The benefit of keeping a journal is that over days, weeks and months you can go back and see what you might be doing that is leading to successful trades and, likewise, what might be leading to unsuccessful trades.
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[B]Student’s Question:[/B]
I have heard that it is a good idea to use a Trading Journal. How should it be set up?
[B]Power Course Instructor’s Response:[/B]
Good question and a good idea…
Take a look at the example below. You can set up a journal in whatever format will be easiest for you to use and understand. The data points that are shown below are the primary headings that should be included.
In the Notes/Remarks section, you can include what prompted you to enter the trade…what indicators were used, market conditions at the time, any relevant news announcements and like information would be helpful. Also, when the trade is closed, include a few words as to why you feel the trade was profitable or not. The overriding point here is that when you go back to look over the trade, you would like to be able to reconstruct it as accurately as possible.
The benefit of keeping a journal is that over days, weeks and months you can go back and see what you might be doing that is leading to successful trades and, likewise, what might be leading to unsuccessful trades.
Also, the mere fact of having to write down key data on each trade will cause you to think through each trade in a little more depth right from the outset.
Journals can be quite enlightening when used in conjunction with both a demo account as well as a live account.
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