What to put in a trading journal
A trading journal only pays off if you record the right things — enough to learn from, but not so much that you quit. Think in five layers: the trade, the risk, the context, the plan, and the review. The first three capture what happened; the last two turn it into improvement.
1. The trade
- • Symbol and direction (long/short)
- • Position size (and instrument: stock, option, future, forex)
- • Entry and exit price
- • Entry and exit time (for hold-time and time-of-day analysis)
- • Fees / commissions
2. The risk
- • Stop-loss price (or that there wasn't one — that's data too)
- • Risk per share/contract and total R (your one-unit risk)
- • Target / planned reward, and the resulting R:R
- • How the size was decided (% of account, fixed risk)
3. The context
- • A snapshot of the chart you traded — the single most valuable field
- • Timeframe and the exact candle/setup
- • Market conditions (trend, range, news, session)
- • The setup or playbook name (breakout, reversal, etc.)
4. The plan
- • Your thesis — why you entered
- • The rules you intended to follow (and whether you did)
- • Planned entry, stop, and target before the trade
- • Confidence / conviction at entry
5. The review
- • What went right and what went wrong
- • Emotional state (calm, FOMO, revenge, hesitation)
- • A setup grade (A–F) judged on process, not P&L
- • The one lesson — and whether it's a recurring mistake
The field most journals miss
Notice that two of the five layers are about the chart and the plan— not the numbers. That's the part a spreadsheet throws away. Capturing the live setup (and grading it on process) is what separates a journal that improves your trading from a logbook that just records losses. See trading journal vs spreadsheet and the full how to journal trades workflow. To measure the “risk” layer, learn R-multiple.
A free journal that captures all five layers — chart included:
Start journaling freeFrequently asked questions
What should you write in a trading journal?
Record five layers: the trade (symbol, direction, size, entry/exit, time), the risk (stop, R, position size), the context (a snapshot of the chart and the market conditions), the plan (your thesis, target, and the rules you intended to follow), and the review (what went right or wrong, your emotional state, a setup grade, and the lesson).
What's the single most important thing to log?
The chart you actually traded. Numbers tell you what you did; the chart shows why you entered. Capturing the live setup is the one input that lets you judge process instead of just outcome — and it's the thing spreadsheets can't store.
Should I journal trades I didn't take?
Yes. A missed-trade log — setups you saw but skipped — is one of the most useful and most neglected parts of a journal. It surfaces hesitation and rule-breaks that your filled trades never reveal.
How much detail is too much?
If the fields are so heavy you stop filling them in, you've gone too far. Start with the trade, the risk, and a chart snapshot; add plan and review notes once the habit sticks. A short journal you keep beats a perfect one you abandon.