Loss has two meanings depending on the zoom level. On a single positionPositionA single entry held on the broker account, with a direction, a size, and a current floating result.Click the word to learn more, it is the realized negative result after spreadSpreadThe gap between the bid and ask price of an instrument, paid implicitly on every entry.Click the word to learn more, commission, and swap. On a period, it is the sum of every losing position before any winner offsets it. Two scales, one concept.
Loss is the other half of every metric that pairs with gainsGainsThe sum of every winning position in a period, before losing positions are subtracted.Click the word to learn more. Profit factorProfit FactorGross winning amount divided by gross losing amount over a period. Above 1 means net positive.Click the word to learn more needs it. DrawdownDrawdownThe drop in account equity from a peak to the trough that follows, expressed as a percent of the peak.Click the word to learn more is built from it: a sequence of losses is what produces a drawdown leg. Reading loss separately, rather than netting it against gains, is what makes the shape of the strategy visible.
A strategy with many small losing positions and a few large winners is a different animal from one with many small winners and a few large losers. The first profile is what disciplined trend followingTrend FollowingAn approach that buys what is rising and sells what is falling, riding moves until they reverse.Click the word to learn more looks like. The second is what an unhappy mean-reverter looks like when a trend refuses to revert. Same net total. Different reading experience.
Javlot publishes gains and losses side by side on every strategy page. The point is not to make either side look prettier. The point is to make the position distribution legible at a glance.