From day one, I've always been diligent about journaling/studying my trades. It is a habit that I believe every trader should adopt because it helps you quickly identify mistakes before they turn into recurring, bad habits. 

But as important as it is to journal your trades, I believe it's even more important for new traders to journal the trades they should have taken.

This week, I didn't trade so I didn't have any of my own trades to analyze. Instead, I spent that time analyzing the trades that would have been big winners. What did the chart look like in the minutes leading up to the big move? What clues were the option charts and watchlist charts giving? What was volume doing? Which price levels did SPY react to?

By asking myself these questions, I started to:



• See consistencies amongst the best trade setups
• Get a feel for when and how price would move
• Train my brain to identify the clues that appear right before a big move
• Improve my ability to spot fake outs and anticipate liquidity grabs
• Notice specific price levels that $SPY regularly reacts to - which has already helped me create better trade plans.

It's been eye-opening to see all of the insights that I've gained while not trading this week. In fact, it's been so beneficial that I'll probably start to schedule occasional trading breaks moving forward.

Have a great week and a happy Thanksgiving!

Eric