Copying trades between cent and standard accounts
Cent accounts are popular for testing a strategy with real money. The balance is shown in cents, so a $10 deposit shows as 1,000. That's exactly what trips up most trade copiers.
The problem
A simple copier sees a master with a balance of 5,000 (dollars) and a cent copy with a balance of 1,000 (cents). It thinks the copy is a fifth of the size and opens a fifth of the lot. In reality the copy holds $10, five hundred times less than the master, so the copy carries 100 times more risk than it should.
The reverse happens when copying from a cent master to a standard copy: trades come out far too small.
How Vuxcopy handles it
- It recognises cent accounts from the account currency (such as `USC` or `EUC`) and converts the balance and equity to dollars before comparing accounts.
- It compares the value of a price move per lot on each account, so a cent lot and a standard lot are measured in the same money.
- It rounds to the copy broker's lot step and limits.
Profit and loss on cent accounts is also converted in your dashboard totals, so a 500 ¢ profit counts as $5, not $500.
Worked example
| | Master (standard) | Copy (cent) | |---|---|---| | Equity | $5,000 | 100,000 ¢ = $1,000 | | Trade | 0.50 lot EURUSD | ? |
The copy holds a fifth of the master's money, so it should carry a fifth of the risk. On most cent accounts one cent lot moves the account by the same number of cents as a standard lot moves a standard account in dollars, so the copy needs 100 times more lots for the same dollar risk: 0.50 × 1/5 × 100 = 10.00 cent lots, worth about the same risk as 0.10 standard lots.
Brokers differ, which is why Vuxcopy reads the tick value from each broker instead of assuming. Always confirm with one small trade.
Tips
- Set a max lot on cent copies. Cent brokers often allow very large lot numbers.
- Cent accounts usually have a smaller symbol list. Check the Symbols tab for anything the master trades that the cent broker doesn't offer.