![]() Furthermore, our content and research teams do not participate in any advertising planning nor are they permitted access to advertising campaign data. While partners may pay to provide offers or be featured, they cannot pay to alter our recommendations, advice, ratings, or any other content throughout the site. Terms of Use | Disclaimers | Privacy PolicyĪdvertiser Disclosure: has advertising partnerships with some of the offers listed on this website. 6 Best Trading Journals and How to Journal Successfully.Have ideas for how I can improve the spreadsheet? Email me! Read Next ![]() What should a trading journal look like?Īt an absolute minimum, a trade journal should include these elements: Excel novices can use it to track their trades in a trading journals, while Excel power users might use it to help evaluate and manage risk, sort through market data for trading ideas, or create their own charts. Microsoft Excel is very popular among traders. See our full guide to trading journals here. We also tested Tradervue, Trademetria, Chartlog, and Edgewonk. If you don’t want to use Excel or want more advanced analyses on your trading, top-rated TraderSync is convenient, attractive and insightful. The longer your trading history, the better your conclusions will become. Many traders have fallen into the trap of thinking themselves smart when they were just lucky and, likewise, sometimes you do everything right but the markets just move against you. Those numbers won’t even begin to be meaningful until you’ve made a few dozen trades. It’s a dashboard for your trading performance and habits. Lesson learned: What did this trade teach you?Īt the top of the spreadsheet you’ll find the trading metrics box.Win/loss: This is just an indicator whether you made a profit or not.Comment: This could be anything: current market conditions, what you did right, what you could have done better.Conviction: Write how confident you were in the trade when you entered it.Strategy: Add some text that describes why you entered the trade.Reward to risk: This is the ratio of how much you expect to make vs.Target: Enter in your price target when you opened the position.If you don’t enter in a stop, enter where you plan to exit if the trade isn’t working. Protective stop: Enter in any stop you put in to protect your position.Days: The number of days in the trade is also calculated for you.Profit/loss: Profit and loss is calculated for you.For example, if you buy one large position but scale out with three sells, break the purchase into three lines with the same date and cost basis. Note: If you scale in or out, break the trades down into single lines. Exit $$: Enter in the total proceeds or total cost when you exit the position.Exit date: Enter in the date you closed the position.Entry $$: Enter in the total cost or total proceeds from the opening position.If you’re shorting a stock, use a negative. Quantity: If you’re buying, use a positive number.You can use any identifier you want to help you remember what you traded. Entry date: The date you opened the position. ![]() Here are some details about the column and row headers on the spreadsheet. It’s best to keep your journal current otherwise you might build up a backlog of trades and it’ll be a struggle to remember why you entered or exited each one. That’s fun, but always remember that the biggest benefits of a journal will be found in three columns: the profit or loss on each trade, why you did it, and what you learned from that trade.Įvery trade gets an entry in your journal, and it gets entered as quickly as possible after each trade. If you’re an Excel wonk, you can go bananas calculating the most obscure ratios and making distant forecasts about how much your portfolio might be worth in ten years. I’ve color-keyed each cell to show what you need to enter and what is calculated for you. If you scale into or out of a position, each lot gets its own line. You’ll start to spot what’s working and, even more importantly, avoid making the same mistake time after time. A trading journal performs the same function. Anyone who has ever kept a personal diary knows the value of being able to reflect on the past and learning from it. Why are trading journals important?Ī trading journal will help you develop a trading style that fits your personality and beliefs about the market. It's not the most elegant spreadsheet, perhaps, but it does what I need. I've made it available here please feel free to download a copy if you're interested. I've had quite a few requests for a copy of the spreadsheet I use for my trading journal. Read my guide to the Best Trading Journals for tips on how to successfully maintain your journal. ![]()
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