How I document my trades

This is the format I’ve been using to track my options trades recently. As you can see, I show the Underlying Ticker, Type, Expiration Date, Strike(s) (multiple for spreads and such), Quantity, Cost per Contract, Cost Basis, Purchase Datetime, Underlying Price at Purchase, Open or Closed, Sale Datetime, Underlying Price at Sale, Sales Price per Contract, Sale Price, Profit/Loss, and Percent Return.

I’ve found with much of my data analysis, this is the ideal format for me with minimizes excess documentation.

One distinction with this is that I use the Open or Closed column to easily identify and match up trades on a First in First out basis (FIFO accounting).

I like having the purchase datetime exactly along with the price of the underlying stock to help review and analyze my entry and exit points within the greater context of the market.

How do you document your trades?

Author: Trader Court

CPA first, pivoted to python programmer focused on data science which I apply to my own stock and options trading. View all posts by Trader Court