Trade journaling · Beginner

What To Record In Every Trade Entry

A 1-minute lesson from the MarketPro academy, one of 14 in trade journaling and review.

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Short answer

A useful trade journal entry captures more than just the entry and exit price. The goal is to reconstruct, later, exactly why you took the trade and what happened — not just whether it made or lost money.

A useful trade journal entry captures more than just the entry and exit price. The goal is to reconstruct, later, exactly why you took the trade and what happened — not just whether it made or lost money.

At minimum, each entry should include the basic mechanics of the trade:

  • Instrument, direction (long/short), entry price, stop loss, and target
  • Position size and the percentage of capital risked
  • Date, time, and session (which market hours were active)
  • The setup or strategy name you were following

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