A static, fill-in-yourself pre-market card for logging up to 5 watchlist candidates with a thesis, an invalidation level, and a plan — written down before the open, not decided in the moment.
Watchlist & Trade Idea Journal
Date: Trader/Account: Market conditions today:
Idea 1
Symbol
Thesis
Trigger / entry
Invalidation level
Target / plan
Position size
Idea 2
Symbol
Thesis
Trigger / entry
Invalidation level
Target / plan
Position size
Idea 3
Symbol
Thesis
Trigger / entry
Invalidation level
Target / plan
Position size
Idea 4
Symbol
Thesis
Trigger / entry
Invalidation level
Target / plan
Position size
Idea 5
Symbol
Thesis
Trigger / entry
Invalidation level
Target / plan
Position size
End of Day: What Actually Happened
Traded as planned — entry, invalidation, and target matched what's written above.
Traded off-plan — entry, size, or exit deviated from what's written above.
Passed / no trigger — idea never hit its stated entry condition.
Invalidated before entry — thesis broke before a position was taken.
How to use this template
Fill this out before the session starts, using whatever screening or scanning process you already trust — this card is where the idea gets written down, not where it gets found.
The invalidation level is the point that proves the thesis wrong, not just a stop-loss price picked after the fact. Write it down before the open so it can't quietly move once you're in the trade.
The end-of-day section is what turns this into a record instead of a to-do list: comparing what you wrote in the morning against what you actually did is the part that catches drift between plan and execution over time.
This template has no scoring, timer, or auto-generation. If you want a full session plan built from your account size and risk rules instead of a blank watchlist, see the related tool below.
Not financial advice: This template is an organizational aid only. It does not screen, recommend, or evaluate any security, and filling it out is not a guarantee of any trading outcome. See our Terms of Service for full disclosures.
Turn a Watchlist Into a Full Plan
Related Tools
An auto-generated session plan, and the overall risk rules this watchlist should sit inside of.