Revenge trading: how to spot it and what it costs, in numbers
By the Trading Journal team · Updated · 6 min read
What revenge trading looks like
A loss stings, and the next trade is about getting that money back. The setup comes second, if at all. In a trade history it has a shape you can see:
- Fast. The next entry comes a few minutes after the loss, faster than you normally trade.
- Bigger. The size goes up to win the loss back in one go.
- Same symbol, same direction. You go back into the market that just took your money.
- Off-plan. It is not one of your setups, or the stop is wider than usual — or there is none.
- In a chain. One revenge trade that loses invites the next.
You do not need all five. Two of them together are worth a look.
A day of it, trade by trade
A day on EURUSD with a planned risk of $100 per trade:
| Time | Trade | Result | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:12 | Buy 0.50 lot, stop 20 pips | −$100 | A planned setup, stopped out: a normal loss |
| 10:16 | Buy 1.00 lot, stop 18 pips | −$180 | Four minutes later, double the size, same direction |
| 10:22 | Sell 1.00 lot, stop 15 pips | −$150 | Flipped direction to «catch the move» |
The plan allowed for a −$100 day. The day ended at −$430: $330 of it came from the two trades after the first loss.
Put a number on it
One bad morning is a story; what you need is the cost over a month.
- Tag the trades. In your journal, mark every trade that matches the pattern above with one tag — «Revenge trade». Be honest at the end of the day, not a week later.
- Add them up. Total and average result of the tagged trades, against everything else.
- Compare the month with and without them.
An example month of 82 trades:
| Trades | Result | Average per trade | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tagged «Revenge trade» | 12 | −$1,140 | −$95 |
| All other trades | 70 | +$1,610 | +$23 |
| The month | 82 | +$470 | +$5.73 |
Twelve trades — one in seven — took 70 % of what the other seventy made. That number is what changes behaviour, and it only exists if the trades are tagged.
To check whether it is noise: with fewer than 15 tagged trades a single big loss can dominate the total. Keep tagging and look again next month.
Find it without tags
If you have not tagged anything, your history still holds the signs:
- Time since the last loss. Sort trades by entry time and look at those opened within 10–15 minutes after a losing trade closed. Compare their average result with your other trades.
- Size after a loss. Look for trades whose size is larger than your usual one right after a loss.
- Trades after the day was already down. Results of trades opened once the day’s loss passed your normal daily loss.
The MT4/MT5 report has entry and exit times and sizes for every trade, so this works from a single export: how to export your MT5 trade history.
How to stop it
Willpower in the moment does not work well: the moment is the problem. Rules that act before the next trade do:
- A daily loss limit, in money, smaller than any limit your broker or prop firm sets. Hit it, and the day is over.
- A cap on trades per day. Revenge trading lives on extra trades.
- A pause after a loss. No new entry for 15–30 minutes after a losing trade. Write it down; set a timer.
- No size increase on the same day after a loss.
A rule only helps if you check it: mark each trade «rules kept» or not and compare the results — how to write trading rules you can check.
What a run of losses can do to an account at your risk per trade: risk of ruin calculator.
Track it in a spreadsheet or a journal
The free trading journal template has a mistake column and a sheet that adds up the cost of each mistake, «Revenge trade» included. In our journal the same tag is one key in the daily review, and the report shows what each mistake cost this month. The journal reads your account and cannot place or block trades: the rules are yours to keep — it shows what keeping them is worth.
This guide is part of How to keep an MT4/MT5 trading journal.