04 · Metrics
Impulsive Trade Count
Impulsive Trade Count is the number of trades you took with no playbook linked. How Limbix counts them, what they cost your Discipline Score, how to cut them.
Trades you took without linking to a playbook. Not always bad - but always worth knowing about. Limbix counts impulsive trades in the period you pick. Each one also adds failed checks to your Discipline Score, so the count and the score move together.
How it's calculated#
- Trades in the period
- Trades opened in the period selected on Discipline & Risk, grouped by day in your profile timezone.
- No playbook linked
- Read from the trade's current playbook links. Linking a playbook later removes it from the count.
src/lib/discipline.tsAn impulsive trade is any trade with no playbook linked. Limbix reads the trade's current links, so adding a playbook to an old trade takes it out of the count straight away.
The card beside the count shows how many of those trades lost, and their combined net P&L.
What an impulsive trade does to your other numbers:
| Where | Effect |
|---|---|
| Discipline Score | Adds phantom checks, all failed: a typical playbook's worth of your rules, frozen on the trade when it is first scored. |
| Cost of Violations | Counts as a violation. If it lost, the loss is included. |
| Violations feed | Listed as "Impulsive entry". |
| Mistake detectors | Flagged Impulsive automatically. |
| Risk Rule Adherence | Left out. It has no playbook rules to check, and it has already paid in phantom checks. |
| Rule leaderboard | Left out. It has no rules to rank. |
Worked example#
This month you took 40 trades. 6 had no playbook linked. They closed at −€200, −€150, −€90, −€60, +€50 and +€30.
Impulsive Trade Count = 6. Four lost. Their net P&L: −€500 + €80 = −€420.
The card reads 6, "4 lost · −€420 · no playbook linked".
Now the score. Your other 34 trades were linked to playbooks, and you followed nearly all their rules. On those trades alone, your Rule Compliance would read Strong. Each of the six impulsive trades adds a playbook's worth of failed checks. Together they pull your compliance down a full band, to Building, in a month where your planned trades were strong.
When it shows "—"#
The count never shows "—". With no impulsive trades, the card reads 0 and "Entries with no playbook linked".
If your period has no trades at all, the hero note under the score reads "Log a trade linked to a playbook to start scoring." instead of a count.
How many impulsive trades is too many?#
The target is zero, and the trend matters more than any single month. There's no band scale. The number is worth reading next to the card's P&L: impulsive trades that lose consistently are the clearest sign your plan isn't reaching the moment of entry.
How to improve it#
- Link a playbook when you log the trade. The trade form warns you: "Saving without a playbook files this under impulsive trades and lowers your discipline score for the day." See link a playbook.
- Fix old trades honestly. If a trade followed a playbook you forgot to link, link it now. If it didn't, leave it. See edit a trade.
- Write a playbook for the setup you keep taking. If the same unplanned setup keeps appearing, it may deserve rules of its own. See create a playbook.
- Use a pre-trade check-in. Naming the setup before the session makes an unplanned entry harder to take. See check-ins.
Where you'll see it#
- Discipline & Risk (
/discipline): the Impulsive trades card, and the note under the score, which counts your impulsive trades and your real rule checks for the period. Phantom checks aren't in that count. Filter the violations feed with Impulsive only. See read your score. - Dashboard: the Discipline score card has an Impulsive trades ↗ link that opens your trade log filtered to trades with no playbook. See the dashboard guide.
- Trade log and trade page: an Impulsive mistake on each trade with no playbook. See mistakes on a trade.
Frequently asked questions#
What is an impulsive trade?#
In Limbix, it's any trade with no playbook linked. It doesn't mean the trade was reckless. It means there was no written plan to judge it against. That's why it's counted: a trade outside your plan can't show whether your plan works, and it adds failed checks to your Discipline Score.
Why does one impulsive trade lower my discipline score so much?#
Because it's charged a typical playbook's worth of failed checks. One impulsive trade costs about as much as breaking every rule on a planned trade. On a light day that can move the score a lot. The charge is fixed on the trade when it's first scored, so adding playbooks later won't change it. See phantom checks.
Do imported trades count as impulsive?#
Yes, if they have no playbook linked. Link a playbook to each imported trade to take it out of the count. One detail: the phantom weight is frozen when a trade is first scored. Trades scored before you created any playbook carry a weight of zero, so they appear in the count but add no failed checks.
Is an impulsive trade the same as a FOMO trade?#
No. Impulsive means no playbook was linked, and Limbix detects it on its own. FOMO is a feeling you tag on the trade yourself, and Limbix never detects it. A FOMO trade can follow a playbook, and an impulsive trade can be calm. See mistake detectors.
Why doesn't Limbix publish the exact weights?#
Because the method is still being validated on real traders. How heavily an impulsive trade counts against your Discipline Score may change as Limbix calibrates it, and publishing numbers that may change would mean public corrections. Exact numbers also invite people to play to the line rather than trade well. The count itself is exact: every trade with no playbook linked.