# How to Review Your Trades to Improve · DT Academy > How to review your trades: what to record, daily and weekly reviews, grading execution over outcome, and finding the leaks in your trading. [Back to The DT Intensive](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/courses/dt-intensive) Day 24Reviewing your trades to improve Chapters done # Reviewing your trades to improve Day 24 of 26 · 10 min read · By DT Terminal A review turns a pile of trades into one thing to change. This lesson covers what to record on every trade, the daily and weekly review, grading your execution apart from the result, finding leaks by grouping your trades, and turning one finding into one rule you can check. Unlock the full lesson in the app Worked examples, the quiz and the interactive tools are in the app. Free account. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Freviewing-your-trades-to-improve) Chapter 1 of 7 ## What to record on every trade A review is only as good as what was written at the time. **Memory edits itself**: a loser becomes bad luck and a winner becomes skill. So record every trade the same way, **before you know how it ends**. | What to record | What it looks like | Why it matters | | --- | --- | --- | | Setup | Its name: "pullback to the H1 level" | Lets you group trades by setup later | | Plan | Entry, stop, target and size, before the click | Shows if you took the trade you planned | | Screenshots | One before the entry, one after the close | What you saw, and what price did next | | Emotion | One word: calm, rushed, frustrated | Honest before the outcome, an excuse after it | | Rules | Each rule of the plan, followed or not | Tells **a bad trade from a bad result** | | Result in R | +2.0R or −1.0R | Compares trades of any size | **R** is the amount you risked ([Day 4](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/how-to-choose-your-risk)): risk $100, make $200, and the trade is +2.0R on any account size. Sync the account and the facts arrive as your broker reported them. **You add what only you know**: the setup tag, the screenshots, the rule checklist, and how you felt before you knew the outcome. **Write the facts down before you know the ending.** **Anything recorded after the result is shaped by it.** **Why sync, and what you add** **The facts should never be typed by hand.** Sync the account and the prices, size, times, fees and P&L arrive as your broker reported them, which is what makes the record proof rather than a story. You add the setup as a tag, the screenshots, the rule checklist, your reflection, and a quick note of how you felt before you knew the outcome. Plan, emotion and screenshot first; the review comes later. Chapter 2 of 7 ## Reviewing one trade on the chart Review the trade **in a fixed order**, so a good result cannot hurry you past a bad decision. One `EURUSD` long: DT Terminal Charts EURUSD · H1 Reviewed Sample candles. Entry, stop and target are the lines; the marks are what a review reads off it. 1. **Was it my setup?** A pullback after the rally. Yes. 2. **Was the plan set first?** Entry 1.08500, stop 1.08300 below the swing low at 1.08354, target 1.08900 at 2R. Yes. 3. **Did I follow it?** Stop never moved, closed at the target for +2.0R. 4. **How far against me?** −0.5R at worst. 5. **Where did it go after?** On to +3.1R, then back. 6. **Repeat or change?** Repeat it. One trade that ran further is no reason to move every target. Review a trade from the Trade Log Click Needs Review on your last three closed trades and answer the six questions. **Let a sample decide** The stop had room. One trade that ran further is a question to answer over **20 or more trades**, not a reason to move every target. Note what price did after the exit and **let a sample decide**. Measure how far your closed trades went against you and how much of each winning move you kept, so "I exit too early" becomes a number. Unreviewed closed trades carry a Needs Review badge. Click the badge (or Review trade in the trade's details) and walk the trade through the six questions. Answering marks the trade reviewed. Chapter 3 of 7 ## The daily review **Ten minutes after each session**, while it is fresh: a check that the record is complete and honest. 1. Every trade is in, with its after screenshot. 2. The rule checklist is ticked on every trade, honestly. 3. Each trade has its one-word emotion and a one-line note. 4. One line for the day: what you would repeat, and what you would not. Keep it as **one journal entry a day**: a plan, notes during the session and a reflection after, next to the day's trades and high-impact events. **No setup, no trade, still an entry.** **A day you sat out is part of the record.** Writing why shows later how often patience was right. Chapter 4 of 7 ## Grade the execution, not the outcome **One result is mostly noise** ([Day 9](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/the-math-behind-trading)). So **grade two things apart**: did you follow the plan, and did it make money? Every trade lands in one of four boxes. Execution grade the plan, not the result [Replay in the app](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Freviewing-your-trades-to-improve%3Fsection%3Dgrade-execution%23grade-execution) The counts are the example week below: 12 trades, sorted by whether they followed the plan and whether they made money. - **Earned win** and **good loss.** The plan, working. Nothing to fix. - **Bad win.** The riskiest box: you were paid for breaking a rule, and paid habits repeat. - **Bad loss.** Write down the rule you broke. Worked example ### Example 01: A good loss and a bad win on the same day The worked example, with every number walked through, is in the app. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Freviewing-your-trades-to-improve%3Fsection%3Dgrade-execution%23grade-execution) Free account **Count a bad win as a mistake, whatever it paid.** **The example in full, and counting rule breaks** Both trades were on Thursday. Trade 8 was stopped out beyond the swing low. Trade 9 broke the plan's news rule (see [Day 6](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/key-news-events)). By the money, trade 9 was better. By the plan, trade 8 is a good loss that needs nothing, and trade 9 is a bad win: the review writes down the rule it broke, so a habit that paid once is not mistaken for a skill. A good trade can lose and a bad one can win; **what you control is the execution**. Over a sample, the rules carry the edge. A trade that broke them taught the wrong lesson, even when it made money. Give each strategy a short rulebook to tick on every trade, and count each trade you took with a critical rule unticked, so rule breaks become a number. For a bad loss, writing down the rule you broke lets the review find it again. Chapter 5 of 7 ## The weekly review: a few numbers and one change Once a week, step back from single trades to the set. The point is **one decision, not a report**: | Number | What it tells you | | --- | --- | | Net result in R | Did the week make or lose, whatever the size | | Win rate | With the average win and loss, is the edge showing up | | Average win and loss | Are winners cut short or losers stretched | | Expectancy | The average R a trade, all three in one | | Trades by the plan | **The one number you fully control** | | Off-plan R | What breaking the plan made or cost | Worked example ### Example 02: One week, twelve trades The worked example, with every number walked through, is in the app. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Freviewing-your-trades-to-improve%3Fsection%3Dweekly-review%23weekly-review) Free account **One change a week, not five.** Change five things and you will **never know which one worked**. **The weekly review template** Split by the plan, the story is clearer. Two of the off-plan trades were the same mistake: a repeated pattern, so it is the one change. One rule, tested over enough trades, gives a readable result. Here is the review as a template: the same five headings every week, so weeks compare. Weekly review template 1. The numbers - Trades taken, and the net result in R - Win rate, average win and average loss in R - Trades that followed the plan, out of the total 2. The grades - How many earned wins, good losses, bad wins and bad losses - The off-plan trades: what they cost or made, in R 3. The leak - Grouped by setup, session, day and emotion, **which group lost the most** - Is it big enough to trust, or one to watch? 4. One thing to keep - The trade you would take again exactly as you did 5. One thing to change - The one rule you will add or tighten next week, written so **a yes or no answers it** Take the numbers **from the record, not from memory**: net P/L, win rate, expectancy, results in R and P/L by weekday. Chapter 6 of 7 ## Find leaks by grouping your trades A **leak** is a group of trades that loses while the rest makes money. Sort trades by one thing at a time to find it: setup, session ([Day 5](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/market-sessions)), weekday or emotion. Group this sample month of 30 trades (+7.0R) four ways. Interactive tool ### Leak finder This interactive tool runs in the app, with your own numbers. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Freviewing-your-trades-to-improve%3Fsection%3Dfind-leaks%23find-leaks) Free account The leaks overlap: 7 of the 9 Asian trades were breakouts, and 7 of the 10 breakouts were logged as rushed. One habit underneath: rushing into breakouts before London opens. **Nine or ten trades is a hint, not proof**: a question to test, not a verdict. Find your own leak in Analytics Tag your last 30 trades with a setup and an emotion, then filter by one tag at a time. **Reading the groups** **You cannot see a leak trade by trade.** Four groupings pointed at one habit here, which is why you look at more than one grouping before you name the leak, as real leaks overlap. The finder will not call a group under 5 trades a leak at all, and the ones it does call are a question to test, not a verdict. Tags make this possible. Tag each trade with its setup and emotion, then filter by one tag at a time and split the results by hour and weekday: the Time tab in Analytics shows day of week and hour. Write down the one group that lost the most, and how many trades it holds. Chapter 7 of 7 ## Turn one finding into one rule **A finding is not a fix.** "I lose on Asian breakouts" changes nothing until it is a rule you check on every trade. A rule that works is: - **Specific.** It names the setup, the session or the condition. - **Checkable.** A yes or no answers it on every trade. - **Written before the session.** In the plan, not in your head. - **Alone.** One new rule at a time. One change: from a finding to a rule you can check [Replay in the app](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Freviewing-your-trades-to-improve%3Fsection%3Done-finding-one-rule%23one-finding-one-rule) **One finding becomes one rule**, written so a yes or no answers it, tested over enough trades to mean something, then checked with the same grouping. | Finding | A rule you cannot check | A rule you can | | --- | --- | --- | | Asian session breakouts lose | "Be careful in Asia" | No breakout entries before the London open | | Re-entries straight after a loss lose | "Do not revenge trade" | No new trade for 30 minutes after a loss | | Entries logged as rushed lose | "Be more patient" | Enter only on a candle close at your level, never mid-candle | Examples of how a finding becomes a rule. Your own findings, from your own record, are the ones worth writing. Test it **over the next 20 trades**, or replay the conditions in the backtester. Then group again: **keep the rule if the leak closed**, drop it if not. **A rule you cannot check is a wish.** If a yes or no cannot answer it, **rewrite it**. **Keeping the rule honest** A checkable rule is answered by a yes or no on every trade, after the fact, even on a trade you closed last week. One new rule at a time lets you tell what it did. Tick it on each of those trades, and write it into your plan, so it is asked on every trade and a broken one is counted. A record reviewed like this is also what a prop firm challenge rewards: **rules followed under pressure**, on trades nobody can edit. [Day 25](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/prop-firms-and-brokers) picks up from there. Quick review ## Check yourself Quick review · 0 of 0 [All lessons in The DT Intensive](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/courses/dt-intensive) [Previous](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/the-emotions-that-wreck-your-trading) ## The emotions that wreck your trading Day 23 · 12 min read [Next in Learn to trade](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/prop-firms-and-brokers) ## Prop firms and brokers, and the costs Day 25 · 11 min read ## Try it on your own account Connect a broker and DT Terminal verifies every trade against it. Free to start. [Start free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&from=academy&entry=closing_card&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy) [Back to DT Academy](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy) DT Academy is education, not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Trading carries a high risk of losing money, and past results, examples and backtests do not guarantee future results. 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