Why we measure every trade in R
A percentage return tells you how much someone risked. R tells you whether they were right.
A trader who doubles an account in a week has told you almost nothing. They might have a real read on the market, or they might have risked half the account on every trade and got lucky. The percentage can't tell the two apart.
R can. One R is what a trade stands to lose if its stop is hit. A trade that loses at its stop is −1R. A trade that reaches a target twice as far away as its stop is +2R. The account size and the amount risked drop out, and what's left is how good the read was.
What R shows that percentages hide
- Discipline. If losses keep landing at exactly −1R, the stops are being honoured. Losses of −1.5R or −3R mean a stop was moved or never set.
- The break-even win rate. If winners average +1.5R and losers −1R, a trader breaks even winning 40% of the time. Anything above that is edge.
- Risk as a separate choice. Once the edge is measured in R, the risk per trade is a dial the account owner sets. The same +10R is +5% at half a percent per trade and +20% at two percent.
How we use it
Every trade the desk takes carries a written stop before it fills, so every result converts cleanly to R. That's the number we report, and it's the one you should ask any trader for.