Forex Journal Book - Example of How to Write a Forex Trading Trade Journal
Excel Forex Trading Spread Sheet Journal will track all your trades in a Excel Forex Trading Spreadsheet Journal. By following this simple, easy to follow excel forex trading spread sheet journal writing tip, you can easily improve your forex trading results. Here is how you do it:
Step 1 - Write down WHY you're making a forex trade BEFORE opening a forex trade on your excel forex spreadsheet journal.
Before opening a forex trade, write in a excel forex trading spreadsheet journal the reasons why you're making the forex trade. Just write in the excel forex spreadsheet journal a few key reasons why you're making this forex trade. Be honest with this excel forex trading spreadsheet journal. If you are honest, it will prevent you from making the biggest mistakes in your forex trading. If you see that you are making the forex trade because of anything other than a sound trading strategy. Do NOT MAKE THE FOREX TRADE TRANSACTION!
If you make a losing forex trade, do not open another forex trade immediately so that to make profits to neutralize the losses you've made, this is known as revenge forex trading, do not revenge against the forex market. Shut down the computer, walk away from your PC computer Desktop PC Desktop PC, & take a cold shower to cool down and chill. Remember that you will never any lose money that you don't put in. A winning strategy isn't only about how much you win, but how much you do not lose.
Step 2 - Write down how you'll exit the forex trade BEFORE making the forex trade transaction.
Do not get trapped with a great entry forex strategy without an exit strategy. Your forex strategy should have both great entry & exit strategies. One is useless without the other.
But you ask, Why bother? I know my forex exit strategy. Why do I have to write it down?
Well, the reason is this: humans are at best irrational, impulsive, & emotional creatures. If you have your forex exit strategy written down, you have a frame of reference when you exit a forex trade. You will refer to your excel forex trading spread-sheet journal BEFORE exiting a forex trade. If you're closing a trade for any reason other than your original forex exit strategy, you must ask yourself why?
Your excel forex spreadsheet journal will save you more money than you can imagine. It will prevent you from making impulsive moves, which is usually why forex traders lose money in forex trading.
Step 3 - Write down why you exited the forex trade transaction.
This should be the same reason which you wrote down in step 2. If it is not, it's up to you to analyze it. Most common reason why traders deviate from their trading strategy is lack of discipline. Your excel forex spreadsheet journal will be looking back at you with glaring evidence of exactly why you're not a winning Forex trader.
Step 4 - How to Interpret the Forex results
You must learn from your mistakes in forex trading. This is the best way for anyone to improve their profits. Everybody makes mistakes, but great forex traders are able to learn from them and not repeat.
And the best way to learn from your mistakes is to write down & document them in a excel forex trading spread-sheet journal. A few years down the road, you can still look back & realize that you are still making the same errors you were when you first began trading forex.
This data can not be found in any book or seminar. Your excel forex spreadsheet journal is personal & is uniquely you. Your personality will determine type of trader you'll become, and will also determine type of mistakes you'll make.
Not only does your excel forex trading spreadsheet journal highlight your weaknesses, it will reveal the forex trades that are most profitable. After a little while you will see the type of forex trade setups that make you the most money, and a forex pattern will emerge. Don't let this data on your excel forex spreadsheet journal navigate to waste.
You should do every effort to understand why those forex trades went well & try to replicate it as often as possible. Profitable forex traders know their strengths & weaknesses. They play on their strengths and try to minimize their weakness.
Don't get lazy and forget to write in your excel forex spreadsheet journal. Documenting your thought process is fastest and surest way to get better at Forex trading. Do this consistently, & you will study more about your habits than you can imagine.
Your forex trading goal is to spot and break the bad habits as soon as possible. If you notice that you always hang on to a losing forex trades too long, you should do everything in your power so that to prevent this from happening again.
Summary
Your excel forex trade spreadsheet journal is gold. It contains a wealth of data that will play a vital role in your success as a forex trader. We strongly urge you to use it for atleast 1 month. If it hasn't helped improve your forex trading profits in thirty days, then feel free to stop. But be sure to try it before deciding not to. It may be just the forex trading tool needed to push your forex trading to the next level to becoming a successful trader.
Writing a Forex Trading Journal Example Template - Forex Journal Sample
The following is an example excel forex trading spreadsheet journal template that a trader can use to come up with their own trading excel forex spreadsheet journal template for writing their own:
Date - Friday 22 August
Page 1
EURUSD - Short Sell
Day
- Day forex trend is short sell, RSI indicator 33
- Volatility is high bollinger bands pointing down
- Price was retracing but down forex trend is still intact confirmed by RSI, market has resumed down direction
4H Chart
Price is moving down indicated by Moving Average indicator down crossovers, RSI at 46 moving downwards, volatility is low.
1H Chart
Moving Average indicator are moving down, RSI at 34, volatility is medium and price is below middle bollinger band.
Enter Short Sell based on forex trend for the daily chart which is short, RSI indicator 33 and also all entry signals for H1 Forex Chart have been met.
Take Profit- at 100 pips between support1 and support2
Profit by Market Close: +33 pips
Why Trade Was Profitable
1H- Moving Average indicator for 1 hour heading down all day, MACD indicator gave a sell signal after leaving overbought, RSI indicator less than 50 and the price action direction on H1 was down, volatility was medium and bollinger bands were pointing down.
Day Forex Chart - The daily Moving Average indicator were crossing over to signal a long forex trend but was a non confirmation since the MACD indicator showed short, RSI indicator at 32, therefore this was just a retracement, the trade was opened when the price started to come down this was just a retracement.
4H Forex Chart - The retracement was already complete and the and the Moving Average indicator crossover system had already given a down crossover forex signal, RSI was heading down and MACD indicator also gave a short signal.
Page 2
USDCHF- Buy Long
Day
Trend is upwards based on RSI indicator at 65 and MAs are flat, Bollinger bands are wide pointing up, volatility is high.
4H
RSI at 50, stochastics leaving oversold, Moving Average indicator crossover has given an upward forex trend crossover forex signal.
1H Chart
Moving Average indicator moving up, RSI indicator at 64, stochastics heading upwards
Enter Long based on daily chart and all buy long signals have been met
Profit at Market close +45 pips
Why Transaction Was Profitable
H1- Ma for H1 headed up all day, MACD indicator gave a buy signal after coming up from oversold, RSI indicator was above 50 all day, volatility high and bollinger bands going upwards.
Day Forex Chart - the daily MACD indicator was bullish, the RSI indicator was at 68 heading upwards, market was retracing but had already started turning up, volatility was high with bollinger bands heading up.
4H- Ma had an upward crossover forex signal, the RSI was heading upwards, the MACD indicator was above zero centerline mark, volatility was low.
Page 3
GBPUSD - Short Sell
Day
Day forex trend is short, RSI indicator is at 23, the market has resumed downward forex trend after a retracement, big black Marubozu candle pattern.
4H
Price has turned down after retracement, RSI indicator at 38, stochastics leaving overbought heading down and Moving Average Crossover system has given a short sell signal heading down.
GDP for Britain came out worse than expected, GBP Fundamentals and Technical Analysis = downward forex trend
Entry - Short based on Day and all forex sell signals rules on the 1H have been met
Profit at close +35 pips
Why Trade Was Profitable
1H Forex Chart - Moving Average indicator were heading down all day in a steep manner, the MACD indicator had left overbought giving a sell signal all day, RSI indicator stayed low at around 30, Fundamental indicators came out extremely bearish, volatility was high and bollinger bands were pointing down.
Day- The Daily Moving Average indicator were to crossover but because of the retracement, headed right down again with a big black candle(250 pips), MACD indicator was bearish, RSI indicator at 22 heading down and bollinger bands pointing down, volatility was high.
4H Forex Chart - 4 hours chart the moving average had given a down crossover forex signal, MACD indicator was below zero center line mark, RSI was below 50.
Page 4
USDJPY- Buy Long
Day
The day forex trend is upwards, RSI indicator at 52, stochastics heading upward and Moving Average indicator pointing sideways, the market has resumed upward direction after retracement.
4H
MAs going upwards, stochastics leaving oversold region, RSI indicator at 52
1H
MAs going up, RSI indicator at 65, both stochastic heading upwards
Entry- Long based on Daily and all buy signals rules on the 1H have been met
Profit at close +64 pips
Why Transaction Was Profitable
H1 Forex Chart - MAs were moving up all day, MACD indicator gave a buy signal, RSI indicator was above 50 volatility was high and bollinger bands were pointing upwards.
Day- MACD indicator was in bullish territory above zero center line, RSI indicator was below 50 but pointing upwards, the Moving Average indicator were flat, bollinger bands were pointing upwards and volatility was low.
4H Forex Chart - on the 4 hour chart the moving averages had given a buy crossover forex signal, RSI at 51 after crossing above the 50 center-line mark.
Profit at Market Close
EURUSD +33 Pips
USDCHF +45 Pips
GBPUSD +35 Pips
USDJPY +64 Pips
Total = 177 Pips
Why trades were profitable
Why transactions were profitable is because multiple time frames analysis were used correctly and the direction of the price action was analyzed correctly by following the rules of my forex trading system as specified on the Forex plan.
Entry Rules in the 1 Hour forex chart time frame had matched before opening of these forex orders
Fundamental Indicators were also used to predict some moves.
In Short - Today I stuck to all the rules of my forex trading system
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Record of Excel Forex Trading Journal Entries Explained Using Examples
1.
EURJPY Sell Trade 13-December-2011
Trade opened EURJPY Short Sell
Date: 12-13-2011
Chart Time frame: 4 hr Chart
Why Transaction was opened
- Both MAs were moving downwards
- RSI is below 50 Level, therefore the currency is bearish
- MACD indicator is heading towards Bearish Territory
- OBV has broken the upward trend line, therefore direction is downward
The price is also touching the downward forex trend line therefore this would be a good place to sell the currency.
Closed
Closed by Take Profit 300 Pips
Date: 01-02-2012
Why this trade was profitable
It was profitable because the risk to reward ratio of this setup was very high.
The trade went back to its downwards after touching the downward forex trend line.
The OBV indicator is a leading indicator and when it broke its upward forex trend line it meant price was going to go downwards.
After this leading signal all the signals turned to show a bearish momentum and a bearish market.
2.
EURUSD Short Sell - 13-December-2011
EURUSD Short Sell Signal
Date: 12-13-2011
Why Transaction was Opened
- Both of the MAs were heading downwards
- RSI indicator is below 50 center line level
- MACD indicator is heading downwards
- OBV indicator has broken its upward forex trend line
Closed
Closed by Take Profit 300 pips
Date: 01-05-2012
Why the transaction was profitable
All the rules of our system were followed before entering the short sell.
The long term price action direction of the EURUSD is downwards as shown by the downwards trend lines.
Technical Analysis in FX Trading
There was a rally of the EURUSD which only went up to the previous resistance level, a good place to sell again. From the above diagram the first transaction has taken profit the second one is still continuing.
EURUSD Closed by Take Profit
3.
GBPUSD Short Sell - December-20-2011
Date: 20.12.2011
Trade Opened - GBPUSD Short
Time frame - 4 hour chart
Why Transaction was opened
- Both MAs are moving down
- RSI indicator is below the 50 center-line mark
- MACD indicator is heading down
- OBV has broken upward forex trend and the market now is bearish.
A downwards forex trend line can also be plotted on the price chart. This shows that rules of our forex Trading system have been met and the market is bearish.
Take Profit - 300 pips
Stop Loss - 100 pips
Take Profit Hit
Closed by take profit
Date: 29.12.2011
Why This Trade was Profitable:
All rules for the system were met before opening the transaction.
GBPUSD after hitting take profit.
4.
GBPJPY Sell - December-22-2011
Date: 22-12-2012
Opened: GBPJPY Short Sell
Time-frame: 4 hr chart timeframe
Why the transaction was opened
- Both Moving averages moving down
- RSI indicator below 50 center line level
- MACD indicator is heading down
- OBV has broken upward forex trend line meaning price will soon follow.
Since volumes always precedes price the price will break the upwards trend line and start to move downwards. In addition the longer term price direction is a downward.
Closed
Closed by take profit (300 pips)
Date: 01-02-2012
Why This trade was profitable
The long term forex trend is a downward.
All the rules of the system were followed before opening the trade.
GBPJPY short sell closed after take profit.
