What you do after the market closes is just as important as what you do during market hours. Post-market analysis is where real improvement happens. By reviewing your trades, identifying patterns, and learning from both wins and losses, you turn experience into expertise. This guide shows you how to build an effective end-of-day review process.
Why Post-Market Analysis Matters
Most traders focus entirely on finding trades and executing them. But trading without review is like playing a sport without watching game film. You miss the insights that drive improvement:
- Identify recurring mistakes that cost you money
- Discover which setups actually work for you
- Understand your emotional patterns and triggers
- Build data to make objective decisions about your strategy
- Transform random trading into a systematic business
Key insight: Professional traders treat their trading journal as seriously as their actual trading. The review process is where you gain the edge that compounds over time.
The Post-Market Review Process
Step 1: Record Your Trades
Before analyzing anything, ensure every trade is properly documented:
Essential Trade Data
- Entry time, price, and size
- Exit time, price, and size
- Profit or loss (dollar amount and percentage)
- Strategy or setup type
- Market conditions (trending, choppy, volatile)
Contextual Information
- Why did you take this trade?
- What was the catalyst or setup?
- Did you follow your plan?
- How did you feel during the trade?
- What would you do differently?
Trade Journal Entry Example
Trade: Long AAPL, 100 shares
- Entry: $175.50 at 10:15 AM (breakout above morning high)
- Exit: $176.80 at 11:30 AM (hit profit target)
- P/L: +$130 (+0.74%)
- Setup: Gap and go, flag breakout
- Notes: Executed plan well. Waited for confirmation. Could have held longer as it continued to $178.
- Grade: A - Good execution of planned setup
Step 2: Review Each Trade
Go through each trade from the day and ask these questions:
Entry Analysis
- Was this a valid setup according to your rules?
- Did you enter at the right time?
- Was your position size appropriate?
- Did you chase or wait for your entry?
Management Analysis
- Did you manage the trade according to your plan?
- Did you move stops appropriately?
- Did you take profits at planned levels?
- Did emotions affect your decisions?
Exit Analysis
- Was your exit optimal?
- Did you exit too early or too late?
- Did you get stopped out unnecessarily?
- What happened after you exited?
Step 3: Grade Your Trades
Assign a grade to each trade based on execution quality, not just outcome:
- A trade: Followed plan perfectly, regardless of outcome
- B trade: Minor deviation from plan, mostly well-executed
- C trade: Significant deviations, room for improvement
- F trade: Broke rules, emotional decision, or revenge trade
Important: A losing trade can be an A trade if you followed your rules. A winning trade can be an F trade if you broke your rules and got lucky. Focus on process quality, not just results.
Step 4: Identify Patterns
Look for recurring themes in your trading:
Positive Patterns to Reinforce
- Which setups have the highest win rate?
- What time of day do you trade best?
- Which market conditions suit your style?
- What do your best trades have in common?
Negative Patterns to Eliminate
- Do you overtrade after a loss?
- Do you cut winners too early?
- Do you hold losers too long?
- Do you trade worse after lunch?
- Do you break rules when frustrated?
Step 5: Calculate Daily Metrics
Track these metrics to understand your performance:
Daily Performance Metrics
- Net P/L: $450
- Total trades: 6
- Winners: 4 (67%)
- Losers: 2 (33%)
- Average win: $180
- Average loss: -$110
- Win/loss ratio: 1.64
- Largest win: $300
- Largest loss: -$150
- A/B trades: 5 (83%)
- C/F trades: 1 (17%)
Weekly Review Process
In addition to daily reviews, conduct a deeper weekly analysis:
Weekly Questions
- What was my net P/L for the week?
- How many of my trades were A/B quality?
- What mistakes did I repeat?
- What did I do well that I should continue?
- What adjustments should I make next week?
Look for Trends
- Is your win rate improving or declining?
- Are you taking more or fewer trades?
- Is your average trade size appropriate?
- Are certain days consistently better or worse?
Monthly Review Process
Monthly reviews provide big-picture insights:
- Calculate overall monthly statistics
- Compare to previous months
- Identify your most profitable setups
- Identify setups that should be eliminated
- Set goals for the next month
What to Look For in Losing Trades
Losses are your best teachers. Categorize them to understand why they happened:
Good Losses
- Valid setup that did not work out
- Followed your plan, market just moved against you
- Stop loss protected you from larger loss
Bad Losses
- Traded a setup that was not in your plan
- Entered without proper confirmation
- Did not use a stop loss
- Revenge trade after a previous loss
- Traded too large a position
Goal: Over time, you should have mostly good losses and very few bad losses. Eliminating bad losses alone can transform a losing trader into a profitable one.
Building Your Trading Journal
Your journal can be as simple or detailed as you need. Key features:
Essential Components
- Trade log with all positions
- Screenshots of charts at entry and exit
- Notes on reasoning and emotions
- Performance statistics
Optional Enhancements
- Video recordings of your trading session
- Market condition notes
- Pre-market watchlist tracking
- Mood and energy level tracking
Common Post-Market Mistakes
- Skipping the review: Too tired or want to avoid looking at losses
- Focusing only on P/L: Missing the process insights
- Not being honest: Making excuses instead of acknowledging mistakes
- Overcomplicating: A simple system done consistently beats a complex one done occasionally
- Not taking action: Identifying issues but not making changes
Automate Your Trade Tracking
Pro Trader Dashboard automatically imports your trades and calculates all key metrics. Spend less time on data entry and more time on analysis and improvement.
Summary
Post-market analysis is the key to continuous improvement in trading. By reviewing every trade, grading your execution, identifying patterns, and tracking metrics over time, you transform random experience into systematic learning. The traders who commit to this process consistently outperform those who simply trade and hope for the best. Make post-market review a non-negotiable part of your daily routine, and watch your trading improve over time.
Complete your trading routine by reviewing our guide on pre-market preparation or learn about tracking market internals.