What is a good win rate?

There is no fixed benchmark. With a high payoff ratio, a 40% win rate can still profit; with a low payoff ratio, even 60% can lose. Never read win rate in isolation, interpret it alongside payoff ratio and expectancy to understand the actual performance of your trades.

How many trades make a win rate reliable?

With few trades, win rate swings heavily on chance. An 80% rate from five trades is likely luck. There is no absolute threshold, but it is safer to read it after dozens of trades, and to compare trades from similar periods and market conditions rather than mixing them.

Win Rate: How to Calculate It on Your Own Trades

Win rate is the share of all your trades that ended in a profit. You calculate it by dividing the number of winning trades by the total number of trades. For example, 6 wins out of 10 trades is a 60% win rate. But win rate alone cannot tell you your actual profit, so read it alongside payoff ratio.

How to Calculate Win Rate

Win rate equals winning trades divided by total trades, times 100. If you made 20 trades with 11 wins and 9 losses, your win rate is 55%. Decide upfront what counts as a win, before or after fees, and how to treat break-even trades. With a small sample, win rate swings heavily on chance, so it is safer to interpret it only after dozens of trades have accumulated.

A High Win Rate Is Not Profit

Even a high win rate can sit on a losing account if one big loss erases many small wins. Conversely, a 40% win rate can still profit when winners are far larger than losers. That is why win rate is only meaningful next to payoff ratio and expectancy. Chasing win rate alone, by selling winners early and holding losers long, can actually make your results worse.

Checking Your Win Rate in I See Stocks

I See Stocks calculates your win rate automatically from your logged trades and shows it on one screen alongside payoff ratio and expectancy. You can also break win rate down by holding period or by buy-reason tag, letting you confirm patterns like whether your win rate is higher on short holds as fact. These figures only summarize your own past records, do not guarantee future results, and recommend no trades.

FAQ

What is a good win rate?: There is no fixed benchmark. With a high payoff ratio, a 40% win rate can still profit; with a low payoff ratio, even 60% can lose. Never read win rate in isolation, interpret it alongside payoff ratio and expectancy to understand the actual performance of your trades.
How many trades make a win rate reliable?: With few trades, win rate swings heavily on chance. An 80% rate from five trades is likely luck. There is no absolute threshold, but it is safer to read it after dozens of trades, and to compare trades from similar periods and market conditions rather than mixing them.

Related terms

Author's own past trade · Informational only, not investment advice or a recommendation · Self-reported, unverified