What should you log?
Setup tag, 1R in dollars, entry/stop/exit, resulting R, a mistake tag from a fixed list, and MAE/MFE. Six fields beat six paragraphs.
Guide · Process
A trading journal that changes behaviour
Most journals are diaries: long, honest, and useless. A journal earns its keep when it produces one number per setup that tells you what to stop doing.
The minimum viable journal
Six fields per trade will out-perform a page of prose, because they can be aggregated:
| Field | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|
| Setup tag | The only way to compute expectancy per setup instead of per account. |
| Planned risk (1R in dollars) | Makes every result comparable. Without it there are no R-multiples. |
| Entry, stop, exit | Lets the journal compute R rather than trusting your memory of it. |
| R-multiple result | The output that everything else exists to produce. |
| Mistake tag | One of a fixed, short list. Free text hides patterns; a fixed list surfaces them. |
| MAE / MFE | Maximum adverse and favourable excursion — tells you whether your stops and targets are in the wrong place. |
Why R, not dollars
Dollars mix two different questions — was the idea good, and was the size right — into one number. R separates them. A +2R trade is a +2R trade whether you risked $50 or $500, so setups become comparable across account sizes and across time as the account grows.
R-multiple = (exit − entry) ÷ (entry − stop)The arithmetic behind sizing, expectancy, and break-even win rates is in the R-multiple guide.
Mistake tags beat journal entries
Keep the list short enough to be honest and fixed enough to count. Something like: chased entry, moved stop, oversized, no setup, early exit, revenge trade, none.
After 50 trades this list does something no paragraph can: it tells you that, say, 60% of your losses beyond −1R came from moving stops. That is a rule change, not a feeling. A free-text journal containing the same information will never surface it, because you will never re-read fifty paragraphs.
What MAE and MFE tell you
- High MAE on winners — your stop is tighter than the trade needs; you are getting shaken out of good ideas.
- Low MFE on losers — the setup never worked at all, so entries, not exits, are the problem.
- High MFE, low realised R — you are exiting early. The edge exists and you are not collecting it.
- MAE approaching 1R on most winners — the stop is in a common noise zone; consider a different anchor for it.
The weekly review that works
- Compute expectancy per setup tag. Not per week, per setup.
- Rank mistake tags by dollars lost, not by frequency.
- Cut or halve the size of the worst setup for the next 20 trades. One change at a time.
- Check sample size before concluding anything — under 30 trades in a setup, note it and wait.
- Write one sentence, not one page: what changes next week.
What to ignore
Screenshots of every chart, hour-by-hour emotional narration, indicator settings you never vary, and win-rate as a headline number. Win rate without reward-to-risk is decoration — 70% at +0.3R against 30% at −1R is a losing system, and the journal that celebrates the 70% is actively harmful.
I built TradeLog for exactly this shape: log the trade, get expectancy per setup, no account, no server, data stays in your browser.
Educational content, not financial advice. No live profit-and-loss figures are claimed anywhere on this site; backtest and walk-forward results are always labelled as such. Full terms: /terms.html
Tools referenced in this guide
- TradeLog — R-multiple journal with per-setup expectancy. Installs offline, stores nothing off your device.
- Risk toolkit — position sizer, expectancy, break-even win rate, risk of ruin.
- R-multiple & expectancy guide — the underlying math.
FAQ
Quick answers
Why R instead of dollars?
R strips out position size, so a +2R trade is comparable whether you risked $50 or $500 — and setups become comparable to each other.
What are MAE and MFE?
Worst and best unrealised excursion during the trade. High MFE with low realised R means you are exiting early and leaving edge behind.
Why fixed mistake tags?
They can be counted. After 50 trades a list says '60% of big losses came from moving stops' — a paragraph never will.
How often to review?
Mistake tags weekly; expectancy only once a setup has 30+ trades. Weekly expectancy on five trades is noise.
Is win rate useful?
Only with reward-to-risk attached. 70% at +0.3R against 30% at −1R is a losing system with a flattering headline.