Building a Signal-based Metatrader Portfolio
TL;DR
The Myfxbook website automatically fetches data from your Metatrader account. This allows you to monitor the overall performance of your account as well as to break down the performance by different signal providers.
URL: http://www.myfxbook.com/members/dennislwm/fxgit/6201375
Copy Signal from MQL5
Choose a Signal
There are many variables when choosing a Signal Provider. I have ranked some of these variables from highest to lowest weight for your consideration:
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Live Account - look only for live accounts. A signal provider that trades a demo account can take unnecessary risks.
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Reviews - look for positive and high quality user reviews. A higher number of reviews is also a good indicator.
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Profile Rating - the Signal Provider rating by MQL community. Avoid profiles with very low ratings.
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Maximum drawdown - ideally the maximum drawdown should be below 40%. A higher number requires a higher tolerance for losses.
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Maximum consecutive: - look for tolerable consecutive losses. A higher number indicates a higher risk of ruin for your account. A higher number of Maximum consecutive wins is also a good indicator.
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Slippage - this indicator is important if your Signal provider uses a scalping strategy, i.e. Avg profit is less than 5 pips. Otherwise, this indicator does not make a significant difference.
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Profit factor - I don't rate this indicator as highly as those indicators above. Having said that, you still need a high profit factor to mitigate slippage, loss connections, and to break even after signal fees.
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Trades per week - look for between 5 and 15 trades per week. Too few trades can lead to lower performance, but too many trades can indicate a martigale strategy.
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Avg holding time - I usually prefer more than 8 hours or more. Shorter time usually means a scalping strategy. However, this is a matter of individual preference.
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Long / short trades - the ratio should ideally be 1:1. However, a 6:4 or 4:6 ratio is still acceptable.
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Started - look for older signals that shows survivorship, especially during periods of volatility.
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Price - a higher price may not indicate better quality. However, this has to be affordable as it will affect your monthly profits.
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Reliability, Number of symbols - don't place too much emphasis on these indicator.
My Automated Robot 1 Signal
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Revews - 4/4 good reviews with average rating of 4.5 stars
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Profile Rating: 424 [58 - Openness; 194 - Friends; 291 - Signals provider; 29 - Reviews]
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Maximum drawdown: 34.5%
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Maximum consecutive: 8 losses (-4.78 AUD) vs 193 wins (1,649.50 AUD)
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Slippage - median 4.77 pips vs avg profit 3 pips (RED FLAG)
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Profit factor: 17.66
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Trades per week: 5
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Avg holding time: 11 hours
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Long / short trades: 176:123 (58.9% vs 41.1%)
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Started: 23/03/2020
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Price: 30 USD per month
Feedback Loop
Analysing the actual performance will give some feedback on the above criteria. Hence, this helps us to refine our evaluation for future signal providers.
Fund Your Metatrader Account
Open a Metatrader Account
In order to fund your Metatrader account, you must first open an account. I chose a reputable local broker in Singapore. Obviously, you will need to do some research before choosing a broker.
There are some brokers who offer both MT4 and MT5 platforms, and this would be an added bonus. The reason is rather straightforward, you can copy MT4 signals to your MT4 account, and you can copy MT5 signals to your MT5 account, but you can't copy from MT4 to MT5, and vice versa.
Fund Your Account
You don't have to start big in order to trade signals, as the copied lot sizes can be pro-rated to your account balance.
I suggest starting at $1,000, and then grow your account slowly as you gain more experience and knowledge.
Publish on Myfxbook
The Myfxbook website automatically fetches data from your Metatrader account. This allows you to monitor the overall performance of your account as well as to break down the performance by different signal providers.
URL: http://www.myfxbook.com/members/dennislwm/fxgit/6201375