Trade Review Checklist

Reviewing trades by outcome teaches the wrong lesson roughly half the time. A well-executed trade that lost gets marked as a mistake; a badly executed trade that won gets reinforced. Over a few months that produces a trader who has learned to do the wrong things.

This checklist separates the two. The process group is deliberately answerable without reference to whether the trade made money, because that is the only way process errors become visible.

Loading the tool…

How to use the trade review checklist

Run it after the position is closed, before opening the next one.
Answer the process group without looking at the result.
Write the one thing to change as a specific action, not a resolution.
Add recurring errors to the pre-trade checklist so they get caught earlier.

What people use this for

Building a weekly review habit around individual trades.
Separating execution quality from outcome.
Identifying the errors that keep recurring.
Keeping a record of decisions rather than just prices.

Good process, bad outcome

In any activity with a random component, correct decisions produce bad results a predictable share of the time. Trading is unusually severe in this respect, because the feedback is immediate, financial, and completely uncorrelated with decision quality on any single trade.

The only defence is to evaluate the decision separately from the result. That is uncomfortable and it is the entire point of the second group here.

One change at a time

The instinct after a loss is to change several things at once. The result is a strategy that is different in ways nobody can measure, with no way of knowing which change helped.

Recording one specific action per review, and leaving the strategy alone unless a pattern appears across many trades, keeps the record interpretable.

Emotional state belongs in the record

It is the field most often skipped and frequently the most predictive. Trades taken while frustrated, bored, or trying to recover a loss have a distinctive profile, and that profile only becomes visible if the state was recorded at the time.

Written afterwards from memory, it is worthless. Written honestly at the time, it is often the most useful column in the journal.

Methodology and assumptions

What this calculator does, and what it deliberately does not do.

Results are arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Nothing here predicts prices or connects to an exchange, broker or market data feed.
Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the calculation runs entirely inside your browser.

This tool is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Nothing on this website is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, currency, derivative or digital asset. No price is predicted and no return is promised or implied.

Trading and investing carry the risk of substantial loss, including the loss of your entire capital. Leveraged products can produce losses that exceed your deposit. Tax treatment depends on your jurisdiction and your circumstances.

Frequently asked questions

How soon after a trade should I review it?

Soon enough that the reasoning is fresh, and after the position is closed. Reviewing a live position tends to become a justification exercise.

Should I review winning trades too?

Especially those. A win taken outside the plan is more dangerous than a loss taken correctly, because nothing about the result flags it.

Is my progress stored anywhere?

In this browser only. Nothing is uploaded and clearing browser data resets it.

Is this trading advice?

No. It is a review structure for informational and educational purposes. It recommends no trade, strategy or risk level.

Related calculators

More journal & records tools on TradingJournalTools.

Browse all 4 tools →