FX Journal Book - Example of How to Write a Trade Journal
Excel Forex Spread Sheet Journal will track all your trades in a Excel Forex Spreadsheet Journal. By following this simple, easy to follow excel trading spread-sheet journal writing tip, you can easily improve your trading results. Here is how you do it:
Step 1 - Write down WHY you're making a trade PRIOR TO opening a trade transaction on your excel trading spread sheet journal.
Before opening a trade, write in a excel trading spreadsheet journal the reasons why you are making the trade. Just write down in the excel trading spreadsheet journal a few key reasons why you're making this transaction. Be honest with this excel trading spread sheet journal. If you're honest, it'll prevent you from making biggest mistakes in your forex. If you see that you are making the trade because of anything other than a sound strategy. Do NOT MAKE THE FOREX TRADE TRANSACTION!
If you make a losing transaction, don't open another trade immediately so that to make profits to neutralize the losses you've made, this is referred-to as revenge fx trading, do not revenge against the market. Shut down the computer, walk away from your PC computer Desktop PC Desktop PC, and 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 two - Write down how you'll exit the trade transaction PRIOR TO making the trade transaction.
Do not get trapped with a great entry strategy without an exit strategy. Your strategy should have both great entry and exit trading strategies. One is useful 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, and emotional creatures. If you have your exit strategy written, you have a point of reference when you as a trader exit a transaction. You'll refer to your excel trading spread sheet journal PRIOR TO exiting a trade. If you are closing a trade for any reason other than your original fx exit strategy, you must ask yourself why?
Your excel trade spread sheet journal will save you more equity than you can imagine. It will prevent you from making impulsive moves, which is usually why traders lose equity in trading forex.
Step 3 - Write down why you exited the trade transaction.
This should be the same reason that you wrote down in step 2. If it is not, it's up to you to analyze it. The most common reason why people deviate from trading strategy is lack of discipline. Your excel forex spreadsheet journal will be looking back at you with glaring evidence of precisely why you are not a winning trader.
Step 4 - How to Interpret the trading results
You must learn from your mistakes in trading fx. This is the best way for anyone to improve their profits. Everybody makes mistakes, but great traders are able to learn from them & not repeat.
And the best way to learn from your mistakes is to write down & document them in a excel 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 forex.
This data cannot 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, & also will determine type of mistakes you will make.
Not only does your excel trading spread sheet journal high-light your weaknesses, it'll reveal the trades that are most profitable. After a little while you will see the type of trade transaction setups that make you as a trader the most equity, and a trading setup will emerge. Don't let this data on your excel fx spreadsheet journal go to waste.
You should do all effort to understand why those trades went well & try to replicate it as often as possible. Profitable traders know their strengths & weaknesses. They play on their strengths and try to minimize their weakness.
Do not get lazy and forget to write in your excel trade spread sheet journal. Documenting your thought process is fastest and surest way to get better at FX trading. Do this consistently, & you'll learn more about your habits than you can imagine.
Your trading goal is to identify & break the bad habits as soon as possible. If you notice that you always cling on to a losing trades too long, you should do everything in your power so that to prevent this from happening again.
Summary
Your excel trade spread sheet journal is gold. It contains a wealth of data that will play a vital role in your success as a trader. We strongly urge you to use it for atleast 1 month. If it has not helped improve your trading profits in thirty days, then feel free to stop. But be sure to try it prior to deciding not to. It might be just the trading tool needed to push your trading to the next level towards becoming a successful trader.
Writing a Journal Example Template - FX Journal Sample
The following is an example excel trading spreadsheet journal template that a trader can use to come up with their own excel forex spreadsheet journal template for writing their own:
Date - Friday 22 August
Page 1
EURUSD - Sell Signal
Day
- Day trend is short sell, RSI indicator 33
- Volatility is high bollinger bands pointing down
- Price was retracing but down trend is still intact confirmed by RSI, market has resumed down direction
4 Hour Chart
Price is moving down indicated by MA indicator down crossover, RSI at 46 moving downwards, volatility is low.
H1 Chart
MA indicator are moving down, RSI at 34, volatility is medium & price is below middle bollinger band.
Enter sell trade transaction based on trend for the daily chart which is short, RSI trading indicator 33 and also all entry signals for H1 Chart have been met.
Take Profit - at 100 pips between support1 & support2
Profit by Market Close: +33 pips
Why Trade Was Profitable
1H- MA indicator for 1 hour heading down all day, MACD indicator gave a sell signal after leaving overbought, RSI indicator less than 50 & the price action direction on H1 was down, volatility was medium and bollinger bands were pointing down.
Day Chart - The daily MA indicator were crossing over to signal a long trend but was a non confirmation since the MACD indicator showed short, RSI indicator at 32, hence this was just a retracement, the trade was opened when the price started to come down this was just a retracement.
H4 Chart - The retracement was already complete and the & the MA indicator crossover system had already given a down crossover signal, RSI was heading down & MACD indicator also gave a short signal.
Page 2
USDCHF - Buy Signal
Day
Trend is upward based on RSI indicator at 65 & MAs are flat, Bollinger bands are wide pointing up, volatility is high.
4H
RSI at 50, stochastics leaving oversold, MA indicator crossover has given an upwards trend crossover signal.
H1 Chart
MA indicator moving up, RSI indicator at 64, stochastics heading upwards
Enter buy trade transaction 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 1 Hour headed up all day, MACD indicator gave a buy signal after coming up from oversold, RSI indicator was above 50 all day, volatility high & bollinger bands going upwards.
Day 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 signal, the RSI was heading upwards, MACD trading indicator was above zero centerline mark, volatility was low.
Page 3
GBPUSD - Sell Signal
Day
Day trend is short, RSI trading indicator is at 23, the market has resumed downwards trend after a retracement, big black Marubozu candlestick setup.
4H - Price has turned down after retracement, RSI trading 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 trend
Entry - Sell signal based on Day and all forex sell signals rules on the H1 have been met
Profit at close +35 pips
Why Trade Was Profitable
1H Chart - MA indicator were heading down all day in a steep manner, 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 MA indicator were to cross-over 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.
H4 Chart - 4 hours chart the MA had given a down crossover signal, MACD indicator was below zero center line mark, RSI was below 50.
Page 4
USDJPY - Buy Signal
Day
The day 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 - Buy signal based on Daily & all buy signals rules on the H1 have been met
Profit at close +64 pips
Why Transaction Was Profitable
H1 Chart - Moving Averages were moving up all day, MACD indicator gave a buy signal, RSI was above 50 volatility was high and bollinger bands were pointing upwards.
Day- MACD 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 upward and volatility was low.
4H Chart - on the 4 hour chart the moving averages had given a buy cross-over 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 trade transactions were profitable
Why transactions were profitable is because multiple timeframes analysis were used correctly & the direction of the price action was analyzed correctly by following the rules of my trading system as specified on the FX plan.
Forex Entry Rules in the 1 Hour timeframe had matched before opening of these trading orders
Fundamental Indicators were also used to predict some moves.
In Short - Today I stuck to all the trading rules of my system
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Record of Excel Journal Entries Explained Using Examples
1.
EURJPY Sell Trade 13-December-2011
Trade opened EURJPY Sell Signal
Date: 12-13-2011
Time frame: 4 Hour Chart
Why Transaction was opened
- Both MAs were moving downwards
- RSI is below 50 Level, hence the market is bearish
- MACD indicator is heading towards Bearish Territory
- OBV has broken the upward trend line, hence direction is downward
The price is also touching the downward 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 downward after touching the downwards trend line.
The OBV indicator is a leading indicator and when it broke its upward trend-line it meant price was going to go downwards.
After this leading signal all the signals turned to show a bearish momentum & a bearish market.
2.
EURUSD Sell Signal - 13-December-2011
EURUSD Sell Signal
Date: 12-13-2011
Why Transaction was Opened
- Both of the Moving Averages were heading downwards
- RSI indicator is below 50 center line level
- MACD indicator is heading downwards
- OBV indicator has broken its upward 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 downward as shown by downwards trend lines.
Technical Analysis in FX Trading
There was a rally of the EURUSD which only went upto 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 Sell Signal - December-20-2011
Date: 20.12.2011
Trade Opened - GBPUSD Sell Signal
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 upwards trend & the market now is bearish.
A downward trend-line can also be plotted on the price chart. This shows that rules of our 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 Sell Signal
Time Frame: 4 hour chart time-frame
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 trend line meaning price will soon follow.
Since volumes always precedes price the price will break the upward trend line & 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 trend is a downward.
All the rules of the system were followed before opening the trade.
GBPJPY short sell closed after take profit.
