How do you calculate R multiple?

Result divided by the amount risked at entry. Long: (exit minus entry) divided by (entry minus stop). Short: invert. Original stop hit is -1R.

What is a good expectancy in R?

Reliably above zero is a working system. +0.1R to +0.3R over a large sample is a strong retail result. Above +1R on a small sample is usually a sample too small to trust.

Should I use the original stop or the final stop for R?

The original. R measures what you decided to risk before you knew anything. The final stop after a move to breakeven inflates the book.

What is an R multiple, and why use it instead of profit and loss?. Kareet.

The short answer

R is what you risked. A trade's R multiple is what it returned, divided by that.

R = (exit - entry) / (entry - stop)

Invert for a short. Stopped at the original stop is -1R. Three times the risk is +3R.

Why not just use money

Money is only comparable to itself, on the day you made it.

A 400 win on a 5,000 account is not the same event as a 400 win on a 50,000 account. Currency hides that. R shows it.

Your own history stays readable across years. Smaller account then, larger account now. Same unit.

What it lets you say

Once trades are in R, expectancy is the average R across the sample.

Positive means the rule made money per trade on average. Negative means it did not, no matter how many winners it had.

A 30% win rate with +3R winners can make money. An 80% win rate with tiny winners and full losers can lose. Win rate alone is a costume.

The mistake that inflates everything

Use the stop the position opened with. Not the stop it ended with.

You enter with 20 points of risk. You move to breakeven. You get stopped at breakeven. That trade is 0R. It is not a tiny win against a 2-point denominator.

Using the final stop makes every managed trade look kinder than it was. The journal quietly lies.

No stop, no R

If you entered without a stop, there is no denominator. Record it as empty. Do not invent a stop after you know the ending. That guess corrupts the whole number.