Do you keep a journal of your trades?

One of the most important things that any trader can do to improve their trading is to keep a trading journal of every trade that they make.

You can do this either in a book or diary, on pre-printed sheets of paper or in a file on your PC.

I prefer to keep my journal in hard form rather than on my PC for one simple reason. Should my PC crash, or if there is a power failure, or some sort of disruption to my internet connection, I have all of my current trade information easily to hand.

In the event of a power failure or any type of internet glitch, I can telephone my broker to adjust or close my trade and I have all of the information regarding that trade to hand.

Keeping a journal does not have to be hard work, but you should always have at least the following information:

  • Ticket number
  • Currency pair
  • Time of entry
  • Amount of lots
  • Entry price
  • Reason for placing the trade
  • Close price
  • Number of pips +/-
  • Good decision/Bad decision

The reason for items 6 & 9 are that you can look back at your trades and assess whether you are making correct decisions about your trading, even a trade that made money may not have been a wise trade if it was just pure luck.

Keeping a journal also helps you to ensure that you are following your trading system or plan.
Take for instance someone who is using The Amazing Stealth Forex System™, they may decide to place a trade, but did they check that the system was in agreement with that trade.

By filling out the reason for placing the trade, the trader needs to be able to specify that the system was in TOTAL agreement with that trade, or if not, why the trade was made?

When looking back at trades placed, whether winners or losers, the trader can also look back at the charts to see if there was something that could have been done better or more effectively.

Even if the trade was a winning trade, it is still worth evaluating. Could something have been done to make that winning trade even more profitable?

By having the discipline to keep a trading journal, you will instil in yourself the discipline to become a better trader and by reviewing ALL of your trades on a weekly basis, you will be able to quickly highlight any points where you may not have correctly applied the system rules.

 

Good luck and good trading.

Martin Bottomley.

 

 

 
stealthlogo

Contact Us: info@stealthforex.com

 

© 2005-2008

.