What's in your trading journal

J

Jdesey

Just curious what others are tracking....

beyond the normal trades/profit/loss/percentages...etc...

One thing that I do track are the trades I DID NOT take, but was tempted to. If you are not doing that, try it. It is absolutely amazing the high percentage of "no-go" trades that would have lost me money had I taken them.

So, what do you have in your journal that is unique...
 
I track all signals and then compare them with trades taken from my execution report. On all defined signals, taken or not, I track the number of the days trade 1-2-3 etc and L or S, next column price, then time of entry, next type of trade, next MFE, next, MAE and finally number of ticks gained or lost.
 
In addition to all the standard stuff..
  • time of day
  • a subjective "environment" numerical rating (includes news event/driven)
  • Which set-up, which also implies an EXPECTED magnitude of movement.
  • a 1-4 correlation rating of (my) 2 primary tools.
 
I don't get too deep into my rationale for most of my trades. I post the real time trades for my sentiment as well as observations and musings. In particular, I focus on certain risks, how I manage those risks specifically, and what I changed when something broke down, or what went right and why (my "damage reports"). I found that to be really useful to look back on and see why not to do certain things, or why I hedge something some way.
 
Jdesey said:
Just curious

what do you have in your journal that is unique
More...

Journals are for women who are going through an existential crisis, o_O

But joking aside, I don't have a trading journal -- I try not to think too hard about it, as the above person mentioned,
Because of course...Everything is crystal clear in Hindsight, ...Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda,

You make a decision in the heat of the battle, and you have to stick through it, or manage it,
No amount of reflecting in hindsight will make a difference -- the past is the past,

Each Day, each Chart, each moment...is truly unique in its own right -- no two trading periods are ever an exact replication or recipe of each other,
Dynamic variables are constantly dancing in the market, in varying degrees,

Try to practice KISS: keep it Simple, stupid.
Be a Master of One, not a jack of all trades, -- you don't really need a trading journal if you only have one thing on your plate,
 
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I agree with LL, I haven't found journaling and recording trades to benefit me in the past as like he said, it seems every situation is unique. Of course I might be wrong but I prefer to just track my PL daily because that is the ultimate stat.
 
hmm.... you guys have me thinking about this.... the past is the past... but isn't it like a pro athlete reviewing films of previous games, to learn what you could have done better??
 
Jdesey said:
hmm.... you guys have me thinking about this.... the past is the past... but isn't it like a pro athlete reviewing films of previous games, to learn what you could have done better??
More...
I'm sure keeping a detailed journal is a good thing that you should likely do, I just would rather get my trading in, win/lose/draw and then go about my day. I guess I'm lazy, I just don't want to sit around the computer when I'm done and mess with a journal.
 
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