A trading journal built for one instrument, not thirty
Gold is not forex with a different ticker. It moves on real yields, on central-bank headlines, and on a spread that widens exactly when the move starts. A journal that treats XAUUSD as one row among forty pairs will average away the only patterns that matter.
What is different about journaling gold
| Gold-specific problem | What the journal gives you |
|---|---|
| One lot is ~$10 a pip — sizing errors are expensive fast | Volume and P&L per trade, with average win and average loss |
| The London–NY overlap is a different market from Asia | Session scoreboard, so the two are not blended |
| Revenge trading after a stop-out is the classic death | Emotion scoreboard against net P&L |
| Prop rules are daily, not monthly | Per-account daily loss limit with 50/80/100% warnings |
The four scoreboards
- Setup — which of your named setups actually pays.
- Session — Asia, London, overlap, New York. Where your edge lives.
- Account — ROI per account, including prop vs personal separately.
- Emotion — calm, hesitant, FOMO, revenge, and what each one costs.
Numbers on the dashboard
Total net P&L, win rate, profit factor, trades won/lost, average win, average loss, best trade, worst trade, and a daily equity curve. All of it filters by account, because "all accounts" is a comforting view that hides a blown challenge.
How I use it
I trade gold on a prop account and on my own. Before the London open I look at one number: how much of today's limit is left. After the session I log the trades I took and, more usefully, note the ones I wanted to take and did not. Over 1,517 logged trades across three accounts, the pattern that cost the most was never a bad entry — it was the second and third entry after a loss.
You do not have to take my word for any of that. The demo is the app with sample data, open, no login: try it here.
Who this is not for
- If you want signals, this is not that.
- If you want an EA that trades for you, this is not that either.
- If you trade twelve instruments and want one blended report, a general journal will serve you better than a gold-specific one.
If you trade one instrument, seriously, the journal should be shaped like that instrument.