I keep seeing traders post profitable strategy screenshots but struggle to reverse-engineer their approach. What details should I look for in the charts/statements? How do you validate if their results are reproducible vs luck? Any tools or methods the community recommends?
Check entry/exit times. Match to economic calendars.
Focus on three elements: position sizing relative to account balance, time-held metrics, and correlation with volatility indices. Screenshots without timestamps are useless. Always ask for the broker’s spread data during their trades - high rebates can mask poor strategy execution. Reputable members share verified myfxbook links, not just images.
Look for consistency across multiple months. Single winning screenshots mean little. The strategy dissection threads have templates for requesting more data politely. Most traders willing to share if you ask specifics like ‘What was your max drawdown period?’
Compare their profit factor to yours. Same pair? Same session?
I screenshot their trades and recreate the entries in TradingView’s replay mode. See if the strategy works across different volatility conditions. Many strategies fail when spread costs are accounted for - always add 0.5-1 pip to their shown entries to simulate real trading.