Active traders using Power ETRADE frequently discover that the platform’s built-in P&L calendar creates a misleading sense of journaling completeness. The calendar shows that Tuesday was a $1,200 day and Friday was a -$400 day — but it cannot explain why, and it cannot tell you whether a specific setup type is responsible for the losses. Traders researching a Power ETRADE alternative are typically not unhappy with their broker; they are unhappy with the analysis layer that the broker does not provide. JournalPlus is not a broker replacement — it is the dedicated journaling infrastructure that sits alongside Power E*TRADE and surfaces the behavioral and strategy-level data that the brokerage platform omits.
Power E*TRADE Overview
Power ETRADE is Morgan Stanley’s advanced trading interface for active retail traders, available at no extra cost with any ETRADE brokerage account. Morgan Stanley acquired ETRADE in October 2020 for approximately $13 billion and has retained the Power ETRADE interface as the primary active-trader product. The platform offers sophisticated options chain visualization, a risk/reward planning tool, live Greeks, and a P&L calendar — tools aimed at traders executing 20 or more trades per month.
Where Power E*TRADE is genuinely strong:
- Options chain with live Greeks, probability of profit, and multi-leg order entry — one of the better retail options UIs available at no cost
- P&L calendar with daily and monthly net totals, giving a quick at-a-glance view of recent performance
- Screening tools, technical analysis charting, and earnings calendars tightly integrated with the execution flow
- $0 commissions on stock and ETF trades; $0.65 per contract on options (standard retail rate, no platform surcharge)
Common limitations traders report:
- The P&L calendar cannot be segmented by setup, strategy, or entry condition — all trades are aggregated into a single daily figure
- No field for pre-trade thesis, rationale, or post-trade notes — the platform is built for execution, not reflection
- Closed trades retain fill price and P&L but not Greeks at entry (delta, IV rank, DTE) — critical data for options strategy comparison
- No behavioral analytics — there is no way to correlate trading results with time of day, day of week, or psychological state
Why Traders Switch to JournalPlus
The P&L Calendar Shows What Happened, Not Why
Power E*TRADE’s P&L calendar is best understood as an accounting tool, not an analysis tool. It answers “how much did I make on March 14th?” — it cannot answer “do my put credit spreads entered in the first 30 minutes of market open lose money on average?” That second question is the one that changes behavior.
Consider a trader running a $60,000 account who sells weekly SPY put credit spreads — 5 contracts at $270/$265 strikes, collecting $1.20 credit ($600 total). After six months of profitable overall performance, they have no visibility into whether their Monday open entries or their Friday expiration plays are the ones dragging returns. Power E*TRADE shows net P&L across those six months. JournalPlus, after 30 tagged trades, can show that open-hour SPY spreads returned -$1,200 while mid-day entries returned +$4,800 — a $6,000 behavioral edge that was invisible without segmentation.
Strategy Segmentation Requires a Dedicated Journal
Power E*TRADE organizes closed trades by instrument ticker and date. There is no concept of a “setup” or “strategy” as a grouping dimension. If you run both iron condors and naked puts on SPY, those trades sit in the same list sorted by date. JournalPlus lets you tag every trade with a strategy label and then filter the entire history by that tag — so “iron condors opened on earnings week” becomes a measurable cohort with its own win rate, average P&L, and max drawdown.
Greeks at Entry Are the Missing Layer for Options Traders
For traders comparing similar options setups across different market conditions, IV rank and delta at entry are as analytically important as the fill price. Power E*TRADE surfaces live Greeks in the options chain while a position is open, but does not store those values for closed trades in a retrievable format. JournalPlus tracks delta, IV rank, and DTE at the time of entry, so you can run a filter showing whether your 30-delta SPY puts opened at IV rank below 20 have historically underperformed those opened above 40 — a distinction that is invisible in any broker-native interface.
Behavioral Patterns Compound Without Tracking
Research by Brad Barber and Terrance Odean found that active individual traders underperform the market by roughly 6.5% per year on average, driven largely by untracked behavioral patterns — overtrading after wins, revenge trading after losses, and session-specific performance drag. JournalPlus captures confidence level and emotional state per trade, then surfaces correlations: for example, whether trades placed after two consecutive losses underperform your baseline by a measurable margin. Power E*TRADE has no equivalent capability.
Import Is One CSV Export Away
Switching does not require abandoning your existing trade history. From E*TRADE, navigate to Activity, then Trade History, and export the date range you want as a CSV file. JournalPlus imports this file directly — positions, fills, dates, and P&L all load without manual entry. From that point forward, new trades flow in via CSV export after each session.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Power E*TRADE | JournalPlus |
|---|---|---|
| Trade tagging by setup type | Not available | Unlimited custom tags per trade |
| Strategy performance breakdown | Daily P&L totals only | Filter by tag, strategy, or date range |
| Time-of-day and day-of-week analytics | Not available | Built-in heatmaps |
| Pre-trade rationale logging | Not available | Notes field per trade |
| Options Greeks at entry (stored) | Not stored for closed trades | Delta, IV rank, DTE at entry |
| Psychological state tracking | Not available | Logged per trade, filterable |
| Win rate by strategy | Not available | Win rate, expectancy per tag |
| CSV import from E*TRADE | Native (all trades on-platform) | Yes, via E*TRADE CSV export |
| Platform cost | Free with E*TRADE account | $159 one-time, lifetime access |
Pricing Comparison
Power ETRADE carries no platform subscription — it is included with your ETRADE brokerage account. The question for active traders is not whether JournalPlus is cheaper than Power E*TRADE (the broker platform will remain free regardless), but whether the $159 one-time investment in dedicated journaling infrastructure pays off in improved decision-making.
| Period | Power E*TRADE Platform | JournalPlus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | $0 | $159 (full cost) |
| 6 months | $0 | $159 |
| 1 year | $0 | $159 |
| 2 years | $0 | $159 |
| 3 years | $0 | $159 |
JournalPlus is a one-time purchase with no renewal and no tier restrictions. For a trader running a $60,000 account, $159 represents 0.27% of account equity — less than the commission cost of 245 options contracts at $0.65 each.
How to Switch to JournalPlus
- Export your E*TRADE trade history. In Power E*TRADE, go to the Activity tab, select Trade History, choose your date range (up to full account history), and export as CSV. This file includes all fills, P&L, and timestamps.
- Create a JournalPlus account at journalplus.co and complete onboarding. You will set your account size, base currency (USD), and default risk-per-trade parameters.
- Import the E*TRADE CSV. Use the CSV import tool in JournalPlus and map the column headers to JournalPlus fields. Most E*TRADE export columns map automatically. Historical trades will appear in your journal immediately.
- Build your tag taxonomy. Before tagging historical trades, decide on your setup categories — for example: put credit spread, iron condor, earnings straddle, directional call. Consistent tags applied to historical trades will produce meaningful performance breakdowns within 2-4 weeks of data.
- Set up a post-session routine. After each trading session in Power E*TRADE, export the day’s trades as CSV and import into JournalPlus. Add tags, rationale notes, and your session assessment. This 10-minute routine is what produces the behavioral data that compound into edge over months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is JournalPlus a replacement for Power E*TRADE?
No. Power ETRADE is a brokerage and execution platform — you continue using it to place trades. JournalPlus is a dedicated trading journal that sits alongside your broker, giving you the analytics layer that Power ETRADE does not provide.
Can I import my E*TRADE trades into JournalPlus?
Yes. Export your trade history from E*TRADE (Activity tab, then Trade History, then export to CSV) and import that file into JournalPlus. Your historical positions, fill prices, and dates will load automatically with no manual entry.
How much does JournalPlus cost compared to Power E*TRADE?
Power E*TRADE has no subscription fee — it comes free with your brokerage account. JournalPlus costs $159 as a one-time lifetime purchase with no monthly or annual renewal.
Does Power E*TRADE have a trading journal feature?
Power E*TRADE includes a P&L calendar that displays daily and monthly profit/loss totals, and a risk/reward tool for pre-trade planning. These are execution aids, not journaling tools. There is no way to tag trades by setup, log your rationale, or analyze performance by strategy or time of day.
Is JournalPlus better than Power E*TRADE for options traders?
For journaling purposes, yes — by design. Power E*TRADE surfaces live Greeks in the options chain but does not store delta, IV rank, or DTE at entry for closed trades. JournalPlus does, so you can compare whether your 30-delta SPY puts opened at IV rank 20 performed differently from those opened at IV rank 45. For more on options-specific journaling, see the options trading journal guide.
What does JournalPlus cost over time?
JournalPlus is $159 once. There are no monthly fees and no tier upgrades. After purchase, all future updates are included for life.
Why do traders who already use Power E*TRADE need a separate journal?
Power E*TRADE tracks P&L by instrument. JournalPlus tracks P&L by strategy, session, day of week, and behavioral state. Research by Barber and Odean found that active individual traders underperform the market by roughly 6.5% per year on average — primarily because untracked behavioral patterns compound over time. A dedicated journal is the tool that makes those patterns visible.
For traders also managing accounts at other brokers, JournalPlus supports CSV import from Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers, making it practical to consolidate multi-broker journaling in one place. Traders coming from spreadsheets will find the transition covered in detail in the Excel spreadsheets comparison.