},[136,1220,1221],{},"Median 9.7%, and the tail is longer than most published claims allow for.",[10,1223,1224,1225,1228,1229,1232],{},"At the far end, ",[34,1226,1227],{},"17.6% have fallen more than 50%"," below their peak and ",[34,1230,1231],{},"38.2% have been more than 20% underwater",". Roughly one account in six has therefore faced the 50% row of the recovery table above: a 100% gain required just to get back to level.",[10,1234,1235,1236,1239,1240,1242,1243,897,1245,1247,1248,1251,1252,18],{},"The near end deserves the same scepticism: ",[34,1237,1238],{},"38.5%"," record a maximum drawdown under 5%. Some of those are genuinely conservative. Many are simply young. The median published account holds ",[34,1241,490],{}," at a ",[14,1244,896],{"href":895},[34,1246,121],{},"; on a sample that size, a small maximum drawdown records what has not happened yet rather than what cannot. A maximum drawdown is a claim about the tail of a distribution, and ",[14,1249,1250],{"href":302},"tails need history behind them"," — which is why the figure is only worth much on a ",[14,1253,17],{"href":16},[20,1255,181],{"id":180},[10,1257,908,1258,1260,1261,215,1263,1265,1266,1269],{},[34,1259,210],{}," panel on every published account page shows ",[34,1262,260],{},[34,1264,1090],{}," on consecutive rows below ",[34,1267,1268],{},"Avg Monthly %",", both derived from the broker feed rather than self-reported. Compare them first; the divergence is the fastest read on the page.",[10,1271,1272,1273,1275,1276,1279,1280,1284],{},"The charts module includes a dedicated ",[34,1274,260],{}," view, which plots daily drawdown as bars and so answers the question the headline percentage cannot: how ",[136,1277,1278],{},"long"," the account stayed below its high-water mark. A 25% drawdown recovered in seven weeks and a 25% drawdown still open fourteen months later print the identical number and are not the same account. The ",[14,1281,1283],{"href":1282},"\u002Ftools\u002Fdrawdown-calculator","drawdown calculator"," runs the recovery table above against your own balance.",[20,1286,265],{"id":264},[28,1288,1289,1295,1301,1307],{},[31,1290,1291,1294],{},[34,1292,1293],{},"\"My maximum drawdown improved this year.\""," It cannot improve. It is a historical maximum, and a good year cannot un-print it.",[31,1296,1297,1300],{},[34,1298,1299],{},"\"The two drawdown figures should match.\""," They match only when positions are closed near the loss. A wide gap is the signature of held losers, not a data error.",[31,1302,1303,1306],{},[34,1304,1305],{},"\"Small max drawdown, low risk.\""," Not on a short history. Ask how many trades and how many months produced it before treating it as a risk measure.",[31,1308,1309,1312],{},[34,1310,1311],{},"\"Percentage drawdown and money drawdown are interchangeable.\""," A 30% fall on a $2,000 account and on a $200,000 account are the same risk profile and very different experiences — but only the percentage is comparable between accounts.",[10,1314,1315,1316,18],{},"For maximum drawdown in context with every other metric on a live account page, read ",[14,1317,1319],{"href":1318},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","how to read a trading account dashboard",{"title":85,"searchDepth":305,"depth":305,"links":1321},[1322,1323,1324,1325,1326],{"id":22,"depth":305,"text":23},{"id":91,"depth":305,"text":92},{"id":106,"depth":305,"text":107},{"id":180,"depth":305,"text":181},{"id":264,"depth":305,"text":265},"Maximum drawdown is the deepest peak-to-trough fall an account ever recorded. The formula, the recovery table, and the real spread across thousands of accounts.",{},[602,603,320,322],{"title":1025,"description":1327},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","Maximum Drawdown","ApNMddCmg0QCLnuOwuyL_buXf8nvEi3z-WICzHc5jDU",1787415685457]