Chapter 32, Part I. Tracking Your Performance. Page 4

What to journal?

Commander in Pips: Although this is YOUR journal, so it will be different from mine and contains your own personality we will specify some lines that almost any journal has. These lines are not a rule of thumb – you have to add anything that you think is important for you. A journal is like a diary – it contains the personality of person who keeps it.

Trading is not only a science, it is also an art and as with any art it also includes a psychological component, hence

1. You have to fix all that you feel before the trade, during the trade and after the trade. If you are under some psychological pressure and make mistakes due this reason – your journal will help you to understand it, since you will break your trading plan again and again due to psychological and emotional reasons. By keeping a journal you will catch it fast. This large point could include some subpoints:

- overall market view;

- trading plan for each trade and trading session with charts and notes;

- description of entering into the trade and exiting;

- assessing of results and execution of trading plan;

- extracting and understanding mistakes (even if they have led to profit)

2. Performance statistics

This is the second large part of your journal, but it does not fix only dry results, you have to force statistics work for you. Here is how we can do this:

- separate performance of every pattern/context that you use in your trading system;

- Statistical data and numbers (mostly could be found in your broker’s log):

1. Win/loss ratio;

2. Number of trades per day;

3. Number of lots traded;

4. Win trades quantity – as long as short separately;

5. Loss trades quantity – as long as short separately;

6. Dollar wins and dollar losses;

7. Average dollar win and loss;

8. Number of consecutives= wins;

9. Number of consecutive losses;

10. Average profit per trade;

11. Average loss per trade;

12. Maximum and average drawdown.

13. other

Currently most trading software provides this data automatically – you can simply download it. Also you can apply some different classical coefficients, as NPV or Sharp ratio to take into consideration not only absolute profit or loss but also volatility of your account and drawdown.