Adaptive Gold Scalper v2.3 earned $381.48 after costs, but its small headline drawdown belongs to a $100,000 account. Replaying the same trade sizes on $500 raises the modeled maximum drawdown to 47.62%.
| Starting balance | Basis | Modeled drawdown |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | Account used in the backtest | 0.24% |
| $500 | Smaller-account projection | 47.62% |
The tested balance peaked on 2016-03-09 and never recovered before the run ended. The audit records 2,720 trading days underwater and 15 losing calendar years.
A positive total can conceal a long wait for recovery. The test covers 2003-05-05 to 2026-08-15, and its ending balance remains below that earlier high.
The reported break-even cost shock is $0.10 per trade. The audit rates costs and regime as caution, and concentration as red.
The absence of rising position sizes after losses describes this run's trading behavior. It does not establish that a smaller account can withstand the same losses.
Use the Adaptive Gold Scalper audit to inspect the capital comparison and recovery history together. A shallow percentage on a large account leaves the smaller-account question open until you check its denominator.
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