Annotating the first fifteen minutes after a data print
A simple journal stamp that separates plan-based size from adrenaline-based size when the number just hit.
Most journals record entry price and stop. Fewer record the clock relationship to the release. After working through dozens of Event-Driven Journal Reviews, the pattern that costs traders most often is not “being wrong on direction” — it is changing size inside the first quarter-hour after a print without writing why.
A stamp that fits on one line
After any high-impact release you trade through, add a single line:
T+__ min | size vs plan: same / up / down | reason: setup / impulse / hedge
That is enough. You do not need a paragraph. The stamp forces a timestamp and a reason category before memory edits the story.
What we look for in review
When those stamps exist, a review session goes faster. We can count how often “up” coincides with “impulse” after FOMC or CPI, and how often “same” coincides with a pre-written setup that simply happened to appear after the number. Without the stamp, the conversation drifts into narrative.
A caution
Do not invent precision you did not have. If you are unsure of the minute, write a range. Honest ranges beat fictional exactness when you later sit with an advisor.