Before you can add your first trading journal entry, you have to setup the following elements of your trading journal. It's easy to do and only takes a few minutes.
Here's what you need to setup and instructions on how to do it.
Once that's done, you're ready to enter trades!
When to Open the New Trade Screen
We recommend opening the New Trade screen before you open your trading platform. Set a reminder on your calendar and make it a habit.
It's much easier to journal a trade when your journal is already open. So keep it open whenever you are trading and you are much more likely to enter your trades in your journal.
Creating a journal entry at the time you take a trade allows you to capture important information that can be easily forgotten later. We talk about that here.
To get started, click on the New Trade button at the top of the screen.
This is what the New Trade screen looks like.
New Trade Fields Explained
Then enter the following information:
- Open Date/Time: Click on these fields to enter the date and time that you entered the trade. To speed up the process, the system automatically defaults to your current date and time.
- Symbol: The symbol of the stock, currency pair, or futures contract you're trading. Keep the way you enter your symbols consistent. For example, if you enter EURUSD for one trade and EUR/USD for another trade, they will show up as two different symbols.
- Side:
- L = Long = Buy
- S = Short = Sell short
- Lot Size: Number of shares, contracts or lots
- Risk %: The % of your account that you are risking on this trade
- Confidence: How confident are you in this trade? This can help you understand
- 4 = Very confident
- 1 = Not confident
- Timeframe: Choose the timeframe chart you used to enter this trade (H1, Daily, H4, etc.)
- Strategy: Choose from one of your strategies.
- Account: Choose from one of your accounts.
- Screenshot: Add 1 screenshot that shows what your chart(s) looked like when you entered the trade. Your chart can look different at the time of entry and at the time of exit, so be sure to capture this valuable information.
- Notes: Add your thoughts about the trade, or additional reasons for taking the trade that are not included in your trading plan.
Conclusion
Our streamlined New Trade screen will help you capture information about your trades that can only be captured when you enter a trade.
These bits of information are:
- Your confidence in the trade
- Your thoughts and feelings about the trade
- Other information sources you may have included in your decision making process
- A screenshot of how your chart looked at the time of entry
If you have any questions about RazorJournal, contact us.