Getting a Clearer Picture of Your Trading with Key MetricsWhen we look at our trading results, it’s easy to focus on one number: how much money we made or lost 💰. But that alone doesn’t tell us the full story. By breaking things down into a few basic metrics, we can see what’s really going on and figure out where we need to improve.
Start by looking at how many trades you won versus how many you lost. That’s your Winning Trades and Losing Trades count. But counting wins and losses isn’t enough. Check your Total Winning P&L and Total Losing P&L , these show how much money you gained overall on winning trades and how much you lost on losing ones. From there, dig into the details: Average Winning P&L and Average Losing P&L tell you the typical size of your profits and losses, helping you see if your winners generally outpace your losers.
Your Win Rate is the percentage of trades that ended up profitable, while your Loss Rate is the percentage that ended in a loss. A high win rate feels good, but it doesn’t mean much if the losses are huge. That’s why the Profit Factor (Reward-to-Risk Ratio) is so important, it compares how much you’ve made on winning trades to how much you’ve lost on losing ones. If you want a quick snapshot of your long-term performance, look at Expectancy , which blends all of this together into the average profit (or loss) you can expect per trade over time. Your Final P&L 💵 shows your bottom line after everything is said and done.
It also helps to know how your biggest successes and failures stack up. Look at your Largest Win and Largest Loss to get a feel for how extreme your outliers are. To understand the everyday “feel” of your trading, check out your Median P&L . Unlike an average, the median isn’t thrown off by a few giant wins or losses, so it shows what a typical trade looks like.
And finally, the Standard Deviation tells you how much your results vary from one trade to the next. A high standard deviation means your outcomes swing widely, while a lower one points to steadier results📈.
By paying attention to all these numbers, you’ll get a clearer idea of what’s really happening under the surface. You’ll spot patterns, find where you can tighten up risk, and understand if you’re making money due to skill or just good luck. In short, these metrics help you trade with your eyes wide open, making it easier to improve over time.
