The Road to Successful Trading

 
Example of a Trading Journal 
 
The above example is taken from the journal of an active option trader. Of course, headings can be 
customized for the types of trading activities, but the idea is the same. 
 
 
 
 
How to Design and Construct An Effective Trading Plan 
52
 

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Chapter 8: Testing your Trading System 
 
Developing a successful trading system based upon your specific goals and a set of trading rules 
form the heart of your trading plan. These two documents wrap around the “fuzzy” part of your 
personal goals, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses and your preferred style of trading. But how 
do you know when you have a system that will meet your needs? 
Today’s trading environment makes becoming a successful trader much easier that in the past. The 
electronic age has not only greatly reduced transaction costs but has also mad available a wealth of 
information available from any place on the globe. One of the most positively impacted industries 
was that of the world of finance. One of the most profound effects was that of the evolution of 
electronic trading. Not only did it offer 24 hour trading capabilities but it changed the trading 
paradigm. As a result of computer to computer bid-ask matching, many of the most knowledgeable 
people in the industry-the market makers and floor traders-suddenly found themselves no longer 
needed. Indeed, the new technology forced them out of the pits and into the field of education. In 
the logical pursuit of putting food on the table, many former “insiders” needed to leverage their 
knowledge. As a result, new online trading institutions have sprung up on the net Now, the 
independent trader community has access to formerly closely held information on not only the 
mechanics of trading like a pro but also the more subtle psychological considerations of being a 
trader. (
www.thedisciplinedtrader.com
)
Part time traders and aspiring full time traders can now have access to knowledge not formerly 
available to the public. From online courses to full time mentoring, the internet has opened up a 
whole new opportunity for a person to carve out a new and potentially very rewarding career 
without needing to take time out from an ongoing profession or to convert free time into productive 
time (many “house wives and stay at home dads are exploring the possibilities of trading). Indeed, 
businesses of all types are entertaining the idea of using a portion of company free cash for trading 
purposes. In view of the low levels of returns offered by most financial institutions, if a trader can 
develop a fairly low risk way of generating an ROI above 10%, many capable business owners are 
looking at trading as part of a new way of generating additional revenues to help optimize assets.
But is it possible to develop a trading system that is relatively low risk? 
The answer is yes. 
How to Design and Construct An Effective Trading Plan 
53
Given that you have put in the time to learn about investing and the types of investment vehicles 
that you feel are best for you to trade in, the trading plan is the first step in the process. As 
mentioned in Chapters 5 and 6, step by step procedures need to be developed and formalized into a 
document or checklist. Once you have established your procedures, the next step is to try the out.
Before the advent of paper trading via an actual trading platform, aspiring traders were more or less 

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forced to sing or swim with their money on the table. However, today, aspiring traders can build a 
professional trading plan and test it out before getting rolled by the pros. 
When undergoing the testing of your trading system, you not only get to test your system but you 
also become experienced in using the trading platform and all its nuances. Moreover, you become 
comfortable with the trading process and how best to set up entry, exit and stops. In addition, most 
brokerages have seemingly come to the realization that many investors want to become educated 
and take a more active part in managing their investments. As a result, brokerages now make a 
much more serious effort to educate their clients by offering regular seminars and online webinars 
on trading education.
As mentioned before, the paper trading account is one of the most important tools a trader can have. 
Not only does it allow testing to help come up with a system that produces at least a 65% win-loss 
ratio over at least 100 trades, but it also provides a “safe harbor” when a system needs to be taken 
out of action for adjustment if production is not what it should be. Most traders will set up a trading 
rule whereby if the win-loss drops below its expected win-loss ratio over a certain time number of 
trades, the trader becomes obligated to stop trading and go back to paper trading to troubleshoot the 
system. Indeed, paper trading is the test bed. 
Most statisticians will say that a significant sample size is about 100 test trades but this is just a 
rough estimate. A better way would be to test in different market conditions. For example, how 
does your system function during an up market with moderate volatility, in a down market with low 
volatility, etc, etc? However, this could take some time so as a general rule, it is probably a good 
idea to do at least 100 trades to develop the win-loss ratio but take into consideration that the macro 
economic environment of the market can have a distinct impact on how your system performs.
Over a period of differing market conditions, you will develop a feel for how your system will 
function. Some traders have different trading systems for different market conditions. As you can 
see, it is up to the trader to constantly monitor, test and tweak the system and there is no “Trading 
Plan for Dummies” workbook-at least not yet. Being a successful trader is just about as dynamic as 
the markets themselves and a trader must be ready to change what might have worked in the past.
Because of this, paper trading is can be viewed as indispensible tool. For an excellent description of 
how to select a proper sample size go to: 
www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c000709a.asp