Sometimes keeping a trading journal can be tough. You have to create screen captures, write notes on them of the entry and exit and then type up an explanation for the trade. If you have multiple trades a night, it can be a real pain in the ass. But a trading journal is essential to figuring out how you are doing. Is there an easier way?
Fortunately, there is…doing video captures of your trades can be an easy way to record your thoughts. You don’t have to do a lot of time-consuming typing. All you have to do is speak normally and pull up all of the charts that you traded that day.
The advantage is that you can go through many charts quickly and you can hear the stress in your voice when you review the videos later. This can help you judge how well or poorly you were trading at that time. Sometimes your profit and loss statement does not tell the whole story.
There are several different ways to do it, so I will give you a few options. You can choose one based on your situation and technical comfort.
Recording Software
PC
If you are using a PC with Windows, you have bigger issues, but that is not the topic for another post. I have found that the best software for PC is Camtasia Studio. It is easy to use and allows you to directly upload to YouTube or create local video files.
The interface is very user friendly and logical. Even though this software in only available on a PC, it is my favorite screen recording software on any platform.
Mac
I tried the free trial of Camtasia for Mac, but I didn’t like it. I was disappointed so I looked around for an alternative. The best product that I have found for Mac is ScreenFlow. It is also simple to use, but not as simple as Camtasia Studio for PC.
It is the only screen capture software that I use now. Once you get the hang of it, using it is really easy to make quick videos and makes it a breeze to upload to YouTube.
Online Video Capture
Then there are websites that you allow you record directly from the website and store it online. The downside is that they usually have limited storage space. Here are a couple that you can check out:
Other Software
If those products don’t work for you, then you can try these:
Video Hosting
The next thing you want to do is figure out where to host your videos. Using YouTube is usually the best place to start since it is free and there is no limit to what you can upload. I personally use YouTube because it has better publicity. If you do not want everyone to see your trades, you can set your videos to private.
There are also other video hosting sites like Vimeo or Veoh that allow you to host for free. Check them out and see which one you like best.
Journaling
Now we get down to actually journaling your trades. There are a couple of ways that you can do it. You can do it like me and create blog. It can be free to get started with sites like:
If you don’t want the world to see your trades, you can make your blog private so only you can see it. Just embed your videos that you have uploaded into each blog post.
Another thing you can do and probably the easiest solution, is to use MyFxBook to auto-journal your trades. MyFxBook is a free website that downloads your trades and gives you an area where you can write notes for the trade. Just paste a link to your video into that area and you are done. Simple as that! If you have never seen MyFxBook, check out this video demonstration.
Now You Have No Excuse
If writing in your journal was too difficult in the past, now you have no excuse for not being able to track your trades. Creating video journals is a fast and easy way to keep track of how you are doing.
How do you like to journal your trades?
Thanks to Rudy Leder for the idea for this post.
Note: This post contains affiliate links in which I may get paid for recommending a product. But you knew that already.
