Trading glossary
Setup
A setup is a defined set of market conditions that precedes a trade, such as a specific price pattern, indicator signal or session context. Trading by setups turns discretionary decisions into repeatable rules that can be tested and reviewed. The value of a setup only appears in aggregate, which requires tagging each trade with the setup that triggered it. A journal that records setups lets you compare win rate, expectancy and drawdown across them, showing which conditions genuinely produce your edge. DuskAnalyst uses tags and notes to track setups per trade.
Why it matters for your trading journal: A setup is a repeatable, pre-defined entry condition, and methods are only reviewable when trades are grouped by setup. Journaling setups is what turns random trading into a testable process.
Example: Example: 'breakout of London range with 20-pip stop' is a setup; logging it consistently lets the stats decide if it works.
What is Setup in trading?
A setup is a defined set of market conditions that precedes a trade, such as a specific price pattern, indicator signal or session context. Trading by setups turns discretionary decisions into repeatable rules that can be tested and reviewed. The value of a setup only appears in aggregate, which requires tagging each trade with the setup that triggered it. A journal that records setups lets you compare win rate, expectancy and drawdown across them, showing which conditions genuinely produce your edge. DuskAnalyst uses tags and notes to track setups per trade.