Revenge trading: how to spot it in your journal and stop it

A loss closes, and within minutes you are back in the market — often in the same instrument, sometimes with a bigger size — to win it back. That is revenge trading. Almost every trader has done it; the question is how often, and what it costs.

Why it hurts so much

The trade after a loss is usually taken for a different reason than your plan: to fix a feeling. The setup is weaker, the entry is rushed, and the size tends to grow. A single bad day can then undo weeks of careful trading.

What it looks like in the data

• A new trade opened within a few minutes of a losing trade closing.
• The risk on that trade is noticeably larger than on the one before.
• Several trades in quick succession on a day that started with a loss.
• Trades outside the hours you normally trade.

You do not need to remember how you felt to find these trades. The times, the sizes and the results are already in your journal.

Measure it

Separate the trades that match the patterns above from the rest and compare the results. If the flagged group loses money while the rest of your trading is roughly flat or positive, you have found the most valuable thing to fix — and it is a rule, not a strategy.

Rules that help

• A cooling-off period: after a loss, no new trade for 15–30 minutes.
• A daily stop: after two losses in a row, or a fixed amount lost, stop for the day.
• Size never goes up after a loss; if anything, it goes down.
• Before the next trade, go through your checklist from the top.

Write the rule down before the session. Deciding in the moment is exactly what does not work.

In Simple Trading Journal

The discipline view reads your existing trades and marks a trade opened within 15 minutes of a loss, a risk more than 1.5 times the previous trade after a loss, days with far more trades than usual, and trades outside your usual hours. It then shows what those trades cost compared with the rest. Trades that arrive from MetaTrader are included automatically.