Today, I want to share with you the most extreme stock trading journal that you may have seen, at least in a public sense. I will be discussing journals, how to keep them up, and how to create one. I will also share some insights into the thought process behind journaling.
Why Trading Journals Are Important?
If you have ever tried to start a trading journal, you might have gotten lost in the shuffle when you saw things as just a list.
However, there are a lot of advantages to trading journals.
They can help you see what you have done right and wrong. This is where trading journals excel– figuring out problems and issues so you can keep improving or at least make sure the numbers are on track.
The Importance of Keeping a Journal in Stock Trading
When it comes to stock trading, keeping a journal is just as important as in business development and other things. You can see trends, patterns, and whether or not you are on the right track.
Using Airtable for Trading Journals
I have used quite a few trading journals over the years, and one of them has been Airtable.
It has been fantastic because you can attach screenshots of your calendar and evaluate the delta, gamma, theta, and vega risks. It doesn’t matter if you are trading stocks, options, or something else.
The point is to manage your trades in a portfolio base so you can see what is going on and what you are doing right or wrong. You can even create forms to pop things in right here, and when you do that, it goes right into the trade, so you know which one is active.
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The Power of Grouping and Sorting in Airtable
The other great thing about Airtable is you can group things and sort things by group. For example, you can filter things based on ticker symbol, enter and exit date, days till expiration, days in the trade, nickname, trade type, basket, active or closed, price, VIX, contract size, or stock size.
The Need for Relationship in Trading Journals
When I did something like this in a more linear fashion where I had to hop around to another database to look at my account summary, I found that a lot of these things were not linked up as well as I liked.
Lately, I have been experimenting with different trading journals, and what I have found is that you really need a little more relationship.
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Airtable is still fantastic, especially for people just starting, but I want to show you a little more powerful way to look at things.
Managing things on a daily, weekly, quarterly, monthly, and yearly basis is important when it comes to looking at all the numbers. To show you this concept, we are going to take a look at paper real quick and discuss why I chose the method that I am at right now. You can use different tools, but I want to show you the power of what I’m using and what you can think about as you create a journal for yourself.
Relationship in Your Journal
Now, when we look at a trading journal, what I’m actually looking for in the future is something that is really helpful. We can look at things as a database or table. Here are our trades.
The next thing I have is my account summary. Then, I thought about what improvements I need to make. I looked at it as a little separate, so I had division markers as I’m doing a lot of trading journals.
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If you have a lot of trades and you’re putting improvements in your account summary every time at the top, it becomes very long. Even if you’re doing a few trades a month, these initial trades will be very long if you’re trying to crunch data in there. You can’t see trends split up, and it becomes difficult, especially with software like Evernote because it’s just very text-oriented.
I wanted to figure something out where I could have something where all these different spots are linked together. This link is linked to there, and that link is linked to here, and that link is linked back to there. That way, I could also see the data split up in different spots.
Software Program called NOTION
Notion is a very powerful tool that I use in my area of trading and investing, which I started recently. Let me show you my Notion workspace, where I have a customized investment section that you can modify based on your personal needs. I have included some dummy numbers so you can get an idea of how it works.
What’s great about Notion is that you can include and embed different tables and databases within a single page. For instance, I have a main investments database, trade strategy ideas, and master tick marks folded into a single big picture database. This way, I can easily link up trades based on ticker symbols and see all the trades I did for McDonald’s, Tesla, or any other company.
Let me give you a big picture of how it works. I have account balances and summaries where you can track your daily account balances or do it on a week-to-week basis. I also have daily recon where you can track the open, move, percent move, and volatility of certain ticker symbols. Active trades are listed with tickers, days till expiration, target percentage, and in price, and you can even include risk profile pictures or change the view to a tabular or table data format.
What’s the Point in Doing All of These
So, here’s how I would approach organizing my trading data. First, I split everything up into categories like active trades, account balances, and daily recon. I make sure to arrange them in a way that works for me, like putting active trades at the top and daily recon at the bottom.
Next, I link everything up on a week-to-week basis, using week numbers to keep everything in order. For example, I might have a week from June 24th to June 30th, which I label as week number 26. Then, I create the next week, such as July 1st to July 8th, and fill it out with all the trades that happened during that time.
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Roll-up fields allow me to see things like my average return and biggest money maker, all based on the trades I’ve made. I can rearrange these fields as needed to better suit my needs.
Monthly reports are linked to weekly portfolios, quarterly reports, and yearly reports. This means that if I see something strange in the monthly report, I can easily drill down to the weekly or daily level to find the problem. If necessary, I can link everything up in a journal to keep better track of my trades.
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On a daily or weekly basis, I start by adding new trades using a template I’ve created. I include information like the ticker symbol, whether it’s a hedge or a long portfolio, the entry date, and the number of contracts. Then, I can calculate things like days in trade and expiration dates. By organizing my trading data like this, I can stay on top of my investments and make better decisions.
To organize my trading data, I split it up into different categories. I put my active trades at the top and account balances right underneath. I arrange the daily recon at the bottom or right under the account balances. To link up on a week-to-week basis, I use a number to represent each week. For example, I use “week 26” for June 24th to June 30th. I create the next week and fill out all the trades that happened during that week. I also have monthly reports that are linked to the weekly portfolios, quarterly reports, and yearly reports. This way, everything is tied together, and if I see something that looks off on the monthly report, I can open up the monthly report, check the different weeks, and see what’s going on.
To keep track of my trades, I create a journal that ties everything together. For example, I look at my monthly report, then I can open up my journal for that month and write down any issues or observations. I can also look at the trades and see the exact details. By keeping everything linked up, I can easily navigate around my data and find what I need.
To add a new trade, I create a template that includes the ticker symbol, expiration date, entry date, and other important details. Once I fill out the template, the formulas calculate the days in trade and other factors. I can adjust the trade as needed and keep all the information in one place.
