MAE and MFE
MAE is the worst point a trade went through before closing; MFE is the best. Together they tell you whether your stop is too wide and your target too short. Run this calculation now: how to measure your own performance
What each one reveals
If winning trades rarely exceed 8 points of MAE and your stop sits at 30, you are risking almost four times what is needed — and a 12-point stop would allow a larger position at the same cash risk.
On the other side, if average MFE on winners is 45 and you exit at 20, the target is leaving more than half the move on the table. The adjustment does not come from an opinion about the market: it comes from the distribution of your own trades.
How to measure it
For each trade, record entry price, the worst excursion against you and the best excursion in your favour before the exit. Thirty trades already show a pattern; a hundred show it reliably. Split by setup, because blended averages hide the case that matters.
TCC's journal stores those fields and cross-references them with the result, showing average MAE and MFE for winners and losers side by side.