Paper or Combined Diary

The most obvious way is keeping a paper diary. We all know that trading appeared long before modern computers. The first exchanges were on market squares where merchants bargained over goods. Later, more organized exchanges appeared, along with trading pits where traders simply shouted out prices. If there were computers back then, they took up half a room.

Naturally, Excel did not yet exist, so recording trades and drawing charts was also done by hand. Accordingly, the diary can also be kept on paper. No one is forcing you to draw a chart by hand for every trade; you can simply take and save its screenshot.

In MetaTrader, this is done quite simply: Right-click, Save as Picture, Active Chart, and remove the check mark next to "Publish image online."

Thus, you print out the screenshots and paste them into some large notebook, preferably A4 size. In principle, you can insert the chart into Word so that the picture itself is at the top and you can add a description of the trade below. Then you fasten such sheets together and get a paper diary in electronic form, so to speak, a combined one.

Still, a diary written by hand allows you to remember information better because fine motor skills are engaged in the process. The result of such work will be more noticeable than in the case of a fully electronic diary or the combined option. But that is already a matter of taste.

Electronic Diary

The electronic version of a diary is, in essence, the same combined one that we simply do not print out, but store on the computer. You can also keep a diary in Excel, especially if you do not use screenshots. For example, if you trade solely on fundamentals, then in the table you can record the date, the trade itself, how many lots were bought, which currencies, and obyazatelno the rationale for the trade: "Trump posted a tweet about launching missiles toward North Korea, so we buy/sell the dollar."

As an option, you can keep a mini-blog with your trades on LiveJournal, VK, Facebook, or start a thread on our forum in the Traders' Diaries section. People publish not only their trades, but also simply write down their thoughts and share ideas. This option is interesting because you can receive constructive criticism of your actions. True, not everyone can share their trades for moral reasons. Therefore, a forum thread or a blog will not suit every trader.

There are also web services for keeping a diary. For example, the foreign service EdgeWonk. But this service is more devoted to trade analysis, that is, it resembles an analogue of myfxbook, MarketStat, and similar services. A true diary, in my opinion, should be presented in a more classical form.

Video Diary

Another way to keep a diary is recording video. It will suit those who trade actively: scalpers and adherents of catching fast moves, when printing out and writing down every trade is simply technically inconvenient. But commenting on your actions right while you open your trades can be very useful, even if you never review it later.

Of course, it does no harm to review it, but when recording and commenting on video, willing or not, you become more aware. Suppose you open some chart and think that the price is now going to bounce from a moving average, and you say this out loud. You also say what stop-loss/take-profit you are using, when you plan to close the trade, what lot size, and why.

The logical question is what to use to record video. The most common solution is Camtasia Studio, which is what I use myself. The program can be found on all torrent trackers in the country.

Trading Self-Analysis: Journal Your Way to Better Decision Making