Trading journal: what to record and how to review trades
Without a journal it's hard to tell skill from luck. It shows which trades produce results and which eat your account.
What to record
- Instrument, exchange, side, time.
- Entry, stop, target and position size.
- Reason for entry in one phrase: which rule or signal.
- Result in money and in R. R is the outcome in units of risk: lost what you planned is −1R, made twice your risk is +2R.
- Fees. Without them the statistics look better than they are.
- State. Calm, rushed, or wanting to win it back.
- A chart screenshot before entry.
Which metrics to track
| Metric | What it means | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Win rate | Share of winning trades | Alone it says nothing about profitability |
| Profit Factor | Profit ÷ losses | Above 1 means trading in profit |
| Average R | Average result per trade | Compares different position sizes better |
| Drawdown | Drop from the account peak | Whether you can withstand it |
Look at results after fees and over a large enough number of trades. Ten trades may just be luck.
How to review
Once a week, ask four questions:
- Which group of trades produced most of the result: by coin, time, side, reason for entry?
- Which group produced most of the loss? What happens if you simply remove it?
- How many trades were off plan?
- What are you changing next week? Pick one rule.
Look at winning trades too: a profit doesn't mean everything was done right. A good example is the review of a winning trade.
A journal in Excel or in the terminal
A spreadsheet will do at first, but keeping it by hand is hard and the entries soon stop. In MAMAY each trade is stored with the forecast at entry and the outcome at exit, and the journal can be exported to Excel. The review finds repeating mistakes: entering right after a loss, trades without a stop, size growing after a losing trade. The equity curve shows the daily result across all accounts.
History, the journal and the review of your trades are part of MAMAY's free tier.
FAQ
How many trades do I need to draw conclusions?
The more the better. Ten is too few; a few dozen can show the first patterns. Look at both the average result and the median.
What is Profit Factor?
The sum of all profits divided by the sum of all losses. Above 1 means trading in profit.
Should I record trades on a DEMO account?
Yes. That way you test your rules and get used to the journal before you risk money.