> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.hydravision.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.hydravision.ai/products/asset-profiler/comparing-assets.md). # Comparing Assets How to use several profiles together to decide where to spend your testing time. ### Loading a shortlist Drop several JSON files onto the portal at once, or select several from your repository. A strip of symbol chips appears across the top, each with a coloured dot: green for Tradeable, amber for Marginal, red for not viable.
Click any chip to switch. **Clear** empties the strip. That dot row alone is a useful first filter. Anything red comes off the list immediately. {% hint style="warning" %} **The common misreading.** Comparing step sizes between assets. US30's range starts at 350 index points and EURUSD's at 13 pips. Those numbers have no relationship to each other. Step size is not a comparable quantity. {% endhint %} ### The three figures that do compare #### 1. Cost share at the tight end The share of the profit target that costs eat at the floor of the range. It's a ratio, so it travels between asset classes cleanly, and it's the closest thing the report has to a single "expensive or cheap" score. | Symbol | Cost share at the floor | Reading | | ------ | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ | | US30 | 2.8% | Very cheap relative to what it earns | | XAUUSD | 4.7% | Cheap | | GER40 | 4.9% | Cheap | | EURUSD | 20.4% | Moderate | | XAGUSD | 23.7% | Moderate | | EURCAD | 35.0% | At the limit | Indices look strikingly cheap here. That's not a mistake. Their entry costs are large in absolute terms ($29.81 and $34.45 per lot) but tiny relative to the profit a 350-point step earns. #### 2. Band compression How much of the asset's natural range costs have taken. Also a ratio, also comparable. #### 3. Retrace as a share of the four-hour range How much of a typical four-hour move the close needs. Under about 50% is an easy ask; well over 100% means you're depending on multi-bar moves. A clean split between the two FX pairs and everything else. The FX pairs close inside a fraction of a four-hour bar; the metals and indices need more than a whole one. ### The same asset on four accounts Profiles only compare like with like when they come from the same kind of account. These are four real GBPUSD profiles over the same months: three account types at one broker, and an ECN account at a second broker. | | Broker A, ECN | Broker A, STP | Broker A, cent | Broker B, ECN | | ----------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------- | | Average spread | 0.40 pips | 1.57 pips | 2.06 pips | 0.24 pips | | Swap | not charged | not charged | charged | charged | | Contract size | 100,000 | 100,000 | 1,000 | 100,000 | | Cost of a pair of positions (ticks) | 14.0 | 37.4 | 47.1 | 10.9 | | Minimum Step Size range | 11.4 – 14.3 | none (30.5 needed) | none (38.5 needed) | 8.9 – 13.9 | | Band compression | 56% | 100% | 100% | 20% | | Carry runway | unlimited | unlimited | 0 days | 2.5 days | | Verdict | Marginal | Not viable at these costs | Not viable at these costs | Marginal | The four-hour and daily ranges were within about 3% of each other on all four, so the market itself was the same. Everything that differs comes from the account: * **Spread** sets the floor. Broker B's tighter spread lets the range start at 8.9 pips, below Broker A ECN's floor of 11.4. * **The STP and cent accounts** cost more to open a pair of positions than the asset's range can earn back. No step is economic there, although the movement is identical. * **Swap** changes the time limit. Broker A ECN charges no swap, so carry never runs out. Broker B charges it on both sides, so its cheaper range has a runway of about two and a half days. * **Commission** is the one cost the Profiler does not measure: it uses the *Commission per lot* input. All four profiles above used the default, so on an account with a different commission the floor moves again. A step size that is comfortable on one of these accounts can sit below the floor on another, or outlast its runway. The same applies to a setfile tuned on one account and run on another. ### A shortlisting order that works 1. **Drop the reds.** No setting fixes them. 2. **Sort by cost share at the floor.** It's the best single-number proxy for how much room you have. 3. **Check compression on anything Marginal.** It tells you whether the constraint is the asset or your account terms, and account terms are sometimes negotiable. 4. **Check the session badge.** An asset that looks mediocre on average may be good if you can trade only its cheap session. GER40 is exactly this case. 5. **Check retrace against carry runway.** Slow retraces on a carry-heavy asset are the combination that quietly costs money. ### What to do with this * Compare cost share and compression, never step size. * Let the session badge rescue an asset before you discard it. * Test first on whatever is cheapest and fastest. You'll learn more per backtest hour.