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Average R (SL) — the true R-multiple

For a trade, R is the distance between your entry and your stop, multiplied by your position size. The R-multiple is then the trade's result divided by that R. A trade that makes three times what it risked is a +3R; a trade closed at its stop is a −1R. Currency disappears, only risk units remain.

The formula

For each trade, R = result ÷ risk taken (entry → stop distance). Averaged over trades with a known stop (winners +R, losers −R).

How to read it

How many times your risk you win on average per trade. Your expectancy, in risk units.

Average R across all trades with a known stop is your expectancy in risk units, and it is the most portable figure in your journal: it stays true if you double your size, change market, or move from a $2,000 account to a funded one. It is also the only common language between two traders.

The classic mistake

Computing it on trades with no recorded stop. In MetaTrader, a stop placed after entry and never hit leaves no trace in the statement: the R of those trades is not zero, it is unknown. Including them by inventing a risk builds a false expectancy, in the flattering direction.

To go deeper on this : read the full guide. Every term is gathered in the glossary.