What is an Online Trading Journal?
An online trading journal is where' you record and review daily trades online. It is a vital step in your post-trade analysis, and it can benefit you tremendously. Definitely, it is one of the more effective methods out there. By keeping records of your past trades, you can study your mistakes, track your progress, and look back at old activities for future reference. Maybe this doesn’t look like a significant approach, but we assure you it really is.
For those who are not aware of this concept as a whole, being able to track the past activity is a key indicator of what is the next way you should from the point where' you are at. Since there are a plethora of other factors you will need to take into consideration, use these to make these even more precise. Therefore, this method represents a perfect chance for you to make a move that will help you reap numerous benefits. So, you should definitely utilize them.
It may seem tedious to track every single move, especially when some of us make multiple ones in just one day, but it is definitely worth the effort when it can help your stock trading. Sure, this approach requires a certain level of skill and knowledge on your behalf.
First, you need to comprehend how you should do it, what are the most effective approaches you should undergo, and what are the advantages you can receive when using these.
Ways to Keep a Trade Journal
Online journal trading is very easy to do, and sadly it is also very under-utilized. We can see that people are often unsure about whether should they use it because it can seem too complex at some moments. But it doesn’t have to be that way if you obtain all the necessary skills and knowledge, as we’ve already said.
Simple things like taking a screenshot of the stock chart after a successful trade and writing down notes short what you did are great easy ways to use this method. When we’re talking about these details, we mean that you will have an opportunity to take a look at practically anything you need. The number of details inside these reports is exceptional and can work towards your advantage if studied carefully.
Another efficient approach is by plotting your buy and sell points. These are all simple and operative and they will help analyze your post trades. By making it a daily habit, you can increase your trading performance, and bring extra money to your pocket. Not only that, but your perception will change and you will not perceive it as a complex thing to do.
Online vs. Handwritten Journal
In today’s society, almost everything is done online, and your trading journal should be no different. When you’re utilize day trading, writing little thought or emotion down can consume too much of your time. Sure, you can do all of these by handwriting. There is nothing wrong with it, but you will need to invest much more time into it.
Just think about it, since there are a lot of these details you will need to have an insight into, writing all of them in your journal will require a serious amount of time before you can say you have written all of them down. Once again, there is absolutely nothing about this approach.
Thus, the best way to have a trading journal is to have an online one, not only if you’re a day trader, but all traders can see the advantage of taking a screenshot and writing notes, they can have a visual and some notes to remember your work. Be sure to compare the positive and negative sides of both of these and come up with a decision that will complement your needs and preferences.
Benefits of Having an Online Trading Journal
1. Learning from your mistakes
As previously mentioned, the benefits of an online trading journal are to maximize. Profits based on previous trades and learning from past mistakes. Gathering all of this data can represent a great chance for you to come up with a tactic that will. You can develop a profitable strategy based on past activity, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot use some additional data. If you diligently continue to update your trading journal, then you can frequently return back to it when wanting a favorable trade.
2. Keeping emotions in check
When you opt for keeping an online trading journal, you can write down everything you have learned from your past activities. This makes it possible for you to analyze your thoughts behind every trade you make. Plus, it helps keep your emotions in check and from possibly making a trade you would regret. An online trading journal can also help you keep track of the PDT and the trading days. Although most traders get around it with tips found here.
3. Find out About Strong and Weak Points
When looking back through your notes, you can review the history and see your good and bad moments. By keeping track of every trade, these will be easy to spot, and you can focus on what needs improvement. Not only that, you will know what you should focus on.
Without any doubt, we can describe this insight as highly beneficial. You will know exactly what were your mistakes and you can slowly work towards upgrading them to the point when you have overcome all of them with utmost ease.
4. Prevents you from making a questionable trade
Keeping an online trading journal makes it easy to stick to the plan to go over in your pre-market strategy in the morning. Since you can analyze your previous mistakes, and acknowledge your strengths and weakness, it can help you from making a trade that might not end up in your favor. By knowing what has happened before, you will have a substantial experience in what were your previous mistakes.
At the same time, you will also have a chance of preventing any of them from happening in days to come. The highest percentage of people lose their money by making moves that cannot be described as reasonable. By avoiding making these questionable trades, you will maximize the potential your strategy has at any moment. Be sure to look towards these.
Current Online Trading Journals
The current online trading journals our members use the most are TraderSync, TraderVue, and PowerE*Trade. In their own way, they are all great in helping you track and analyze your trades.