Three tags on every trade: session, spread and state of mind
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 7:41 am
Elaborate tagging systems tend to collapse. Three tags can be enough:
Keep the tags fixed for the whole sample. Changing definitions halfway makes the comparison meaningless.
What tags gave you something useful?
- Session: A (Asia), L (London before 12:00), LL (London after 12:00), N (New York).
- Spread at entry: tight, normal, wide. Wide means above 1.5 times your usual for that hour.
- State of mind: calm, rushed, frustrated. Recorded before the trade, not after.
- Whether "rushed" or "frustrated" trades do clearly worse than "calm" ones.
- Whether wide-spread entries are worse even when the trade works, which shows the cost directly.
- Which session is weakest. Most people know, but numbers make it harder to ignore.
Keep the tags fixed for the whole sample. Changing definitions halfway makes the comparison meaningless.
What tags gave you something useful?