Trade Journal Metrics That Matter After The First 100 Trades

The first trades build the habit. The first 100 trades build the sample. At that point, the journal should stop being a diary and start becoming a decision engine.

A trader with 100 logged trades can begin answering better questions: which setup has edge, which session damages performance, which emotion is expensive and which market deserves less attention.

Expectancy by setup

Overall expectancy is useful, but setup expectancy is more actionable. If one setup pays and another drains, the trader does not need a new strategy. They need a filter.

This is why setup tagging must be consistent from the beginning.

Session performance

Many traders perform differently by session. London may provide clean continuation while New York triggers impatience. Asia may be too slow for their style.

Session data lets the trader focus energy where the edge actually appears.

Average loss quality

A loss can be clean or dirty. Clean losses follow the plan. Dirty losses break rules. The journal should help separate them because only one is a strategy problem.

If dirty losses are the issue, changing the setup will not fix the account.

Time between trades

Overtrading often appears as compressed timing. Several trades in a short window after a loss can reveal revenge patterns faster than a trader's memory will admit.

The journal should make clusters visible.

Review conversion

The final metric is whether reviews create action. If the same mistake appears every week, the review is not converting into behavior.

A journal should not only store the past. It should shape the next trade.