P&L (Profit and Loss) is the net financial result of your trading activity over a period. It tells you whether you made or lost money after accounting for winning trades, losing trades, and fees.
Realized vs. unrealized P&L
- Unrealized P&L — Profit or loss on open positions at current market prices. It changes until the position is closed.
- Realized P&L — Locked-in profit or loss after closing a position.
On dogabot dashboards and backtests, total P&L usually reflects realized results over the selected period unless noted otherwise.
How to interpret P&L
P&L alone does not describe risk. Combine it with:
- ROI — Return relative to capital deployed
- Max drawdown — Worst peak-to-trough decline (learn more)
- Win rate — How often trades are profitable