Is a 70% win rate good?

Not by itself. If the average loss is much larger than the average win, a 70% win rate can still lose money. Check expectancy and profit factor together with win rate.

Does TradingLead count breakeven trades as wins?

No. A trade with exactly zero net P&L after fees is neither a win nor a loss, but it stays in the denominator, so it lowers the win rate.

Are fees included when deciding whether a trade won?

Yes. Wins and losses use net P&L after allocated entry and exit fees. A small gross gain can become a net loss.

Glossary

What Is Win Rate in Trading?

Win rate is the percentage of closed trades that ended with a profit. TradingLead computes it as 100 × winning closed positions ÷ all closed positions, using net P&L after fees, with breakeven trades counted in the denominator. Win rate alone does not show profitability; it must be read with average win, average loss and profit factor.

What it means

Win rate (also called strike rate or hit rate) is the percentage of trades that closed with a profit:

win rate % = 100 × winning trades / total closed trades

If 12 of 30 closed trades were profitable, the win rate is 40%.

Why it can mislead

Win rate says how often you won, not how much. Profitability depends on both:

expectancy per trade = (win rate × average win) − (loss rate × average loss)

A trend-following strategy might win 35% of the time and still be profitable because winners are much larger than losers. A strategy that wins 80% of the time can lose money if a few large losses wipe out many small gains. Costs push the break-even win rate higher. The Backtesting Lab lesson "Read a backtest report" lets you change trade type and slippage and watch the break-even line move.

Read win rate together with profit factor, average win/loss, expectancy and drawdown.

How TradingLead calculates it

In TradingLead backtesting analytics:

A trade is a closed position. Partial exits do not count as a separate win until the whole position is closed.
Win or loss is decided by net P&L after allocated fees, not gross price movement.
Breakevens (exactly zero net P&L) are neither wins nor losses but stay in the denominator.
The win rate is empty (not 0%) when there are no closed positions.

The engine summary and the Analytics view can differ slightly: the engine summary counts exit legs, while Analytics counts fully closed positions. The paper trading and Lab summaries use the same net-after-fees definition.

Tips

Treat win rates from fewer than a few dozen trades with caution, since chance plays a big part.
Don't optimize for win rate alone. Wide targets and tight stops can trade one for the other without improving results.
A past win rate is not a forecast.

Limitations

Win rate ignores the size of wins and losses.
Small samples make win rate unreliable.

Frequently asked questions

Is a 70% win rate good?: Not by itself. If the average loss is much larger than the average win, a 70% win rate can still lose money. Check expectancy and profit factor together with win rate.
Does TradingLead count breakeven trades as wins?: No. A trade with exactly zero net P&L after fees is neither a win nor a loss, but it stays in the denominator, so it lowers the win rate.
Are fees included when deciding whether a trade won?: Yes. Wins and losses use net P&L after allocated entry and exit fees. A small gross gain can become a net loss.

Last updated: 5 November 2026