Reading Myfxbook Like a Pro: What Each Metric Actually Tells You

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.

Want to skip opening every signal page? Our live rankings already put each EA's return, max drawdown, win rate, profit factor and weeks live in one table (from each MQL5 signal, synced daily), color-coded by drawdown for easy comparison. Pick one, then open its product/review for the full breakdown (use WELCOME10 for 10% off).

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.