Education
Turn a habit into an edge
Short, practical guidance on getting the most out of your journal — what to log, which metrics matter, and how a weekly review compounds into real improvement.
Why win rate lies
The same set of trades can look bad by win rate and great by the numbers that actually pay you. With winners far larger than losers, a 40% win rate is still firmly profitable:
40%
Win rate
2.5:1
Reward : risk
1.6
Profit factor
Getting Started
Why keep a trading journal?
A journal turns memory into data. Record every trade and you can review decisions objectively, spot recurring mistakes, and double down on what genuinely makes money.
What to record on every trade
At minimum: symbol, direction, entry and exit price, date/time, size, and fees. Add a tag for the setup and a short note on your thesis and how it played out.
Start small, stay consistent
A simple journal you actually keep beats a perfect one you abandon. Log every trade for two weeks before worrying about advanced analysis.
Metrics That Matter
Profit factor
Gross profit ÷ gross loss. Above 1.0 means you make more than you lose; serious traders aim for 1.5–2.0+. It weighs the size of wins and losses, not just how often you win.
Expectancy
Your average P&L per trade. Positive expectancy means the system makes money over many trades — the single most important number to grow.
Reading your equity curve
A steadily rising curve is the goal. Long flat or falling stretches are a signal to slow down and review what changed.
Trade Psychology
Journal the feeling, not just the fill
Note your confidence and emotional state on entry. Patterns — like over-sizing when frustrated — only show up once you write them down.
Beware revenge trading
A loss is not a reason to immediately re-enter. Tag impulsive trades so you can measure exactly how much they cost you.
Plan the trade, journal the plan
Write your entry, target, and stop before you click. Reviewing planned-vs-actual is where the real lessons live.
The Review Process
Set a weekly review cadence
Block 30 minutes each week. Use the reports view to break performance down by symbol, setup, and time of day.
Find your A+ setups
Filter by tag to see which playbooks carry your account. Do more of what works — and size up only where the data supports it.
Cut the quiet leaks
Look for the symbols, times, or setups quietly draining your edge, and make a rule to avoid them.
Anatomy of a journaled trade
- Symbol & asset class
- Direction — long or short
- Entry & exit price, date, time
- Position size and fees
- A tag for the setup
- A note on your thesis
- A note on how it played out
Your weekly review, in five steps
- 1Pull up the week’s trades in Reports
- 2Check win rate, profit factor, expectancy
- 3Filter by tag — which setups won?
- 4Flag any impulsive or off-plan trades
- 5Write one thing to repeat and one to cut
The lexicon
The vocabulary of a measured trader — pick a term to read its entry.
01 / 06
Win rate
The percentage of your trades that close profitable. Useful, but only meaningful alongside your reward-to-risk — a low win rate can still be highly profitable.
Put it into practice
Start a journal today and run your first weekly review this Sunday.