Planned-vs-Actual R Log for Futures Traders
Last verified: 2026-06-12 PDT
Planned-vs-Actual R Log for Futures Traders is a simple review workflow for the gap between the trade a trader planned and the R-multiple actually executed. It is not a signal, recommendation, or account-management instruction. It is an educational way to make the trader-defined process easier to inspect after the session.
Why this review matters
The moment that matters is often not the final P&L. It is the decision point where the live trade stopped matching the written plan. Without a repeatable review field, the trader may remember the story but miss the measurable change: entry quality, risk distance, target distance, cooldown state, or R-multiple.
The math behind the workflow
A plan may say risk 1R to make 2R, but the executed trade can be different. A slipped entry, wider stop, early partial, or target cut can change the result to 0.7R, 1.1R, or negative R after costs. The planned-vs-actual R log makes that difference visible instead of letting the journal only record dollars.
Practical checklist
Before and after the session, document:
- ▸Planned entry, stop, target, and r before the trade.
- ▸Actual fill, actual stop placement, and actual target.
- ▸Commissions, estimated slippage, and platform fees where relevant.
- ▸Partial exits translated into blended r.
- ▸Reason code for any management change.
- ▸Weekly tag: matched plan, execution drift, management drift, or cost drag.
Common failure pattern
The common failure pattern is thinking the strategy has an expectancy problem when the actual sample is full of trades that were not executed like the plan. The log separates strategy design from execution behavior.
Bucko workflow
Bucko can support this as an educational research, journaling, guardrail, scenario-analysis, and review workflow. Traders can track planned rules, screenshots, risk state, TradingView indicator context, Monko user-configured automation guardrails, Copy Trader route notes, and Station AI review questions. The goal is not to tell the trader what to trade. The goal is to make the trader-defined process easier to inspect.