{"id":44072,"date":"2016-08-03T11:51:55","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T15:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=44072"},"modified":"2016-08-03T11:57:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-03T15:57:32","slug":"a-trading-journal-that-works-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/a-trading-journal-that-works-for-you","title":{"rendered":"A trading journal that works for you"},"content":{"rendered":"

I trade intraday futures by reading the tape and looking at historically significant price action levels. I start to really get a feel for the process, but I still trade only one future until the process is internalized. To be able to assess myself I keep a detailed journal where I fill in trade information (entry, exit etc.) and trading information (what did I do well and why; what could I do better and how).<\/p>\n

My problem is the journaling itself: When I journal “live” I lose focus on the price action and feel that I miss important information; when I journal after market hours it is really easy to forget the actual feelings as they were and instead start writing what I should have done post factum.<\/p>\n

How would you approach this? Without the journals I’m lost. But I do feel that the market deserves full attention.<\/p>\n

P.S: Thank you for all the media – Books, blog and videos. I try to mimic your process and I have come to develop a trading style that I truly believe in.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

@mikebellafiore<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well this is a good problem to have because you are seeing the immense value of keeping a daily trading journal. I find it hard to take a developing trader seriously, who does not journal. Excellent work by you!<\/p>\n

I personally prefer to journal live as this helps me focus on my number one goal for trading- improve each day. But since that does not work for you, let\u2019s consider another solution.<\/p>\n

How about you try and journal after the open, around 11AM, and then before the close, around 2:15PM, and then right after the close, around 4:15PM?<\/p>\n

This will enable you to journal during the down times of trading. And to journal when you memory of your trading is most fresh.<\/p>\n

Try that and let me know how that works for you.<\/p>\n

*no relevant positions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I trade intraday futures by reading the tape and looking at historically significant price action levels. I start to really get a feel for the process, but I still trade only one future until the process is internalized. To be able to assess myself I keep a detailed journal where I fill in trade information (entry, exit etc.) and trading … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[73,30,1193,653,368],"class_list":["post-44072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-comments-2","tag-prop-desk","tag-prop-trading","tag-trader-education","tag-trader-training","tag-trading-journal","no-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nA trading journal that works for you | SMB Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/a-trading-journal-that-works-for-you\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A trading journal that works for you | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I trade intraday futures by reading the tape and looking at historically significant price action levels. 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