A simple trading journal for indicator testing

A journal is most useful when it helps answer one repeatable question. For indicator research, record what you knew when the signal appeared, not just how the completed chart looks.

Use six fields

1. Setup: symbol, timeframe and session.
2. Tool: script name, creator, version and settings.
3. Rule: the observation you are testing.
4. Timing: when the signal first appeared and when it was confirmed.
5. Outcome: the result under your prewritten exit rule, including estimated costs.
6. Review: whether you followed the rule and what remains unclear.

Keep failures in the sample

Record every qualifying observation, including skipped opportunities and losing examples. A screenshot taken only after a successful move gives a distorted picture.

Review a fixed batch before changing settings. Keep the previous configuration so you can distinguish a new idea from a result produced by repeatedly tuning the same examples.

A spreadsheet is enough to start. A journal does not guarantee profitability, and no particular paid journaling product is required.

Read the fair-comparison checklist to define your first experiment.