How to pick a Telegram signal group: what 619 tracked groups taught us

By James Mitchell, founder of Trade By Focus · Checked 2 November 2026

Signal Rankings is part of Trade By Focus, and every figure here comes from it. It is free to use on every plan, including the trial.

The short answer

Use a group's record to rule it out, not to pick a winner. On our tracking, last month's best groups were no more likely to make money the next month than the worst: of September's top ten, two made money in October. What a record does show well is risk. So choose on how badly it can lose, whether it posts its losses, and whether it fits your hours.

Why the top of a leaderboard is not a shortlist

We took the 164 groups with at least 30 closed trades before October and at least 10 in October, and split them into four equal groups by how much they had made up to the end of September. Then we looked at October.

Groups, by result up to September	Average before October	Average in October	Made money in October
Top quarter	+$348	-$24	14 of 41
Second quarter	+$39	-$47	14 of 41
Third quarter	-$73	-$69	14 of 41
Bottom quarter	-$358	-$144	15 of 41

Closed trades at the size we track on a $1,000 account, spread and slippage included.

What the record does tell you

In every quarter, about one group in three made money in October, whatever it had done before. October was a hard month for signal groups, and one month is a short test; we will re-measure as the record grows. But the lesson is plain: a hot run says little about the next one.

The record was much better at showing danger. The groups that had lost most before October lost six times as much in October as the groups that had made most, and the worst of them lost $1,301 in a single month at the size we track on a $1,000 account: more than the whole account. How badly a group has lost is the most useful thing its record tells you.

Do not choose on win rate

A group that wins most of its trades looks safe, and its channel is full of ticks. But 100 of the 241 groups we track that win at least 6 trades in 10 are losing money overall. Small wins and a few large losses add up to a loss. Look at reward to risk instead: how much the group makes on a winning trade against how much it loses on a losing one.

Check that it posts its losses

A group that hides losses will hide other things. On each group's verdict, Signal Rankings shows the receipts from the last 14 days: losses it never posted, wins it claimed on trades that went on to their stop, and stops it moved after entry, each replayable on the chart. One can be a slip. A habit is a reason to leave.

Check that it fits how you trade

Each group on Signal Rankings has a plain description of how it trades: which pairs, which hours (UK time) and days, whether it scalps or holds for days, whether it posts an entry zone or a single price, how many take profits, and what it does after entry. A group that trades the New York open is hard to follow if you can only look at your phone at lunch, and a zone group's best entries are ones a follower often does not get.

Six steps on Signal Rankings

Set the board to All time, not 7 or 30 days. A week can make any group look good.
Leave out groups still pending. A group is graded only once it has 10 closed trades, and more is better.
Read the Max DD column and rule out any group whose worst fall you could not sit through on your own account.
Open the verdict. Read the score out of 100, then the receipts.
Read the description of how it trades and check it fits your hours and the pairs your broker offers.
Copy it small with Use the tracking settings, then compare your trades with ours on the same signals before you size up.

Questions

What is the best Telegram signal group?

No record can tell you which group will make money next month. On our tracking, the best groups of September were no more likely to make money in October than the worst. Choose a group whose worst losses you can live with, that posts its losses, and that trades at hours you can follow.

How many trades do I need to judge a signal group?

Signal Rankings grades a group from 10 closed trades, but more is better. Even a long record says more about how badly a group can lose than about what it will make next.

Is a high win rate a good sign?

Not on its own. 100 of the 241 groups we track that win at least 6 trades in 10 lose money overall, because their losses are bigger than their wins. Look at reward to risk and the worst fall too.