Signals, robots and copy trading
What a signal service actually sends
A signal service sends a message. The message names an instrument, a direction, an entry price, a stop price and a target price. It may also name a lot size. That is all it sends. It does not place an order, and it does not hold your money. When you act on the message, you open the position in your own account, with your own margin, at whatever price your platform shows at that moment.
The gap between the price in the message and the price you get is yours alone. If the message says sell USD/INR at 83.2500 and you see 83.2520 when you click, you have already lost 2 pips of the move. On one standard lot that is ₹20. The provider never sees that ₹20. The provider also never sees the spread your broker quotes, which varies between brokers and can widen around news.
A signal can be right about direction and still leave you with a loss. Suppose the message targets 30 pips. You enter 5 pips late and your broker's spread costs 2 pips. Your result is 23 pips, not 30. On one standard lot that is ₹230 instead of ₹300. The signal was correct. Your execution was the difference. No signal service controls your execution, and none of them refund it.
What a trading robot repeats
A robot is a set of rules written as code. It reads prices from your platform and sends orders to your account. What it copies is a decision process, not a person. If the rules say buy when a short average crosses above a long average, the robot buys every time that happens, whether the market is quiet or wild. It does not know why the rule was chosen. It only knows the rule.
The same robot can produce different results on two accounts. One account may have a wider spread, a different commission per lot, or a platform that fills orders a fraction slower. On USD/INR, one pip on one standard lot is ₹10. If one account pays 2 pips more in costs on every trade, that is ₹20 per lot per trade. Over 100 trades it is ₹2,000. The robot's logic is identical. The accounts are not.
A robot also has no view of your total risk. If you run it on three instruments at once, it may open three positions that all lose together. Your margin is shared across them. A move against all three can use far more of your balance than any single trade suggests. The robot will keep sending orders until the rules say stop, or until your account runs out of free margin.
What a copy link mirrors and what it leaves
A copy link connects your account to another account. When that account opens a trade, your account opens a trade in proportion to the funds you have allocated. If the source trades one standard lot and you allocate half the funds, you trade roughly half a lot. Your pip value is half theirs. On USD/INR, one pip on half a standard lot is about ₹5, not ₹10.
What the link does not copy is the source's risk settings. The source may accept a 100-pip loss on one trade. You may not. The link will still open the trade. If the market moves 100 pips against it, your loss is 100 times your pip value. On half a standard lot that is 100 x ₹5 = ₹500. The source's account may absorb that easily. Yours may not.
The link also does not copy the source's history of deposits and withdrawals. A track record that looks strong may have been built with repeated deposits after losses, or with lot sizes far larger than yours. A profit of ₹5,000 on the source's account, copied at half size, becomes about ₹2,500 on yours before costs. That is the arithmetic. The track record is not a promise about your result.
Three ways to follow someone else, and the ₹200 that stays yours
| Step | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Signal service | ₹10 per pip on one standard lot | You receive a message and place the trade yourself. One pip on one standard lot of USD/INR is ₹10 (100,000 x 0.0001). |
| Trading robot | ₹10 per pip, same lot | The software places the order. The pip value does not change because a machine pressed the button. |
| Copy trading | ₹10 per pip, same lot | Your account mirrors another account's trades in proportion to the funds you allocate. |
| A 20-pip move against you | ₹200 | 20 pips x ₹10 per pip = ₹200. This is the same for all three methods. |
| Two such trades | ₹400 | 2 x ₹200 = ₹400, still before any commission or spread. |
Your broker may round pip values, charge a commission per lot, or quote a wider spread on USD/INR. These charges vary between brokers, so check the fee schedule before you copy anything.
Doing it once, step by step
Work through these steps once, with a pen and your own numbers, before you follow any signal, robot or copy link. The aim is to know your pip value and your maximum loss before an order exists.
- 01
Write your pip value
Find the pip value for the lot size you actually trade. On USD/INR, one pip on one standard lot is ₹10. If you trade 0.10 lots, your pip value is about ₹1. Write this number on paper. You will use it in every step below.
- 02
Set a maximum loss per copied trade
Decide the largest loss you will accept on one trade that you did not choose yourself. Express it in rupees, not pips. For example, ₹500. Divide it by your pip value. At ₹1 per pip, ₹500 is 500 pips. At ₹10 per pip, it is 50 pips. That is your stop distance.
- 03
Check the source's lot size
Ask what lot size the signal, robot or copy source uses. If the answer is not given, treat the track record as unreadable. A profit made with ten standard lots is not the same result as the same profit made with one. Your result scales with your pip value, not theirs.
- 04
Add the costs you will pay
Find your broker's commission per lot and the typical spread on USD/INR. These vary between brokers, so check your own fee schedule. Add them to your maximum loss figure. A trade that needs 50 pips to reach your ₹500 limit may need 52 pips once costs are included.
- 05
Place one trade at your own size
Follow one signal, or run the robot for one session, or copy one trade, using only the lot size you wrote down. Do not increase it because the source did. Watch the order sit in your account and watch the margin change. The order is yours from the moment it opens.
- 06
Compare the result with your written limit
After the trade closes, compare the actual loss or gain with the maximum you wrote in step two. If the loss was larger, find out why: wider spread, a gap, or a lot size you did not intend. Adjust the lot size or the stop before you follow anything again.
The mistake most people make here
The common mistake is to treat a signal, a robot or a copy link as a transfer of responsibility. It is not. The order still sits in your account, the margin is still your money, and the loss is still yours. People also copy a track record without checking the lot size behind it, so a result that looks small may have been made with far larger positions than theirs. Before following anything, write down the pip value for your own lot size and decide the maximum loss you will accept on one copied trade.Check yourself
You copy a trade on USD/INR with one standard lot. It moves 15 pips in your favour. What is the gross gain, and what if it had moved 15 pips against you?
One pip on one standard lot is ₹10, so 15 pips is 15 x ₹10 = ₹150. The same ₹150 is the loss if the move goes the other way. Commission and spread are separate.
A signal provider shows a profit of ₹5,000 on a trade. You copy it with half their lot size. What happens to your result, before costs?
Your result is roughly half: about ₹2,500. Copy trading mirrors in proportion to the funds you allocate, so your pip value, not theirs, decides your money.
Questions that come up next
What does a signal service actually send to me?
A signal service sends a message with an instrument, direction, entry price, stop price and target price. It may also include a lot size. It does not place an order or hold your money. When you act on it, you open the position in your own account with your own margin. The price you get may differ from the price in the message, and that difference is yours alone.
Why do I get a different result from the robot's backtest?
The robot's backtest assumes certain costs, such as spread and commission. Your account may have a wider spread or a different commission per lot. On USD/INR, one pip on one standard lot is ₹10. If your costs are 2 pips higher per trade, that is ₹20 per lot per trade. Over many trades, the difference adds up. The robot's logic is the same, but your costs are not.
What does a copy-trading link actually copy?
It copies the trades of another account in proportion to the funds you allocate. If you allocate half the funds of the account you copy, your position size is roughly half. Your pip value, not theirs, decides your profit or loss. The link does not copy their account balance or their risk tolerance. It only mirrors the trades.
What risk stays with me when I follow a signal?
The order sits in your account, so the margin is your money and the loss is yours. You also carry execution risk: the price may move between the signal and your entry. The signal provider does not control your platform's speed or spread. No signal service refunds those differences. The risk never leaves your account.
How do I work out the pip value for my own lot size?
For USD/INR, one pip on one standard lot is ₹10. If you trade a mini lot, which is one-tenth of a standard lot, one pip is ₹1. For a micro lot, one-tenth of a mini lot, one pip is ₹0.10. Multiply the pip value by the number of pips you expect to gain or lose. That gives you the amount in rupees.
What costs should I check before copying a trade?
Check the spread, commission per lot, and any swap or overnight fee. These charges vary between brokers, so look at your own fee schedule. On USD/INR, a spread of 2 pips on one standard lot costs ₹20. If you copy many trades, these costs add up. They are separate from the profit or loss on the trade itself.
The words used on this page
- Signal service
- A service that sends trade ideas as messages. It names an instrument, direction, entry, stop and target. It does not place orders or hold your money. You decide whether to act.
- Trading robot
- A set of rules written as code that sends orders to your account. It follows the rules without judgement. It does not know your total risk or your account's costs.
- Copy trading
- A link that mirrors another account's trades in proportion to the funds you allocate. Your position size depends on your funds, not theirs. Your pip value decides your result.
- Pip value
- The money one pip is worth for your lot size. For USD/INR, one pip on one standard lot is ₹10. It changes if your lot size changes.
- Margin
- The money your broker sets aside from your account to keep a position open. It is still your money. If the trade loses, the loss comes from your balance.
- Execution
- The process of your order being filled at a price. The price you get may differ from the price you saw. That difference is yours alone.
What to take away
- A signal, a robot and a copy link all take the decision away from you, but the order still sits in your account and the loss is still yours.
- Your pip value, not the provider's, decides your money; write it down for your own lot size before you follow anything.
- Costs such as spread and commission vary between brokers and are separate from the trade's result.
- No service transfers responsibility: the margin is your money and the risk stays with you.