Glossary / Risk
Wash sale
Definition
A tax rule disallowing a loss when you rebuy the same security within 30 days.
Why it matters
Active equity traders can accumulate large disallowed losses across a year, which is why trade-level records matter at tax time.
Example
Selling a stock at a $2,000 loss on 1 December and rebuying it on 15 December disallows the loss for that tax year; the basis rolls into the new position.
How to track it in a journal
TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so wash sale stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
Related terms
R multiple
A trade result expressed as a multiple of the amount you risked.
Risk-reward ratio
The size of your planned target compared with the size of your stop.
Position sizing
Choosing how many shares, contracts or lots to trade based on your stop distance and risk budget.
Drawdown
The decline from a peak in your equity curve to the following trough.
Keep reading
Trading journal guides
Expectancy, profit factor, drawdown, backtesting and the PDT rule.
Free trading calculators
Position size, risk-reward, expectancy and options profit.
Expectancy calculator
Expected profit per trade from your own numbers.
Broker CSV export guides
Step-by-step exports for Tradovate, NinjaTrader, IBKR and more.
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