A weekly review with five questions

[Amanhasnoname]

A review that is too long is not done. A short, structured weekly review is more likely to stick, and it catches problems early.

Five questions can organize it. What were the results, and were they within the expected range? Which trades violated the rules, and why? What were the execution costs compared with the model: spreads, slippage, rejections? What market conditions occurred that the system handled badly? What single change, if any, should be tested next?

Answering with numbers where possible keeps it concrete. Use charts for the equity curve, the cost per trade, and the distribution of results.

Keep the review to thirty minutes. Record the answers in a file, so patterns across weeks can be seen.

Resist making changes on the basis of a single week. The review is for observation and for identifying hypotheses to test, not for immediate tinkering.

Over months, the accumulated reviews form a detailed history of the system's behavior, valuable when decisions about capital or strategy are made.

What questions make up the weekly review routine, and how long does it take?