Read the P&L calendar

P&L means profit and loss: what you made or lost. The calendar shows it after costs (commission, and swap, the fee or credit for keeping a trade open overnight). Each box is one day and counts the trades you closed that day. Green is a winning day, red a losing day.

Where to find it

1. 1Open Stats.
2. 2Stay on the Overview tab. The panel called P&L calendar is in the top half of the page.
3. 3Above it, pick the account (only if you have more than one) and the range: 30D, 90D or All. The calendar only counts trades inside that range, so a month older than the range looks empty.
4. 4Use the arrows next to the month name to go to the previous or next month. It opens on the month of your latest trade.

The grid

Number in the box

Net profit or loss for that day, after costs

Small number in the corner (computer)

Number of trades closed that day

Colour strength

How big the day was compared with the biggest day of the month on screen

Box with an outline and no colour

A day with no closed trades

Week column on the right

Total result and number of trades for that week

Line above the grid

The month's total, its number of trades, and how many green and red days it had

A pale green day and a deep green day are both wins. The deep one mattered more for the month. The same goes for red. Days are cut at midnight UTC (the world's reference time), and a trade belongs to the day it closed.

Open a day

1. 1On a computer, click a day. On a phone, tap it once to read its result in the line above the grid, then tap it again to open it.
2. 2Journal opens on your trades, showing only that day. Press the button that clears the day to see every trade again.
3. 3Click a trade to open its page. There the High-impact news panel shows which releases came out around your entry, so you can tell a bad idea from a trade caught by news. More on the trade page.

What to look for

• Red days after news. If the deep red days line up with big news days, like US inflation (CPI), US jobs (NFP) or interest rate decisions, the problem may be the timing, not your idea.
• Your best weekday. Read down a column. Some traders lose on Friday what they made by Wednesday.
• Number of trades on red days. A red day with 9 trades, when you usually take 3, often means you were trying to win back losses.
• Weekly totals. A week can be green with three red days in it. The week column keeps single days in proportion.

R-multiple, in one paragraph

R is the amount you risked on a trade: the distance from your entry to your first stop loss (the price where the trade closes by itself to limit the loss). If you risked $100 and made $250, the trade is +2.5R. If the stop loss was hit, it is -1R. R lets you compare trades of different sizes. A +$300 day made by risking $1,000 is weaker than it looks. FxMind takes the first stop loss from the order when you opened the trade. If there was no stop loss, you can type the risk in yourself on the trade's review. If you do not, R stays empty. It is never guessed.