We've covered how to use Myfxbook to spot fakes — that piece answers "can I trust this data?" But once you trust it, you still have to understand what each metric is actually saying, or you won't be able to tell two equally-"real" signals apart. Here's a metric-by-metric breakdown.
Returns: why Gain and absolute gain don't match
- Gain (%): Myfxbook's time-weighted return, which accounts for when deposits/withdrawals happened — closer to true performance than "how much the balance rose."
- Absolute Gain: the total percentage change in equity since the account opened.
- The key trap: deposits/withdrawals distort the percentage. A big mid-way withdrawal can inflate Gain%; an added deposit dilutes it. Always read the Deposits/Withdrawals log alongside returns — don't be fooled by one isolated big number.
Risk: there's more than one drawdown
- Maximal Drawdown: the largest peak-to-trough drop — the core "worst moment" metric.
- Balance vs equity drawdown: realized balance drawdown is "pain already taken"; equity drawdown (including floating loss) is what exposes the grid/martingale risk of "nothing closed, huge unrealized loss." A smooth balance curve with deep equity drawdown almost certainly hides a pile of floating loss underneath (why it's dangerous: grid & martingale).
- How to filter EAs by drawdown systematically: finding a low-drawdown EA.
Efficiency: Profit Factor, Sharpe, win rate
- Profit Factor: gross profit ÷ gross loss. Above 1 makes money; steadily above 1.3 is decent — but read it with sample size: a PF of 2.0 over 30 trades means little.
- Sharpe Ratio: return per unit of risk; higher means steadier returns. It helps you pick the less-volatile of two strategies with similar returns.
- Win rate — the biggest cognitive trap: a high win rate ≠ a good strategy. Martingale/grid naturally win 90%+ because they always average a small loss back into a small win — at the cost that the few losers can wipe everything at once. Always read win rate with the reward-to-risk ratio (avg win vs avg loss) and drawdown.
Behavior: trade duration, count, lots
- Average hold time: seconds to minutes = scalping (spread-sensitive, see spread cost); hours to days = intraday/swing. It reveals the real strategy type, more reliable than the sales pitch.
- Trades / weeks live: the bigger the sample and the longer it's run (across regimes), the more trustworthy the metrics. A signal live for a few weeks, however pretty, has simply "not met a headwind yet."
- Lot sizes and stacking: if per-trade lots swing wildly or a dozen orders sit open at once, that's the signature of an averaging system (grid/martingale).
How to read them together
No single metric decides it — cross-check: high Gain must justify its max drawdown; a high win rate must have a healthy reward-to-risk; a pretty PF must rest on enough sample and time. The most dangerous combo is high return + deep equity drawdown + short history + sky-high win rate — almost the textbook portrait of martingale.
Further details and sources: product/review
Risk note: this is a metrics explainer, not investment advice. All metrics are based on past live records and don't predict the future; judge using multiple metrics and your own risk tolerance. FX/derivatives trading is high risk — only trade with money you can afford to lose.