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Trade Journals

The idea: each week, contributors would publish every trade they made in their own accounts that week, what they bought and sold, at what price, how big a position, and why, losses included.

Paused Trade journals aren't being published and aren't part of membership right now. This page keeps the rules that would apply if they return.

How it would work

  1. Contributors invest their own money, their own way

    Each contributor is an experienced investor managing a personal account. Nobody tells them what to buy, and they don't trade on anyone else's behalf.

  2. Every Sunday, each one publishes the past week

    The journal lists every trade from Monday to Friday, after it happened, with the reasoning behind it. There are no real-time alerts, and nothing is posted before a trade is made.

  3. The full record stays online

    Journals are never deleted or quietly edited. If something has to be corrected, the correction is noted on the entry. Members can scroll back through every trade, good and bad.

What an entry looks like

An example with a fictional contributor and the fictional companies from the lessons. Real journals cover real trades.

Example entry · Alex, contributor · Week 41

Bought STU Corp

$33.40 a share · Now 2% of Alex's portfolio

Why: The price fell about 30% in a broad sell-off, but this week's quarterly report showed cartridge sales and margins holding up. My base-case value is about $45, so this price leaves roughly a 25% margin of safety.

What would change my mind: the largest retailer cutting orders by a third or more, or store cartridge sales falling more than 20% after the patent expires.

Related lessons: Margin of Safety and Valuation Ranges, Position Sizing

Sold Larkfield Outdoor Co., the whole position

$18.10 a share · A 32% loss on a position that was 1.5% of the portfolio

Why: Operating cash flow turned negative and debt nearly tripled after the acquisition. That was one of my thesis breakers, so I sold instead of buying more at a lower price.

Related lessons: Scaling Out and Reasons to Sell, Adding to Winners and Averaging Down

Alex is paid a flat fee by Hyperion Entities to write this journal. These are Alex's own trades, not recommendations for yours.

The rules contributors would follow

Contributors agree to these in writing before they publish anything. Breaking them ends their role.

  1. Every trade, not just the good ones. Each journal includes every buy and sell in the account from that week, with the price, the position's size, and the reasoning.
  2. After the fact only. Trades are reported once they've happened, in the weekly journal. Nothing is announced in advance.
  3. No trading against members. After a journal is published, the contributor doesn't trade any stock or fund in it for 5 trading days. The only exception is a sale because a stated thesis breaker happened, which must be posted the same day with the reason.
  4. Large, established investments only. Stocks of companies worth at least $2 billion on major US exchanges, and broad funds. No penny stocks, over-the-counter shares, options, futures, leveraged funds, or crypto.
  5. No hype. No price targets, no predictions, no urgency, and no screenshots of winning trades.
  6. No personal advice. Contributors explain their own decisions. They don't answer questions about what you should buy, sell, or hold.
  7. No conflicts. Contributors are paid a flat fee by Hyperion Entities. Their pay doesn't depend on their results, on members' trading, or on sign-ups, and they take no money or favors from any company they write about.
  8. Records are checked. Contributors share their monthly account statements with Hyperion Entities, so the journals can be checked against the actual trades.

What trade journals aren't

Trade journals are records of other people's decisions, published to show how investors apply the ideas in the course. They're the same for every member, and they don't know anything about your goals, finances, or tolerance for risk. They aren't a recommendation that you make the same trades, and they aren't personalized investment advice.

Contributors can be wrong, and some of their trades will lose money. Past trades and results don't predict future ones. A position that suits a contributor's portfolio may be the wrong size, or the wrong investment, for yours. If you decide to buy something you read about here, do your own research first, and size it with the ideas in Position Sizing.

The Educational Disclaimer and the Terms of Service apply to trade journals.