Post-trade analysis

Recording trades is not the same as learning from them.

Most journals hand you a win rate and a P&L line and leave the thinking to you. Post-trade analysis is the part that answers why — which setups pay, where the money leaks, and what you keep repeating.

Four questions a win rate cannot answer

Every one of these is worked out from your own filled trades. Nothing here needs you to tag anything by hand.

Expectancy

Does this strategy make money at all?

Average result per trade, combining how often you win with how much. A 70% win rate is a losing strategy if the losses are three times the size of the wins — expectancy is the number that catches that.

R-multiples

Am I being paid for the risk I take?

Every result expressed as a multiple of what you risked. It makes a £40 win on a £20 risk and a £400 win on a £200 risk the same trade, which is the only way to compare across position sizes.

MAE and MFE

Are my stops and targets in the wrong place?

How far a trade went against you before it worked, and how far it went in your favour before you closed it. A book of winners with large adverse excursion says the stops are too tight, not that you are lucky.

Behavioural patterns

What do I keep doing to myself?

Revenge trades after a loss, size creeping up on tilt, trading outside the hours that actually pay you. These are found across the record rather than reported per trade.

A review you do not have to run yourself

The honest problem with post-trade analysis is that almost nobody does it. The numbers sit there and the week moves on. So Enki, the built-in coach, will review a day or a single trade on request and give you a prioritised read — what worked, what leaked, what to look at first.

It reports on trades you have already taken. It does not give financial advice, forecast markets, or tell you what to trade next — and it will say when the record is too thin to draw a conclusion rather than inventing one.

What a review actually covers

  • The trades that made and lost the most, and what separated them
  • Whether the day followed your playbook or drifted from it
  • Hours, instruments and setups carrying the result
  • Anything in the record that contradicts what you believe about your trading

Common questions

What is post-trade analysis?

Reviewing trades after they are closed to find out why the results look the way they do — which setups pay, which hours leak money, whether losses are being cut at the planned point. It is the difference between recording what happened and understanding it.

What is MAE and MFE?

Maximum Adverse Excursion is the furthest a trade went against you before it closed; Maximum Favourable Excursion is the furthest it went in your favour. Together they show whether your stops are too tight and whether you are leaving money on the table.

Why is win rate a poor measure on its own?

A 70% win rate loses money if the losses are three times the size of the wins. Expectancy and R-multiples combine how often you win with how much, which is what actually determines whether a strategy makes money.

Does it review trades automatically?

Enki, the built-in coach, can review any day or single trade on request and gives a prioritised read of what worked and what leaked. It reports on your own trades — it does not give financial advice or tell you what to trade next.