Measure, Adjust, Repeat: Your year end Trading Tune-Up

As the trading year winds down and the financial world begins to look ahead to January, there’s one critical ritual that serious traders should never skip: the year-end performance review.

I’m not talking about glancing at your P&L and moving on. I mean a deep, honest, data-driven evaluation of what actually worked for you this year, and what didn’t. I’ve been trading for 28 years, and I can tell you this: every major breakthrough I’ve had in my trading came after a moment of clarity in one of these reviews. This is your Moneyball moment. Not about feelings or opinions, it’s about facts.

Why You Need a Year-End Review

Trading is a performance profession. Athletes review game tape. CEOs study earnings. Surgeons evaluate procedures. Traders? We review trades. And not just to admire our wins, but to understand the patterns behind them.

Every trader is different. Some thrive in fast-moving futures. Others find their rhythm in the calm flow of forex. Maybe you crushed it on Nvidia this year, but got wrecked trying to short crypto. That’s not just noise. That’s signal. And the only way to spot it is through deliberate reflection.

What to Review (And How to Do It)

Here’s a checklist I use—and what I recommend every trader consider:

1. Which Markets Did You Trade Best?

Look at your performance across asset classes. Were your equity trades more consistent than your options plays? Did you get chopped up in crypto but find success in index futures?

For me, I like to Group trades by asset class and measure win rate, average profit/loss, and drawdown. Most importantly, I like to identify the most negative items I trade, the ones which caused the most damage.

2. Time of Day Matters

Your brain isn’t wired to be “on” 24/7. Are you sharper during the open? Do you tend to overtrade mid-day? Are your biggest losses happening when you’re forcing trades late in the session?

 Back in 1998, I started to segment trades by time block (e.g., market open, lunch hour, afternoon) and review results. The results were extremely interesting and caused me to change my daily trading style.

3. Individual Symbols

Some stocks or contracts just “click” with your trading style. Others? They’re your kryptonite. Knowing which names you trade best helps you focus your firepower.

 For those of you who have taken a class with me, you know that Apple computers was my Achilles heel in 1999. So I said, “I’ll never trade it again”. To this day, it is on page 3 of my trading plan with a big red circle with a red line crossing out the Apple logo. I haven’t traded it in 26 years, and I never will! That’s discipline! Pull your top 5 and bottom 5 symbols by net P&L. Ask yourself: Why did these work or fail?

4. Strategy Performance

Not every strategy works in every environment. Was your breakout strategy profitable? Did your mean reversion setups get chewed up in trending markets?

I like to break trades down by strategy or setup. Calculate win rate, expectancy, and variance.

5. Psychological Triggers

Be honest, where did you lose discipline? Did FOMO get you in trouble? Did you average down on losers, or skip your stop?

Make it a point to identify emotional trades. These patterns will repeat unless you consciously break them.

The Hard Part: Cutting What Doesn’t Work

This is where the ego gets bruised. But real traders don’t cling to what “should” work, they double down on what does.

If a particular strategy underperformed consistently, either refine it or cut it entirely. If a certain time of day drains your performance, stop trading it. If you can’t stay disciplined with size, reduce it.

Remember: trading isn’t about being right. It’s about being repeatable.

Set Clear Goals for the New Year

Once you’ve reviewed your results, don’t stop there. Use that data to create actionable goals:

• Only trade [specific strategies] that had positive expectancy
• Avoid trading past 11:00 AM if your stats show performance drops
• Focus on [asset class or symbol] where you were most profitable
• Reduce size until consistency improves

Put these into a written plan. Tape it to your screen if you have to. The market doesn’t reward random behavior, it rewards discipline.

This Isn’t Optional. It’s Essential.

Too many traders float from one year to the next with no accountability. That’s how careers fade. You have to be brutally honest about what’s working, and what isn’t.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: my biggest transformation came when I stopped treating trading like a guessing game and started treating it like a business. I tracked my trades like inventory. I reviewed them like game film. I used data to make decisions, not vibes.

And if you’re part of Trading Academy, lean into your resources. Get into your XLTs. Show up for the strategy sessions. Use the community to test ideas and share best practices. You’re not in this alone.

A year-end trading review isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s the bridge between where you are and where you want to go. It’s how you shift from being reactive to intentional. From hoping to knowing. From gambler to professional.

So take the time. Dig into the numbers. Own your mistakes. Celebrate your wins. And most importantly, make a plan for how you’re going to be even better in the next 12 months.

Because the traders who last aren’t the ones with the hottest streaks, they’re the ones with the clearest process. Let’s make 2026 your most dialed-in trading year yet.