A trading journal: what to record and how to read it
Analysis
A trader’s memory is selective: winning trades are remembered better than recurring mistakes. A journal helps you see your trading as it really is.
What to record
The instrument, direction, reason for entry, exit level, risk size and result. A short note about your state is useful too: rushing, fatigue, the urge to win it back.
How to analyse
Once a week, review the notes as a whole and look for patterns: which hours produce worse trades, which setups bring most of the result, where the plan was broken.
What to change
Change the strategy one element at a time and test it on the next sample of trades — otherwise you cannot tell which decision affected the result.
Read article