How are the copy trading strategies ranked?

Each strategy is scored as yield divided by maximum drawdown — return per unit of drawdown — after clearing every eligibility gate. A strategy that returned 40% through a 3% decline ranks above one that returned 160% through a 40% decline.

What is martingale and how is it detected?

A martingale strategy adds to losing positions instead of closing them, so losses stay off the equity curve until the position is forced out. We reject a strategy when its worst period is at least 12x the typical move and at least 8% deep, or when a win rate above 90% coincides with a drawdown over 20%.

Why are the RoboForex and LiteFinance lists not comparable?

RoboForex publishes an official maximum drawdown, trade count and copier count over a rolling 3-month window. LiteFinance publishes an all-time return and a 1-10 risk score but no drawdown and no trade count, so drawdown there is derived from the published equity curve and is a lower bound. The two lists are scored on different evidence.

How is DailyScalper paid?

Through broker affiliate links. The eligibility gates are mechanical and applied identically to every strategy, and the full methodology is published, but you should weigh the incentive yourself.

How often are the rankings updated?

The screening is re-run and the site rebuilt every week from each broker’s public data.

How we screen copy trading strategies

Step 1 — Eligibility

RoboForex gates

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At least 90 days liveShorter records are indistinguishable from luck.

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Max drawdown ≤ 40%Uses the broker's own published dd_max figure.

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At least 50 tradesA handful of wins is not a strategy.

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At least 3 copiersSomeone else already has real money at stake.

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Yield between 0% and 1000%Above the ceiling, returns are a red flag rather than an achievement.

LiteFinance gates

Different, because LiteFinance publishes different fields.

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Broker risk score ≤ 5/10LiteFinance's own risk rating; we do not recompute it.

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Derived drawdown ≤ 40%Calculated from the published equity curve — a lower bound, not official.

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At least 3 copiersSame test as RoboForex.

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At least 12 curve pointsToo few samples to judge otherwise.

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Yield up to 5000%Higher ceiling than RoboForex because this figure is all-time, not 3-month.

Step 2 — Martingale detection

A martingale or grid strategy adds to losing positions instead of closing them. Losses stay off the equity curve until the position is finally forced out, so the curve shows a long run of small, unusually consistent gains and then a cliff.

We reject a strategy when either signature appears:

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A cliffThe worst single period is at least 12× the typical move and at least 8% deep — the pyramid unwinding.

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Losses that never showA 90%+ win rate combined with a 20%+ drawdown. The losses exist; they were simply averaged down until they detonated.

This run flagged 142 of 545 screened strategies.

Step 3 — Scoring

score = yield ÷ max drawdown

Return per unit of drawdown. A strategy that made 40% while asking you to sit through a 3% decline scores higher than one that made 160% through a 40% decline — because most people stop copying during the decline, and a copier who quits at the bottom never sees the recovery.

For LiteFinance the divisor is floored at 5% — its curve is sampled too sparsely to resolve smaller dips, and unmeasurable risk must not score as no risk.

Limitations

What this method cannot tell you

It is backward-looking

Every input describes the past. A clean history is not a forecast, and a strategy can change behaviour the day after it is ranked.

We cannot audit the brokers

The figures are whatever RoboForex and LiteFinance publish. We check them for internal consistency, not for truth.

Detection is not perfect

A martingale account that has not yet blown up may show a clean curve. The screen removes the obvious cases, not every case.

The two lists differ

Different fields, different windows, different gates. Rank 1 on one board is not equivalent to rank 1 on the other.

The pool is limited

LiteFinance exposes roughly 45 strategies publicly. We can only rank what is published without a login.

We are paid by referral

Affiliate links fund the site. The gates are mechanical and identical for every strategy, but you should weigh the incentive yourself.

Every rule, in full