Weekly trading journal review: checklist and template
intent: trade · Published
A weekly trading journal review starts by checking that your trade records match your broker history. Once the records agree, compare your decisions with the plan you wrote before trading. Finish with an action you can check at the next review.
Use this weekly trading review checklist with a notebook, Excel, Google Sheets or a trading journal app. The weekly review template below gives you a place to keep your findings.
How to review your trading journal each week
1. Match the journal to your broker history
Choose a review period and timezone. Use the same basis each week, especially when trades close around midnight or stay open across several days.
Check the complete list of closed trades before drawing conclusions:
- Match each trade to the broker's trade history, including losses.
- Remove duplicate imports or entries.
- Check entry and exit prices, position sizes and closing dates.
- Include commissions and other costs consistently. Do not subtract costs twice if the reported result already includes them.
- Account for partial exits the same way each week.
- Keep open positions separate from completed trades.
Compare trade results over the same period and on the same cost basis. Deposits, withdrawals and open-position values can also change an account balance, so the balance alone is not a reconciliation of closed trades.
Here is a hypothetical recordkeeping example. A journal shows a gain of 120 USD, but the broker's closed-trade history shows 90 USD for the same period. One 20 USD result was entered twice, and 10 USD in fees was missing from the journal.
| Reconciliation | Amount |
|---|---|
| Journal result before correction | 120 USD |
| Remove the duplicated result | -20 USD |
| Include the missing fees | -10 USD |
| Corrected result | 90 USD |
The difference came from the records. Correct it before deciding what the week tells you about your trading.
If a detail is missing, mark it as unknown. Do not reconstruct an entry reason from a chart you have already seen play out.
2. Compare each trade with its written plan
Read the plan and original notes before adding a new explanation. Check the entry condition, intended risk and exit rules against what happened.
Give each trade a short process note, such as "followed the written plan," "entered before the condition was met" or "exit note missing." Add the trade reference so you can find the evidence again.
A profitable trade can include a rule violation. A losing trade can follow the written plan. Keep the result and the process assessment in separate fields.
Following a plan does not establish that the plan is profitable. That is a separate question requiring evidence beyond whether you followed its rules.
3. Read weekly trading performance in context
Record the number of completed trades and their net result in a consistent account currency. Keep the date range and cost basis beside the figures.
If you calculate win rate or average wins and losses, read them together. Then check what contributed to the total:
- Did one large trade account for most of the result?
- Did different position sizes change how much each trade contributed?
- Were several setups or market conditions mixed together?
- Are you comparing live trades with other live trades, rather than combining them with backtests?
You can examine a subgroup, but keep the full weekly result visible. Removing the largest loss from a calculation does not remove it from your record.
A small sample can raise a question without answering it. A good week does not establish a lasting edge, and a bad week does not settle whether a method works. Note the trade count when comparing weeks or setups.
Read the trading journal metrics guide for formulas and their limits.
4. Check the trades behind your notes
Open the trade records and screenshots that support a finding. Include records that challenge your first explanation, not only those that fit it.
For example, "I rushed my entries" is difficult to check later. "Trades T14 and T18 opened before the condition in my entry note was met" identifies what happened and where to look.
If a trade lacks the note needed to assess it, keep that uncertainty in the review. There is no need to label every trade a good or bad decision.
5. Choose an action you can check next week
Turn a supported observation into a specific recordkeeping or review action.
If several trades have no entry reason, write:
Record the setup and reason before entry. At the next review, count completed trades with that note and trades without it.
That gives the next review something to check. "Be more disciplined" does not.
Keep a possible explanation separate from the observation. Missing notes show that the record is incomplete; they do not establish why you skipped them. Document any change to your process and when it began so later comparisons have context.
Weekly trading journal review template
Copy this template into your notes or a separate spreadsheet tab:
Review period and timezone:
Completed trades:
Net result and account currency:
Costs included in that result:
Corrections or unresolved differences:
Previous review's action:
Evidence that I completed it, or what remains missing:
Decisions that matched the written plan, with trade references:
Departures from the plan, with trade references:
Records too incomplete to assess:
Question to investigate:
Trades that support or challenge the observation:
Action before the next review:
How I will check whether I completed it:
Keep the trade log alongside this note. The weekly summary should point back to the records, so you can revisit a finding without relying on memory.
Questions about a weekly trading review
What if I only made one or two trades?
Reconcile and review those trades. Record any missing details or departures from your plan. Keep the trade count visible and avoid treating a percentage from a handful of trades as a reliable assessment of a strategy.
Can I use Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes. Keep one sheet for trade records and another for the review note. The free trading journal template for Excel and Google Sheets provides trade fields you can use as a starting point. You are responsible for spreadsheet calculations and the review itself.
Keep the review connected to your trade records
intent: trade lets you keep trade records and notes, revisit trades through calendar views and export records for your own review. It is available on web, iOS and Android. You can use this checklist alongside those records.
See the trading journal features. If you are still deciding what to record, start with how to keep a trading journal.
For recordkeeping and review. Not investment advice.