Trading is a game of strategy that requires you to make the most out of every investment. However, this can be challenging if you’re not keeping track of your thoughts and feelings during trades or just looking at the big picture. To help, we compiled some tips on how to keep a trading journal so you can get better with time and feel more comfortable with your trading decisions.
Why Keep A Trading Journal?
A trading journal is a valuable tool that helps improve your trading performance. It is where you record and review your daily trades to help with future decisions. Your trading journal should include a lot more than the stocks you own, have sold, or are interested in. It should also include critical information such as date and time, trade direction, entry and exit prices, and even reasons for taking a trade. This will help you keep track of your investment decisions. Keeping a trading journal can also help you quickly spot dangerous trends in trading, allowing you to correct them and avoid significant losses in the future.
What Should Be Included In Your Trading Journal
As we mentioned earlier, your trading journal shouldn’t just include basic information about your trades. To get a complete picture of your trading history, there are several key pieces of information that need to be included, such as:
- Date & Time — The date and time of each trade is a key piece of information that should be included.
- Trading Instrument — Sometimes referred to as securities, trading instruments refer to the type of market where the trade was made. This can range from stocks to commodity futures, currencies, metals, and more.
- Trade Direction — This is the direction (buy [long] or sell [short]) of the trade at entry. This is a key piece of information that helps traders analyze the trade made.
- Position Size — This is the dollar amount that the investor is going to trade. Position sizing helps investors determine the number of units they can purchase which helps with risk management.
- Entry & Exit Prices of the Trade — This should include the entry price, stop-loss, and take profit levels.
- Results of the Trade — This refers to any profit or loss made.
- Reasons for Taking a Trade — This is a critical element for any trading journal. This allows traders to keep track of their train of thought before making a trade. This can also allow traders to identify any weaknesses in their trading performance.
- Charts — Trading journals with built-in analytical tools and charts allow traders to effectively catch trends that they may have missed otherwise.
Online Trading Journals
If you are in the market for a trading journal, there are a few popular options out there, such as Tradervue and Tradersync. These online tools offer various levels of reporting, which can be extremely helpful when analyzing trade entries.
As a powerful Tradersync alternative, Tradervue allows users to save all the key bits of information we discussed earlier. It also includes several reporting tools and feature sets that easily rival and surpass other online trading tools.
What sets Tradervue apart is that it also doubles as a trading community. Tradervue allows users to share their trades with others on the platform, share key takeaways, and learn from fellow traders and their experiences.
