[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":889},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fguides\u002Ffinding-real-trading-accounts":3,"\u002Fguides\u002Ffinding-real-trading-accounts-surround":878},{"id":4,"title":5,"authors":6,"badge":12,"body":14,"date":867,"description":868,"draft":869,"extension":870,"image":871,"meta":873,"navigation":869,"path":874,"seo":875,"stem":876,"updated":867,"__hash__":877},"posts\u002F3.guides\u002F23.finding-real-trading-accounts.md","How to Find Real Trading Accounts Worth Studying {YEAR}",[7],{"name":8,"to":9,"avatar":10},"ShowMyTrades Team","https:\u002F\u002Fshowmytrades.com",{"src":11},"\u002Ficon-512.png",{"label":13},"Community",{"type":15,"value":16,"toc":853},"minimark",[17,21,24,32,37,45,61,76,83,94,105,108,112,115,203,206,210,213,219,226,231,234,265,272,276,289,292,295,343,356,362,367,371,382,396,402,407,422,426,429,455,478,495,499,502,511,532,547,553,593,613,624,641,658,686,689,693,696,702,708,717,723,726,758,762,768,774,780,786,797,803,807,834,837,845],[18,19,20],"p",{},"You do not want to find the best trader. You want to find the two or three public accounts that will actually teach you something, out of the thousands you could open.",[18,22,23],{},"Those are different searches. The first has no answer. The second has a method, and the method is mostly elimination: most public track records can be dismissed in under a minute, and knowing which minute to spend is the whole skill.",[18,25,26,27,31],{},"ShowMyTrades hosts ",[28,29,30],"strong",{},"10,000+ public account pages"," across 703 distinct broker servers (August 2026). Every one is broker-synced. None is ranked, scored or recommended by us, and that is deliberate.",[33,34,36],"h2",{"id":35},"what-explore-is-and-what-it-deliberately-is-not","🔭 What Explore Is, and What It Deliberately Is Not",[18,38,39,44],{},[40,41,43],"a",{"href":42},"\u002Fexplore","Explore"," is a chronological activity feed. It mixes two kinds of event:",[46,47,48,55],"ul",{},[49,50,51,54],"li",{},[28,52,53],{},"A profile was made public"," — a trader turned their profile page on.",[49,56,57,60],{},[28,58,59],{},"An account was published"," — with its platform, gain, drawdown and balance shown inline.",[18,62,63,64,68,69,75],{},"Fifteen of each per page, merged and sorted newest first. The header line counts the community: ",[65,66,67],"em",{},"X traders tracking Y public accounts",". Accounts published as ",[28,70,71],{},[40,72,74],{"href":73},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-unlisted-account","link-only"," are excluded by design — 37 exist today, and they never surface here no matter how they perform.",[18,77,78,79,82],{},"There is ",[28,80,81],{},"no ranking",". No podium, no score, no \"top performer\" shelf. Nothing on Explore says one account is better than another, because we do not calculate that and we do not want to imply it. What you see near the top is simply what moved most recently.",[18,84,85,86,89,90,93],{},"That point changes how you read the feed. An account's position depends on its ",[28,87,88],{},"last-updated timestamp",", and in our database that timestamp only moves when the account's ",[28,91,92],{},"balance or equity changes"," — renaming it or flipping a setting does not bump it.",[18,95,96,97,100,101,104],{},"Two consequences. The top of Explore lists accounts that recently ",[65,98,99],{},"traded",", not accounts that recently traded ",[65,102,103],{},"well",": an account six months into a losing run sits above a dormant one with a five-year record. And \"published a new account\" is not a claim of newness — a page from last year climbs back to the top the moment a position closes.",[18,106,107],{},"Treat the feed as a sampling device, not a filter. It hands you candidates; the filtering is yours.",[33,109,111],{"id":110},"the-feed-card-is-a-triage-tool-not-a-verdict","🧭 The Feed Card Is a Triage Tool, Not a Verdict",[18,113,114],{},"Each account card in the feed shows three numbers, a platform and a timestamp. That is enough to decide whether to click, and not enough to decide anything else.",[116,117,118,134],"table",{},[119,120,121],"thead",{},[122,123,124,128,131],"tr",{},[125,126,127],"th",{},"On the card",[125,129,130],{},"What it can tell you",[125,132,133],{},"What it cannot",[135,136,137,151,164,177,190],"tbody",{},[122,138,139,145,148],{},[140,141,142],"td",{},[28,143,144],{},"Platform",[140,146,147],{},"How the data arrives. The population is MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker",[140,149,150],{},"Nothing about quality",[122,152,153,158,161],{},[140,154,155],{},[28,156,157],{},"Gain",[140,159,160],{},"Direction and rough magnitude",[140,162,163],{},"Over what period, or at what risk",[122,165,166,171,174],{},[140,167,168],{},[28,169,170],{},"Drawdown",[140,172,173],{},"The single most useful triage number",[140,175,176],{},"Whether it happened last week or two years ago",[122,178,179,184,187],{},[140,180,181],{},[28,182,183],{},"Balance",[140,185,186],{},"Account scale",[140,188,189],{},"Whether it was deposited yesterday",[122,191,192,197,200],{},[140,193,194],{},[28,195,196],{},"Relative time",[140,198,199],{},"When balance or equity last moved",[140,201,202],{},"Whether the account is active or was just topped up",[18,204,205],{},"Read gain and drawdown together in the feed and open only the cards where the pair is plausible. A card reading +340% with 3% drawdown is not a discovery — it is a prompt to check the history length first.",[33,207,209],{"id":208},"️-length-of-history-decides-everything-else","🗓️ Length of History Decides Everything Else",[18,211,212],{},"The first question on any account page is not \"how much\". It is \"for how long, and how many times\".",[18,214,215,218],{},[28,216,217],{},"Median closed trades per account: 171."," Across the public accounts with trading history, half sit below that. A hundred and seventy trades is a sample, not a career.",[18,220,221],{},[222,223],"img",{"alt":224,"src":225},"Four history lengths and what each one supports: 3 months a sample, 6 months a hint, 12 months an argument, 24 months or more a track record, against a median of 171 closed trades per account","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fsample-size.svg",[18,227,228],{},[65,229,230],{},"Ask both questions in order: how many months, then how many trades inside them.",[18,232,233],{},"Two places answer it:",[235,236,237,247],"ol",{},[49,238,239,242,243,246],{},[28,240,241],{},"Monthly Returns."," Count the rows. Twelve months is the minimum at which \"consistency\" means anything. Check the shape too: continuous cells, or a run of ",[65,244,245],{},"No Activity"," in the middle? A gap is almost never a holiday.",[49,248,249,252,253,256,257,260,261,264],{},[28,250,251],{},"The Account Stats info icon."," The popover beside the ",[65,254,255],{},"Account Stats"," heading shows the ",[28,258,259],{},"Created"," date — when the account was connected to ShowMyTrades — and the ",[28,262,263],{},"Public views"," counter.",[18,266,267,268,271],{},"If the record is three months old, you are looking at a coin flip with good graphic design. 63.0% of the public accounts with history are ",[28,269,270],{},"positive on a time-weighted basis"," — over a short enough window, most things are.",[33,273,275],{"id":274},"read-drawdown-before-you-read-gain","📉 Read Drawdown Before You Read Gain",[18,277,278,279,281,282,288],{},"Gain without drawdown is a number with the denominator removed. The account page gives you two drawdown figures and they are not interchangeable: ",[28,280,170],{}," is the deepest peak-to-trough fall in equity, floating losses included; ",[28,283,284],{},[40,285,287],{"href":286},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","DD on Balance"," counts only closed trades and ignores anything still open.",[18,290,291],{},"When the two diverge sharply, believe the equity figure and treat the divergence itself as the finding — it is the signature of a strategy that survives by not closing losers.",[18,293,294],{},"Here is the distribution to compare against, measured across the public accounts with history:",[116,296,297,307],{},[119,298,299],{},[122,300,301,304],{},[125,302,303],{},"Deepest drawdown reached",[125,305,306],{},"Share of accounts",[135,308,309,317,327,335],{},[122,310,311,314],{},[140,312,313],{},"Under 5%",[140,315,316],{},"38.5%",[122,318,319,322],{},[140,320,321],{},"Median (all accounts)",[140,323,324],{},[28,325,326],{},"9.7%",[122,328,329,332],{},[140,330,331],{},"Over 20%",[140,333,334],{},"38.2%",[122,336,337,340],{},[140,338,339],{},"Over 50%",[140,341,342],{},"17.6%",[18,344,345,346,350,351,355],{},"Nearly one public account in five has lost more than half its peak value at some point. That is the real shape of the population. An account claiming a low single-digit drawdown alongside triple-digit gains is not claiming talent — it is claiming to sit outside a distribution built from 15.4 million synchronised trades. ",[40,347,349],{"href":348},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverifying-trading-performance-claims","The forensic checklist"," handles that claim; ",[40,352,354],{"href":353},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","the metric-by-metric walkthrough"," covers every field on the page.",[18,357,358],{},[222,359],{"alt":360,"src":361},"Deepest drawdown reached across public ShowMyTrades accounts: 38.5% stayed under 5%, 23.3% between 5% and 20%, 20.6% between 20% and 50%, 17.6% went past 50%, median 9.7%","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fdrawdown-distribution.svg",[18,363,364],{},[65,365,366],{},"Place the account you are reading in one of these four bands before you decide its drawdown is impressive.",[33,368,370],{"id":369},"the-two-cost-lines-almost-nobody-opens","💸 The Two Cost Lines Almost Nobody Opens",[18,372,373,374,377,378,381],{},"The account page publishes ",[28,375,376],{},"Total Commissions"," and ",[28,379,380],{},"Total Swap Paid"," as absolute figures. Most people scroll past them. They are the closest thing on the page to a lie detector for high-frequency and overnight strategies.",[18,383,384,385,377,388,391,392,395],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades, owners have paid ",[28,386,387],{},"$4,782,670 in commissions",[28,389,390],{},"$862,547 in swap"," — and 86.3% of accounts with any swap activity ",[28,393,394],{},"pay net negative swap",". The carry runs against them, quietly, every night a position stays open.",[18,397,398],{},[222,399],{"alt":400,"src":401},"A waterfall falling from gross profit through spread, commission and swap down to the net result that is actually left","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fgross-to-net.svg",[18,403,404],{},[65,405,406],{},"At your broker the gross bar is the same and the three deductions are not, which is why a copied strategy rarely copies the result.",[18,408,409,410,413,414,416,417,421],{},"Why this matters when the record is not yours: a strategy can be profitable gross and unprofitable net, and the gap belongs entirely to the broker. Their commissions line is a preview of your own bill at ",[65,411,412],{},"their"," broker, on ",[65,415,412],{}," spread. Yours will differ. Run the difference through the ",[40,418,420],{"href":419},"\u002Ftools","position size and profit calculators"," before you assume the edge survives the move.",[33,423,425],{"id":424},"automation-share-magic-numbers-and-trade-length","🤖 Automation Share, Magic Numbers and Trade Length",[18,427,428],{},"Three signals that tell you what you are actually looking at, and none of them are performance numbers.",[18,430,431,434,435,438,439,442,443,446,447,450,451,454],{},[28,432,433],{},"Automation share."," The account header carries an ",[65,436,437],{},"Autotrading"," or ",[65,440,441],{},"Manual Trading"," badge with a percentage. The population is barbell-shaped: the median autotrading share is ",[28,444,445],{},"99%",", ",[28,448,449],{},"53.9% of accounts are more than 90% automated",", and ",[28,452,453],{},"42.2% are under 10%",". There is very little in the middle. An account at 96% automation is a software product; an account at 4% is a person's judgement. Study them differently — the first is reproducible, the second is not.",[18,456,457,460,461,464,465,468,469,472,473,477],{},[28,458,459],{},"Magic numbers."," In the ",[65,462,463],{},"Breakdown Statistics"," module, switch from ",[28,466,467],{},"By Symbol"," to ",[28,470,471],{},"By Magic Number",". Each ",[40,474,476],{"href":475},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","magic number"," is a separate automated system writing into the same account. Three of them means three strategies sharing one equity curve, and a headline gain that belongs to none of them individually — the fastest way to learn whether the \"system\" you are studying is one thing or a portfolio wearing one name.",[18,479,480,483,484,487,488,494],{},[28,481,482],{},"Trade length."," The median trade across our public accounts lasts ",[28,485,486],{},"2.4 hours",". Check ",[65,489,490],{},[40,491,493],{"href":492},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length","Avg. Trade Length"," in Advanced Statistics against what the account claims to be. A \"swing system\" averaging four minutes is mislabelled, and the mislabelling usually tells you the author has not looked closely at their own record either.",[33,496,498],{"id":497},"the-workflow-click-by-click","🔬 The Workflow, Click by Click",[18,500,501],{},"Here is how the research actually runs on the platform.",[18,503,504,510],{},[28,505,506,507,509],{},"1. Browse ",[40,508,43],{"href":42},"."," Read the cards, ignore the ordering, open three or four in new tabs.",[18,512,513,516,517,520,521,524,525,377,528,531],{},[28,514,515],{},"2. Check the header first."," ",[65,518,519],{},"Real Account"," vs ",[65,522,523],{},"Demo Account"," comes from the broker, not from a form. Beside it sit two badges, ",[28,526,527],{},"Track Record",[28,529,530],{},"Trading Privileges",". Both are on every page, so read the colour rather than the presence: green means verified, grey with a warning icon means not. Track Record means the data arrives through a read-only investor password or cTrader OAuth; Trading Privileges means the publisher proved control of the account.",[18,533,534,535,377,538,541,542,546],{},"Be realistic about scarcity — ",[28,536,537],{},"65 accounts hold Track Record Verified",[28,539,540],{},"264 hold Trading Privileges Verified"," today. Green is strong evidence; grey is the norm. ",[40,543,545],{"href":544},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverified-vs-unverified-track-records","What each badge proves"," is worth reading before you weight them.",[18,548,549,552],{},[28,550,551],{},"3. Open Monthly Returns and count."," Rows, red months, gaps.",[18,554,555,563,564,567,568,570,571,446,574,446,577,446,580,446,583,446,586,446,589,592],{},[28,556,557,558,562],{},"4. Use the ",[40,559,561],{"href":560},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets","Custom Analysis"," button."," The module people miss: it works on ",[65,565,566],{},"other people's"," public pages, not just your own. Click ",[28,569,561],{}," in the trader card at the top of the page and re-slice their record by ",[28,572,573],{},"Date Range",[28,575,576],{},"Symbols",[28,578,579],{},"Magic Numbers",[28,581,582],{},"Trade Type",[28,584,585],{},"Lots Range",[28,587,588],{},"Profit Range",[28,590,591],{},"Trade Duration"," and by text in trade comments, plus a toggle for whether swaps count in profit. Every statistic and chart recomputes under your filters. Three slices worth running:",[46,594,595,601,607],{},[49,596,597,600],{},[28,598,599],{},"Cut the first three months."," Early results on a small balance distort everything downstream. Does the edge survive?",[49,602,603,606],{},[28,604,605],{},"Isolate one magic number."," If one system carries the whole curve, you now know what you were really evaluating.",[49,608,609,612],{},[28,610,611],{},"Exclude the top symbol."," If profit collapses, the record documents one market condition, not a strategy.",[18,614,615,616,619,620,623],{},"If the owner published a preset, the banner names it: ",[65,617,618],{},"Analysis preset applied by owner",". Hit ",[28,621,622],{},"Reset"," for the unfiltered record.",[18,625,626,629,630,377,633,636,637,640],{},[28,627,628],{},"5. Open the Trades table."," Toggle ",[28,631,632],{},"Open Trades",[28,634,635],{},"Closed Trades",", and use the ",[28,638,639],{},"Display"," menu to show columns like Magic Number, Swap, Commission and Duration. Note what is missing: owners can hide open trades, closed trades, lots, comments, stop loss and take profit, or whole modules such as Advanced Statistics and Terminal Info. A hidden module proves nothing, but it tells you what the owner chose not to show.",[18,642,643,646,647,650,651,509],{},[28,644,645],{},"6. Follow the ones that survive."," The heart button adds the account to ",[28,648,649],{},"Dashboard → Following",", where everything you track sits together with gain, drawdown and balance. Followed accounts also become available in the ",[40,652,654,657],{"href":653},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-widgets-and-embeds",[28,655,656],{},"Widgets"," builder",[18,659,660,663,664,668,669,446,672,446,674,438,676,679,680,377,683,509],{},[28,661,662],{},"7. Check the trader's other accounts."," Their profile at ",[665,666,667],"code",{},"\u002Ftrader\u002F{slug}"," lists every account and portfolio they publish, with a search box, a platform filter, and sorting by ",[28,670,671],{},"Gain %",[28,673,183],{},[28,675,170],{},[28,677,678],{},"Last updated",". Sorting one trader's accounts by drawdown is thirty revealing seconds: ",[28,681,682],{},"699 of our users run more than one account",[28,684,685],{},"429 run accounts at more than one broker",[18,687,688],{},"One published winner beside four published survivors is a different story from one published winner alone.",[33,690,692],{"id":691},"what-to-ignore-and-what-wastes-an-afternoon","🙈 What to Ignore, and What Wastes an Afternoon",[18,694,695],{},"Four things on the page carry less information than their prominence suggests.",[18,697,698,701],{},[28,699,700],{},"Single spectacular months."," One +80% cell in a monthly table tells you the position sizing was capable of producing it. It says nothing about frequency, and the same sizing produces the mirror image.",[18,703,704,707],{},[28,705,706],{},"Absolute currency amounts."," \"$127,000 profit\" is theatre without the balance and the period behind it. Percentages and drawdown compare across accounts; dollars do not.",[18,709,710,713,714,716],{},[28,711,712],{},"View counts."," The ",[28,715,263],{}," figure in the Account Stats popover measures attention, and attention is not evidence. Public account pages here have taken 94,710 visits in total, distributed by curiosity, marketing and luck rather than by merit.",[18,718,719,722],{},[28,720,721],{},"Highest $."," A peak balance is a fact about funding as much as about trading. It sits among the numbers that matter, which is exactly why it gets misread.",[18,724,725],{},"Then five habits that burn the afternoon:",[235,727,728,734,740,746,752],{},[49,729,730,733],{},[28,731,732],{},"Opening the highest gain first."," That is a study of survivorship. Open the longest history first, then read gain in the light of the drawdown beside it.",[49,735,736,739],{},[28,737,738],{},"Confusing Gain with Abs. Gain."," Gain is time-weighted and immune to deposits and withdrawals; Abs. Gain is closed P&L against deposits. When they disagree badly, the account has usually been topped up. Believe the time-weighted one.",[49,741,742,745],{},[28,743,744],{},"Judging a strategy without checking automation share."," A 99%-automated account and a discretionary one are not comparable evidence, even at identical returns.",[49,747,748,751],{},[28,749,750],{},"Skipping the cost block."," Two identical strategies at different brokers produce different net curves, and the whole difference is commissions and swap. Copying the strategy does not copy the pricing.",[49,753,754,757],{},[28,755,756],{},"Drawing conclusions from 40 trades."," Below roughly a hundred trades and twelve months you are reading noise with a chart attached. Treat the median 171 closed trades as a floor, not a target.",[33,759,761],{"id":760},"faq","❓ FAQ",[18,763,764,767],{},[28,765,766],{},"Is Explore a leaderboard?","\nNo. It is a chronological feed of published profiles and accounts. We publish no rankings, scores or podium positions, and an account's position in the feed carries no judgement about its quality.",[18,769,770,773],{},[28,771,772],{},"Why does an account with poor results appear near the top?","\nBecause the account feed is ordered by the last time balance or equity changed. Recent trading moves an account up. Performance does not enter the ordering at all.",[18,775,776,779],{},[28,777,778],{},"Can I filter Explore by drawdown or gain?","\nNot on the feed itself. Filtering happens one level down: a trader's profile page has search, a platform filter and sorting by gain, balance or drawdown, and any account page has Custom Analysis.",[18,781,782,785],{},[28,783,784],{},"How much history is enough?","\nTwelve months and roughly two hundred closed trades is a working minimum, and even then one market regime can dominate. Cut the first quarter with Custom Analysis and see whether the record holds.",[18,787,788,791,792,796],{},[28,789,790],{},"Should I ignore an account whose badges are grey?","\nNo, but weight it correctly. Every account here is broker-connected, so nothing is self-reported; a green badge adds proof of the read-only connection and of control over the account. ",[40,793,795],{"href":794},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","How to turn both green"," takes a few minutes.",[18,798,799,802],{},[28,800,801],{},"Can an owner hide the parts that look bad?","\nThey can hide modules and some trade columns, and you will see the gap or a lock notice. They cannot edit the underlying trades, disconnect to erase a bad month, or make a break in the record invisible.",[33,804,806],{"id":805},"related-guides","🔗 Related Guides",[46,808,809,815,821,827],{},[49,810,811,814],{},[40,812,813],{"href":353},"How to read a trading account dashboard"," — every metric on the page, explained",[49,816,817,820],{},[40,818,819],{"href":348},"How to verify trading performance claims"," — the checklist before you pay anyone",[49,822,823,826],{},[40,824,825],{"href":544},"Verified vs unverified track records"," — what the badges actually prove",[49,828,829,833],{},[40,830,832],{"href":831},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","Tracking your trading performance"," — apply the same standard to your own record",[835,836],"hr",{},[18,838,839,516,842,844],{},[28,840,841],{},"Go and pick three.",[40,843,43],{"href":42}," is live, broker-synced and unranked — drawdowns included, whether their owners like it or not.",[18,846,847,848,852],{},"Then hold yourself to the same standard: ",[40,849,851],{"href":850},"\u002Fsignup","connect your account free"," and your page gets read exactly the way you just learned to read theirs.",{"title":854,"searchDepth":855,"depth":855,"links":856},"",2,[857,858,859,860,861,862,863,864,865,866],{"id":35,"depth":855,"text":36},{"id":110,"depth":855,"text":111},{"id":208,"depth":855,"text":209},{"id":274,"depth":855,"text":275},{"id":369,"depth":855,"text":370},{"id":424,"depth":855,"text":425},{"id":497,"depth":855,"text":498},{"id":691,"depth":855,"text":692},{"id":760,"depth":855,"text":761},{"id":805,"depth":855,"text":806},"2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","Explore lists public accounts by recency, not by rank. Here is the method for choosing which ones deserve an hour of study, and the five numbers that decide it.",true,"md",{"src":872},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Ffinding-real-trading-accounts-hero.svg",{},"\u002Fguides\u002Ffinding-real-trading-accounts",{"title":5,"description":868},"3.guides\u002F23.finding-real-trading-accounts","yBokftXXcf-JI4Eq2GR-3rIF67CnXFxcPui_ZBovP9U",[879,884],{"title":880,"path":881,"stem":882,"description":883,"children":-1},"Your Public Trading Profile: Slugs, Redirects and What Visitors See {YEAR}","\u002Fguides\u002Fpublic-profile-and-custom-slugs","3.guides\u002F22.public-profile-and-custom-slugs","Private, published or unlisted: what your public trading page exposes, what it never shows, and how to change your URL without breaking shared links or widgets.",{"title":885,"path":886,"stem":887,"description":888,"children":-1},"Running Several Accounts: Portfolio Tracking Without Fooling Yourself {YEAR}","\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","3.guides\u002F24.tracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","You run four accounts and no screen tells you what you actually earned or risked. How portfolio aggregation really works, and where it quietly flatters you.",1787415691742]