Building a Trading Journal: Track Your
It's early morning. Your algorithm just captured a move on ES futures while you were still asleep. You check your phone, see the profit, and wonder: Why...
It's early morning. Your algorithm just captured a move on ES futures while you were still asleep. You check your phone, see the profit, and wonder: Why did this strategy work when the last one failed? Without a proper trading journal, you'll never know. Algorithmic Trading Log is a structured record of every automated trade executed by your strategy, including entry/exit points, market context, and performance metrics. It transforms raw data into actionable insights, revealing what truly works in your algorithm's performance. Moreover, most traders track their algorithm's performance with basic P&L summaries, but this misses the critical context needed for improvement. A true algorithmic trading journal goes beyond profit and loss—it captures the why behind every trade, the market conditions that made it successful, and the patterns that led to failures. Key fact: Traders who track emotional states and market context alongside performance metrics tend to see meaningful improvements in win rates over time compared to those who only track financial results.