3 November 2009 – MADE 3% ON MY ACCOUNT TODAY WHY SHOULD I CARE HOW I GOT THERE?

TRADING JOURNALS – WHY BOTHER?

Today was a great day trading – small losers, small winners and a few big winners – just as we like it. Overall 3% up on the day. That’s what you’d call a good day at the office.

Sometimes after a long trading day (well about 5 hours today in between talking to a few traders on line, doing the school run etc etc) the last thing I want to do is type up my journal it can take ages, it can be a chore – but I do it anyway.

After writing up yesterday’s trade sheet 3 things immediately came to my attention:

1.    Boy oh boy – I placed a lot of trades yesterday! 37 All in all

Overtrading can be a killer to your account if you are not careful. It can be both physically and mentally exhausting leading to burn out of both you and your account.
For me 37 trades is a lot in one day. I’m not a scalper. So it’s important that I understand the reasons why I placed so many today.

Overconfidence, Excitement, Desperation, Greed, Escapism, Addiction etc

After having a good talk to myself I realised that it was a combination of overexcitement (YAY the kids are back at school so I don’t have to make endless rounds of sandwiches taking me away from the glorious charts at just the moment when my setup appears – Blast!) and perhaps (and I hate to admit it) Greed – I was in the groove baby Yeah!

2.    Why are those first 2 trades of the day usually losers?

This could be for a number of reasons – I get up early and with the clocks going back an hour my body still hasn’t had time to adjust – ok so that’s an excuse – Basically I need to stop being so impetuous, take time to relax, study the overnight session’s action before leaping in. Where is that piece of music I used to play before I started trading? Sort out that pre trading routine – it shouldn’t be a roll out of bed in dressing gown, stumble towards pc and stare at screen blurry eyed routine.
3.    Only 9 Long Positions

What all day? Out of 37 trades? Am I biased towards the short side…hhmm…never would have thought that. At this moment in time I’m really not sure what to make of that fact. But if I hadn’t typed up my journal then I would never have known that’s for sure.
Journals are important – OK I know it’s boring – but without reviewing what you’ve been trading how can improvements be made, bad habits rectified and sometimes unexpected behaviours are brought to light.

Is your journal up to date and have you reviewed your trades lately??????