A monthly trading performance review zooms out from individual trades to your process. It checks your equity curve and max drawdown, expectancy and profit factor, results by setup and market, risk consistency, rule adherence, and progress against goals. Then it decides which setups stay, which get cut, and whether position size should go up, down or stay the same.
- Monthly reviews judge the process; weekly reviews fix leaks
- Look at drawdown and risk consistency, not just profit
- Decide explicitly: keep, cut or test each setup
- Only increase size after a month of rules followed and positive expectancy
Weekly reviews fix leaks. Monthly reviews decide strategy: what you trade, how much you risk, and what you work on next. Here's a checklist that takes about an hour.
1. The equity curve and drawdown
- Is the curve rising steadily, flat, or driven by one or two big days?
- Max drawdown this month, and the longest losing streak.
- Did drawdown stay inside your limits? See equity curve analysis and drawdown recovery.
2. Core statistics
| Metric | This month | Last 3 months | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net R | |||
| Trades | |||
| Win rate | |||
| Average win / loss (R) | |||
| Expectancy (R/trade) | > 0.2R | ||
| Profit factor | > 1.3 | ||
| Max drawdown (R) | < your limit |
See trading metrics that matter and profit factor.
Your Journal Should Find the Pattern for You
TRADZY's TradLog tags every trade by setup, session and emotion, then shows where your edge actually is.
Start Your Free Journal →3. Setup scorecard
For each setup: number of trades, expectancy and trend. Decide for each one:
- Keep: positive expectancy over a meaningful sample.
- Cut: negative over 30+ trades.
- Test: too few trades to judge, so paper trade it or trade it small.
4. Risk consistency
- Did risk per trade stay within your rule (for example 0.5–1%)?
- Any oversized trades? What were their results?
- Did you respect the daily loss limit every day?
Inconsistent sizing distorts everything else. A few oversized losers can erase a month of good trades.
5. Rule adherence and psychology
- Percentage of trades that followed the plan (aim for 90%+).
- R cost of rule breaks this month.
- Emotional states linked to the worst trades. See journaling emotions.
6. Goals: process first
Set monthly goals on things you control:
- ✅ "Follow my plan on 95% of trades."
- ✅ "Complete 4 weekly reviews."
- ⚠️ "Make $X". Outcome goals encourage forcing trades.
7. The sizing decision
| Condition | Decision |
|---|---|
| Positive expectancy, rules followed 90%+, drawdown within limits | Consider a small size increase (e.g. +10–25%) |
| Positive expectancy, but rule adherence slipping | Keep size, and fix discipline first |
| Negative expectancy or drawdown limit hit | Reduce size, and return to your best setup only |
Monthly report card
| Area | Grade (A–F) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Process / rule adherence | ||
| Risk management | ||
| Setup selection | ||
| Execution (entries and exits) | ||
| Psychology | ||
| Review habit |
TRADZY builds most of this report automatically from your TradLog: equity curve, drawdown, expectancy by setup, and rule-break cost.
FAQ
What should I review at the end of each trading month?
Your equity curve and drawdown, core statistics, results by setup, risk consistency, rule adherence, and progress on process goals.
How is a monthly review different from a weekly review?
Weekly reviews find and fix one leak. Monthly reviews make strategic decisions about setups, risk and position size.
When should I increase my position size?
After a sustained period of positive expectancy, strong rule adherence and drawdowns within your limits. Increase gradually.
What is a good profit factor?
Above 1.0 means profitable. Many traders look for 1.3–2.0 over a meaningful sample. Very high values over small samples are often luck.
Put This Into Practice
- Log your next 20 trades with setup, session and emotion tags
- Let the TradLog surface your best and worst setups
- Run the weekly review and cut one leak
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Educational content, not financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk of loss.