A

Avg R:R (Average Risk:Reward) – The typical ratio of potential profit to potential loss for your trades. For example, risking $1 to make $3 is a 1:3 R:R.

Asset Classes – Different types of investments, e.g., equities (stocks), ETFs, crypto, or forex (FX).

B

Bear / Bull / Neutral – Terms describing market sentiment:

Bull: Expecting prices to go up.

Bear: Expecting prices to go down.

Neutral: Unsure, waiting for trend confirmation.

Biggest Mistake – Your most important error during a trading period. Recording it helps you avoid repeating it.

C

Catalyst – The reason a stock or market moves, e.g., earnings reports, macroeconomic events, or technical signals.

Consumer Discretionary – Sector of companies selling non-essential goods/services (e.g., retail, entertainment).

Crypto – Digital currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

CPI (Consumer Price Index) – A measure of inflation showing how prices of goods/services change over time.

D

Daily Lessons – Short, actionable learning points or exercises for each trading day.

Drawdown – The decline from a peak to a trough in your portfolio or trade, measuring loss.

E

Earnings – A company’s financial report showing profits or losses for a specific period.

Early-Year Sector Rotation – The movement of money between different sectors (like tech to energy) at the start of the year.

ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) – A basket of stocks or assets traded like a stock.

Entry Criteria – The conditions under which you decide to open a trade.

Equities – Stocks or shares of individual companies.

Exit Evaluation – Deciding when and why to close a trade.

F

Financials – Sector of banks, insurance companies, and financial service providers.

False Trend – A price movement that looks like a trend but quickly reverses.

FX / Forex – Trading currencies, e.g., USD vs EUR.

H

Hedging – Taking a position to reduce potential losses in another investment.

High / Medium / Low Risk – Levels of potential loss in a trade. High risk = bigger potential reward but bigger potential loss.

I

Invalidation – The price point or condition where your trade idea is no longer valid and should be exited.

J

Journaling – Writing down trades, lessons, mistakes, and observations to improve over time.

L

Liquidity – How easily an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its price. Low liquidity can cause bigger price swings.

Lunar New Year – A major holiday affecting Asian markets; can reduce trading volume.

M

Macro Releases – Economic reports like inflation, jobs data, or interest rate decisions that affect markets broadly.

Max Drawdown – The largest drop from a high point to a low point in your portfolio during a period.

Mid-Cap / Small-Cap – Companies classified by size:

Small-Cap: Smaller companies, often more volatile.

Mid-Cap: Medium-sized companies, balance between stability and growth.

Monthly Recap – End-of-month reflection on trades, wins, losses, and lessons learned.

Monthly Performance Summary – Template recording total trades, win rate, average R:R, max drawdown, and key lessons.

Momentum – The speed or strength of a price movement.

N

Notes – Space to write observations, trade ideas, or anything important for future reference.

R

Risk-On / Risk-Off – Market sentiment indicators:

Risk-On: Traders prefer higher-risk assets (stocks, crypto).

Risk-Off: Traders prefer safer assets (bonds, cash).

Risk-Adjusted Sizing – Choosing trade sizes based on risk, not just potential profit.

Review Trades / Performance Review – Looking back to see what worked, what didn’t, and why.

S

Sector Rotation – Movement of investment from one sector to another based on market conditions.

Small-Cap Opportunity – Focus on smaller companies that may have higher growth potential early in the year.

Stop Placement – The price level where a trade is automatically closed to limit losses.

Stock Pick Template – A structured way to document your trading idea including ticker, bias, catalyst, entry, targets, risk, and notes.

Trend / Trend Bias – The overall direction of a stock or market (uptrend, downtrend, sideways).

T

Target(s) – The price point(s) where you plan to take profit.

Technical Setups – Patterns on charts used to identify potential trade opportunities (e.g., breakout, failure).

U

USD Trends / Yield Repricing – Monitoring the US Dollar and interest rates which affect FX and bond markets.

W

Weekly Recap / Performance Review – End-of-week analysis to identify successes, mistakes, and learning points.

Win Rate – Percentage of trades that are profitable.

Ticker: [____]
Market: [Equity / ETF / Crypto / FX]
Bias: [Bull / Bear / Neutral]
Catalyst: [Earnings / Macro / Technical]
Entry Criteria:
Invalidation:
Target(s):
Risk Level: [Low / Medium / High]
Notes:

Total trades:
Win rate:
Avg R:R:
Max drawdown:
Biggest mistake:
One rule to tighten next month: