Zulu Rank
What is Rank: Rank is "ZuluTrade's proprietary system, which takes many parameters into consideration, like maturity (how long a system has been running for), exposure (how many positions might be open at the same time), drawdown (how many ups and dows the system has experienced) and reliability (regular trading activity, consistent earnings per trade)."
Rank's purpose: "Rank provides followers with an easy way of viewing systems that are good performers and filters out feasible trading strategies that emphasize on providing solid and stable trading results, have normal trading cycles and avoid over-exposing the invested capital of followers."
A Rank plot over time is included among the performance charts. The chart at the left belongs to the Signal Provider "Forex Cruise Control". From a quick glance, it seems that the Rank is quite sensitive, upwards and downwards, to parameter changes.
Rank's purpose: "Rank provides followers with an easy way of viewing systems that are good performers and filters out feasible trading strategies that emphasize on providing solid and stable trading results, have normal trading cycles and avoid over-exposing the invested capital of followers."
A Rank plot over time is included among the performance charts. The chart at the left belongs to the Signal Provider "Forex Cruise Control". From a quick glance, it seems that the Rank is quite sensitive, upwards and downwards, to parameter changes.
Signal Provider
A Signal Provider is a ZuluTrade User, who trades either on a Demo or Live account, while ZuluTrade publishes his/her results and statistics publicly through the website. Each trading action performed in the Signal Provider’s account is sent to all demo and live follower accounts in the form of a broadcast signal.
Option in Advanced Search |
Green Dollar:
100% live account trading |
Blue Dollar:
Signals from demo account and trading live some of his demo signals |
No Dollar icon:
Trading from a Demo account only |
To distinguish which provider is trading with their own money, mark the checkbox 'are trading their own money' filter under the Advanced Search. There have two types of provider accounts under this feature:
On the main performance list, a Green Dollar sign under a provider's name means that this provider has linked his live MetaTrader 4 account to broadcast trading signals through an account with real money (put his money where his mouth is)
All other providers are trading through their demo MetaTrader 4 or managing their provider accounts directly via ZuluTrade web site.
A Blue Dollar sign under a provider's photo means that the Signal Provider is sending signals from a demo account, but has a live account at ZuluTrade following his own signals. However, the Signal Provider may not be following every signal in the live account. Therefore, performance results are based on trades made in the Signal Provider’s demo account and are considered hypothetical.
On the main performance list, a Green Dollar sign under a provider's name means that this provider has linked his live MetaTrader 4 account to broadcast trading signals through an account with real money (put his money where his mouth is)
All other providers are trading through their demo MetaTrader 4 or managing their provider accounts directly via ZuluTrade web site.
A Blue Dollar sign under a provider's photo means that the Signal Provider is sending signals from a demo account, but has a live account at ZuluTrade following his own signals. However, the Signal Provider may not be following every signal in the live account. Therefore, performance results are based on trades made in the Signal Provider’s demo account and are considered hypothetical.
Pips
The total number of pips earned by a signal provider earned, since starting trading. For example, if a provider bought EUR/USD at 1.4600 and sold at 1.4620, 20 pips would be earned. ZuluTrade uses pips rather than dollars earned, so that performance is 'position-size' agnostic. In this way, the performance of any two providers can be compared, even if the first trades in mini-lots and the other in 10+ lot positions.
A pip stands for 'Percentage in Point'. It is the smallest price movement of a traded currency. For most currencies a pip is 0.0001 or 1/100 of a cent. You may think it is a ridiculously low value. However, take into account that most currencies are traded in lots of $100 000. For that amount a pip is $10. Keep in mind that 1 pip in EUR/USD is not equal in dollar terms with 1 pip in EUR/GBP.
Formula Pip = lot size x tick size x base quote / current rate
Example for 100,000 EUR/GBP contract currently trading at .6750, and EUR/USD currently trading at 1.2840:
1 pip = 100,000 (lot size) x .0001 (tick size) x 1.2840 (EUR/USD base quote) / 0.6750 (current rate) = USD $17.54
Dollar PnL (profit/loss):
Example for 100,000 EUR/GBP contract initially sold at 0.6760 then bought (closed) at 0.6750:
0.6760 (selling price) - 0.6750 (purchase price) = 0.0010 positive pip difference = 10 pip profit
To further convert the above PnL to USD, use the above Calculating Cross Rate Pip Value as follows:
1 pip value = 100,000 (lot size) x .0001 (tick size) x 1.2840 (EUR/USD base quote) / 0.6750 (current rate) = USD $17.54
Therefore: USD $17.54 (pip value) x 10 (pip profit) = USD $170.54 total profit.
A pip stands for 'Percentage in Point'. It is the smallest price movement of a traded currency. For most currencies a pip is 0.0001 or 1/100 of a cent. You may think it is a ridiculously low value. However, take into account that most currencies are traded in lots of $100 000. For that amount a pip is $10. Keep in mind that 1 pip in EUR/USD is not equal in dollar terms with 1 pip in EUR/GBP.
Formula Pip = lot size x tick size x base quote / current rate
Example for 100,000 EUR/GBP contract currently trading at .6750, and EUR/USD currently trading at 1.2840:
1 pip = 100,000 (lot size) x .0001 (tick size) x 1.2840 (EUR/USD base quote) / 0.6750 (current rate) = USD $17.54
Dollar PnL (profit/loss):
Example for 100,000 EUR/GBP contract initially sold at 0.6760 then bought (closed) at 0.6750:
0.6760 (selling price) - 0.6750 (purchase price) = 0.0010 positive pip difference = 10 pip profit
To further convert the above PnL to USD, use the above Calculating Cross Rate Pip Value as follows:
1 pip value = 100,000 (lot size) x .0001 (tick size) x 1.2840 (EUR/USD base quote) / 0.6750 (current rate) = USD $17.54
Therefore: USD $17.54 (pip value) x 10 (pip profit) = USD $170.54 total profit.
Trades
The total number of trades closed. Open trades are not counted.
Average Pips
The average pips won or lost per trade. This gives us an idea of what kind of moves the system is after. If the average pip/trade is small, it means the provider is exiting trades quickly and for little profit/loss. Very small pips/trade means the trading is more likely to be affected by bad executions and slippage.
Losing 2 pips in slippage trading an 8-pip/trade system is worse than losing those same 2 pips in a 35pip/trade system. On the other hand running losses of 50 pips is obviously better than running 500 pip losses. The average pips metric cannot differentiate various different trading scenarios without extra information.
Losing 2 pips in slippage trading an 8-pip/trade system is worse than losing those same 2 pips in a 35pip/trade system. On the other hand running losses of 50 pips is obviously better than running 500 pip losses. The average pips metric cannot differentiate various different trading scenarios without extra information.
Win%
The percentage of winning trades. If a provider made 100 trades and won 80 of them, then his Win% is 80%. Keep in mind this is not the whole story.
If this provider won 5 pips in every winning trade, 80x5=400 pips were earned. If 20 pips were lost in the remaining 20 losing trades, the total loss would be 20x20=400 pips e.g. the system would just break-even. So a 95% Win Ratio is good, but not necessarily profitable.
Beware of very high Win Ratios. They usually mean the provider is taking quick profits and letting losing trades run. This can often be catastrophic to the account, when that one big loss materializes.
Such an example are Martingale strategies, which refuse to take a loss by buying more as the price falls. For example, buy 1 lot EUR/USD at 1.4600, buy 1 more at 1.4400, buy 1 more at 1.2378 and expect the market to reverse. This averages the effective buy-price downward, but also accumulates multiple lots. Martingale strategies generally do not work well in any market, unless you have unlimited capital. Very high Win Ratios could signal that a Martingale strategy is being used.
If this provider won 5 pips in every winning trade, 80x5=400 pips were earned. If 20 pips were lost in the remaining 20 losing trades, the total loss would be 20x20=400 pips e.g. the system would just break-even. So a 95% Win Ratio is good, but not necessarily profitable.
Beware of very high Win Ratios. They usually mean the provider is taking quick profits and letting losing trades run. This can often be catastrophic to the account, when that one big loss materializes.
Such an example are Martingale strategies, which refuse to take a loss by buying more as the price falls. For example, buy 1 lot EUR/USD at 1.4600, buy 1 more at 1.4400, buy 1 more at 1.2378 and expect the market to reverse. This averages the effective buy-price downward, but also accumulates multiple lots. Martingale strategies generally do not work well in any market, unless you have unlimited capital. Very high Win Ratios could signal that a Martingale strategy is being used.
Average Trade Time
The average trading time per trade. Does the signal provider day-trades e.g. on a 15 minute or multi-daily timeframe ? Average trade time answers this question. Very small average trade times mean the system will be affected more by slippage and bad executions (since it is after smaller moves).
On the other hand, small average trade times may mean more trades are being executed, so that if the strategy has a positive expectancy, profit could compound faster than with a slower strategy.
On the other hand, small average trade times may mean more trades are being executed, so that if the strategy has a positive expectancy, profit could compound faster than with a slower strategy.
Weeks
The number of weeks the provider is trading. In other words, how long is the signal provider’s track record. The longer the better. Expect systems that survived the test of time to have worst (i.e. more realistic) statistics, than systems that have been trading for a couple of weeks only.
Max DD%
The percentage of Draw-Down in pips to the total profit. In other words, the percentage loss on the account from the highest equity value to the lowest equity value. This tells us what is the historical risk, if we followed the signal provider at the worst possible time. A MaxDD% of 50% means that at one point the system lost half of the money in the account (assuming trading without margin).
Please note that the Max DD% is based on the accumulated pips and also counts the negative open trades. The main reason behind this calculation algorithm, is that providers do not have an initial balance and that in the past, some signal providers were keeping loosing trades open, until these turned positive, in order to hide the Max DD%.
This metric is not calculating the loss from the worst trade. For example the worst trade could be -11%. But if we had a streak of losses of 11%, 9%, 8%, 9% etc, we could end up having a 50%+ MaxDD%.
Please note that the Max DD% is based on the accumulated pips and also counts the negative open trades. The main reason behind this calculation algorithm, is that providers do not have an initial balance and that in the past, some signal providers were keeping loosing trades open, until these turned positive, in order to hide the Max DD%.
This metric is not calculating the loss from the worst trade. For example the worst trade could be -11%. But if we had a streak of losses of 11%, 9%, 8%, 9% etc, we could end up having a 50%+ MaxDD%.
ROI
ROI is the ratio of money gained or lost (whether realized or unrealized) on this account relative to the amount of money invested annualized. If, for example, the provider has a ROI for the last 3 months of 100%, then the annualized return will be 100% x 4 quarters = 400%. Basically annualized assumes that the provider will gain the same performance, consistently over a period of 12 months.
ZuluTrade uses ROI in order to to equalize a $1,000 to a $100,000 account and to equalize a system that has traded for 6 months to one that has traded for 2 years.
Keep in mind that a system that trades for only 2 weeks and has winning streak will have a very high ROI, as it assumes the performance will be the same for the rest of the year. So, keep an eye at the Weeks metric when looking at ROI’s. In addition, ROI depends on risk taken. A high ROI with a low MaxDD is an ideal combination.
ZuluTrade uses ROI in order to to equalize a $1,000 to a $100,000 account and to equalize a system that has traded for 6 months to one that has traded for 2 years.
Keep in mind that a system that trades for only 2 weeks and has winning streak will have a very high ROI, as it assumes the performance will be the same for the rest of the year. So, keep an eye at the Weeks metric when looking at ROI’s. In addition, ROI depends on risk taken. A high ROI with a low MaxDD is an ideal combination.
