A trading journal is a written record of every trade: the plan made before entry, what was actually done, the result, and whether the rules were followed. Keeping one means filling in the same fields for each trade, measuring results in R, and reviewing the records on a fixed schedule.
How it works
A brokerage statement already lists fills and profit or loss. A journal adds what the statement cannot know: why the trade was taken, where it was planned to fail, and how closely the execution matched the plan. That makes it possible to separate decisions from luck.
The record has three stages:
- Before the trade: the setup, the thesis, the planned entry, stop and target, the size and the money at risk. Written before the order is placed, so it cannot be adjusted to fit the outcome.
- During the trade: each fill, and every change to the stop or the size, with the reason.
- After the trade: the exit and its reason, fees, P&L, the result as an R multiple, rule breaks and one lesson.
R is the initial risk per share, entry minus stop for a long trade; see stop-loss and position sizing. Recording every result in R makes trades of different sizes comparable and feeds the statistics a later review needs.
A template
Each row below can become a column in a spreadsheet. The example values come from the worked example further down.
| Field | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Date, ticker, side | Entry date, symbol, long or short | Long XYZ |
| System / setup | The named rule set the trade belongs to | Base breakout |
| Thesis | One sentence: why this trade, why now | Breaks a 6-week base on rising volume |
| Planned entry, stop, target | Prices fixed before the order | $50.00 / $47.50 / $57.50 |
| Size and risk | Shares, risk in $ and % of account | 160 shares, $400, 1% |
| Planned R:R | (target − entry) ÷ (entry − stop) | 3.0 |
| Market context | Index trend, earnings date, sector | Index above its 50-day average; earnings in 9 days |
| Fills | Every entry and exit fill, with time | Bought 160 at $50.50 |
| Changes | Stop or size changes and the reason | None |
| Exit and reason | Price and the rule that triggered it | $56.50, exit before earnings |
| Fees, net P&L | All costs and the result after them | $2, +$958 |
| Result in R | (exit − entry) ÷ (entry − stop) | +2.0R |
| Rules followed? | Yes or no, and which rule broke | No: entry $0.50 above trigger |
| Mistake tag | A short, reusable label | Chased entry |
| Lesson | One sentence to act on | Use a limit order at most $0.10 above the trigger |
The planned R:R can be checked with the risk/reward calculator before the order goes in.
Worked example (illustrative numbers)
A $40,000 account risks 1% per trade, $400. The plan: buy at $50.00 with a stop at $47.50, so 1R is $2.50 and the size is $400 ÷ $2.50 = 160 shares; the target at $57.50 gives a planned R:R of 3.
The stock opens strongly and the order is placed by hand at $50.50. With the stop unchanged, the real risk per share is $3.00 and the money at risk is $480, 1.2% of the account rather than 1%. The position is closed at $56.50 the day before earnings, as the plan requires. P&L is $6.00 × 160 = $960, or $958 after $2 of fees, and the result is $6.00 ÷ $3.00 = +2.0R.
Comparing plan with actual shows a profitable trade with one rule broken: the entry. The exit followed the plan. A statement would show only +$958; the journal shows that 20% more risk was taken than planned.
How often to review
- Daily: complete the entry the same day, while the reasons are fresh.
- Weekly: read every closed trade, count the rule breaks and pick one change; see how to review trades.
- Monthly, or every 20 to 30 trades: recalculate win rate, average win and loss in R, and expectancy, by setup.
Common mistakes
- Writing the plan after the fill. A plan written later tends to match what happened.
- Logging only the winners, or skipping trades that broke the rules. Those records teach the most.
- Recording P&L but not R. Dollar results mix size with skill.
- Too many fields. A journal that takes 15 minutes per trade stops being kept. Start with the template above and add fields only when a review needs them.
- Never reading it. Records change nothing without a scheduled review.
In Clear Tape
The trade journal (Portfolio › Journal) is free for every signed-in member. Trades in stocks and ETFs can be logged long or short, with several entry and exit fills and fees, or saved first as a plan (entry, stop, targets, system, setup, thesis) with the fill entered later. Broker CSV exports import through presets for Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, Fidelity and Robinhood, or any other CSV through a one-time column mapping; no broker account is connected. Each trade shows P&L after fees, planned R:R, realised R and risk as $ and % of the account. Statistics over closed trades include win rate, profit factor, expectancy in $ and in R, streaks, the equity curve and maximum drawdown. The AI trade score grades the process of a closed trade against the member's own system rules, never the P&L. More on the trade journal page.
To start on paper rather than in an app, the free trading journal template (Excel and Google Sheets, no sign-up) has these columns with the formulas for risk %, planned R:R, R multiple and P&L, and a summary sheet with win rate and expectancy.
For educational purposes only. Not investment advice.