The Third Chart That Teaches You More Than Any Mentor

Alexander Elder is known for saying that successful trading stands on three pillars: Mind, Method, and Money. Each matters, but they only come alive when you turn them into habits.

One habit Elder pushes hard is keeping a real trading journal. Not a spreadsheet of entries and exits, but a running record of what you thought, felt, and did.

Regarding screenshotting the charts, most traders stop at two steps:

• The first chart is taken at entry, when conviction is high and the setup looks promising.

• The second comes at exit, when relief or frustration colors your judgment.

Both matter, but both are distorted by adrenaline. That’s why Elder recommends adding a third chart: the one almost nobody keeps.

The Third Chart

Two or three weeks after you close the trade, open the same symbol again. Mark your entry and exit on today’s chart and add the screenshot next to your two previous ones. Suddenly your once-critical decisions are frozen in the middle of the price action.

Seeing your trade in the context of price action history gives you a whole new perspective. You see whether your entry really had the structure you assumed at the moment, or was it just hope.

Also, you see whether your exit respected your plan or did the fear catch you up.

And you see whether your method, your money rules, and your mindset actually worked together, or did it fell apart.

Why It Works

The real power of Elder’s third chart is that instead of repeating the same mistakes, you start to recognize them. And recognition is the beginning of discipline and successful trading.

The third chart works because it brings all Elder’s three pillars together:

• Mind: your emotions are gone, so you can see with fresh eyes.

• Method: your setup is judged by what unfolded after, not what you hoped for.

• Money: your risk decisions are revealed in full context.

How to Put It in Practice

1. Save a chart with notes at entry.

2. Do the same at exit.

3. Set a reminder a couple of weeks later.

4. Return, mark the trade on a fresh chart, and write what you now see.

You will now have three lessons: what you expected, what you felt, and what really happened.

Elder has said that keeping proper records separates amateurs from professionals. The third chart is the missing piece in most traders’ journals. It costs nothing, but it teaches in a way live markets never can. The market keeps teaching, but only if you keep coming back to class.

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