How to Write a Forex Trading Plan and Journal in the UAE

A trading plan is what you write before the session. A journal is what you write after the trade. Learners in Dubai and the rest of the UAE can use the same page, because the country keeps one clock: Gulf Standard Time, UTC+4, all year. This guide is the blank page. It is not a strategy, and it does not tell you which pair will move tomorrow.

The plan, on one page

Six lines are enough. If you cannot say a line out loud, it is not ready.

• Market. One symbol. EUR/USD is a fine start if you already watch it. Adding a second symbol in the same hour splits your attention.
• Time. Which part of the day you will be at the screen, written in UAE time. London and New York hours, converted to that clock, are on the Dubai market-hours page. You do not have to sit the busy overlap. You do have to name the hour you will actually use.
• Setup, in one sentence. An example of a sentence, not a recommendation: "I only look for a trade in the direction of the last two swing highs and swing lows I marked." The words for those swings are in market structure. A level you might use is in support and resistance.
• Risk in AED. The dirhams you can lose if the idea is wrong. How to arrive at a size is in how much to risk per trade. Write the number down. Changing it after you are in the trade is a different decision, and the journal should say that you changed it.
• Where the idea is wrong. The price, or the swing, that means you step aside. A plan without that line is a hope with a chart attached.
• When you stop for the day. A number of attempts, or a time. This is the line that keeps a difficult morning from becoming a long afternoon.

The journal, after the trade

Fill this in the same day, in Gulf Standard Time, while you still remember why you clicked. A useful row has more than a profit or a loss.

• Date and time in GST.
• Symbol, and whether the ticket was demo or live.
• The plan line you were using, copied in a few words.
• Whether you followed it. Yes or no is enough. A paragraph of excuses is optional and usually less honest.
• One sentence on what you would repeat, or what you would leave out next time.
• The result in AED, if you want it. It can be a column. It should not be the only column.

An example of a note, written as a blank you can copy, not as someone's trade: "28 Oct 2026, 19:40 GST, EUR/USD, demo. Plan line: only in the direction of the swings I marked. Followed: no. I moved the stop. Next time the stop stays where the plan put it." There is no result in that example on purpose. The point of the row is the broken rule, not a dirham figure.

Skipping the journal is one of the mistakes listed in seven beginner mistakes. The record is how you notice that you are repeating it.

What to leave off the page

A second setup for the same hour. A folder of screenshots with no sentence under them. A trade you took because someone else posted it. Three indicators you cannot explain. If a line does not change what you will do at the next candle, it is clutter.

Candles still matter. If the sentence uses a pattern, you should be able to name it from the candlestick guide. If it uses liquidity or an order block, read smart money concepts first and make sure the swing is marked. A label without the swing is not a plan.

Demo first, then a live account

Keep the same columns on a demo account. The journal is more useful there if you still mark whether you followed the plan, because a demo result is easy to ignore. What a demo hides, and when a live account is the next step, is in demo versus live on MT5.

To start trading you need MetaTrader 5 and an account with a trusted broker such as StarTrader. Practical sessions at Equity Fin Academy use StarTrader, regulated by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority. The link is the academy's affiliate link. You open the account. The academy does not hold the funds, and the course fee is separate from the balance. Install steps are in how to start forex trading in the UAE with MT5.

How a class in Dubai uses the pages

Bring the plan and a few journal rows to a group class or a private lesson. A group hour follows the shared syllabus on the courses page. Your journal is how you show where you are in that list. A private hour can be spent on the rows, which is why preparing for a one-to-one class asks you to arrive with one question. If the pages are meant to cover several weeks with a coach, read what a coaching plan looks like and the offer on forex mentorship in Dubai.

People fitting this around a job should also read classes for working professionals. Abu Dhabi students who will not drive every week should read the Abu Dhabi course page and study online on the same clock. The instructor is Gopi Chandran. The academy is open 24/7 and rated 5.0 on Google from 30+ reviews. Read those reviews on the reviews page. A rating is not a line in your journal.

Ask for a seat if you want the pages reviewed

You can write the plan alone. If you want someone to tell you the swing is the wrong one, enquire. Name the symbol, whether the journal is demo or live, and whether you want a group seat or a private lesson in Dubai or online. Ask for the fee in AED.

Call +971 55 904 7030, message on WhatsApp, or use the contact form.

The class that can review the plan is the forex training academy Dubai and the forex training academy UAE.