Expectancy (Expected Payoff)

Expectancy - The average amount a strategy is expected to win or lose per trade. It is calculated as total net profit divided by the number of trades, often incorporating both winning and losing trades. In other words, it’s the average profit per trade. For example, if after 100 trades a strategy netted $500, the expectancy is $5 per trade. A positive expectancy means on average the strategy makes money per trade, while a negative expectancy means it loses money per trade. (In MetaTrader, “Expected Payoff” is reported as this value).