Templates and resources
Keep the essentials close.
The templates and checklists from the lessons, ready to copy into your notes or your Trading Journal.
Your preparation note
Use the same structure every time. Keep the original note and add later updates below it.
MARKET PREPARATION NOTE Date and time zone: Market or currency pair: Time horizon: 1. Current theme What is the market paying attention to? 2. Supporting information Source, publication time and relevant evidence: 3. Observed reaction What did price do, over which period? 4. What matters next Event, date, time zone and the question it could answer: 5. What would change my view? Conflicting evidence or a condition that would invalidate it: 6. My decision Watch / wait / develop a conditional plan: 7. Review What changed? Which part of my reasoning needs revision? Keep the original note and add the update below it.
Trade thesis template
Write it before the entry, review it after the exit. Explained in Write a thesis you can review.
TRADE THESIS Date: Pair and direction: View: what do I expect, and over which time frame? Driver: which data, central bank or flow supports it? Market mood: is sentiment with me or against me? Next catalyst: which event can confirm or break the idea? Wrong if: what would prove the idea wrong? Conviction (1 to 5): Clarity (1 to 5): After the trade What happened, and was the thesis right for the right reasons?
Pre-trade risk checklist
6 questions before every trade. Explained in Your pre-trade risk checklist.
0 of 6 checked
Journal fields
What to record for every trade. Explained in the module Fill out your journal.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Date and pair | When and what you traded. |
| Direction | Long or short, and whether the market went your way. |
| Thesis | Why you took the trade, written before the entry. |
| Entry, stop and target | In price and as a percentage of the account. |
| Result | Profit or loss in percent, not in money. |
| Untouched result | What the trade would have made without your changes. |
| MFE | How far the trade went in your favour. |
| MAE | How far the trade went against you. |
| Notes and review | What you did well, what you would change. |
Reference reading
- CFTC · Commitments of Traders release schedule
The COT report is published on Friday and describes positions from the Tuesday before.
- CFTC · Traders in Financial Futures explanatory notes
Report scope, trader categories and the limits of interpretation.
- Federal Reserve · Monetary policy and exchange rates
Research on relative policy surprises and exchange-rate moves.
- FINRA · Stop orders in volatile markets
How stop orders behave in fast markets. For FX, check the terms of your own broker.