Excel Template

[thetatrader1520887476 10]

Does anyone have a good template for Microsoft Excel to keep a trading Journal.

I would like to start using excel to keep track of my trades but am having trouble setting up a good template. So hopefully someone might want to share their template or ideas.

 

Thanks:)

[Bear Mtn. 10]

I have an Excel book which I've created to record each trade (Date/Time/Market/Setup/LongShort/EntryPrice/Stop/Stake/ProfitLoss) then columns for Trade Management (moves to stops limits, etc), comments and various other stats - for every trade. This means I can also keep track of 'paper' trades and cash ones, whilst keeping results separate.

 

I then have a further sheet to summarize each traded day and then a 3rd one to summarise weeks. Keeping paper / cash separate also helps to establish how well I'm 'converting' setups into real trades when everything gets summarized.

 

I have the whole thing automated to do the summaries etc once I put in the basics of each trade and I find it very helpful to keep track of everything. This may not be what you are after (you may want more emphasis on written info and descriptions of trades and days rather than strict record keeping) but thinking through and drafting something like the above could be a good starting point for you...

[Tams 20]

most brokers have export function in their software...

you can export the trades directly into your Excel.

[sevensa 10]

I have an Excel book which I've created to record each trade (Date/Time/Market/Setup/LongShort/EntryPrice/Stop/Stake/ProfitLoss) then columns for Trade Management (moves to stops limits, etc), comments and various other stats - for every trade. This means I can also keep track of 'paper' trades and cash ones, whilst keeping results separate.

 

I then have a further sheet to summarize each traded day and then a 3rd one to summarise weeks. Keeping paper / cash separate also helps to establish how well I'm 'converting' setups into real trades when everything gets summarized.

 

I have the whole thing automated to do the summaries etc once I put in the basics of each trade and I find it very helpful to keep track of everything. This may not be what you are after (you may want more emphasis on written info and descriptions of trades and days rather than strict record keeping) but thinking through and drafting something like the above could be a good starting point for you...

 

Would you be willing to share this? I have something more basic, but is not clever enough with Excel to automate everything and is doing everything by hand, which is kind of a pain to do.

[Bear Mtn. 10]

Sure, send me a message with your email address and I'll send a blank copy over... (that goes for anyone who wants it, though I'm sure plenty people are already working with better)

[jgreen 10]

Can you please post an attachment of your excel workesheet since I cant send you a message

[Bear Mtn. 10]

Template attached.

 

Hope it makes sense to everyone with a bit of playing around - just make sure to continue the formulas as you fill it in and everything should run smoothly. I just put 2 fictional trades on the tradesheet (one 'paper' one 'live') to give you an idea of how I personally fill it out.

 

Also, I have a few beta things going on on my own version but if anyone else has ideas on stats / info they'd like to add or see calculated then lets hear them! I'm no Excel expert but always happy to try and create solutions...

Bear Mtn Trade sheet.xls

[thetatrader1520887476 10]

Thanks Bear,

 

I Think this will do fine. I will plug in some data that I have been keeping, over the weekend. If I need help adding any formulas I will post them.

I know a lot of software has back testing ext. but I would have thought more people would have responded or wanted a good excel template for their live or demo accounts. I guess its that 90% thing. Oh I mean 10% do 90% of the work thing. :crap:

[Bohunck 10]

Thanks Bear,

 

I like to keep things simple. This is exactly what some of us might need. Even if one of these start out that way, people tend to add their own bells and whistles. For me, this will be a great starting point. Thanks again.

Edited June 21, 2009 by Bohunck
typo

[Bear Mtn. 10]

You are all welcome If anyone comes up with good additions to my basic record-keeping sheets then please do re-post them on here...

[atto 20]

I have a good spreadsheet that I've used and improved for a while that allows you to keep track of scaleouts, add-ins, etc., and calculates pts profit, $ profit, and so on based on entry/exit prices. I've given it to a few people to play around with and test, and will post it when I'm certain enough that it's bug free.

[Bear Mtn. 10]

scaleouts, add-ins, etc., and calculates pts profit, $ profit, and so on based on entry/exit prices.

 

Really interested to see this Atto as finding a way to accurately represent multi-entry/exit trades has been one thing I've struggled with. I now do this fairly manually which I think gives me an accurate way to benchmark these against simpler trades.. but like I say, look forward to seeing your setup or hearing how you handle these?

[atto 20]

Yeah, that was the hardest logically, but I really wanted it to work that way. Still trading now, and I need to fix a couple things, then I'll post it.

 

Here's how the trade journal section looks (and you might get an idea how I managed scaleouts and adds):

 

 

The data entered is Date/Time, Instrument (entered or selected from a menu that's easy to set up), size, and price. The rest is calculated: position (showing the total position on that instrument) and profit (in pts and $, taking into account the average entry price). Cumulative profit, Drawdown, and some other stats are also kept track of.

[Bear Mtn. 10]

Looks like a good layout Atto - your cumulative approach is slightly different from how I approached things so v.interesting. Look forward to seeing more.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

BM

[thetatrader1520887476 10]

Very nice atto. I am still playing around with bears. thanks again bear and thanks atto.

[Lidera 10]

Thank you for posting the template. It is just what I needed to begin properly.