Case: planning and journaling a swing trade

This case plans a single swing trade end to end — entry, position size, stops, and the journal entry afterward — using the Technical Analysis and Risk Management tracks. The trade is hypothetical and for illustration only.

Step 1 — The setup and the thesis

Our trader spots, on a (hypothetical) stock called Atlas Corp, a pullback to a rising trendline that has held three times, with momentum turning back up. The thesis: a continuation of the existing uptrend. The same logic works for a forex pair using the concepts from the Forex track.

Step 2 — Define the levels before sizing

A plan needs three prices fixed in advance:

Entry:        50.00  (on confirmation of the bounce)
Stop loss:    47.00  (just below the trendline — thesis is wrong here)
Take profit:  59.00  (the prior swing high)

That gives a risk of 3.00 per share and a reward of 9.00 per share — a reward-to-risk of 3:1. A plan should clear a minimum threshold (often 2:1) or it is not worth taking.

Step 3 — Size the position to the risk

The professional sequence — size to the risk, never the other way around:

1. Account is 20,000; risk budget per trade is 1% = 200.
2. Risk per share is 3.00 (entry minus stop).
3. Shares = 200 / 3.00 = about 66 shares.

No matter how good the setup feels, the size is fixed by the math. This is the position-sizing principle from the Forex and Risk tracks applied to equities.

Step 4 — Execute mechanically

Place the entry, and attach the stop loss and take profit at the same time. Pre-setting both removes the in-the-moment temptation to widen a stop on a loser or bail on a winner early.

Step 5 — Journal every trade, win or lose

After the trade closes, record:

Date / instrument / direction
Thesis (one sentence)
Entry, stop, target, actual exit
Reward-to-risk planned vs realized
Did I follow the plan? (yes / no)
One lesson

The single most valuable column is "did I follow the plan?". Over dozens of trades the journal reveals whether your edge is real or whether you are simply being lucky — and it is the only honest feedback loop a discretionary trader has.