There are two ways to determine your profit or loss on a trade: P/L Open and P/L Day.
The term P/L stands for Profit/Loss.
If ThinkorSwim is your primary trading platform, get used to this term, as you’ll see it a lot.
P/L Open vs. P/L Day: What’s the Difference?
P/L Open and P/L Day both show your unrealized gains or losses.
The difference is how ThinkorSwim calculates your potential profit/loss.
P/L Day calculate how much you made or lost since yesterday.
P/L Open vs. P/L Day: Which Figure Is More Important?
Both figures are equally important. But it depends on who’s looking at it.
If you’re a day trader, it makes more sense to pay attention to the P/L Day column in ThinkorSwim.
This figure displays your performance in terms of profit and loss from intraday trades.
Swing traders and long-term investors typically pay greater attention to P/L Open.
They may not view the daily calculation from P/L Day as vital because they want to retain their positions for a while.
Happy trading!
I noticed today that the P/L Day on my desktop is very different than on the mobile app.
I’m showing a loss for the day on $AAPL, but it is obviously up, and the mobile app shows the P/L day is green. Is there a setting I need to update for them to match?
The desktop version normally shows P&L YTD, but the app shows P&L Open.
My P/L Day is $77.77 and is red. Is that a gain or loss? Thanks
If your P/L number has a parenthesis, it means that the amount is negative. Otherwise, it’s a positive number.
In Think or Swim, what is the difference between P/L difference and P/L day?
Actually, there are 4 listed. P/L year to date, P/L open, P/L day and P/L difference.
I understand what OPEN and DAY mean. It’s obvious what the P/L year to date means.
Just need that P/L difference explained.