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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 guideGuides for different trading methodologies
Breakout 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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