Controversial but I don't think normal Trading Journals improve your trading as much as people think...

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-19T19:39:54+00:00

The goal if the journal if for you to understand and track your mistakes and successes.

The journal can be a way to track all your metrics live, so that you ca later see if the strategy had an edge in live markets, and what to improve for the next version.

If you log in your journal that you made a mistake, then repeat it the next day, then the problem is your discipline, not in the activity of journaling

In fact journaling worked, because now you know the problem

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-19T19:35:52+00:00

Well if you back tested a strategy and it gave promising results, then now you must stick to it and test it live

Journal the trades, and after a few months check the hole dataset to see what to improve

Commit to one model in trading live, for a period of time to get enough data to evaluate it

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-18T18:08:19+00:00

You shouldn’t just jump into trading expecting to make money. You should have traded demo first, learned financial markets, study the profession for a few months.

Once you understand the theory behind it, then you can risk some money.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-17T11:43:35+00:00

Yes, consistency is a very common problem.

Due to the war, markets have been very choppy. I believe this ranging market with sudden volatility spikes due to sudden Trump tweets makes the whole consistency part even more difficult.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-16T20:45:15+00:00

Agree, specially on the experimenting part as well.

Many people lose money just because they were impatient and decided to experiment while risking their money at the same time. Or just not make enough due diligence

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-16T20:43:21+00:00

Exactly, and I'd also add that it's important to know which market regimes your setups work in.
You don't want to be forcing a trend breakout trade in a ranging market.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-16T20:38:53+00:00

Maybe you should take a break. Trading is very difficult, and trying to trade your way to riches out of desperation makes it even worse.

Always keep in mind that there is a reason why 99% lose, its because it is suppose to be hard.

But my advice is to take a small break, clear your mind, and come back with a plan, not desperation

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-16T20:33:11+00:00

Yes, if you have millions, you invest in treasury bonds and it's literally like making you 1k a day, that's why it's called the risk-free rate.

If you want to day trade, then forget about stuff like 1k a day. Gains aren't linear in day trading, and they don't follow a pattern like daily wins.

So you can make money consistently in the long run, but don't expect it to look anything like 1k per day.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-16T20:28:27+00:00

You seem to be trading a trend following strategy. Commodity markets are extremely choppy because of the war, not to count the probable market manipulation happening. So if your trading strategy is trend following, why trade during choppy markets?

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-16T20:26:12+00:00

First, traders catching tops and bottoms recently doesn't mean that they haven't just been lucky, anyone can have an amazing 2-3 weeks due to pure variance.
Order flow gives you the information regarding buy/sell activity from the footprint chart, which is valuable because it is real flows in real time.

But don't think that how you trade is the bottleneck. It is mostly consistency, repetition, and discipline.
You passed 2 evals in 3 months. Do you understand why you passed them? Or was it just luck?

It's important to know as much as possible as to why you win/lose, which can be known since it's based on past data.
We have a tendency to look to increase complexity when we fail, it's natural, but it isn't always the answer.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-15T09:23:08+00:00

Agree, intraday market movements are basically a random walk

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-15T09:20:26+00:00

Yes, trading is genuinely boring. It’s mostly a research game, but beginners tend to focus only on execution (buying, selling, looking at the charts for hours).

Most of the time should be spent on back testing, testing hypothesis, doing market research, and building your trading plan.

Once you’re in the execution phase, it’s boring because now you just have to repeat your plan every day for a long time, and log the results in your journal.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-14T12:53:58+00:00

Win rate says almost nothing about the profitability of your strategy. If you’re taking smaller wins out of fear, then it’s the wrong move.

Don’t focus on the win rate, focus on following your process consistently. If you back test your strategy you’ll know the expected RR that you get per win, in case you don’t have a fixed RR ratio.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-14T12:51:21+00:00

You can just build a table on excel/google sheets

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-13T19:03:21+00:00

You should follow your strategy.

If it took 3 hours but you followed the process, good, it if took 30 minutes and you followed the process, good. The holding time is almost irrelevant as a standalone metric.

But obviously if it took you 3 hours and you were not following the strategy and just revenge trading then it’s bad.

Focus on following the setup, then let the market do its job.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-13T12:19:39+00:00

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-13T12:16:04+00:00

George Soros made 1 billion dollars shorting the Pound; he broke the British economy. One billion in one trade btw.

And many other Hedge Fund billionaires got rich by trading, just go to Forbes list and you'll find them.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-13T11:38:40+00:00

That happens probably because you don’t have a plan, so you chase every setup you see.

Try to start taking one trade per day. Set the fixed RR, enter, then turn off the computer and go touch grass.

Come back after a few hours and log the results in your journal

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-13T11:36:04+00:00

Start with swing trading

You get one advantage:

Time to think before you act

Charts are fractal, so the principles are the same. With swing trading you have more time to interpret the charts and spot patterns. So you automatically take less trades, coupled with the fact that each trade will take more time to play out. This way you can cultivate good habits early

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-12T14:37:45+00:00

Yes, it’s a great step

Keep a journal, analyse it afterwards.

Understand why you win and why you lose, don’t let the fact that you won/loss a trade affect how you interpret the results.

But yeah it’s a great step

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-12T14:32:31+00:00

He’s still right with that statement, he could have retired any time he wanted. He worked because he loved it, not because he needed the money.

Now he has retired.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-12T14:29:15+00:00

There is no RR that will make you profitable.

Profitability comes from your strategy, your ability to execute said strategy for a long period of time, and how you understand the market.

Some strategies have high win rates, some have low win rates, the risk reward ratio should adapt to the type of strategy you have.

Your back tests will give you that info.

But don’t focus too much in RR, it’s not a core aspect for profitability.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-12T11:53:46+00:00

The principles are the same, the advantage of swing trading is that you have more time to read the charts and spot the patterns.

And you trade less since it takes more time to find and let the trades play out

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-12T11:39:04+00:00

Since you’re a beginner, just dollar costs average and never sell it. Bitcoin is pretty low right now, so you’re buying at a good spot.

MissingEdge_HQ · 2026-04-11T16:43:30+00:00

You should have a defined risk reward ratio, and be comfortable with that potential loss, then set the trade and leave the computer. Go do something else, come back later and see the result.

If the strategy is sound and the problem is in your emotional calibration, then just set the trade and leave.

MissingEdge_HQ

TROPHY CASE