How to Journal Every Type of Trade
Instrument-specific fields, sample entries, and review processes for every trading style
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Journal guides for specific markets and instruments
Bond & Fixed Income
To journal bond trades, track yield-to-maturity at entry and exit, duration risk, and the Fed policy context driving your thesis — these fields reveal whether your rate calls are consistent.
Read guideCFD Trades
To journal CFD trades, record five cost layers per trade — spread, overnight financing, commission, slippage, and total cost of carry — plus leverage ratio and net P&L.
Read guideCommodity Trades
To journal commodity trades, track the supply/demand catalyst for each entry alongside contango/backwardation conditions and seasonal context.
Read guideDividend Capture
To journal dividend capture trades, track the ex-dividend date, dividend yield, price drop versus dividend received, and holding period to measure whether the capture strategy produced a net.
Read guideEnergy & Oil Trades
To journal energy & oil trades, record the EIA inventory surprise (actual vs. consensus), curve structure (contango/backwardation), OPEC catalyst type, and sub-sector at entry.
Read guideGold & Silver Trades
To journal gold & silver trades, log your thesis category (safe-haven, USD weakness, inflation hedge, real yield play, or technical), macro snapshot (DXY, 10Y TIPS yield, gold:silver ratio), and.
Read guideForex Trades
To journal forex trades, record lot size, session, pip count, and spread paid on every entry — lot size is essential because without it you cannot calculate real R-multiples or dollar P&L.
Read guideFutures Trades
To journal futures trades, record the full contract symbol with expiry (ESM26), tick value, notional exposure, margin used, and flag overnight holds — dollar P&L alone hides true leverage.
Read guideIBKR TWS Trades
To journal IBKR TWS trades, use Flex Queries (not Activity Statements) and always include the Multiplier field — without it, options P&L can be off by 100x.
Read guideOptions
To journal options trades, record the full Greeks snapshot (delta, theta, vega, gamma) and IV rank at entry for every position, then log each adjustment with before/after Greeks to measure actual.
Read guidetastytrade Options & Spreads
To journal tastytrade trades, export from History tab as CSV, group multi-leg spreads by expiration, and track IVR at entry and DTE — the two fields that prove whether high-IV setups outperform.
Read guidethinkorswim Trades
To journal thinkorswim trades, export via Monitor → Account Statement → CSV, then import into a dedicated journal to auto-group multi-leg options and apply futures multipliers.
Read guideTradeStation Trades
To journal TradeStation trades, export the Account Statement CSV from Client Center, then apply futures contract multipliers (ES=$50/pt, NQ=$20/pt) and match multi-leg spread rows before importing.
Read guideWebull Trades
To journal Webull trades, export order history CSV (Account → Orders → Order History → Export), pair buy/sell rows by Order ID, then import into a journal to calculate R-multiple and tag setups.
Read guideIndex Fund Trades
To journal index fund trades, log every DCA contribution (date, ticker, price, shares, running total) and document your rebalancing rule before any drawdown — not during it.
Read guideCrypto Trades
To journal crypto trades, record exchange, gas fees, and funding rates as separate P&L line items — not just entry/exit — to get accurate cost basis across all venues.
Read guideMicro Futures Trades
To journal micro futures trades, record the exact contract (MES/MNQ/M2K), tick value, contract selection rationale, commission as % of gross P&L, and a scaling milestone threshold.
Read guideCheap Options
To journal cheap options trades, record delta, IVR, and a calculated expected value (EV) for every entry — these three fields expose negative-EV lottery behavior before it compounds.
Read guidePenny Stock Trades
Record catalyst type, float size, volume spike ratio, entry timing, position size as percent of account, and exit discipline for penny stocks.
Read guideSmall Cap & Micro Cap Trades
To journal small cap trades, record slippage as a separate field (intended vs. actual fill) alongside float size at entry, catalyst type, and short interest % of float.
Read guideSPX & Index Options
To journal SPX & index options trades, record the VIX level at entry, expected vs actual move, and whether the contract was cash-settled — these fields expose edge decay in 0DTE and multi-day.
Read guideGuides for multi-leg and complex trade structures
Butterfly Spreads
To journal butterfly spread trades, record the center strike relative to the underlying price, max profit zone width, and probability of profit at entry to refine strike placement over time.
Read guideCollar Trades
To journal collar trades, record all three legs as one composite position with net protection cost, effective floor/ceiling range, and an opportunity cost field for capped upside.
Read guideCovered Call Trades
Track stock cost basis, call strike, premium received, days to expiry, annualized return, and assignment outcome for every covered call.
Read guideCredit Spread Trades
Record short/long strikes, credit received, max risk, days to expiry, IV rank at entry, and management plan for every credit spread.
Read guideFirst 100 Trades
To journal your first 100 trades, track win rate, average R-multiple, and setup tags from trade one — 100 trades is the minimum for statistical significance (±5% margin of error).
Read guideBeginner Trades
To journal beginner trades, start with 6 fields: date, ticker, direction, entry price, exit price, and one sentence on why you took the trade — that last field reveals pattern blindness after.
Read guideWheel Strategy
To journal wheel strategy trades, track your adjusted cost basis after each premium collection and assignment, recording every phase transition between cash-secured puts and covered calls.
Read guideJournaling approaches for different holding periods
Day Trades
To journal day trades, log the time, setup type, session period, and emotional state for every trade, then review your intraday P&L curve shape daily to catch overtrading.
Read guideSwing Trades
To journal swing trades, log a daily position check-in with entry price, current close, overnight gap P&L, sector ETF rank vs. SPY, and a thesis-still-valid flag for each session held.
Read guideLEAPS Options
To journal LEAPS options trades, track cost basis relative to the underlying stock price, delta changes at each review, and time decay milestones at quarterly checkpoints.
Read guideOvernight Holds
To journal overnight hold trades, log your gap risk tolerance in dollar terms, the hold-vs-close decision factors, after-hours price action, and post-open outcome against your pre-close management.
Read guidePre-Market & After-Hours
To journal pre-market and after-hours trades, record the exact session time, bid-ask spread width at entry, and the catalyst that triggered the trade to measure fill quality against.
Read guideWeekly Options
To journal weekly options trades, track days-to-expiration at entry alongside gamma exposure and theta decay rate to identify which DTE windows produce your best risk-adjusted returns.
Read guide0DTE Options
To journal 0DTE options trades, record entry time to the minute, VIX at entry, short-strike distance as a percentage OTM, and delta/gamma at entry to segment performance by intraday time bucket.
Read guideGuides for different trading methodologies
AI Trade Analysis
To journal AI-analyzed trades, log emotional state, setup tag, and position size on every entry so the AI can detect behavioral patterns and calculate per-setup expectancy automatically.
Read guideBreakout Trades
To journal breakout trades, track the consolidation pattern type, volume on the breakout bar, and whether the breakout held or failed on retest.
Read guideDollar-Cost Averaging
To journal dollar-cost averaging trades, log each lot with date, price, shares, and running average cost basis, and record every deviation from your schedule with the emotional trigger.
Read guideEarnings Trades
To journal earnings trades, track expected move vs actual move and whether you traded direction or volatility, so you can measure IV crush impact and refine your seasonal playbook.
Read guideFundamental Analysis Trades
To journal fundamental analysis trades, document your bear/base/bull thesis with specific valuation metrics at entry and track each core assumption as confirmed or disproven after every catalyst.
Read guideGap Trades
To journal gap trades, record the gap percentage, pre-market volume, overnight catalyst, and whether the gap filled or extended — gap type classification is the most critical field.
Read guideWeekly Trade Review
To journal weekly trade reviews, calculate per-setup expectancy ((Win Rate × Avg Winner) - (Loss Rate × Avg Loser)) and produce two outputs: a kill list and a scale list.
Read guideFunded Account Trades
To journal funded account trades, track daily drawdown consumed as a percentage of limit at session start, log rule compliance status each day, and flag near-miss violations for behavioral review.
Read guidePaper Trades
To journal paper trades, record hypothesis, planned vs. actual entry/exit, stop honored (Y/N), emotional rating 1-5, and rule-following grade — not just P&L.
Read guideTax Reporting
To journal tax reporting trades, track wash sale flag, holding period (ST/LT), cost basis method, and wash sale adjustment — the 4 fields that directly change your IRS liability.
Read guideLosing Streak / Drawdown
To journal losing streak trades, trigger enhanced fields after 3 consecutive losses or 5% drawdown — tracking plan adherence and setup category separately from P&L.
Read guidePre-Trade Plans
To journal pre-trade plan trades, write the hypothesis, entry trigger, target, stop, and position size before placing the order — then compare actuals to expose execution gaps.
Read guidePsychology & Emotions
To journal trading psychology, log a 1-5 confidence score, a mood tag (calm/anxious/FOMO/revenge), and a one-line thesis before every trade, then correlate mood tags with net P&L after 30+ trades.
Read guideScreenshot Journaling
To journal trades with screenshots, capture three annotated charts per trade — setup, management, and exit — named YYYY-MM-DD_TICKER_DIRECTION_OUTCOME for fast retrieval.
Read guideMean Reversion Trades
To journal mean reversion trades, record the standard deviation level and RSI reading at entry, your expected reversion target, and whether price actually reverted within your projected timeframe.
Read guideMomentum Trades
To journal momentum trades, record the relative strength reading and volume confirmation at entry — these reveal whether you're catching genuine momentum or chasing exhausted moves.
Read guideMonthly Performance Review
To journal monthly performance reviews, calculate profit factor (gross profit ÷ gross loss) per strategy — anything below 1.3 is unsustainable after commissions.
Read guideProp Firm Challenge Trades
To journal prop firm challenge trades, calculate your remaining daily budget before each session and log running P&L cumulatively so rule violations are visible before they happen.
Read guideRisk-Managed Trades
To journal risk-managed trades, document your position sizing formula, stop loss type, portfolio heat at entry, and correlation exposure — not just price levels.
Read guideScaling In and Out
To journal scaling in and out trades, log each tranche as a separate row with timestamp, size, price, and reason, then calculate scaling delta to measure vs a flat entry.
Read guideSector Rotation Trades
To journal sector rotation trades, record the economic cycle phase with specific indicators (10Y-2Y spread, ISM PMI, DXY trend), the sector ETF's RS ratio vs SPY, and two pre-defined exit conditions.
Read guideSupply & Demand Zone Trades
To journal supply & demand zone trades, record zone type (base-and-move vs. spike), touch count at entry, and stop distance as % of zone width to filter edge by setup quality.
Read guideTechnical Analysis Setups
To journal technical analysis trades, log the pattern name, all indicator readings at trigger, timeframe alignment, exact entry condition, invalidation level, and a setup quality score (1-5).
Read guideJournal Mistakes
To journal trades effectively, log every trade (winners and losers), tag each setup, and record position size — selective logging distorts win rate by 15-20% and makes diagnosis impossible.
Read guideTrend Following Trades
To journal trend following trades, log trend identification criteria separately from your entry trigger, then track every trailing stop adjustment and any premature exit with a one-sentence reason.
Read guideVWAP-Based Trades
To journal VWAP-based trades, log deviation % at entry, setup type (reclaim/rejection/continuation), VWAP anchor source, and fill quality vs VWAP on every trade.
Read guideStart Your Trading Journal Today
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