Screen stocks. Study the context. Keep the ideas you want to revisit.
Write the plan before the entry and the outcome after the exit, in the same units, so every trade can be checked against what was intended. A spreadsheet or notes file is enough; the value comes from reviewing it on a fixed schedule.
A trade plan comes first, a journal after
A trade plan is written before the entry and states the setup, the levels and the size. A journal records what actually happened, at what prices and costs, and whether the plan was followed. Kept together, they let each result be compared with the intention behind it. Both fit in a spreadsheet or a notes file you control, which is where they belong: TradeClever does not keep a trading journal or record orders.
- Trade plan: what is the setup, what would invalidate it, where are the entry, stop and target, and how many shares does the risk budget allow?
- Journal: what was done, at which fills and costs, what was the result in dollars and in R, and was the plan followed?
- Review: across many trades, which setups and habits help or hurt the results?
Writing down the trade thesis
A thesis is a short, testable statement of why the trade could work and what would show that it does not. Write it in two to four sentences before calculating the size, and name the evidence, the expected time frame and the invalidation level. A thesis that cannot be wrong cannot be reviewed.
- Setup: the condition being traded, for example a pullback to a rising 50-session moving average in a stock above its 200-session average.
- Evidence: what was checked, such as the daily chart, volume against its 20-session average, the sector’s recent performance and the next earnings date.
- Expectation: which price action would confirm the idea, and within how many sessions.
- Invalidation: the price or event that ends the idea; it becomes the stop.
Example (hypothetical): Stock A pulled back to its rising 50-session SMA on below-average volume and held above its 200-session SMA. The plan expects a move back toward the prior high at $54.00 within about 10 sessions. A trade below the $45.40 swing low ends the idea, so the stop goes at $45.20.
In TradeClever, a symbol on your watchlist can carry one private research note, which suits a thesis summary like this one. The note belongs to the symbol, not to a trade, so the journal still needs its own row for each entry and exit.
A pre-entry checklist for the trade plan
A pre-entry checklist turns the thesis into numbers and conditions before any order exists. Answering every item in writing makes skipped steps visible later. The list is educational; the items and parameters are yours to adapt.
- Context: the market and sector backdrop observed, for example on the Market Overview or the Sector Heatmap · S&P 500.
- Setup: the conditions that are met, and the saved scan and session that found the stock, if any.
- Entry: the trigger that starts the trade and the order type planned for it.
- Stop: the invalidation price and the reason for it; see stop-loss and profit targets.
- Exit: a target price, a trailing rule or a time limit in sessions, with the reward-to-risk ratio.
- Size: shares from the risk budget and the risk per share, rounded down, with the position value and its weight in the account; see position sizing.
- Events: the next earnings date or other scheduled event inside the holding period, and how the plan treats gap risk.
- Costs: expected commissions and slippage, so the breakeven is known before entry.
- Skip conditions: what cancels the plan before entry, such as an opening gap beyond the entry zone.
| Item | Plan |
|---|---|
| Setup | Pullback to a rising 50-session SMA, above the 200-session SMA |
| Entry | $48.50, on a close above the prior session’s high |
| Stop | $45.20, below the $45.40 swing low |
| Risk per share | $3.30 |
| Size | 75 shares: $250 budget ÷ $3.30, rounded down |
| Position value | $3,637.50, 14.55% of the account |
| Target | $55.10 (2R), with the prior high at $54.00 as the first resistance |
| Events | Next earnings date checked: after the planned holding period |
| Skip if | The stock opens above $49.50 or below $46.00 |
A trading journal template
A journal row needs the plan’s numbers, the actual fills and a short judgment about the process. The fields below fit one spreadsheet row per trade, with screenshots or chart notes in a linked folder. Keep the units fixed: prices in dollars per share, risk in dollars and in R, time in sessions.
| Field | What to record | Hypothetical example |
|---|---|---|
| Dates and symbol | Entry and exit sessions and the ticker | Stock A, sessions 1 to 9 |
| Setup | The named setup or the saved scan behind it | Pullback to a rising 50-session SMA |
| Thesis and reasons | Two to four sentences from the plan | The thesis example above |
| Entry, stop, target | Planned prices | $48.50, $45.20, $55.10 |
| Size and risk | Shares, dollar risk and % of the account | 75 shares, $247.50, 0.99% |
| Fills and costs | Actual entry and exit prices, commissions and fees | In at $48.50, out at $50.38, $2.00 |
| Outcome | Net result in dollars and in R | +$139.00, +0.56R |
| Screenshots and notes | Daily chart at entry and at exit, what changed | Two dated screenshots |
| Plan followed? | Yes or no, and which rule was broken | Yes |
| Mistakes and lessons | One sentence | Trailing stop updated one session late |
Track trades in a spreadsheet with R multiples
Once the fields are columns, a few formulas do the arithmetic. The initial risk is the entry minus the stop, times the shares; the net result subtracts costs from the price difference; and the R multiple divides the net result by the initial risk. The average R multiple of the rows is the record’s expectancy in R.
Initial risk ($) = (entry − stop) × shares
Net result ($) = (exit − entry) × shares − costs
R multiple = net result ÷ initial risk
Expectancy of the record (R) = sum of R multiples ÷ number of trades| Trade | Shares | Entry | Stop | Exit | Initial risk | Net result | R multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 | $48.50 | $45.20 | $50.38 | $247.50 | +$139.00 | +0.56R |
| 2 | 120 | $30.10 | $28.05 | $27.98 | $246.00 | −$256.40 | −1.04R |
| 3 | 40 | $101.30 | $95.10 | $113.70 | $248.00 | +$494.00 | +1.99R |
| 4 | 200 | $15.05 | $13.80 | $13.25 | $250.00 | −$362.00 | −1.45R |
Together the four trades net +$14.60, and their R multiples add up to +0.06R, an average of +0.02R per trade. One different outcome would flip the sign, which is why a record needs many trades before its averages say much.
With the shares in column B, the entry in C, the stop in D, the exit in E and the costs in F, the formulas for row 2 are =(C2-D2)*B2 for the initial risk in G, =(E2-C2)*B2-F2 for the net result in H and =H2/G2 for the R multiple. For a short trade, reverse the price differences: =(D2-C2)*B2 and =(C2-E2)*B2-F2.
Reviewing losing trades
A loss is not automatically a mistake. Sort each losing trade by two questions, whether the plan was followed and whether the loss stayed near −1R, because each combination calls for a different response. Look at the chart at entry and at exit before reading the notes, so hindsight does not rewrite the reasons.
| Trade | Result | Plan followed? | Category | Question for the review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | −1.04R | Yes | Planned loss with small slippage | Was the setup valid with what was known at entry? |
| 4 | −1.45R | Yes | Gap through the stop | Was an event inside the holding period, and did the size allow for it? |
| 5 | −2.10R | No | Stop moved lower after entry | What made moving the stop seem necessary at the time? |
| 6 | −0.60R | No | Entered before the trigger | Was the entry rule written clearly enough to follow? |
- Was the thesis reasonable with the information available at entry?
- Did the entry, stop and size match the plan, and if not, which rule was broken and why?
- Was the loss larger than 1R, and was the cause slippage, a gap or a moved stop?
- Would the same plan, followed exactly, be acceptable again?
- Which single change, if any, goes into the plan template?
Set a review cadence
A fixed schedule keeps reviews from depending on how the latest trades went. A short log after each session, a weekly look at open plans and broken rules, and a monthly or quarterly summary by setup answer different questions. Summaries need many trades per setup, so small groups are prompts for a closer look rather than conclusions.
| When | What to review | Output |
|---|---|---|
| After each session | New entries and exits, fills, screenshots | Completed journal rows |
| Weekly | Open plans, broken rules, losses beyond 1R | At most one process change |
| Monthly or quarterly | Results by setup: count, average R, largest loss | Setups to keep, adjust or drop |
| Setup | Trades | Sum of R | Average R per trade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pullback to a rising 50-session SMA | 12 | +5.40R | +0.45R |
| Breakout above a 20-session high | 10 | −1.20R | −0.12R |
| Gap continuation | 6 | +0.90R | +0.15R |
| All setups | 28 | +5.10R | +0.18R |
Six to twelve trades per setup can change sign with a few more results, so the summary shows where to look next, not which setup works. The expectancy and drawdown guide explains how averages like these combine with costs.
Where TradeClever fits in the routine
TradeClever covers the research side of the routine, not the record of trades. A saved scan keeps the rules that define a setup so the same conditions can be run again, and Scan as of runs a rule for an earlier session to show what it matched then. A watchlist keeps the symbols being followed, each with an optional private research note, and Stock Charts shows the daily chart to review and capture.
Related guides
- Save a scan you can use againKeep the rules of a setup in one place.
- Create a watchlist you will useFollow the names your plans are about.
- Run a scan for an earlier sessionSee what a rule matched before.
- Set up a research alertA one-time browser inbox alert when a saved scan matches a published session.
TradeClever does not place trades, record fills or calculate profit and loss; those belong in your own journal.
Continue with
- Research a stockGather the evidence a thesis rests on.
- Build a simple market research routineA repeatable order for the daily review.
- Stop-loss and profit target calculationsLevels for the plan, and how orders fill.
- Stock strategy testingTest a setup before trusting a small record.
Read our data and methodology notes for calculation context. This guide explains research tools and observations. It does not recommend a trade or investment.