Trading Journal 2026: template and method for futures traders

A trading journal is not a diary.

It's a control system.

For futures traders this is especially important because futures are leveraged products, where small market moves can have a big impact on the account. A trader who doesn't keep a journal can easily believe the problem is the market, the strategy or the platform. Often the problem is simpler: the trader doesn't actually know what he's doing.

He doesn't know which setups make money.

He doesn't know how much he loses when he breaks the plan.

He doesn't know whether win rate even matters, because the average loss is too large.

He doesn't know whether Friday is weaker than Tuesday.

He doesn't know whether NQ really works for him, or whether MES gives better results.

He doesn't know whether he loses on the first trade after the open, on revenge trading, on news, on oversized positions, or on poor exits.

A trading journal answers this.

Not with feelings.

With data.

CME Group describes a trading plan as a working document, much like a business plan, where the trader makes assumptions about costs, income and market conditions. CME also stresses that risk management is critical to the trading plan.

A trading journal is the practical extension of that plan.

The plan says what you're going to do.

The journal shows what you actually did.

Important note

Best Futures is not an investment adviser. This article is general information about trading journals, risk management and futures trading.

Futures involve a high level of risk. The NFA states that futures trading is highly volatile and risky, and that you should only use risk capital you can afford to lose.

A trading journal doesn't remove the risk.

It helps you see the risk more clearly.

The most important sentence in this article is:

A trading journal shouldn't prove you were right. It should reveal what actually happens when you trade.

What is a trading journal?

A trading journal is a structured log of every trade you take.

It should show:

• what you traded
• why you took the trade
• where you entered
• where the stop-loss was
• where the target was
• where you exited
• how big the risk was
• how much you made or lost
• whether you followed the plan
• what the market looked like
• how you thought and felt
• what you should do differently next time

For futures traders, the journal also needs futures-specific details:

• contract
• contract month
• tick value
• number of contracts
• stop in ticks or points
• R-multiple
• session
• news
• rollover
• platform
• market data
• commission and fees
• prop firm rules if relevant

A stock trader can often get far with date, ticker, entry, exit and result.

A futures trader needs more.

Because futures are about contract size, leverage, margin, volatility, session and execution.

Why futures traders need a journal more than stock traders

Futures trading offers high capital efficiency.

That means you can control large exposure with relatively little capital. The CFTC describes futures as products where market participants can hedge price risk, but also notes that futures trade on organised markets and carry risk.

For an active trader, this means:

• losses can come quickly
• poor sizing hits hard
• the same strategy can carry very different risk in MES and ES
• the same chart can produce very different P/L in MNQ and NQ
• small execution mistakes can get expensive
• news can change volatility instantly
• a prop firm drawdown can be breached before you understand what happened

A trading journal makes it possible to find the pattern behind the results.

Example:

The journal makes trading concrete.

Trading journal vs broker statement

Many people think a broker statement is enough.

It isn't.

A broker statement shows what happened financially:

• instrument
• date
• buy
• sell
• P/L
• fees
• account balance

But a broker statement doesn't show why it happened.

It doesn't show:

• whether the trade followed the plan
• whether the setup was valid
• whether the entry came too late
• whether the stop was moved
• whether the trader was stressed
• whether the market was trending or ranging
• whether the trade was before news
• whether the risk/reward was good
• whether the trade was impulsive

A broker statement is accounting.

A trading journal is analysis.

You need both.

Trading journal as tax documentation

For European traders, documentation also matters for tax purposes.

Norway's tax authority, Skatteetaten, publishes guidance on financial instruments, forward contracts, futures and forwards, and states that you're responsible for reporting income and assets from abroad, and that gains or losses on the sale of shares and other securities must be entered in your tax return. Traders in other European countries should check the equivalent guidance from their own national tax authority.

This doesn't mean the trading journal replaces your tax return, account statements or annual reports.

But the journal can help you keep track of:

• realised gains and losses
• trade dates
• exchange rate / local-currency value
• fees
• broker statements
• prop firm payouts
• withdrawals
• deposits
• accounts with foreign brokers
• documentation if figures need to be explained

For futures traders who use foreign brokers or prop firms, this is especially important.

Recommended practice:

• download monthly statements
• save annual statements
• save payout reports from prop firms
• keep your own overview in your local currency
• document fees
• separate your own live trading from prop firm payouts
• clarify tax treatment with your tax authority or adviser if unsure

The trading journal should therefore have a simple tax column:

This is not tax advice.

It's practical documentation.

What a good trading journal must contain

A good trading journal should have four levels:

1. Trade data
2. Strategy data
3. Risk data
4. Psychology data

If you only log trade data, you get accounting.

If you also log strategy, risk and psychology, you get an improvement system.

Part 1: Trade data

This is the minimum information.

This is the baseline.

But it's not enough.

Part 2: Strategy data

Here you document why the trade was taken.

This matters because you want to know which setups actually work.

Not all trades are alike.

A long in MNQ isn't just a long in MNQ.

It could be:

• VWAP pullback
• breakout
• failed breakdown
• liquidity sweep
• FOMO entry
• revenge trade
• news trade
• scalping
• trend continuation
• mean reversion

If you don't tag the setup, you don't know what's actually making money.

Part 3: Risk data

This is the most important section for futures traders.

You should always know R before the trade is taken.

If you don't know R, you don't know the risk.

What is R-multiple?

R stands for risk.

If you risk $100 on a trade, 1R = $100.

If you make $200, you've made +2R.

If you lose $100, you've lost -1R.

If you lose $50, you've lost -0.5R.

If you make $75, you've made +0.75R.

This makes results comparable across contracts and accounts.

Example

Without R, the ES trade looks best because it made the most dollars.

With R, the MNQ trade looks best because it delivered the best return per unit of risk.

This is why R-multiples should be the core of the journal.

Why R is better than dollars

If you only measure in dollars, you get a skewed picture.

A large contract looks better than a small contract.

A lucky trade with an oversized position can look like a good trade.

A controlled loss can look worse than it actually was.

R-multiple solves this.

A professional trading journal should therefore always show:

• total R
• average R
• average win in R
• average loss in R
• largest loss in R
• largest win in R
• expectancy in R
• drawdown in R

Part 4: Psychology data

This is the part many people skip.

It's often the most important.

Trading psychology only becomes concrete once it's logged.

Everyone says they have "bad discipline".

The journal shows what that actually means.

Maybe you don't have bad discipline all the time.

Maybe you have bad discipline:

• after a first loss
• after two wins
• when NQ moves fast
• on Fridays
• after little sleep
• when you trade before CPI
• when you increase size
• when you lost the day before
• when you see other people making money

This is measured in the journal.

Trading journal template for futures

Here's a practical template you can use in Google Sheets, Excel, Notion or a dedicated trading journal tool.

Tab 1: Trade log

Tab 2: Setup statistics

This shows what you should do more of - and what you should cut.

Tab 3: Psychology

This makes psychology measurable.

Tab 4: Monthly summary

This is the section you should read every week and every month.

What to write before the trade

A good journal starts before entry.

Before you hit buy or sell, you should be able to write one sentence:

I'm taking this trade because …

Examples:

• "I'm going long in MES because price has reclaimed VWAP, ES and NQ are holding above the morning range, and the stop can sit under the higher low."
• "I'm going short in MNQ because the breakout above the overnight high failed, the footprint shows absorption of buyers, and price is back below VWAP."
• "I'm not taking a trade because the market is stuck between VWAP and POC, with no clear direction."

That last sentence is just as important as the first two.

A trading journal should also log good no-trades.

What to write after the trade

After the trade, you shouldn't write an essay.

You should answer five questions:

1. Was the setup valid?
2. Did I follow the plan?
3. Was the risk correct?
4. Was the exit good?
5. What does this trade tell me about the strategy?

Example:

Valid VWAP pullback. Entry a bit late, but risk was fine. Stop correct. Exited too early at +1.2R, target was hit later. No rule violation. Next time: hold at least half the position to the planned target.

This is useful.

Not this:

The market was idiotic today.

That helps nothing.

Screenshots: the most important field many forget

A trading journal without screenshots lacks context.

You should take at least two screenshots:

1. Before the trade, or right after entry
2. After exit

Mark:

• entry
• stop
• target
• VWAP
• POC
• VAH/VAL
• prior day high/low
• overnight high/low
• news level
• footprint/DOM if relevant

After 100 screenshots you start seeing patterns you'd never see in numbers alone.

Maybe all your good trades come from the same type of level.

Maybe all your bad trades happen in the middle of the range.

Maybe you think you're trading pullbacks, but the pictures show you're chasing candle highs.

Screenshots reveal the truth.

Weekly review

A trading journal is worthless if you never read it.

Build a fixed weekly routine.

Every Friday or Sunday

Go through:

• total R
• number of trades
• best setup
• worst setup
• biggest rule violation
• biggest emotional mistake
• whether you followed the daily limit
• whether you moved stops
• whether you overtraded
• whether you traded outside the plan
• which times worked best
• which markets worked best

Weekly question

Answer in writing:

1. What should I do more of next week?
2. What should I do less of?
3. Which setup should be cut?
4. Which rule violation should be stopped?
5. What's one concrete improvement?

Example:

Next week I'll only trade VWAP pullback and failed breakout in MES. No NQ before 16:00. Max three trades per day. Stop after -2R.

This is concrete.

Monthly review

Every month you should take a more strategic look.

Key figures

Monthly decision

After the review you should decide:

• continue the same strategy
• cut one setup
• reduce size
• increase size
• switch markets
• reduce the number of trades
• change your trading hours
• work on one psychological flaw
• take a break

Don't make ten changes at once.

One good change is enough.

Common trading journal mistakes

1. You only log winners

Then you're not building a journal.

You're building self-deception.

2. You write too much

If the journal takes 20 minutes per trade, you'll stop using it.

Keep it simple.

3. You only log P/L

P/L doesn't say why you made or lost money.

4. You don't use R-multiple

Then results become hard to compare.

5. You don't take screenshots

Then you lose market structure.

6. You never read the journal

A journal without review is just an archive.

7. You change the template every week

Then you don't get comparable data.

8. You lie to yourself

This is the biggest mistake.

If the trade was impulsive, write impulsive.

If you moved the stop, write that.

If you revenge traded, write that.

The journal only works if it's honest.

Trading journal for prop firm traders

Prop firm traders need extra fields.

The prop firm journal should always show how much of the drawdown buffer you're risking.

Example:

If you're risking 25% of the drawdown buffer per trade, you're not running controlled trading.

You're gambling with the account.

Trading journal for different markets

MES / ES

Log especially:

• VWAP
• prior day high/low
• overnight high/low
• Market Profile
• POC
• opening range
• VIX
• NQ confirmation
• RTY breadth

MNQ / NQ

Log especially:

• tech momentum
• Nvidia/semis
• US10Y
• DXY
• large candle before entry
• volatility
• whether the stop was realistic
• FOMO score

MGC / GC

Log especially:

• DXY
• US10Y
• real yields
• CPI/FOMC
• gold/silver ratio
• news source
• Asia/Europe/US session

MCL / CL

Log especially:

• EIA
• inventory
• OPEC news
• geopolitics
• spread
• session
• slippage
• whether you traded the first spike

6E / M6E

Log especially:

• ECB
• Fed
• DXY
• interest rates
• EUR/USD spot context
• macro data
• Europe session vs US session

This makes the journal more specialised than a standard stock journal.

Which tool should you use?

The best tool is the one you'll actually use.

Excel or Google Sheets

Advantages:

• flexible
• cheap
• easy to customise
• good for R-multiples
• easy to build pivot tables

Disadvantages:

• manual
• screenshots need to be organised
• can become messy

Notion

Advantages:

• good for notes
• good for screenshots
• easy to tag
• good weekly review

Disadvantages:

• weaker number analysis than a spreadsheet
• can become too visual and not quantitative enough

Dedicated trading journal

Advantages:

• automatic import
• statistics
• screenshots
• filtering
• setup analysis

Disadvantages:

• cost
• not always futures-optimised
• can become too complicated
• data import can depend on broker/platform

Our recommendation

Start simple.

For most futures traders:

1. Google Sheets or Excel for numbers
2. a folder of screenshots
3. a weekly review document
4. a dedicated journal later, if the need is real

Don't spend three weeks building the perfect journal before you've logged a single honest trade.

Ready-made trading journal template

Here's a practical structure you can copy:

Daily plan

Trade log

After the market

Sources and further reading

• CME Group: Building a Trade Plan
• CME Group: Risk Management and Your Trade Plan
• CFTC: Futures Market Basics
• CFTC: Understand Your Contractual Obligations
• NFA: Investor Best Practices
• Skatteetaten: Tax ABC on futures and forwards (Norway)

Conclusion: the journal is the trader's control room

A trading journal is not just a place where you write down trades.

It's your control room.

It shows whether the strategy works.

It shows whether you're following the plan.

It shows whether the risk is correct.

It shows whether psychology is destroying your edge.

It shows whether you should be trading MES, MNQ, MGC, MCL or 6E.

It shows whether you actually have a problem with strategy, timing, size, news, exits or discipline.

For futures traders this matters even more, because contract size, leverage and drawdown make mistakes expensive. The NFA stresses that futures trading is highly risky, and that you should only use risk capital you can afford to lose.

A good trading journal doesn't automatically make you profitable.

But it makes it harder to fool yourself.

And that's often the first step toward better trading.

Capital risk: Futures trading carries a high level of risk and isn't suitable for everyone. This article is general information, not investment advice. Tax matters should be clarified with your national tax authority or a qualified adviser.

Frequently asked questions about trading journals

Short answers to the most common questions about trading journals, R-multiples, screenshots, risk management and documentation.