Trading Journal: First Step to Become a Professional Trader

 Why Trading Journal is Important

1. Performance Analysis: It helps you to analyze how are you performing, and what’s working for you and what’s not.
2. Identify Mistakes: It allows you to spot mistakes and improvise them.
3. Creates Discipline: Makes you strictly stick to your trading plan.
4. Emotional Control: It develops emotional stability and improves your trading psychology.
5. Refined Entries: It refines your trading strategy based on past trades which helps you to take refined and high-probability trades.
6. Accountability: This will increase your accountability and you’ll start honoring your trades and become highly professional (a pro trader, not a gambler).

What to Write in Trading Log

1. Date and Time of each trade
2. Instrument/Stock Name (Eg: Tata Motors)
3. Entry Price and Exit Price
4. Position Size (Quantity)
5. Stop Loss Price and Points
6. Target Prices and Points
7. How Much Profit or Loss (In Amount)
8. How Much Profit or Loss (In Percentage)
9. Risk-Reward Ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and so on..)
10. Analysis and Logic Before Entry? Confluences?
11. Total No. of Trades
12. Notes: What went wrong? Profit or loss? If loss – Why? How did you feel during the trade? Were you fearful or anxious? Focus on Improving 1 aspect at a time.

How to Create Your Trading Log

1. Use a simple Excel sheet or notebook to do so.
2. Label columns for each item to record.
3. You can enter the data at the end of your day.
4. Be consistent and detailed with the logging process.

FREE Trading Journal Template