Trading Metrics for journals/record keeping

July 27th, 2012, 06:27 AM

Could someone explain to me what the "Bench Mark" number is in the journal. What does a 1 or a 2 or a 3 or that matter any number entered in this column.

July 27th, 2012, 06:30 AM

perryg

Could someone explain to me what the "Bench Mark" number is in the journal. What does a 1 or a 2 or a 3 or that matter any number entered in this column.

I haven't looked at the recent versions of the journal, but my original idea behind the benchmark is what I called a "perfect trade", it would represent the best possible MFE if you were able to capture 100% of the move. So it's a benchmark to aim for, as a way to measure your overall efficiency with this best-case scenario MFE vs your actual MFE.

But this may have changed over time with the new versions, I may be wrong...

Mike

July 27th, 2012, 07:45 AM

perryg

Could someone explain to me what the "Bench Mark" number is in the journal. What does a 1 or a 2 or a 3 or that matter any number entered in this column.

Benchmark is the maximum favourable excursion of the trade WHILE still in the trade. MFE2 is the maximum favourable excursion BEFORE or AFTER the trade was exited.

There also is a rudimentary help file that explains some of the stats.

vvhg

July 27th, 2012, 07:58 AM

DarkPoolTrading

Hi Excel guru's,

I am having an issue with my trade journal which im hoping someone can assist with:

I would like my drawdown to be charted daily. For example if my account balance is $500 at the start of the day and I take 2 trades in the morning resulting in a $200 drawdown, then I take 1 trade in the afternoon for a $50 profit, then my drawdown at the end of the day is $150.

The problem im having is that because I have 3 trades in my trade journal, when I chart this I end up have $200 showing as the drawdown, instead of $150. So I guess basically I need a way for my chart to summarise intraday data into daily totals (ideally without having to create a separate tab containing daily summaries)? I have attached a screenshot which shows an example if you refer to 05-Jun-11. The drawdown chart should show -R768 (the final drawdown for the day). But instead it is showing -R2112 which was the max drawdown for the day.

Many thanks!

So you basically want to chart your daily P/L if its negative? The easiest would be to have a pivot table pulling out a daily P/L and then only use the negative numbers for plotting....
You can do that on the same tab just out of sight to the right.

vvhg

July 27th, 2012, 08:33 AM

In the journal entry, if I enter any number LESS than 25 in the columns MAE1 or MAE2, I get the following error message:

"A formula in the worksheet contains one or more invalid references. Verify that your formula contains a valid path, workbook, range name, and cell reference"

This error occurs when trying to save the worksheet. If I change the number to anything higher than 24, there is no error.

July 27th, 2012, 08:44 AM

perryg

In the journal entry, if I enter any number LESS than 25 in the columns MAE1 or MAE2, I get the following error message:

"A formula in the worksheet contains one or more invalid references. Verify that your formula contains a valid path, workbook, range name, and cell reference"

This error occurs when trying to save the worksheet. If I change the number to anything higher than 24, there is no error.

I believe I have found the Bug, that is causing this error. In the "Stop Efficiency" worksheet, there is a cell that says "Max MAE to display(ticks)". If I change this cell to zero (0), then I can save the whole spreadsheet with any number in the Journal section of the MAE1 or MAE2. Originally this cell contained a number of 24, which caused the error to occur for any number less than 25 in the MAE.

This is certainly a bug in this tab sheet.

July 27th, 2012, 08:48 AM

perryg

I believe I have found the Bug, that is causing this error. In the "Stop Efficiency" worksheet, there is a cell that says "Max MAE to display(ticks)". If I change this cell to zero (0), then I can save the whole spreadsheet with any number in the Journal section of the MAE1 or MAE2. Originally this cell contained a number of 24, which caused the error to occur for any number less than 25 in the MAE.

This is certainly a bug in this tab sheet.

Thanks! I will fix that.

vvhg

July 27th, 2012, 10:58 AM

I am trying to insert a new record in Journal tab of the Journal (4.1)
It is all grayed out, when I try, I get the message --The cell or chart you are trying to change is protected.
I am not much of an excel person. Can someone please point me on how to insert new Journal entries.

July 27th, 2012, 01:42 PM

kashmiami

I am trying to insert a new record in Journal tab of the Journal (4.1)
It is all grayed out, when I try, I get the message --The cell or chart you are trying to change is protected.
I am not much of an excel person. Can someone please point me on how to insert new Journal entries.

Use your tab key in the last row, once you go past thoughts a new line is inserted automatically.

vvhg

July 27th, 2012, 01:48 PM

perryg

I believe I have found the Bug, that is causing this error. In the "Stop Efficiency" worksheet, there is a cell that says "Max MAE to display(ticks)". If I change this cell to zero (0), then I can save the whole spreadsheet with any number in the Journal section of the MAE1 or MAE2. Originally this cell contained a number of 24, which caused the error to occur for any number less than 25 in the MAE.

This is certainly a bug in this tab sheet.

The bug should be gone now, no other changes since 4.1. There are Beta versions with extended commissions calculations which should better suit some other financial products.
I would appreciate some feedback if I should include that in the next release...

vvhg

Trading Metrics for journals/record keeping

Discussion in Psychology and Money Management

Trading Metrics for journals/record keeping