Keeping A Forex Trading Journal In Pictures
Why bother keeping a Forex trading journal in pictures when you can do it in words? The importance of keeping a Forex trading journal has been preached by many and I cannot agree more. However, there are different methods or what should you be recording in your Forex trading journal that are being suggested and I like to do it with screenshot of my trading chart.
Your success or failure is dependent on when, why, what and how you trade.
The human mind doesn’t store a lot of data and tends to forget some things over time. Do you think you are able to remember all your trading mistakes after so many trades? You probably can and may still be repeating the same mistakes again and again.
Why Bother Keeping A Forex Trading Journal In Pictures
Keeping a Forex trading journal in pictures or words require a lot of discipline and hard work.
You would have probably read or heard about keeping a trading journal and may have started with one but it’s easier said than done because many will give up along the way. The same happened to me and it took me awhile before I really got into it.
Most trades just rely on their account history after a while.
Transaction history provides limited information can only tell you, when and at what price you entered and exited but doesn’t tell you why or which trading strategy you are using?
There’s no hard and fast rule about what you should be keeping in your Forex trading journal. It’s all up to the individual however there are some things that I would recommend having in your journal. It’s the psychological part of trading.
- Your analysis and feelings before the trade.
- While the trade was running
- After you have exited the trade.
Besides what is mentioned above, you will also need some basic information in your Forex trading journal to make sense when you look at it.
Some basic information such as:
- Strategy:
- Date:
- Time Open:
- Time Close:
- Currency Pair:
- Entry Price:
- Stop Loss Price:
- Take Profit Price:
- Risk to Reward Ratio:
- Lot size traded:
Now this is a lot of info to write down and perhaps you may have more to add.
I like to put my into a spread sheet where there are rows and columns but found that some of them don’t make much sense after going back to them after some time. So rather than just everything down, I do a screen capture of my trading chart too.
Your captured screenshot will tell you a lot more about your trades history.
If you are using some indicators and if they repaint, then you will be able to see a later time if the indicator changes over time and if they were giving you the right indication at that point in time when you took the trade. Hindsight is always 20/20
A good and free software for image editing that I use is Paint.net downloadable at http://www.getpaint.net/
So Does Keeping A Forex Trading Journal In Pictures Make Sense Now?
Your Forex trading journal is about you, your trading strategy and how successful is it over time. There is no ego involved, only you know why you did what you did and how you feel after that.
Trading is a skill where the outcome is determined by how disciplined you are in following your trading plan and strategies. Variables are plenty so you have to write down as much info as you find is essential to find out where are your strength and weaknesses.
Plan your trade and trade your plan.
Good luck and safe trade.
