Glossary
A trading edge is any repeatable condition that makes a strategy profitable over many trades — a positive expectancy that persists after costs. Edges come from setups, timing, instrument selection, or superior execution and discipline. An edge is proven statistically in your own trade history, not claimed from a backtest or borrowed from someone else.
The uncomfortable truth about edges is that most traders cannot describe theirs numerically. "I trade breakouts" is a style; "London-session breakouts on EURUSD run +0.35R over my last 200 trades" is an edge.
This is the deepest purpose of journaling: your history, segmented by setup, session, and instrument, either shows where the edge lives — so you can concentrate on it — or shows there isn’t one yet, which is equally valuable to know.
Related terms