25 February 2026
Three sentences beside the chart
Week five has a rule that irritates almost every cohort: you may not add a line. You may only write.
Why the pencil stays off the chart
By week five the pages are crowded. Another line usually restates a swing the student has already marked. The volatility note forces a choice about what still matters. It sits in the workbook, not across the candles.
The three sentences are fixed. First, what the trend is doing, in the language of the ending you chose in week one. Second, what the range has done over the latest stretch: wider, narrower, or unchanged, with the hand-counted comparison. Third, what you will watch next, which must be a future mark you can point to, not a hope.
Sentences that get sent back
“The market looks ready” is sent back. So is any sentence that names a profit or a time by which price must move. The tutor is not policing optimism. The sentence cannot be checked against the next sheet, so it does not belong in the note.
A sentence that survives looks plain. “The leg from the March pause is still the one I am using. The range this week is wider than the prior four. I will watch whether the next session holds outside that quiet band.” Another student can test that against a later chart.
Reading it aloud
On the Thursday of week five, notes are read aloud. The room is small enough that mumbling shows. If a classmate cannot tell which chart you mean, the note is not finished, even if the prose is tidy.
People who already write a trading diary sometimes find this harder than the newcomers. Their habit is a long entry. We ask them to keep the diary at home and let the three sentences be the only writing that enters the classroom that week.