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appB JWBK182-McDowell April 25, 2008 16:29 Printer: Yet to come
The Trader’s Assistant Record Keeping System 165SETTING UP YOUR RECORD KEEPING
SYSTEMWe’ve designed the Trader’s Assistant system so that you can set it up in
an organized way. In order to do this we recommend you purchase the
following items at your local office supply store: Two three-ring binders, size 3-inch spine, for “workbook” and “year-
book”
Two file card boxes, size 8′′× 5 ′′for “open trades” and “closed trades”
Tab divider set with January to December tabs for “yearbook” three-
ring binder
Tab divider set with five blank tabs for “workbook” three-ring binder
File card divider set with January to December tabs for 8′′× 5 ′′file box
“closed trades”
File card divider set with A to Z alphabetized tabs for 8′′× 5 ′′file box
“open trades”You will want to purchase at least two three-ring binders to file your
trade ledgers. The first binder will be called your “yearbook” and the sec-
ond binder will be called your “workbook.”
For the yearbook, you need tab dividers; have sections for each month
January to December. The workbook will need five blank tab dividers:1.Daily worksheets
2.Daily trade ledgers
3.Weekly trade ledgers
4.Monthly trade ledgers
5.Annual trade ledgerAs you complete each month in your workbook, you will want to trans-
fer the record for that month into the yearbook.
Label the two file boxes, one as “open trades” and one as “closed
trades.” Put the A to Z tab dividers into theopen tradebox. Put the
January to December dividers into theclosed tradebox.
You will be filing your open trade posting cards alphabetically by the
first letter of the marketsymbol,which you will fill in at the top of each
card. When the trade is closed and you have posted a profit or loss, you
will then file the card in your closed trade box behind the tab divider for
the appropriate month, based on theclose date, which you will fill in at the
top right of each card.