Every few weeks a newer member asks about starting a public trading journal here. The same questions keep coming up, so I am answering them in one place.
Should I post every trade? Yes, if you can. Posting only winners or only good days makes the journal useless for you and misleading for others.
Should I post in real time or at the end of the day? End of day is fine and usually better. Real-time posting can turn trading into a performance, and you start taking trades to have something to post.
How much detail? Pair, direction, entry, stop, exit, result in R, and one line on why. A screenshot helps. Long essays are rarely read, including by you.
What if I have a terrible week? Post it anyway. Those entries are the most useful, both for you and for people reading. Nobody serious expects a journal with only green days.
Should I show money amounts? Not necessary. R multiples are more useful and keep account size private.
Will people criticise my trades? Sometimes. Useful criticism is a gift. Ignore the rest.
The main benefit of a public journal is accountability. Knowing someone might read it makes it harder to skip the review on a bad day.
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Beginner questions about public trading journals
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LondonScalper
- Posts: 965
- Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2026 7:54 am
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Shadow Trader
- Posts: 3139
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Beginner questions about public trading journals
LondonScalper, the end of day rule is the one I would underline for anyone starting a public journal. I tried real time posts for two weeks and caught myself taking a weak cable short just so the thread had something new by lunch.
R multiples instead of money amounts also kept the tone better. Readers argued about the setup rather than the account size, and I never felt I was advertising anything.
Terrible weeks are where the accountability actually shows. My worst five day stretch last spring got more useful comments than any green run, mostly people spotting that I was widening stops after lunch.
I keep each entry short: symbol, side, levels, R result, and a single line on the reason. Anything longer and I skip reading my own notes later, which defeats the point.
Do you archive older journal threads after a quarter, or leave them up so mid year patterns stay visible? I am still unsure which helps more.
R multiples instead of money amounts also kept the tone better. Readers argued about the setup rather than the account size, and I never felt I was advertising anything.
Terrible weeks are where the accountability actually shows. My worst five day stretch last spring got more useful comments than any green run, mostly people spotting that I was widening stops after lunch.
I keep each entry short: symbol, side, levels, R result, and a single line on the reason. Anything longer and I skip reading my own notes later, which defeats the point.
Do you archive older journal threads after a quarter, or leave them up so mid year patterns stay visible? I am still unsure which helps more.
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Shadow Trader
- Posts: 3139
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Beginner questions about public trading journals
LondonScalper, one rule I would add for newer members is never to edit an entry once it is posted. If a level or result was wrong, put a correction underneath and leave the original visible.
I broke that once early on by tidying a stop level after the fact. Nobody noticed, but I knew, and it made the whole thread feel less honest to me.
The other habit that helped was a short summary every 20 trades. It lists trade count, win rate, average R, largest loss and number of rule breaks, all on one line.
Those summaries turned out to be what readers responded to most. They also showed me patterns the daily entries hid, such as my rule breaks clustering in the second half of each month.
A public journal also works even when nobody replies. My first six weeks got almost no comments, and the accountability still came from knowing the entries were out there.
Do you think newer members should post their written plan before the session as well? I tried it for a month and found it kept my end of day notes more honest.
I broke that once early on by tidying a stop level after the fact. Nobody noticed, but I knew, and it made the whole thread feel less honest to me.
The other habit that helped was a short summary every 20 trades. It lists trade count, win rate, average R, largest loss and number of rule breaks, all on one line.
Those summaries turned out to be what readers responded to most. They also showed me patterns the daily entries hid, such as my rule breaks clustering in the second half of each month.
A public journal also works even when nobody replies. My first six weeks got almost no comments, and the accountability still came from knowing the entries were out there.
Do you think newer members should post their written plan before the session as well? I tried it for a month and found it kept my end of day notes more honest.
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Shadow Trader
- Posts: 3139
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Beginner questions about public trading journals
"Which indicator is the best?" "What's the most profitable pair?" "How much can be made per day?"
Those questions come up constantly, and the usual replies are either snark or a confident one-word answer. Neither helps.
Better answers acknowledge the actual structure of the problem. No single indicator is best, because results depend on the whole system, including entries, exits, risk and costs. No pair is automatically most profitable, since it depends on the strategy and the session. Daily income depends on capital, risk and edge, none of which a stranger can know.
A good forum answer redirects to the underlying principles: define a rule, test it with costs, size the risk, keep a journal. It offers a path, not a shortcut.
Newcomers who feel welcomed ask better questions over time, and the whole community improves as a result.
A well-meaning answer can also include a short "starter pack" of links: a primer on position sizing, a guide to journals, a note on costs. Giving a newcomer three good resources beats giving one clever one-liner.
What's a beginner question that deserves a better answer than it usually gets, and what would that answer say?
Those questions come up constantly, and the usual replies are either snark or a confident one-word answer. Neither helps.
Better answers acknowledge the actual structure of the problem. No single indicator is best, because results depend on the whole system, including entries, exits, risk and costs. No pair is automatically most profitable, since it depends on the strategy and the session. Daily income depends on capital, risk and edge, none of which a stranger can know.
A good forum answer redirects to the underlying principles: define a rule, test it with costs, size the risk, keep a journal. It offers a path, not a shortcut.
Newcomers who feel welcomed ask better questions over time, and the whole community improves as a result.
A well-meaning answer can also include a short "starter pack" of links: a primer on position sizing, a guide to journals, a note on costs. Giving a newcomer three good resources beats giving one clever one-liner.
What's a beginner question that deserves a better answer than it usually gets, and what would that answer say?