Trader Tools - Trading Journal - Tools

One of the first things a trader should have is a trading journal. You probably heard that one before, but when I started I had no idea what should I have in my trading journal. I searched around and could never find a precise answer of what a should be in this journal. The true answer is that you must find, based on your trading style, what is the information that helps YOU the most and create your journal based on this. The next series of articles I will explain what is the type of journals I have and how to use the information in it. Hopefully this will help you figure out how to create your own journal.

There may be some tools out there that could help you, but I try to keep things simple. As an Excel addict I have most of my journals in Excel´s sheet. Just because I find it easier to work with and to take information from it. The other tool I have is this blog, that helps me record the market information and trading ideas on a daily basis.

So here is how my journals are structure:

• Trader Routine - Excel Sheet - it contains step-by-step what are the activities I must execute every day to be able to trade. It is just a check list.
• Trader Journal - Excel Sheet - This is my psychology journal, the most important one for me and the one the consumes most of my time (you will see why)
• Trading Account - Excel Sheet - This is to keep track of my Profits and Losses during the day. 
• Trading Statistics - Excel Sheet - This is where I keep the record of all my trades. Entries, exits
• Trading Review - Blog - this is where I review my best (or worst) trades. The idea here is learn from my mistakes, identify market changes and to think about trading. How can it be improved.
• Market Conditions & Trading Ideas - Blog - This is where I evaluate the overall market conditions and record my trading preparation / trading ideas for the day.

My trading day is divided into 2 sessions: Morning (or AM) Session (from 9:30 to 11:00) and Afternoon (or PM) Session (from 14:00 to 16:00). So it is logical to me to have 2 sessions into my journals, one for the Morning trades and one for the Afternoon trades. If you trade differently, you should adapt to your trading style.

If you prefer, you can use Google Docs, Word or Power Point and you will probably change the information in it as you evolve as a trader. It is not a static thing. I changed my journals a lot before having them the way they are now, but in the end, the idea is that you feel comfortable with it and all the information in it is used to improve something.

Most of my time I spend not trading, writing stuff into my journals, reviewing my trading, practicing things into my head and preparing to trade. I am actually trading 3:30 during the day. The other 4:30 is spent into my journals. 

Nobody tells you this when you start, but the true reason why you should have journals and update them is this: 

In a normal job, your boss will evaluate you once a year. Depends on this evaluation you will get a bonus or not. He tells you the things you should get better at. Most people (not everyone) will get pissed off with their boss, saying is an asshole for criticizing you that way. Next year the cycle repeats.  

Trading is a bit different. You are evaluate by Mr. Market (the boss) every day. If you fail to do your job or need to develop a skill, Mr. Market comes to your account and take your money and does not say anything. You have to figure it out by yourself, he just don´t care. Your journal will help you to understand things Mr. Market is trying to tell you when he takes your money. It´s his evaluation of you.

Next articles will discuss all of them in detail, considering what information to have in each one of them and how to use it in your trading.