What Is Trading Journal Software and Why Should You Care?

1. What Is Trading Journal Software and Why Should You Care? Day traders use trading journals to help them keep track of their daily progress. It’s a lot like a traditional journal, but instead of writing about all the things that happened during the day, you track your trades. For many years, traders kept pen-and-paper journals, but in today’s high-tech day and age, trading journal software is far superior for several important reasons. The Most Important Trading Software Many experts – people who have traded successfully for years – claim that their trading journals are the most important tools in their arsenals. In order to be successful as a trader, it is important to have the ability to look back on your previous trading activity and its outcomes. Until recently, many traders either made their own journals or simply didn’t keep them at all, which meant they were unable to accurately analyze previous transactions and activities. For those who chose to keep homemade journals, there is no denying that they were better than no record at all, but trading journal software is by far the better choice in today’s digital age. What Trading Journal Software Can Do for You The number one reason for options traders to keep journals is accountability. If you truly want to succeed and make your trading activities profitable, you must hold yourself accountable for your actions. Trading can be a very busy endeavor, and without a proper log, it is difficult to keep track of the trades you made last week, much less last month or even a year ago. Even a homemade pen-and-paper journal can help keep you accountable for your actions. However, this is where the benefits of a traditional trading journal end. There are two pitfalls associated with keeping a homemade journal as opposed to using carefully-built trading journal software: Homemade trading journals aren’t scalable. New traders must overcome a few specific issues in order to grow and be successful, and of these, self-discipline is the hardest. However, once they learn to keep themselves in check, the focus shifts to metrics and statistics. Homemade trading journals – whether pen-and-paper or digital – simply do not offer that ability. Trading journal software can grow with you as your focus shifts. The cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work. While it’s certainly easy to pick up a paper journal or open a digital document and start writing, there’s a huge assumption that this approach will work for everyone. It doesn’t. There’s only so much customization available with these options, but with trading journal software, the customizations are endless. Trading journal software offers much more than just a place to write down your emotions and trade activity. It gives you analytical tools that you can use to make the most of your trades, keeps you accountable, grows with you, and allows for perfect customization based on your habits and preferences. OptionVue offers incredibly easy-to-use trading journal software that you can try for $5 for 14 days. After the trial period, you can choose from a variety of price points to ensure you get only the features you need at a price that fits your budget.