[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1186},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader-related":333},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":316,"date":317,"description":318,"draft":319,"extension":320,"meta":321,"navigation":319,"path":322,"related":323,"seo":329,"stem":330,"term":331,"updated":317,"__hash__":332},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader.md","What Is MetaTrader? MT4 vs MT5, Explained",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":308},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,32,41,44,121,129,133,136,144,148,178,185,189,205,223,234,269,273,301],[10,11,12],"p",{},"MetaTrader is a trading platform built by MetaQuotes and licensed to brokers, who run their own servers and give clients the terminal to install. Two versions are in active use: MetaTrader 4, released in 2005, and MetaTrader 5, released in 2010. MetaTrader is not a broker and holds no money — it is the software layer between you and whichever broker issued your login.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,19,20],{},"Every MetaTrader setup has three parts, and confusing them is the source of most support questions.",[22,23,28],"pre",{"className":24,"code":26,"language":27},[25],"language-text","Terminal (your PC or VPS)      ← charts, Expert Advisors, client-side logic\n    ↕ round trip measured as ping\nTrade server (your broker)     ← balance, order matching, server-held SL\u002FTP\nMQL (MQL4 or MQL5)             ← the language EAs and indicators are written in\n","text",[29,30,26],"code",{"__ignoreMap":31},"",[10,33,34,35,40],{},"You log in with an account number, a server name and a password. There are two passwords against the same account: the master password, which can trade, and the ",[36,37,39],"a",{"href":38},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","investor password",", which is read-only and is the standard credential for third-party verification.",[10,42,43],{},"What actually differs between the versions:",[45,46,47,62],"table",{},[48,49,50],"thead",{},[51,52,53,56,59],"tr",{},[54,55],"th",{},[54,57,58],{},"MT4",[54,60,61],{},"MT5",[63,64,65,77,88,99,110],"tbody",{},[51,66,67,71,74],{},[68,69,70],"td",{},"Language",[68,72,73],{},"MQL4",[68,75,76],{},"MQL5",[51,78,79,82,85],{},[68,80,81],{},"Accounting",[68,83,84],{},"Order-based: one order is one position",[68,86,87],{},"Deal and position based, netting or hedging",[51,89,90,93,96],{},[68,91,92],{},"Timeframes",[68,94,95],{},"9",[68,97,98],{},"21",[51,100,101,104,107],{},[68,102,103],{},"Markets",[68,105,106],{},"Forex and CFDs",[68,108,109],{},"Adds exchange-traded instruments and depth of market",[51,111,112,115,118],{},[68,113,114],{},"Strategy tester",[68,116,117],{},"Single symbol, single thread",[68,119,120],{},"Multi-symbol, multi-threaded, real ticks",[10,122,123,124,128],{},"They are not two versions of one product in any practical sense. MQL4 code does not compile as MQL5, an ",[36,125,127],{"href":126},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","Expert Advisor"," does not port between them, and account history does not move. Migrating means starting a new account.",[14,130,132],{"id":131},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,134,135],{},"Whichever version you run, the terminal is only the window. Your fills, your spread, your swap and your stop triggers are decided by the broker's trade server, and the same MT5 build produces different results at different brokers.",[10,137,138,139,143],{},"What MetaTrader does give you, and what has made it the default for two decades, is a machine-readable record that a third party can read directly from the broker. That is the whole basis of published ",[36,140,142],{"href":141},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","track records",": a read-only credential, an open feed, and no file the trader gets to edit on the way out.",[14,145,147],{"id":146},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,149,150,151,155,156,159,160,164,165,169,170,173,174,177],{},"MetaTrader is very nearly the whole market we see. Of the ",[152,153,154],"strong",{},"10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades"," (August 2026), the overwhelming majority run ",[152,157,158],{},"MT4 or MT5",", alongside ",[36,161,163],{"href":162},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader","cTrader"," and ",[36,166,168],{"href":167},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker","TradeLocker",". Those accounts reach ",[152,171,172],{},"703 distinct broker servers"," and have produced ",[152,175,176],{},"15,436,464 synchronised trades",".",[10,179,180,181,184],{},"MT5 outnumbers MT4 by more than four to one here. That is a statement about the accounts arriving on this platform in 2026, not a verdict on either version; plenty of long-running MT4 records are still the better track record on the page. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[152,182,183],{},"median autotrading share is 99%"," — only possible because both versions run code natively, with no bridge, no API key and no third-party plumbing.",[14,186,188],{"id":187},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,190,191,192,195,196,195,199,201,202,204],{},"The account header shows the platform as a badge — ",[152,193,194],{},"MetaTrader 4",", ",[152,197,198],{},"MetaTrader 5",[152,200,163],{}," or ",[152,203,168],{}," — beside the broker, the account currency, the leverage and the automation split.",[10,206,207,208,164,212,215,216,164,219,222],{},"When you add an account, the connection picker names the difference directly: ",[209,210,211],"em",{},"MetaTrader 4 with EA",[209,213,214],{},"MetaTrader 5 with EA"," are marked recommended because updates are far more frequent, while ",[209,217,218],{},"MetaTrader 4 Direct Connection",[209,220,221],{},"MetaTrader 5 Direct Connection",", both still labelled Beta, sync from the broker using the investor password with nothing installed in your terminal.",[10,224,225,226,229,230,233],{},"That choice changes what the page can show, on either version. Only an EA connection produces the ",[152,227,228],{},"Terminal & Open Charts"," module, where the terminal reports on its own host and link and lists the charts and Expert Advisors currently loaded. On MT4 the same module is titled simply ",[152,231,232],{},"Terminal",", because the MT4 EA does not report the chart list at all — we show nothing rather than claim no charts are open.",[10,235,236,237,243,244,247,248,164,251,254,255,259,260,263,264,268],{},"Verification is version-neutral. The header carries a ",[152,238,239],{},[36,240,242],{"href":241},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","Track Record"," badge, green once the read-only investor password is on file, and a ",[152,245,246],{},"Trading Privileges"," badge, green once a pending order carrying your ShowMyTrades user ID in the comment field has been placed. Across the connected accounts, ",[152,249,250],{},"65 hold Track Record Verified",[152,252,253],{},"264 Trading Privileges Verified",". ",[36,256,258],{"href":257},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmagic-numbers-and-strategy-labels","Per-strategy reporting"," in ",[152,261,262],{},"Breakdown Statistics → By Magic Number"," is an MT4 and MT5 capability, because the ",[36,265,267],{"href":266},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","magic number"," field is a MetaTrader concept.",[14,270,272],{"id":271},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[274,275,276,283,289,295],"ul",{},[277,278,279,282],"li",{},[152,280,281],{},"\"MetaTrader is my broker.\""," It is software your broker licenses. Deposits, withdrawals, spreads and execution are the broker's, and complaints go to them.",[277,284,285,288],{},[152,286,287],{},"\"MT5 is MT4 with more features.\""," It is a rewrite. EAs, indicators and scripts have to be rebuilt, which is why many working systems never moved.",[277,290,291,294],{},[152,292,293],{},"\"MT5 does not allow hedging.\""," It supports both netting and hedging; which one applies is set by the broker when the account is opened, and it cannot be changed afterwards.",[277,296,297,300],{},[152,298,299],{},"\"The platform decides my fills.\""," The trade server does. Two terminals of the same build, on two brokers, will not fill the same order the same way.",[10,302,303,304,177],{},"To turn a MetaTrader login into a record other people can check: ",[36,305,307],{"href":306},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","how to verify your trading account",{"title":31,"searchDepth":309,"depth":309,"links":310},2,[311,312,313,314,315],{"id":16,"depth":309,"text":17},{"id":131,"depth":309,"text":132},{"id":146,"depth":309,"text":147},{"id":187,"depth":309,"text":188},{"id":271,"depth":309,"text":272},"Platforms","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","MetaTrader is the platform most retail forex accounts run on. What separates MT4 from MT5, what the investor password does, and the real platform split we see.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader",[324,325,326,327,328],"what-is-an-mt4-investor-password","what-is-an-expert-advisor","what-is-a-magic-number","what-is-a-vps","what-is-ctrader",{"title":5,"description":318},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader","MetaTrader","MKdDWOKBnGlWX-ZwLgaS8-7RFBIRZWEdssYltOPR2Z8",[334,551,730,914,1063],{"id":335,"title":336,"body":337,"category":541,"date":317,"description":542,"draft":319,"extension":320,"meta":543,"navigation":319,"path":266,"related":544,"seo":548,"stem":549,"term":459,"updated":317,"__hash__":550},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number.md","What Is a Magic Number in MT4 and MT5?",{"type":7,"value":338,"toc":534},[339,348,350,353,359,362,382,385,387,395,398,400,409,432,434,465,500,502,528],[10,340,341,342,344,345,347],{},"A magic number is an integer that an ",[36,343,127],{"href":126}," writes onto every order it sends, and that ",[36,346,331],{"href":322}," carries for the life of the trade. It exists so that several strategies can share one account and still be told apart afterwards. Trades placed by hand carry zero.",[14,349,17],{"id":16},[10,351,352],{},"The number is a parameter of the order-sending call, set by the code, not by the broker or the platform.",[22,354,357],{"className":355,"code":356,"language":27},[25],"MT4:  OrderSend(symbol, cmd, lots, price, slip, sl, tp, comment, magic, ...)\nMT5:  request.magic = 55566;   → carried onto the position and every deal\nManual click:  magic = 0\n",[29,358,356],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,360,361],{},"Three properties follow from that, and all three catch people out.",[274,363,364,370,376],{},[277,365,366,369],{},[152,367,368],{},"Nothing validates it."," No component checks the value for uniqueness or meaning. Two EAs configured with the same integer are merged permanently in the record, and each one will treat the other's positions as its own to manage.",[277,371,372,375],{},[152,373,374],{},"Zero is a real value, not an empty one."," It is what a manual click carries, and also what any EA whose magic input was never changed from its default carries, so the two become the same thing.",[277,377,378,381],{},[152,379,380],{},"It cannot be added later."," The value is fixed the moment the request leaves the terminal and stored with the trade; history that arrived as zero remains zero for good.",[10,383,384],{},"Other platforms express the same idea in a different field: a cBot on cTrader writes a text label, TradeLocker attaches a strategy id to the order, and a numeric one is read here as a magic number. In practice the per-strategy split is MT4 and MT5 territory.",[14,386,132],{"id":131},[10,388,389,390,394],{},"Run three strategies on one account and every headline number on the page is a blend. ",[36,391,393],{"href":392},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","Profit factor",", win rate, drawdown and the equity curve are all computed on the merged stream, so a strategy that loses steadily can sit inside a winning total for months without ever showing up as a line on any chart. The account looks healthy because, in aggregate, it is.",[10,396,397],{},"The magic number is the only field that survives that merge. Set properly, your history arrives already split into separate track records you can compare, size differently or retire one at a time. Set carelessly, no analysis performed afterwards can reconstruct it.",[14,399,147],{"id":146},[10,401,402,403,164,405,408],{},"This one field carries more weight here than most owners realise, because the automation figure on every account page is computed from it: a trade is counted as automated when it arrives with a non-zero magic number, or with a strategy label on the platforms that use one instead. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026) the ",[152,404,183],{},[152,406,407],{},"53.9% of accounts are more than 90% automated",", which is the same statement as saying nearly every order on those accounts turned up already tagged.",[10,410,411,412,415,416,420,421,425,426,164,429,177],{},"The reason to label early is sample size. The ",[152,413,414],{},"median account has 171 closed trades",". Split across three strategies that is roughly fifty-seven each, below the point where ",[36,417,419],{"href":418},"\u002Fguides\u002Fwin-rate-is-not-an-edge","a win rate"," or a profit factor carries information. Tagging from the first order is what gets each strategy to a readable sample before you have to make a decision about it. The alternative — ",[36,422,424],{"href":423},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","one account per strategy"," — is common here too: ",[152,427,428],{},"699 users run more than one account",[152,430,431],{},"429 across more than one broker",[14,433,188],{"id":187},[10,435,436,437,440,441,444,445,448,449,452,453,456,457,460,461,464],{},"The ",[152,438,439],{},"Breakdown Statistics"," module — listed as ",[209,442,443],{},"Currency Pair Statistics"," in your account settings — carries a ",[152,446,447],{},"By Magic Number"," tab next to ",[209,450,451],{},"By Symbol",", which appears as soon as the account has closed trades to break down. Each row shows ",[152,454,455],{},"EA \u002F Strategy",", the raw ",[152,458,459],{},"Magic Number",", trades, profit, and won\u002Flost counts with percentages. The row for magic 0 is labelled ",[152,462,463],{},"Manual",", and it is the one row that cannot be renamed: it is not a strategy, it is everything that arrived untagged.",[10,466,436,467,469,470,473,474,477,478,481,482,488,489,492,493,201,496,499],{},[152,468,455],{}," cell is editable in place, which is how 55566 becomes a name you will still recognise in six months. Those names then follow the data: the ",[152,471,472],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[152,475,476],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," offers a ",[152,479,480],{},"Magic"," column carrying the raw integer per ticket, and the ",[36,483,485],{"href":484},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets",[152,486,487],{},"Custom Analysis"," slideover has a ",[152,490,491],{},"Magic Numbers"," filter whose chips read ",[209,494,495],{},"Manual (0)",[209,497,498],{},"Label - 55566",". Select one and every statistic on the page is recomputed for that strategy alone.",[14,501,272],{"id":271},[274,503,504,510,516,522],{},[277,505,506,509],{},[152,507,508],{},"\"I will set magic numbers later.\""," Later does not exist. The field is written at order time and past trades cannot be re-tagged.",[277,511,512,515],{},[152,513,514],{},"\"My EA handles it automatically.\""," Only if the input was changed. A default of 0 is common and silently merges the EA with your manual trades.",[277,517,518,521],{},[152,519,520],{},"\"Manual means I traded by hand.\""," The manual row is the untagged bucket: hand-placed trades plus every EA left at zero.",[277,523,524,527],{},[152,525,526],{},"\"The magic number tells you which robot it is.\""," It tells you nothing. 55566 is whatever the author typed.",[10,529,530,531,177],{},"The full workflow, from naming a strategy to finding the one quietly losing money: ",[36,532,533],{"href":257},"magic numbers and strategy labels",{"title":31,"searchDepth":309,"depth":309,"links":535},[536,537,538,539,540],{"id":16,"depth":309,"text":17},{"id":131,"depth":309,"text":132},{"id":146,"depth":309,"text":147},{"id":187,"depth":309,"text":188},{"id":271,"depth":309,"text":272},"Automation","A magic number is the integer an Expert Advisor stamps on every order it opens, so one account can hold several strategies and still be read one by one.",{},[325,545,546,547],"what-is-metatrader","what-is-a-profit-factor","what-is-backtesting",{"title":336,"description":542},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","Ia1tACbSKWH8AUhr-ic4ZHFe0wTge4PR_HDhPLl1iSY",{"id":552,"title":553,"body":554,"category":316,"date":317,"description":720,"draft":319,"extension":320,"meta":721,"navigation":319,"path":722,"related":723,"seo":726,"stem":727,"term":728,"updated":317,"__hash__":729},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps.md","What Is a VPS in Trading? Why Uptime Decides Results",{"type":7,"value":555,"toc":713},[556,562,564,567,573,576,579,587,589,597,600,602,615,618,620,660,671,678,680,706],[10,557,558,559,561],{},"A VPS, or virtual private server, is a slice of a physical machine in a datacentre that you rent and use like a remote computer. In trading it has one job: run your ",[36,560,331],{"href":322}," terminal continuously, on a connection that does not drop, in a building close to your broker's trade server. For an automated strategy it is not an optimisation — it is the environment the strategy actually lives in.",[14,563,17],{"id":16},[10,565,566],{},"You connect to the VPS over remote desktop, install the terminal there, log in and leave it running. Your own laptop can then be closed, updated or thrown away without the strategy noticing. The two things you are buying are uptime and physical proximity to the trade server, and the second one is measurable as round-trip latency.",[22,568,571],{"className":569,"code":570,"language":27},[25],"Ping = terminal → trade server → terminal, round trip\n",[29,572,570],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,574,575],{},"There is no official threshold for a good number, and the one that matters is relative: the same figure that is unremarkable for a strategy holding positions for days is disqualifying for one working the spread. What is not arguable is the direction — as the round trip grows, fills arrive further from the price the strategy asked for.",[10,577,578],{},"What happens when the terminal goes down mid-position is the part people get wrong. In MetaTrader, a stop loss or take profit attached to an open position is held by the broker's server, so it still triggers with the terminal off. Everything else is client-side and stops dead: new entries, trailing stops, partial closes, break-even moves, virtual stops the Expert Advisor keeps in memory, grid and recovery logic. A martingale system that loses its terminal halfway through a sequence does not pause — it holds an unmanaged basket until the terminal comes back, and the position it would have opened to balance the book never exists.",[10,580,581,582,586],{},"Latency and packet loss matter for a separate reason: they widen the gap between the price your EA decided on and the price it received. That gap is ",[36,583,585],{"href":584},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","slippage",", and no amount of strategy tuning trades around it.",[14,588,132],{"id":131},[10,590,591,592,596],{},"An automated strategy's live result is the strategy plus its execution environment. Two accounts running identical code on different machines produce different curves, and the difference belongs to ping, uptime and fill quality rather than to logic. This is one of the reasons ",[36,593,595],{"href":594},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","backtest"," results overstate live performance: a backtest never disconnects, never misses a bar, and always fills at the modelled price.",[10,598,599],{},"It also matters for anyone reading someone else's record. A track record produced on a 40 ms VPS is not reproducible on a home laptop with 300 ms ping and nightly Windows updates, even with the same EA and the same broker.",[14,601,147],{"id":146},[10,603,604,605,607,608,610,611,614],{},"Automation is the norm on our platform, not the exception. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[152,606,183],{},", and ",[152,609,407],{},". The distribution is barbell-shaped: another ",[152,612,613],{},"42.2% are under 10% automated",", with very little in between. Traders are either fully hands-off or fully manual.",[10,616,617],{},"More than half of the accounts publishing results here therefore depend on a terminal that has to stay up, connected, and permitted to trade — across 703 distinct broker servers and 15,436,464 synchronised trades.",[14,619,188],{"id":187},[10,621,436,622,624,625,631,632,635,636,195,639,642,643,164,646,649,650,195,653,201,656,659],{},[152,623,228],{}," module on the account page reports the live state of the machine the strategy runs on: ",[36,626,628],{"href":627},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-terminal-ping",[152,629,630],{},"Ping"," to the trade server, ",[152,633,634],{},"Retransmission"," (the share of network packets that had to be sent again), ",[152,637,638],{},"Terminal build",[152,640,641],{},"Memory"," of the host machine, and whether ",[152,644,645],{},"Auto trading",[152,647,648],{},"DLL imports"," are allowed. A connection badge reads ",[209,651,652],{},"Connected",[209,654,655],{},"No trade server",[209,657,658],{},"Offline",", next to how long ago the terminal last reported, and the header counts how many of your terminals are online.",[10,661,662,663,667,668,177],{},"Below it, the open charts table lists each chart with its symbol, timeframe, ",[36,664,665],{"href":126},[152,666,127],{}," and indicators — so you can see what is actually loaded, not what is claimed. In the account header, a badge shows the automation split read from the trades themselves, for example ",[209,669,670],{},"99% autotrading",[10,672,673,674,677],{},"This is also what a ",[36,675,676],{"href":241},"verified track record"," looks like when it is honest about its own conditions: the numbers and the environment that produced them, on the same page.",[14,679,272],{"id":271},[274,681,682,688,694,700],{},[277,683,684,687],{},[152,685,686],{},"A VPS does not make a strategy profitable."," It removes missed executions and downtime. If the edge is not there, a faster machine loses money more reliably.",[277,689,690,693],{},[152,691,692],{},"Ping to a website is not ping to the trade server."," The number that matters is the round trip to your broker's server, which is what the terminal reports — a VPS in the wrong city can be slower than your desk.",[277,695,696,699],{},[152,697,698],{},"Low latency does not eliminate slippage."," Spread, liquidity and the broker's execution model still apply. A VPS removes your share of the delay, not theirs.",[277,701,702,705],{},[152,703,704],{},"\"My PC never crashes\" is not the claim being made."," Windows updates, sleep settings, ISP outages and power cuts all disconnect a terminal, and each one happens at a random moment relative to your open positions.",[10,707,708,709,177],{},"To read the rest of an account page with the same scepticism: ",[36,710,712],{"href":711},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","how to read a trading account dashboard",{"title":31,"searchDepth":309,"depth":309,"links":714},[715,716,717,718,719],{"id":16,"depth":309,"text":17},{"id":131,"depth":309,"text":132},{"id":146,"depth":309,"text":147},{"id":187,"depth":309,"text":188},{"id":271,"depth":309,"text":272},"A VPS is an always-on rented server that keeps your trading terminal running and connected when your own computer sleeps, reboots or loses its connection.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps",[724,725,547],"what-is-a-verified-track-record","what-is-slippage",{"title":553,"description":720},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-vps","VPS","I4TIf563St5m6tF3Pb_5h1pPDQHp1v7OdG4YiQx2XLQ",{"id":731,"title":732,"body":733,"category":541,"date":317,"description":908,"draft":319,"extension":320,"meta":909,"navigation":319,"path":126,"related":910,"seo":911,"stem":912,"term":127,"updated":317,"__hash__":913},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor.md","What Is an Expert Advisor? EAs in MetaTrader Explained",{"type":7,"value":734,"toc":901},[735,741,743,746,752,755,765,771,773,776,787,789,800,819,822,824,830,852,866,868,894],[10,736,737,738,740],{},"An Expert Advisor, or EA, is a program written in MetaQuotes' MQL language that runs inside a ",[36,739,331],{"href":322}," terminal and can open, modify and close orders without anyone at the keyboard. It is attached to a single chart, reacts to the price ticks arriving there, and applies the rules it was compiled with. An EA is a way of executing a strategy, not a strategy that works.",[14,742,17],{"id":16},[10,744,745],{},"You compile the code, drop it on a chart, and the terminal calls it every time the market moves.",[22,747,750],{"className":748,"code":749,"language":27},[25],"Price tick arrives on the chart\n  → the EA's tick handler runs\n  → rules are evaluated against price, indicators and open positions\n  → an order is sent, stamped with a magic number\n  → the broker's trade server accepts, rejects or requeues it\n",[29,751,749],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,753,754],{},"Three conditions must hold at once: the terminal is running and logged in, automated trading is permitted, and the broker accepts the request. Break one and the EA keeps running silently while placing nothing.",[10,756,757,758,761,762,764],{},"The critical detail is that an EA is ",[152,759,760],{},"client-side",": it is a guest process inside a program running on a machine you own. The broker's server holds nothing of it except a stop loss or take profit already attached to an open position. Close the terminal and the code is simply not there any more, which is why an unattended strategy belongs on a ",[36,763,728],{"href":722}," rather than a laptop that sleeps.",[10,766,767,768,770],{},"Each order the EA sends carries a ",[36,769,267],{"href":266},", the integer that lets several EAs share one account and still be read apart afterwards.",[14,772,132],{"id":131},[10,774,775],{},"An EA removes hesitation, fatigue and the 3 a.m. problem. It also removes the judgement that would have switched it off. An EA has no idea that its edge stopped working; it will execute a broken rule set with exactly the same discipline it executed a good one.",[10,777,778,779,783,784,786],{},"Consistency of execution is the benefit on offer. Consistency is not profitability, and the gap between the two is where most automated money is lost. A strategy that looks flawless in the tester has usually been fitted to the sample it was tested on — see ",[36,780,782],{"href":781},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-curve-fitting","curve fitting"," — which is why a broker-synced account outranks any ",[36,785,595],{"href":594}," report. The tester shows what the code did to history; the account shows what the code, the broker and the machine did to money together.",[14,788,147],{"id":146},[10,790,791,792,195,794,164,796,799],{},"Automation is the default here, not a niche. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[152,793,183],{},[152,795,407],{},[152,797,798],{},"42.2% sit under 10%",". Two clusters, almost nothing between them: an account here is run either entirely by code or entirely by hand.",[10,801,802,803,810,811,814,815,818],{},"Automation did not flatten the outcomes. The same population shows a ",[152,804,805,806,809],{},"median ",[36,807,808],{"href":392},"profit factor"," of 1.28",", a ",[152,812,813],{},"median deepest drawdown of 9.7%",", and a long left tail: ",[152,816,817],{},"38.2% of accounts have been more than 20% under water, 17.6% more than 50%",". Running a strategy by code changes who presses the button, not what the strategy is worth.",[10,820,821],{},"One boundary we hold to: we never estimate which commercial EA is running on an account. The same product installs with a different magic number on every account that buys it, so nothing in the broker feed identifies software, and a guess published as a fact would be worse than no answer.",[14,823,188],{"id":187},[10,825,826,827,829],{},"The account header carries a badge reading the automation split — for example ",[209,828,670],{},". It is not self-declared: a trade counts as automated when it arrives carrying a non-zero magic number, so the badge is a tally of the EA's own fingerprints on the order flow.",[10,831,832,833,835,836,838,839,841,842,201,845,848,849,851],{},"On an Expert Advisor connection, the ",[152,834,228],{}," module (",[152,837,232],{}," on MT4, whose EA does not report a chart list) shows the environment the code lives in, including ",[152,840,645],{}," reading ",[209,843,844],{},"Allowed",[209,846,847],{},"Blocked"," — the one switch that silently stops an otherwise healthy EA from placing anything. Below the tiles, the open charts table names the ",[152,850,127],{}," loaded on each chart with its symbol, timeframe and indicators: what is running, rather than what is claimed. A password-only Direct Connection never touches your machine, so it reports none of this.",[10,853,854,855,857,858,860,861,865],{},"Per-strategy results live in the ",[152,856,439],{}," module, under the ",[152,859,447],{}," tab, where each EA gets its own row of trades, profit and won\u002Flost split. The ",[36,862,863],{"href":484},[152,864,487],{}," slideover narrows every statistic on the page to a single magic number, isolating one EA.",[14,867,272],{"id":271},[274,869,870,876,882,888],{},[277,871,872,875],{},[152,873,874],{},"\"The EA is the strategy.\""," The EA is the executor. Two EAs implementing the same rules produce the same trades; the rules are what has value.",[277,877,878,881],{},[152,879,880],{},"\"A great backtest means a great EA.\""," It means the code and the history agree. That is the minimum requirement, not evidence.",[277,883,884,887],{},[152,885,886],{},"\"Auto trading is on, so it is trading.\""," Permission is not activity: with the AutoTrading button off the EA still loads and runs, it simply cannot send orders. Accounts go quiet this way for weeks.",[277,889,890,893],{},[152,891,892],{},"\"It runs while my computer is off.\""," It does not. Only the server-held stop loss and take profit survive a terminal that is down.",[10,895,896,897,177],{},"For the specific tells that separate a real automated record from a manufactured one: ",[36,898,900],{"href":899},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","how to spot fake EA results",{"title":31,"searchDepth":309,"depth":309,"links":902},[903,904,905,906,907],{"id":16,"depth":309,"text":17},{"id":131,"depth":309,"text":132},{"id":146,"depth":309,"text":147},{"id":187,"depth":309,"text":188},{"id":271,"depth":309,"text":272},"An Expert Advisor is a program that trades inside MetaTrader on your behalf. What it can do, what it cannot, and how automated the accounts published here are.",{},[545,326,327,547],{"title":732,"description":908},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","2d9v7b7Bxd9O_dMQs14Asam5zM2qY1_3PnoVl22PW6U",{"id":915,"title":916,"body":917,"category":316,"date":317,"description":1055,"draft":319,"extension":320,"meta":1056,"navigation":319,"path":38,"related":1057,"seo":1059,"stem":1060,"term":1061,"updated":317,"__hash__":1062},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password.md","What Is an MT4 Investor Password? Read-Only Access",{"type":7,"value":918,"toc":1048},[919,926,928,931,937,940,955,957,960,966,968,974,981,983,992,1009,1011,1043],[10,920,921,922,177],{},"The investor password is the second password on every MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 account: it logs in to the same account as the master password but in read-only mode. Whoever holds it can watch the account in full detail and change nothing about it. That asymmetry is why it became the standard credential for ",[36,923,925],{"href":924},"\u002Fguides\u002Fthird-party-verification-explained","third-party verification",[14,927,17],{"id":16},[10,929,930],{},"MetaTrader accounts ship with two credentials against the same login number. The master password grants trading rights. The investor password grants observation.",[22,932,935],{"className":933,"code":934,"language":27},[25],"Investor password CAN          Investor password CANNOT\n- see balance and equity       - open a position\n- see open positions           - modify or close a position\n- see closed trade history     - place or delete pending orders\n- see margin and free margin   - withdraw or transfer funds\n- attach charts and indicators - change account settings\n",[29,936,934],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,938,939],{},"A terminal logged in with the investor password shows the New Order button greyed out. The restriction is enforced by the broker's trade server, not by the client, so it cannot be worked around by patching the terminal.",[10,941,942,943,946,947,950,951,954],{},"You set it yourself, and you can change it at any time. In MT4: ",[152,944,945],{},"Tools → Options → Server",", then ",[209,948,949],{},"Change"," next to the investor password. In MT5: ",[152,952,953],{},"Tools → Options → Account → Change Password",", selecting the investor option. Changing it revokes access for everyone holding the old one, immediately.",[14,956,132],{"id":131},[10,958,959],{},"It solves a problem that has no other clean solution: proving your results to a stranger without giving that stranger the ability to trade your money. Before read-only credentials, the alternatives were screenshots and broker statements, both of which are files the trader produces.",[10,961,962,963,965],{},"It also has a limit worth stating plainly. An investor password proves the trades are real; it does not prove they are yours, because the password can be forwarded to anyone. That is why a full ",[36,964,676],{"href":241}," needs a second, separate check of ownership.",[14,967,147],{"id":146},[10,969,970,971,973],{},"The credential covers most of the market we see: of the 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026), the overwhelming majority are ",[36,972,331],{"href":322},", spread over 703 distinct broker servers. Every one of those MetaTrader accounts can be verified with a password its owner sets, without changing anything about how the account trades.",[10,975,976,977,980],{},"Almost nobody does. Only ",[152,978,979],{},"65 accounts carry Track Record Verified",", out of 10,000+ published pages. The friction is not technical; it is that the step is optional, and an unverified page still displays numbers.",[14,982,188],{"id":187},[10,984,436,985,988,989,991],{},[152,986,987],{},"Investor Password (Optional)"," field is in the account settings. Fill it in and the ",[152,990,242],{}," badge in the account page header turns green; clear it and the badge turns grey on the same save.",[10,993,994,995,164,997,999,1000,1002,1003,1005,1006,1008],{},"It also appears earlier, when you add an account: the ",[209,996,218],{},[209,998,221],{}," options in the connection picker sync trades using the investor password alone, with nothing installed in your terminal. The ",[36,1001,127],{"href":126}," option updates far more frequently, and it is the only one that can also report the state of the machine running the strategy in the ",[152,1004,228],{}," module — a password-only connection never touches your computer, so it has nothing to report about it. That trade-off is the one thing to weigh before choosing: less setup, or a fuller page. If the strategy runs unattended on a ",[36,1007,728],{"href":722},", the Expert Advisor is what makes that visible.",[14,1010,272],{"id":271},[274,1012,1013,1019,1025,1031,1037],{},[277,1014,1015,1018],{},[152,1016,1017],{},"\"Giving out the investor password is risky.\""," It is read-only and enforced server-side. The real consideration is privacy, not security: whoever holds it sees your balance and every trade you take, live.",[277,1020,1021,1024],{},[152,1022,1023],{},"\"It reveals my strategy.\""," It reveals your fills, not your logic. Anyone can already see the trades on a public page you publish yourself.",[277,1026,1027,1030],{},[152,1028,1029],{},"\"Changing the master password changes the investor one.\""," It does not. They are set separately, and platforms holding an unchanged investor password keep working.",[277,1032,1033,1036],{},[152,1034,1035],{},"\"Some brokers do not offer it.\""," MT4 and MT5 both support it as standard. What varies is whether the broker lets you set it in the terminal or only through their client area.",[277,1038,1039,1042],{},[152,1040,1041],{},"\"A read-only login means the data is verified.\""," Only if a platform is actually holding that connection open and publishing what it sees. A password in a private message proves nothing to a third party.",[10,1044,1045,1046,177],{},"The full walkthrough, including the ownership check that the password cannot provide: ",[36,1047,307],{"href":306},{"title":31,"searchDepth":309,"depth":309,"links":1049},[1050,1051,1052,1053,1054],{"id":16,"depth":309,"text":17},{"id":131,"depth":309,"text":132},{"id":146,"depth":309,"text":147},{"id":187,"depth":309,"text":188},{"id":271,"depth":309,"text":272},"The MT4 investor password is a read-only credential: it shows balance, equity and every trade, but it cannot open, modify or close a position, or withdraw.",{},[724,1058,327],"what-is-myfxbook",{"title":916,"description":1055},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","MT4 Investor Password","xK2dYJaK7fxuwcWoqaPqTsvMELQIwuxpmmw_VrzKLRk",{"id":1064,"title":1065,"body":1066,"category":316,"date":1178,"description":1179,"draft":319,"extension":320,"meta":1180,"navigation":319,"path":162,"related":1181,"seo":1183,"stem":1184,"term":163,"updated":1178,"__hash__":1185},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader.md","What Is cTrader? The Platform and How Tracking Works",{"type":7,"value":1067,"toc":1171},[1068,1074,1076,1079,1085,1096,1103,1105,1108,1114,1116,1119,1122,1124,1134,1141,1143,1163],[10,1069,1070,1071,1073],{},"cTrader is a trading platform built by Spotware and licensed to brokers, in the same arrangement MetaTrader uses: the broker runs the server, you run the client. It is the main alternative to ",[36,1072,331],{"href":322}," for retail forex and CFD accounts, and it is usually chosen by brokers who want to advertise their execution model rather than hide it.",[14,1075,17],{"id":16},[10,1077,1078],{},"Three parts, as with any platform of this kind, but the split is different.",[22,1080,1083],{"className":1081,"code":1082,"language":27},[25],"cTrader Desktop \u002F Web \u002F Mobile   ← charts, cBots, client-side logic\n    ↕ FIX or Open API\nBroker server                    ← order matching, positions, balance\ncAlgo (C#)                       ← the language cBots and indicators are written in\n",[29,1084,1082],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,1086,1087,1088,1091,1092,1095],{},"Two differences matter in practice. Automation is written in ",[152,1089,1090],{},"C#"," rather than MQL, which brings a mainstream language and a debugger with it. And cTrader is ",[152,1093,1094],{},"position-based",": several orders on the same symbol merge into one position with one average price, where MT4 keeps every ticket separate. That single design choice changes how you count trades, and therefore how win rate, average trade length and volume are calculated on any record built from a cTrader account.",[10,1097,1098,1099,1102],{},"Access for third parties runs through the ",[152,1100,1101],{},"cTrader Open API"," with OAuth2 authorisation. You are sent to cTrader, you approve the connection there, and the tracking service receives a token. No password is handed over, and you can revoke the token from your cTrader account at any time — the tracker cannot place, modify or close an order with it.",[14,1104,132],{"id":131},[10,1106,1107],{},"If you trade on cTrader and want a public track record, the platform choice has until recently been a dead end. The two best known tracking sites grew up around MetaTrader and neither connects a cTrader account, so the usual advice — connect it somewhere and send the link — was not available to you at all.",[10,1109,1110,1111,1113],{},"The OAuth route is also the cleanest of the credential models in this category. A read-only ",[36,1112,39],{"href":38}," is safe but permanent until you change it; an OAuth token is revocable from the platform's own settings, without touching your trading credentials.",[14,1115,147],{"id":146},[10,1117,1118],{},"ShowMyTrades connects MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker, and the cTrader accounts here carry exactly the same public page as the MetaTrader ones: broker-synced, verified, embeddable.",[10,1120,1121],{},"That is the whole point, and it is a short one. The two best known trackers in this category do not read cTrader at all, so a cTrader trader who wants a public record has had nowhere to put it.",[14,1123,188],{"id":187},[10,1125,1126,1127,1130,1131,1133],{},"A cTrader account carries the id prefix ",[29,1128,1129],{},"ctr-"," and appears exactly like any other: the same stats panel, the same charts viewer, the same monthly returns table, the same ",[36,1132,676],{"href":241}," badges.",[10,1135,1136,1137,1140],{},"Two honest differences. There are no terminal diagnostics — ping, packet retransmission, terminal build — because there is no MetaTrader terminal in the loop to measure. And ",[36,1138,1139],{"href":266},"magic numbers"," do not exist in cTrader as they do in MQL, so every trade arrives in the Manual bucket rather than split by strategy.",[14,1142,272],{"id":271},[274,1144,1145,1151,1157],{},[277,1146,1147,1150],{},[152,1148,1149],{},"\"cTrader means better execution.\""," The platform exposes more about execution and is often paired with a raw-spread account, but execution quality belongs to the broker, not to the software. Measure it on your own account rather than assuming it from the logo.",[277,1152,1153,1156],{},[152,1154,1155],{},"\"A cBot is an EA.\""," Same idea, different language and different runtime. A strategy written in MQL does not run on cTrader without being rewritten.",[277,1158,1159,1162],{},[152,1160,1161],{},"\"Trade counts should match my MetaTrader record.\""," They will not. Position-based merging means a scale-in that MT4 records as four tickets appears as one position with one average price.",[10,1164,1165,1166,1170],{},"Connecting one takes about a minute: see ",[36,1167,1169],{"href":1168},"\u002Fctrader-account-tracking","cTrader account tracking"," for the OAuth flow and what ends up on the page.",{"title":31,"searchDepth":309,"depth":309,"links":1172},[1173,1174,1175,1176,1177],{"id":16,"depth":309,"text":17},{"id":131,"depth":309,"text":132},{"id":146,"depth":309,"text":147},{"id":187,"depth":309,"text":188},{"id":271,"depth":309,"text":272},"2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z","cTrader is the main alternative to MetaTrader for retail forex. What it does differently, how OAuth authorisation works, and the real platform split we see.",{},[545,324,1182,724],"what-is-order-execution",{"title":1065,"description":1179},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader","xtpx3lcZbxBN632V-c-yfKFtsTMTTwFY9UNJNBXKeSY",1787415691190]