Publisher disclosure: This guide is published by blockfunded, a provider of simulated trading evaluations. Every trade and dollar amount below is hypothetical. These are not customer results or results from an internal trading account.
A trade closes $600 higher. The result is easy to record. The harder question is whether the decision still matched the plan written before entry.
If a trader quietly tripled the entry-to-stop exposure and happened to recover, the profitable close does not undo that change. Record both facts: the trade made a gross profit, and the trader departed from the original risk plan. Reviewing only the green number leaves the second fact out.
Freeze the plan before the result is known
Save the intended entry, quantity, invalidation level, modeled costs and conditions for changing the position before submitting the order. Include a timestamp and the relevant account context. A screenshot or a separate journal entry can preserve that record; this guide does not assume that an app automatically stores an immutable plan.
Define permitted adjustments in advance. Reducing quantity, trailing an exit or adding to a position can have different consequences. The useful review question is whether a change followed a previously stated condition and what it did to the combined account exposure. A change is not automatically a mistake, and leaving an order untouched is not automatically good judgment.
The CME Group trade-log lesson recommends recording the reasons for entry, price targets, entry and exit points, and trade times. It addresses futures education; it is a general recordkeeping reference, not a description of blockfunded's simulated execution.
A $600 win with three times the planned stop exposure
Consider a hypothetical long position with ten units entered at $100 each. The original stop is $90. After entry, the trader moves it to $70 without a condition in the saved plan allowing that change. The position later closes at $160.
| Item | Calculation | Hypothetical amount |
|---|---|---|
| Original entry-to-stop exposure | 10 × ($100 − $90) | $100 |
| Revised entry-to-stop exposure | 10 × ($100 − $70) | $300 |
| Increase relative to the original plan | $300 ÷ $100 | 3 times |
| Gross result at the later close | 10 × ($160 − $100) | +$600 |
These calculations exclude fees, spread, slippage and any contract-specific multiplier. They describe a simplified position, not a guaranteed maximum loss. The stop-distance comparison uses the same entry price as its reference in both rows. If you start a separate account-risk check from current equity, count only additional losses from that snapshot; do not count an existing unrealized loss again.
The profit and the departure from the plan can both be true. Writing “good trade, +$600” loses that distinction. A more complete entry is: “Gross result +$600; entry-to-stop exposure increased from $100 to $300; no prewritten adjustment condition supported the change.”
Use actual booked fees when recording net P/L. Keep estimated costs from the original plan in a separate field so the estimate is not confused with the realized result. The guide to fees, slippage and open-position risk explains the difference between stop geometry and a broader account-risk calculation.
Review the decision and the result separately
A useful review has two records. One describes what happened: fills, size changes, exits, fees and net P/L. The other compares those events with the saved plan. Do not turn an absence of evidence into a pass or a failure.
| Review question | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| What did I intend before entry? | Timestamped entry, size, invalidation and permitted adjustments |
| What actually changed? | Order and fill records, before-and-after size or exit levels, and change times |
| Did the change follow the plan? | The condition written before entry and the observation used at the time |
| What was the result after costs? | Closed-trade P/L and booked fees, kept separate from open P/L |
| What cannot be established? | Missing timestamps, unavailable quotes or an unsaved original plan |
Apply the same questions to a losing trade. A loss can occur while the recorded decision follows its stated plan. A win can occur after an unplanned increase in exposure. Neither observation, by itself, proves that the underlying strategy has a positive expectancy.
Copy this review into your journal
- Before entry: account context, timestamp, setup condition, intended entry, quantity, invalidation, modeled costs and allowed adjustments.
- During the trade: each size or exit change, its timestamp, the reason recorded then and its effect on exposure.
- After closing: actual fills, booked fees, gross and net P/L, and any remaining open positions recorded separately.
- Decision review: followed the saved condition, departed from it, or insufficient evidence; state which record supports the conclusion.
- Next review: one specific observation to check across the next comparable set of trades, without promising a result.
Do not rewrite the original plan to make it fit the outcome. Add a dated correction or follow-up alongside it. For a broader journal structure, see How to Keep a Crypto Trading Journal for a Prop Challenge.
A stop is a plan input, not a guaranteed fill
The FINRA explanation of stop-order risks notes that an execution price can differ from the stop price in volatile securities markets. That source concerns securities; a simulated crypto account has its own order processing and rules. Read the relevant platform terms rather than assuming that an exchange or broker example describes the simulation.
At blockfunded, evaluation capital, orders, profits and losses are simulated. This review template is educational and does not establish challenge compliance, predict performance or guarantee an execution price or reward. Account-specific rules and the actual account state remain controlling.