How many of you are actually keeping a trading journal? And be honest! There is no point in lying as I know – a lot of traders think that if the era of computers came we have got rid of the necessity to have an actual piece of paper and a pen next to you at all times.

But that if not exactly true. Not at all in fact.

Trading journals are a very powerful weapon when you go out and fight the markets all on your own. And the more time and attention you pay to your trading journal, the better it is going to work you.

So. What do you need to put down in a trading journal?

 

1. Main news for the day.

2. Your hunches.

3. Exit and entry points.

4. Summary.

 

1. Main news for the day.

What is the first thing that you do when you come to your trading space for the day? Well, I personally read all the news – what is going to happen for the day and what happened on the other side of the world while I was asleep? It helps me understand and get a better grasp on the situation as, as we all know, it is a rare occasion that assets extend their previous performance into the new day. More often than that the situation in the markets changes totally.

And when we come to trade into the new day there is a very high chance that the situation will look nothing like it did just 12 hours ago.

That is exactly where your trading journal comes in. You look for correlations between news and assets and note all of them in your journal. Day after day – that is very important. All of the news and reports go into your journal. That is all there is to it.

 

2. Your hunches.

Analysis may tell you one thing, but your trader’s intuition is not going anywhere. After you look at all the news and at reports and then at correlating assets you must get some feeling or some sense of what is going to happen. That is your hunch – the feeling that you get in your gut telling you whether the indicator and predictions are correct or not.

Of course am not saying that your every hunch is going to pay off, but I am saying that this is a great way to probe your feeling and view of the market. Of course it is worth mentioning that this is a horrible way that can also lead to quite some losses but in the end it is like training your glutes – sooner or later it is going to pay off, trust me.

 

3. Exit and entry points.

For this I would guarantee that your results are going to be better with special indicators that are going to demonstrate the best trading point but beware that sometimes you are going to have to determine these all by yourself as indicators may fail.

Machinery... can’t completely trust it.

 

4. Summary.

Summary of all your trades and consequence of all your decisions are to be documented and analyzed. Have you lost? What mistakes led you to losses? Are you going to make the same mistake again or are you going to try and avoid it at all cost? Were the pieces of news you read helpful? What was your main mistake and main win for the day?

These are the questions that you need to answer to yourself at the end of every day. And all the answers are to be noted and taken into consideration. After all this is your money and your success we are talking about here.