I was looking for a way to write my trading journal in a short and effective fashion. I revisited Maoxian’s trading for dummies again, and I studied the way he compiled the 90+ trading for dummies lesson.
I found that writing my trading journal in Q&A (Question and Answer) style is something I need to seriously consider. Sometimes, unintentionally, I cheated myself by not writing down my trading mistake. Or sometimes, I am just writing too much of something that is not worth to be mentioned in trading journal.
By forcing myself to answer a series of questions in trading journal will help to keep the journal clean and clear, at the same time, to remind myself about my own trading rules.
This is not new, I know few traders are doing this.
Here are the questions I quote from Maoxian’s Trading for dummies lessons.
1) Why would you be paying attention to this futures contract ?
2) Is the trend up or down? Would you be looking to get long or short this futures contract?
3) Where would you get long/short this futures contract ?
4) Where would you put the initial protective stop?
5) When would you stop trading for the day?
6) Where would you exit the position?
These 6 questions are effective in keeping me disciplined. If I am unable to answer these questions, something is really wrong with my trading.
(If one day, bloggers are able to claim and charge copyright of their postings, Maoxian will no longer need to trade. The copyright fee from dummies lessons should feed him very well 😆 )
Gav,
I think that’s a great idea. I find that if I write things down (or in this case write it out on your blog), you’ll find that it becomes more concrete and it’ll stick in your mind a lot longer.
Hopefully by answering those questions you’ve listed, you can avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.
Best of luck with your new format!
JC
Gav,
I think that’s a great idea. I find that if I write things down (or in this case write it out on your blog), you’ll find that it becomes more concrete and it’ll stick in your mind a lot longer.
Hopefully by answering those questions you’ve listed, you can avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.
Best of luck with your new format!
JC
JC: Thanks!
JC: Thanks!
First, thanks for the Maoxian link, it’s a great resource.
I primarily use my journal as a means to validate chart reading. Often it is easy to rationalise once the chart unfolds. It is another story to look back and see how the chart was read at the point in time compared to the current chart.
First, thanks for the Maoxian link, it’s a great resource.
I primarily use my journal as a means to validate chart reading. Often it is easy to rationalise once the chart unfolds. It is another story to look back and see how the chart was read at the point in time compared to the current chart.