how much time should be spent on journaling?

It should be brief. Otherwise, it will make review of the journal more difficult. The main focus are the "what" and "why". E.g. scanning strategy comes up with these and why decide on this and not that...
 
tomas262 said:
more I detach from $$ better the results I get
when analyzing trades in hindsight (which makes no point as you mentioned) i tend to focus on what I did wrong .. coulda woulda.. that is no good
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Hello tomas262,

I agree. We do not do nothing wrong as manual traders, take our best educated and experienced guess.
 
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GoldDigger said:
I am managing multiple accounts and so I have
a checklist for all my trades, which includes the
criteria that I look at prior to entering the trade,
dollar amounts, time of day, and whatever.

I also track my exits, with my profits and any
information that I think is relevant.

Then I maintain a notebook where I annotate
my trading details, list other stocks that I
noticed, and things I want to research at
another time.

All of this takes a few minutes, depending
on how much I write in my notes, but it is
worth the time, especially when I come
back to my notes days or weeks later.

Even though we can print out the history
of our trades from our accounts, I think it is
important to record things, even if it is just
random thoughts regarding your trades.

I would advise you to start annotating things,
writing it down on paper is best. It does not
have to be structured and the stationery does
not need to be anything fancy, just use some
kind of spiral notebook or writing tablet that
you probably already have laying around.

The beginning of a new year is the perfect
time to start practicing better trading and
life habits.

Being organized and having better habits
will make you a more profitable trader.
More...
You Will Remember Information Longer if you Hand Write Notes
 
Less than 5 minutes per day maybe. Just recording setup type, entry, exit, lot size, special remark. Not sure what do you mean by journaling other than that.
 
Peter8519 said:
It should be brief. Otherwise, it will make review of the journal more difficult. The main focus are the "what" and "why". E.g. scanning strategy comes up with these and why decide on this and not that...
More...

often the act of writing the journal is enough to compile your thoughts with no need to review it.
 
I spend 1 hour a day on journaling and bookkeeping my trades. 1/2 in the morning to make my plan and 1/2 hour throughout the day to review book performance.

This saves me about 3 hours a day because I don’t stare at the screen looking at the same position all day just watching the last tick.

It also allows me to get perspective on what’s important - driving factor for my risk.

I journal other aspects of my life:
My business
My health (diet/exercise)
My emotional well being

GoldDigger said:
I am managing multiple accounts and so I have
a checklist for all my trades, which includes the
criteria that I look at prior to entering the trade,
dollar amounts, time of day, and whatever.

I also track my exits, with my profits and any
information that I think is relevant.

Then I maintain a notebook where I annotate
my trading details, list other stocks that I
noticed, and things I want to research at
another time.

All of this takes a few minutes, depending
on how much I write in my notes, but it is
worth the time, especially when I come
back to my notes days or weeks later.

Even though we can print out the history
of our trades from our accounts, I think it is
important to record things, even if it is just
random thoughts regarding your trades.

I would advise you to start annotating things,
writing it down on paper is best. It does not
have to be structured and the stationery does
not need to be anything fancy, just use some
kind of spiral notebook or writing tablet that
you probably already have laying around.

The beginning of a new year is the perfect
time to start practicing better trading and
life habits.

Being organized and having better habits
will make you a more profitable trader.
More...
 
i have an excel spreadsheet as my trading journal which consist of the following: ticker symbol, buy date/time, buy price, buy total price, sold date/time, sold price, sold total, p/l, p/l%, note. i do my journaling in real time during the day when i have down time and waiting for my setup.
 
SimpleMeLike said:
Hello spectastic,

Yes, I always follow my plan.
No, I never notice things that needs improvement. Look for improvement is looking to never improve. Keep it simple, do nothing.
No, nothing is worth writing down. My account balance shows the results.
No, I do not review my trades.
No, I do not do anything. I trade for 1 hour per day and done.

I am guessing/discretionary/gambling manual trading. I do not know if I will make money until after X-XX months of clicking buy and sell button.
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And how will you know, if after X-XX months it turns out you didn't make any money, where it all went wrong and what went right?

It's also funny you say nothing needs improvement, but at the same time you do not know if you will be making any money yet?

How can you know nothing needs improvement if you don't even know if what you are doing works or not?
 
FTDK said:
And how will you know, if after X-XX months it turns out you didn't make any money, where it all went wrong and what went right?

It's also funny you say nothing needs improvement, but at the same time you do not know if you will be making any money yet?

How can you know nothing needs improvement if you don't even know if what you are doing works or not?
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Good Morning FTDK,

Once I click buy or sell button, the trade either wins or loses. At the end of the year or month, I will either make a lot of money or not.

If I do not make money, I try something else. If I make money, I keep going until rich.

Trying to improve in manually trading I've learned in trading is a waste of time. We are adults, and we need to be mature about what is instantly working and what's not going to work. There is no need to make life complicated journaling 100 things.

Just trade from the chart, do what you feel and do it alot.

Don't change nothing until after 1000 trades. Then you know what work.

You can't improve forever. Improving in trading is marketing. Just keeping on clicking.
 
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