Good morning, traders…

Jeff here.

When I was trading on Wall Street, my performance was evaluated on a monthly, weekly, and sometimes, even daily basis…

Hedge funds do this for a reason. They’re the best of the best, and they know how important performance evaluation is. 

Options trading can be an extremely lucrative gig, but consistent profitability requires a certain kind of self-awareness…

To truly flourish from a breakeven statistic into a full-fledged market crusher, you need to take a step back and look in the trading mirror (so to speak)…

By regularly assessing your trading habits, strategies, and outcomes — you can identify areas of strength and weakness, refine your approach, and apply what you’ve learned to your actions. 

Like Ice Cube said, “You’ve gotta check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

However, if you notice a problem in your trading and quickly nip your “Achilles’ heel” in the bud, you could exponentially improve your overall strategy today. 

With that in mind, let me show you how to stay on top of your trading performance, the same way Wall Street pros do it…

Step #1: Keep a Trading Journal

One of the foundational steps in self-evaluation is maintaining a comprehensive trading journal. 

Make a simple spreadsheet that includes the following information:

• Ticker
• Entry time and exit time
• Entry share price and exit share price
• % Gained/Lost
• Volume
• Market cap
• Charts
• Catalyst
• General Notes

Add a separate section for options columns:

• Expiration date
• Contract price
• Call or Put
• Option Volume
• Open Interest
• ‘The Greeks’ – delta, gamma, theta, and vega

Over time, this journal will become an invaluable tool for analyzing patterns in your performance, understanding recurring mistakes, and refining your approach.

Which setups are working for you? Do you have more success trading calls or puts? Weekly or monthly contracts?

Keeping a trading journal is the only way to answer all these questions about your performance.

Step #2: Quantitative Analysis

At its core, the stock market is a numbers game. And so is a large part of your trading performance.

Reflecting on your quantitative performance is crucial for an honest evaluation of how you’re fairing in the market.

If you aren’t already, start tracking the following metrics:

• Winrate: What percentage of your trades are profitable?
• Risk/Reward Ratio: How does your average win compare to your average loss?
• Return on Investment (ROI): Measure the percentage return based on the capital at risk for each trade.
• Drawdown: What’s the largest loss you’ve experienced, either in terms of a single trade or a series of trades?

These categories will help to assess your trajectory and understand where improvements might be necessary.

Step #3: Qualitative Analysis

Beyond the numbers, you should also assess the qualitative aspects of your trades.

These are the less easily definable parts of your performance — including your strategic and emotional discipline.

Ask yourself:

• Strategy Adherence: Did you stick to your trading plan or diverge from it? If you diverged, why, and what was the outcome?
• Emotional Factors: Were any trades influenced by fear, greed, or other emotions? (Recognizing the emotional aspects of trading can help you develop better discipline.)
• Market Assessment: Did you correctly assess the current market conditions, or were there elements you overlooked? Understanding market misjudgments can help you improve your performance moving forward.

Step #4: Peer Review

For the most part, trading is an individual sport.

You sit by yourself in a room full of screens, waiting for that perfect opportunity to strike.

And while being self-sufficient is a great skill in the market…

Eventually, every trader needs some help and support.

Peer reviewing your recent trades with a trusted trading friend (or mentor) can give you a fresh insight into your performance.

It’s always good to have a second opinion.

Sharing select trades, strategies, and outcomes can lead to constructive feedback. Your friends might spot mistakes that you completely overlooked. 

An outside perspective is often less biased and can offer a fresh viewpoint on your trading habits.

Step #5: Identify (and Learn from) Your Mistakes

Effective self-evaluation isn’t only about identifying what went wrong — it’s about understanding how to improve. 

Every trader, no matter how gifted or experienced, will eventually make mistakes and take losses.

How you react to these mistakes and losses is critical. 

The 90% of traders who fail in the stock market tend to let their losses shatter their confidence. 

And this is where they go wrong…

So, instead of viewing these moments negatively, start embracing them as opportunities to learn and grow. 

It may sound counterintuitive, but a painful loss can actually be a gift. The pain of losing can force you to be honest about specific leaks in your strategy — and fix them immediately. 

If you don’t periodically step back and self-evaluate, you’ll inevitably miss opportunities to identify mistakes (and improve upon them).

Worse, you’ll keep making the mistakes, and maybe even blow your account up in the process.

Don’t fall into this trap. Take a few hours each week to track your performance and you’ll be a better trader for it.

Happy trading,

Jeff Zananiri

P.S. Some of the biggest setups of the year haven’t even played out yet…

That’s why TODAY, December 6 at 12 p.m. EST, my buddy Danny Phee is hosting an URGENT LIVE WORKSHOP where he’ll be going over the biggest overnight trading opportunities of the week.

Stop missing huge 24-hour gains — Click here now to reserve your seat.

*Past performance does not indicate future results