A breakeven trade is one you closed at or very near the entry price, often after moving the stop to entry. After commissions it may show +$3 or −$6. Calling those wins and losses distorts every ratio in the journal, so journals use a breakeven threshold: any net result inside ± that amount is breakeven.
Example
Threshold $10 on a $10,000 account.
Win rate leaves the two breakeven trades out of both the wins and the total; expectancy and net P&L still include their few dollars, because the money is real.
How to set the threshold
- In money: roughly one round-trip commission plus a little slippage. For a futures trader paying $5 a round turn, $10 to $15 is reasonable.
- As a percentage of the starting balance: 0.05% to 0.1% scales the band as the account changes, which suits traders with several accounts of different sizes.
- Never as large as a typical loss. A threshold that swallows real losses flatters the win rate.
Why it matters
A scalper who scratches many trades at +$2 can show a 65% win rate and no money. With a threshold, the same record shows a 48% win rate and a payoff ratio that explains the result.
In SetupBook
The threshold is set per account in Accounts, in dollars or as a percentage of the starting balance. Every metric that splits wins from losses uses it, and the win rate card says "BE excluded" so the rule is never hidden.