Successful traders will agree that keeping a trading journal is one of the crucial factors in achieving forex trading success. Not only does a good trading journal contain the trade plan or profit and loss components, it should be complete with risk management plans and psychological details. Here are the four important parts of a complete trade journal:

The first major component is the actual trade analysis. This can be in the form of technical signals or fundamental framework, depending on which ones you typically include in coming up with a trade idea. It would be helpful to look at all possible angles, which might also include risk sentiment, in your analysis. This will allow you to explain why you believe a currency will rally or sell off versus the other.

The second major component focuses on risk management. This aspect is important since you might encounter losses if your trade idea is incorrect. After listing down the reasons why a currency pair will rally or sell off, you should also be ready to limit your losses in case it behaves differently. This component should also have the reasons for you to exit the trade early or cut losses. It should mention the technical levels at which your trade thesis is proven wrong and how much of your account are you willing to risk on the idea.

After this, you should discuss the time frame of your trade. This part will specify how many minutes, hours, or days you will be keeping your trade open or orders in. Of course this depends on what trading style you practice. Day traders typically mention until which trading session they will hold on to their trade while swing traders specify how many days or weeks they will keep it open and which market factors could lead to an early exit.

The last part is all about trading psychology. This doesn’t necessarily have to be included on the moment you come up with a trade idea but it can be in the form of updates along the way. You can mention how confident you are in your trade position or if you are feeling uncertain. You can also list emotions such as regret or anger if you didn’t play the trade so well. This can help you manage your emotions along the way.

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