52 Weeks of the Best and Worst Trades

Imagine if you started this exercise a year ago:

You’d have an incredible database of 52 “best of” trades and 52 “worst of” trades.

An incredible resource of what works and what doesn’t.

And clarity as to the path you need to take to grow and develop YOUR edge in the markets.

Most likely though, you didn’t start this a year ago!

So what if you started it now?

What difference could that make in one year’s time?

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52 Weeks of the Best Trades

(Or for those of you who insist that you don’t have any “best” trades… 52 weeks of the best hindsight trade available each week, that you wish you took!)

Print out the charts showing the trade sequence, for all relevant timeframes. Mark up the charts with notes. And then document ALL factors relevant to this trade that make it worthy of being labelled the best of the week.

For example:

• Context (Structural) – Where did the trade occur with reference to key structural levels (eg. PDH, PDC)? When did the trade occur with reference to key market timings (eg pre-session, opening hour etc)? Include reference to any other higher timeframe or structural analysis methods you may use (eg market or volume profile).
• Context (Conditions) – In what way did conditions play a part (fast vs slow, smooth-flowing vs choppy, directional vs rangebound etc)?
• Context (Other) – Were there any external factors in play (eg. news or any other wide-scale driver of market sentiment)?
• Premise – Describe the trade idea. What AND Why!
• Entry – Discuss the decisions taken for entry along with the reasons behind these decisions.
• Management and Exit – Discuss the decisions for initial stop and target placement. And subsequent adjustments during the life of the trade. Include reference to any scaling in or out, or re-entry decisions, if this is applicable to the way you trade.
• Trader – What human factors influenced this trade? How would you rate yourself in terms of energy, focus and fatigue? What was the state of your mindset in the leadup to the trade, during entry and again during the life of the trade?
• Hindsight Improvements – Even the best trade can be made better. So with the benefit of hindsight, how could you have improved upon your trade decisions?

And feel free to add whatever else you feel belongs in this list.

The point being – include anything and everything you feel relevant to the success of this trade. And relevant to repeating and improving upon your performance in future, should similar circumstances present themselves again.

Finish with a quick dot-point summary of the key features. And if storing this electronically, include a few tags to allow quicker reference in future.

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52 Weeks of the Worst Trades

Repeat the above, but with reference to all the factors which make this a trade you want to avoid in future. Or at least, better managed to minimise any damage to your account and mindset.

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There is great improvement available through repeating and even improving upon your best trades. And through eliminating or reducing the impact of your worst trades.

Start now and get to work producing your 52 weeks of the “best” and “worst” trades.

And then maybe, if you find value in this exercise, why stop at 52?

Go for it, 

Lance Beggs

 

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