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Risk-reward ratio

A comparison of the distance to an assumed loss exit with the distance to an assumed profit exit.

How to read the number

On its own the ratio states nothing: it means something only alongside the share of cases in which the target is actually reached.

When the metric lies

Both terms are assumptions of the author rather than measured quantities. A handsome ratio is obtained by moving an imagined target further away.

Also known as: risk to reward

Related terms