# What Your Average Win and Average Loss Say Together Your average win and average loss mean little alone. Learn how to read them together, track the ratio, and build a review habit that supports steady growth. By OPT Team | Published 2026-08-15 | Updated 2026-08-15 [Read the canonical HTML article](https://www.onepurposetrading.com/blog/what-your-average-win-and-average-loss-say-together) ## What do average win and average loss measure on their own? ## Summary Each number describes one side of your results. Average win tells you the typical size of the trades that worked. Average loss tells you the typical size of the trades that did not. Neither number alone tells you whether your process is sound. If you only track average win, a strong number on that side can feel encouraging while losses quietly grow over the same stretch. If you only track average loss, its size can feel discouraging while wins grow to match it. The two numbers exist in relationship to each other. Read alone, either one is an incomplete picture of what actually happened. This is why a review built around a single average can mislead you about how the process is performing. The number needs a partner before it means anything. This does not promise a particular outcome. It just changes what you are looking at when you open the journal. ## How do you compare the two numbers without reducing them to one figure? ## Summary You can compare the averages directly when both use the same unit. If your planned risk changes from trade to trade, R-multiples are an optional way to normalize that comparison. Either way, read the size relationship alongside how often wins occur. Start by confirming that both averages cover the same period and use the same unit. Two dollar averages or two percentage averages can be compared directly. When position size or planned risk varies across trades, though, those raw values may describe sizing as much as execution. In that case, you can convert each closed trade to a multiple of the risk decided before entry and average the winning and losing multiples separately. R is a normalization choice, not a prerequisite. [See how R-multiples work](/blog/what-an-r-multiple-is-and-why-traders-use-one). Then place that size relationship beside win frequency. Suppose an illustrative ten-trade sample contains four wins averaging +$150 and six losses averaging -$75. The wins total +$600 and the losses total -$450 before costs. The lower win frequency does not tell the whole story because the average win is twice the average loss. If those average sizes were reversed, the same four wins and six losses would describe a very different sample. This example is a review exercise, not a target or forecast. Examples in this article are illustrative only and do not indicate typical results. The relationship between average win and average loss will vary by person, market, and period, and no particular relationship is assured. ## What should you review when the relationship between the two starts to shift? ## Summary A shift is a prompt to look at your process, not a verdict on your ability. Compare the shift against your written plan and your chart notes before you change anything. Pull the trades from the period you are reviewing. Sort them into the ones that stayed within the plan and the ones that drifted from it. Look for whether the average win shrank because winners were cut early, or whether the average loss grew because a stop point moved after the entry was already placed. If the fields in your journal do not separate the risk you planned from the risk you actually took, the review above becomes guesswork. [Building the right fields into the journal first makes this comparison possible](/blog/how-to-design-the-fields-in-your-trade-journal). The goal of the review is not to force the relationship back to where it used to be. It is to understand what changed in the process that produced it. Base hits build accounts, and the steady tracking of this relationship is one of the quieter base hits in the routine. To understand the values behind this process-first approach, [learn who we are](/about). ## Key takeaways - Average win and average loss only mean something when they are read together, not separately. - Compare them in the same unit, and use R-multiples when varying planned risk makes normalization useful. - Read their size relationship alongside win frequency instead of treating either measure as the full picture. - A shift in the relationship is a prompt to review the process, not a judgment about ability. ## Next step This is you vs. you. Keep the review specific and let the record do the talking. [See what we offer](/what-we-offer) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is a larger average win always the goal? No. A larger average win paired with a much larger average loss can still leave the relationship unfavorable. Read the two together. ### How often should this relationship be reviewed? On a regular, predetermined schedule rather than after a single strong or weak stretch, so the review reflects a pattern instead of one result. ### Does this replace a win rate review? No. It complements it. The relationship between average win and average loss and the frequency of wins are two separate parts of the same picture. ## Risk disclosure This article is educational content from One Purpose Trading. It is not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security or instrument. Trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. You can lose more than your initial investment. Any examples, figures, or scenarios are illustrative only. Results are not typical, and past performance does not guarantee future results. You are responsible for your own decisions. Trade only with capital you can afford to lose, and consider consulting a licensed professional about your individual situation.