Trading Strategies
Win Rate
The percentage of trades that finish profitable. Meaningless alone; combined with risk-reward it defines whether a strategy makes money.
In plain English
Win rate is the most quoted and most misleading trading statistic. A 90 percent win rate loses money if the tenth trade gives back more than the nine wins; a 35 percent win rate prints money at 1:3 risk-reward.
Styles pair characteristic win rates with characteristic ratios: mean reversion runs high win rate with small edges, trend following runs low win rate with fat winners. Prop consistency rules add a wrinkle, favoring steadier daily results over rare huge days regardless of per-trade stats.
- Trader A wins 70 percent at 1:0.8.
- Trader B wins 45 percent at 1:2.
- Per 100 trades at $100 risk, A nets $2,600, B nets $3,500.
- B's lower win rate earns more.