Daily P&L (daily profit and loss) is how much your account gained or lost in one trading session. Brokers usually measure it from the previous close, so it includes price moves on positions you still hold. A trading journal usually counts only the trades you closed that day, after fees. Before you react to the number, know which of the two you are looking at.
This page covers what each version includes, how the major brokers calculate theirs, how to compute your own net daily P&L, and how to turn the daily number into something you can act on.
Daily P&L vs open P&L vs realized P&L
Daily P&L, open P&L and realized P&L answer different questions. Daily P&L is the account’s change since the previous close, including positions you still hold. Open P&L is the gain or loss on open positions measured from your entry price. Realized P&L counts only the trades you have closed. Most platforms show three or four of these figures side by side:
| Figure | Measured from | Includes positions still open? | Common labels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily P&L (broker) | Previous close; entry price for positions opened today | Yes | P/L Day, Daily P&L, Day’s P&L, Today’s return, Today’s net change |
| Open P&L | Your entry price | Yes — open positions only | P/L Open, Unrealized P&L, Total return |
| Realized P&L | Entry vs exit on closed trades | No | Realized P&L, Realized G/L |
| Net daily P&L (journal) | Trades closed today, minus commissions and fees | No | What your journal should log for the day |
The first is a mark-to-market view of the account. The last is a record of decisions you finished. Both are useful; mixing them up is how traders end up confused or upset by their own screen.
Why your Daily P/L can be red on a winning trade
Say you bought 100 shares at $48 yesterday. The stock closed at $50, and today it trades at $49.
- Open P&L: ($49 − $48) × 100 = +$100. The trade is still a winner.
- Broker Daily P/L: ($49 − $50) × 100 = −$100. Today the position lost a dollar a share from last night’s close.
- Journal daily P&L: $0. Nothing was closed, so nothing was realized.
Same position, three different numbers, all correct. Swing traders see this every day: a red Daily P/L on a trade that is well in profit, or a green one on a trade that is still underwater. Judge open trades by their plan — stop, target, open risk — not by today’s colour.
What each broker’s Daily P/L includes
A broker’s Daily P/L includes positions you still hold, so it moves with the market until you close them. Labels, reference prices and fee treatment differ between platforms. Here is what each broker’s own help material says (checked October 2026; platforms change, so confirm in yours):
| Platform | Label | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| thinkorswim (Schwab) | P/L Day | Money made or lost on the position “from last night’s close to the current mark,” including intraday gains or losses on today’s trades (TD Ameritrade explainer) |
| Interactive Brokers (TWS) | Daily P&L | All open positions valued against the prior day’s close, plus P&L on new positions; the reset schedule is set in TWS Global Configuration and is instrument-specific by default (TWS reference, API docs) |
| Webull | Day’s P&L | Today’s sell value − today’s purchase value + current market value − previous-close market value − today’s transfers (fees, interest, dividends, corporate actions) (Webull help) |
| Fidelity (Active Trader Pro) | Today’s Net Change | Realized plus unrealized gain/loss since the prior close, excluding deposits and withdrawals (Fidelity help) |
| Robinhood | Today’s return | “The amount of money you’ve made or lost on the security on that trading day”; the help page does not state the reference price (Robinhood help) |
Two things follow. First, every broker figure above includes open positions, so it moves with the market until you close them. Second, platforms differ on fees: Webull subtracts them in the formula, while other screens may show the price move before costs. If your broker number and your journal disagree, those two differences explain most of the gap.
Video: A short walkthrough of the difference between a broker’s P/L Day and P/L Open figures.
How to calculate your net daily P&L
Net daily P&L is the profit or loss on the trades you closed that day, after commissions and fees. It is the number a trading journal should log. Use closed trades only and subtract every cost:
Net daily P&L = sum of (exit − entry) × quantity × multiplier for each trade closed today − commissions − fees
Reverse the sign of the price difference for short trades. The multiplier is 1 for shares, 100 for most US equity options, and the point value for futures (for example $50 per point on ES).
Worked example
You trade shares of XYZ twice in one session.
- Trade 1: buy 100 at $50.00, sell 100 at $50.75 → (50.75 − 50.00) × 100 = +$75.00
- Trade 2: buy 50 at $51.00, sell 50 at $50.60 → (50.60 − 51.00) × 50 = −$20.00
Gross P&L is $75.00 − $20.00 = $55.00. With a $1.00 commission on each of the four executions, costs are $4.00:
Net daily P&L = $55.00 − $4.00 = $51.00
The $4 looks small. At 20 round trips a day it is $40 a day and roughly $10,000 a year, which is the difference between a working strategy and a losing one for many active traders. For options, futures and forex variants, see how to calculate trading profit, or run a single trade through the stock profit calculator.
Which number should you watch?
Watch open risk during the session, apply your daily loss limit to a figure you chose in advance, and log net daily P&L from closed trades for review:
- During the session: watch open risk — distance to your stops and position size — rather than the Daily P/L ticker. The ticker invites you to grab small wins and sit on losers.
- For a daily loss limit: decide in advance which figure the limit applies to. A limit on realized P&L ignores a large open loss; a limit on broker Daily P/L includes it. Many prop-firm rules count open losses, so check yours before you rely on realized P&L alone.
- For review: log net daily P&L from closed trades in your journal. If you swing trade, also note the account’s daily equity change, so overnight risk shows up in your records rather than only on the broker screen.
Turning daily P&L into something you can act on
One day’s number is noise. The pattern across weeks is the signal, and it is easier to see in a picture than in a column.
- Equity curve: cumulative net P&L over time. A smooth slope suggests consistent risk; sharp steps and deep dips usually mean position size is changing from day to day.
- P&L calendar: each day coloured by result. Clusters of red after a big green day are a classic overconfidence pattern.
- By weekday and time of day: a block of red every Friday afternoon is a rule waiting to be written (“no new trades after 12:00 on Fridays”).
- By setup tag: tells you whether a bad day came from a bad strategy or a strategy traded badly.
A journal builds these views from your fills automatically; in a spreadsheet, a pivot table does the same job. For the next level of analysis — profit factor, expectancy and where the money leaks — see profit and loss analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Does Daily P/L include unrealized gains?
Usually yes. A broker’s Daily P/L on thinkorswim, Interactive Brokers, Webull and Fidelity values open positions against the previous close, so the broker figure includes unrealized gains and losses. A trading journal’s daily P&L normally covers closed trades only, after fees, so the journal figure leaves unrealized gains out.
Why is my broker’s Daily P/L different from my journal?
A broker’s Daily P/L and a journal’s daily P&L usually differ for one of four reasons. The broker figure includes open positions. The broker measures from the previous close rather than your entry price. The broker may show figures before commissions and fees. Or the broker’s trading day starts at a different time from your journal’s. The journal number counts only the trades closed that day, net of costs.
When does Daily P&L reset?
Daily P&L resets at the start of each new trading day and is measured from the prior close. Interactive Brokers lets you set the reset schedule in TWS Global Configuration. For futures, the trading day starts the evening before: CME Globex equity index futures open at 6:00 p.m. ET, so Monday’s session begins on Sunday evening.
Is a daily profit target a good idea?
Usually not. A fixed daily profit target in dollars tends to push you into trades that are not there on slow days. A daily loss limit and a process goal — follow the plan, risk no more than 1% per trade — are more useful. Profit is the result of those, not a number to chase.
Related reading
- What does P&L stand for — profit and loss terminology
- Calculating trading profit — net P&L after fees, by instrument
- Profit and loss analysis — patterns beyond the daily number
- Equity curve simulator — what drawdowns to expect from your stats
- Why every trader needs a trading journal — make daily review a habit
Start journaling with TradeReview for free — daily P&L and equity curve in one dashboard.