The journal

The journal is the tool that tells you whether the method suits you. Without it, you have impressions. With it, you have figures per setup, and decisions. This lesson sets its columns, the rhythm of the reviews at twenty and at fifty trades, and the three questions a review must ask. A half-kept journal is worth less than no journal at all: it gives wrong figures with the authority of figures.

The review at twenty trades, then at fifty

• At twenty trades per setup, you look only at the mistakes: how many trades were taken with a B criterion counted as an A? How many outside the window? If more than one trade in five carries a mistake, the problem is not the setup, it is the execution, and you go back to simulation.
• At fifty trades per setup, you compute the win rate, the average gain, the expectancy after fees, the maximum losing streak. A setup below 0.10R of expectancy after fees leaves your list for a quarter. A setup above 0.25R deserves to be worked on in replay to understand what makes it good.