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Guide

How the backtester works

No jargon. Here is exactly how we calculate what each strategy would have returned, with real examples. The most important rule is the break even rule, so read that part twice.

The three strategies

Every signal we post comes with three take profit targets (TP1, TP2, TP3) and a stop loss (SL). A strategy is simply which target you aim for. You open one trade per signal, never three, and you hold it toward your chosen target.

Safe

Exit at TP1

Close at the first target. Smallest pips per win, but wins the most often.

Balanced

Exit at TP2

Hold for the second target. A middle ground of size and frequency.

Aggressive

Exit at TP3

Hold for the furthest target. Biggest wins, but reached less often.

The break even rule (most important)

Once a trade hits TP1, we move the stop loss up to your entry price. From that moment the trade can no longer lose. So if a trade reaches TP1 (or TP2) and then reverses before your target, it closes at break even (0 pips), not a loss. A trade is only a real loss if it never reached TP1 and hit the original stop.

Three worked examples

Same imaginary gold trade, entry at 2000, TP1 at 2010, TP2 at 2025, TP3 at 2050, stop loss at 1990. Here is how three different outcomes score under each strategy.

Example 1 , the trade runs all the way to TP3

Price climbs through every target and reaches TP3.

TP3TP2TP1EntrySLcloses TP3
Safe closes at TP1 +100 pips
Balanced closes at TP2 +250 pips
Aggressive closes at TP3 +500 pips

Example 2 , the trade reaches TP2, then reverses

Price hits TP1 and TP2, then falls back down before reaching TP3.

TP3TP2TP1EntrySLbreak even
Safe closed at TP1 already +100 pips
Balanced closed at TP2 +250 pips
Aggressive never reached TP3, stop was at entry 0 pips (break even)

This is the key one. Aggressive does not take a loss here, because once TP1 was hit the stop moved to entry. It simply ends flat.

Example 3 , the trade never reaches TP1 and stops out

Price moves against the trade from the start and hits the original stop loss.

TP3TP2TP1EntrySLstop loss
Safe stopped out -100 pips
Balanced stopped out -100 pips
Aggressive stopped out -100 pips

A real loss only happens when the trade never reached TP1. All three strategies lose the same here.

What the backtest does not include

To stay honest, the simulation is a clean model. It does not account for spread, slippage, execution delay, missed entries, weekend gaps, or your own manual trade management. Real results will differ. We also cap any single trade at a sane maximum to ignore data entry errors, and we use a fixed dollar per pip estimate based on lot size.

Past performance does not guarantee future results. This tool is for education, not a promise of profit.