10 Trading Analytics Every Trader Should Track

Why Trading Analytics Matter

Most traders focus on P&L. They know whether they made or lost money today. But P&L alone tells you almost nothing about the quality of your trading process. Were you lucky or skillful? Is your strategy sustainable or fragile? Are you taking too much risk for the returns you are generating?

Trading analytics answer these questions. They give you an objective, quantitative view of your performance that strips away emotion and bias. If you are serious about keeping a trading journal, these are the 10 metrics you should be tracking in it.

1. Win Rate

Good range: 40-60% for most strategies. Trend-following strategies often have lower win rates (30-40%) but larger winners. Scalping strategies may target 60-70%.

Why it matters: Win rate is the most intuitive metric, but also the most misleading when viewed alone. A 90% win rate means nothing if your losses are 10x your wins. Always pair win rate with average win/loss ratio. For a deep dive, see our complete guide to calculating win rate.

2. Profit Factor

Good range: Above 1.5 is solid. Above 2.0 is excellent. Below 1.0 means you are losing money overall.

Why it matters: Profit factor is one of the cleanest single-number summaries of a strategy's edge. A profit factor of 2.0 means you earn $2 for every $1 you lose. Unlike win rate, it accounts for the size of wins and losses, making it far more useful for evaluating strategy quality. Learn more in our profit factor guide.

3. Sharpe Ratio

Good range: Above 1.0 is acceptable. Above 2.0 is very good. Above 3.0 is exceptional and rare for discretionary traders.

Why it matters: The Sharpe ratio tells you whether your returns are worth the ride. A strategy that returns 50% per year with 80% volatility has a worse Sharpe than one returning 20% with 10% volatility. It helps you compare strategies on a risk-adjusted basis, which is how professional allocators evaluate performance. For step-by-step calculations and interpretation benchmarks, see our complete Sharpe ratio guide.

4. Max Drawdown

Good range: Under 10% is conservative. Under 20% is acceptable for most traders. Above 30% is a red flag that demands attention.

Why it matters: Max drawdown is the metric that kills traders. A 50% drawdown requires a 100% return to recover. Most traders emotionally break during deep drawdowns, abandoning their strategy at the worst possible time. Tracking drawdown in real time lets you scale back before it becomes catastrophic. See our full max drawdown guide.

5. Expectancy

Good range: Any positive number means your strategy has an edge. The higher the better, obviously. A negative expectancy means you will lose money over time, regardless of short-term luck.

Why it matters: Expectancy combines win rate and win/loss size into a single number that tells you whether your strategy is profitable on average. It is the closest thing to a "bottom line" metric for trade-level performance. If your expectancy is positive and you can maintain it across a large sample, you will make money.

6. Average Win / Average Loss Ratio

Good range: Above 1.5 for most strategies. Trend followers often target 2.0-3.0+. Mean reversion strategies may operate with ratios closer to 1.0 but compensate with higher win rates.

Why it matters: This metric reveals whether you are cutting winners short or letting losers run -- the two most common mistakes traders make. If your win/loss ratio is below 1.0, you need a very high win rate to be profitable. Tracking this over time shows whether you are improving at trade management or getting worse.

7. Risk-Reward Ratio (R-Multiple)

Good range: Target a minimum of 2R on winners. This means your average winning trade should be at least 2x your initial risk. Many professional traders use 3R as their minimum target.

Why it matters: R-multiples normalize your trades by risk. A $500 profit on a $100 risk (5R) is far better than a $500 profit on a $400 risk (1.25R), even though the dollar amounts are identical. Thinking in R-multiples forces you to evaluate trades relative to risk, which is the foundation of professional risk management.

8. Sortino Ratio

Good range: Above 1.5 is good. Above 2.5 is excellent. Generally, your Sortino should be higher than your Sharpe because it ignores upside volatility.

Why it matters: The Sharpe ratio treats all volatility as bad, including upside volatility. But traders want upside volatility -- that is profit. The Sortino ratio only penalizes downside moves, making it a more accurate measure of risk-adjusted performance for traders whose returns are not symmetrically distributed.

9. Calmar Ratio

Good range: Above 1.0 means your annual return exceeds your worst drawdown. Above 3.0 is excellent. Hedge funds typically target a Calmar above 1.5.

Why it matters: The Calmar ratio directly answers the question: "Is the return worth the pain?" If you made 30% in a year but experienced a 40% drawdown to get there, your Calmar is 0.75 -- meaning the drawdown pain exceeded the annual gain. This metric is especially useful for evaluating whether a strategy is worth trading with real capital.

10. Equity Curve

Definition: A line chart plotting your cumulative account value over time. Unlike a single number, the equity curve is a visual metric that reveals the character of your trading.

What to look for:

• Smooth upward slope = consistent edge with controlled risk
• Staircase pattern (flat periods + jumps) = trend-following strategy capturing occasional large moves
• Jagged with deep dips = high volatility, possible overtrading or poor risk management
• Long flat period followed by sharp decline = strategy may have stopped working

Why it matters: The equity curve tells a story that no single number can. Two traders might have identical Sharpe ratios, but completely different equity curves. One might be smooth and steady, the other volatile with a lucky recovery. Reviewing your equity curve monthly helps you spot problems before the numbers catch up.

How to Track All 10 Metrics

Calculating these metrics by hand is tedious and error-prone. A dedicated trading journal automates the entire process. TradeGladiator computes all 10 of these metrics automatically from your logged trades, with no formulas to enter and no spreadsheets to maintain.

• Real-time dashboard showing all key metrics at a glance
• Filter by strategy, instrument, timeframe, or date range
• Equity curve with drawdown overlay
• AI-powered insights that flag when metrics deteriorate
• Historical trends so you can see whether you are improving over time

The best time to start tracking was when you placed your first trade. The second best time is today. Create a free account and let TradeGladiator handle the math.