Get Trade Buddy
Watch the quick setup video, then grab both downloads — the Chrome extension and the Journal Dashboard. The video walks you through the one-time folder setup so your journal entries and your Dashboard always point to the same place.
There are two files to download, both included free with full membership:
- 1 · Chrome Extension — install Trade Buddy from the Chrome Web Store.
- 2 · Journal Dashboard — download the zip, unzip it, and place the Dashboard.html file inside your main Journal folder (next to the Entries folder).
Set Up Your Journal Folders First
Before you install, create two folders on your computer. This is what lets Trade Buddy and your Dashboard read and write the same journal entries.
- Create a main folder called Journal anywhere on your computer.
- Inside the Journal folder, create a second folder called Entries. This is where every journal entry will be saved.
- Download and unzip the Journal Dashboard, then move the Dashboard.html file into your Journal folder — alongside the Entries folder, not inside it.
- When Trade Buddy asks where to save your journal entries, select the Entries folder.
- Open Dashboard.html, and when it asks where your journal entries live, select that exact same Entries folder.
Trade Buddy In Action
Trade Buddy
Annotation tools, a full trade journal, pre-trade checklists, Battle Plan notes, leverage tracking, and real-time alerts — all built directly into your TradingView chart. Capture every trade as it happens, not after the fact.
What Trade Buddy Does
Trade Buddy is your personal trading assistant for TradingView. It puts a complete annotation and journaling workflow directly on your chart — no separate tools, no external journal apps, no switching windows to capture what just happened.
Most traders treat journaling as something they do after the session. By then, the entry that mattered is a fading memory, the emotional context is gone, and the lesson — if there was one — is half-remembered at best. Trade Buddy moves journaling into the moment. As trades develop, mark the chart. As decisions get made, capture them. As lessons emerge, write them down — right there, on the chart you're trading.
Beyond journaling, Trade Buddy brings the rest of the disciplined-trader toolkit onto the chart: Battle Plan notes from the daily MicrosTrader briefing, pre-trade checklists that enforce your own rules, a leverage tracker that converts position size into real dollar risk, and real-time alerts for the moments that matter most during a session.
The Core Idea: Every trade you make has context — the setup, the entry reasoning, the emotional state, the rule you followed (or broke). Most of that context evaporates within minutes of the trade closing. Trade Buddy captures it while it's still alive, so the lessons compound across days, weeks, and years.
Chart Annotation Tools
Full library of trade stickers — Long, Short, Take Profit, Stop, Target, Partials, arrows, trend lines, and custom labels.
In-Chart Trade Journal
Journal panel that lives alongside your chart. Morning notes, trade logs, embedded chart screenshots, auto-save, HTML/text export.
Pre-Trade Checklists
Build and run customizable checklists before every entry. Stop overtrading, trade only when your conditions are met.
Battle Plan Notes
Today's Battle Plan setups pinned to your chart as a floating strip — or pop up on-click from labels on the Battle Plan indicator.
Leverage & Risk Tracker
Live leverage matrix converts position size into dollar risk for MES or ES. Stop guessing your size.
Real-Time Chart Alerts
Floating popups for IB close, news warnings, NY Lunch, and Power Hour. Auto-dismiss after 7 seconds.
Cross-Device Sync
Settings, custom tags, checklists, and preferences sync across Chrome installs. Optional — off by default.
Why Journal On The Chart
The most consistent failure mode in retail trading is the inability to learn from past trades. Not because traders lack discipline or intelligence, but because the act of journaling is friction-heavy and the rewards are delayed. You take a trade. You feel the emotion. You see the outcome. Then you close the chart, open a journal app, type a few notes from memory, and call it a day — except half the truth has already escaped.
If you want to become a better trader, you must capture what you were thinking when you took the trade — not what you think you were thinking when you sit down to write about it later. The two are never the same. Memory edits. Memory protects ego. Memory rationalizes losses and inflates wins. The chart, captured in the moment, doesn't lie.
— Journaling Methodology, MicrosTraderThe Real-Time Journal
Trade Buddy is built around one belief: your journal entries should be written as close to the moment of decision as possible. The panel sits next to your chart. You write the morning prep before the bell rings. You log the trade as you enter it. You paste in a screenshot of the setup before you know if it works. You capture the lesson while it's still painful and fresh.
By the end of the session, you have a real document — not a sanitized recap, not a memory exercise. A real, time-stamped record of what actually happened in your head.
The Annotation Layer
Annotations turn the chart itself into a journal. A "Long" sticker placed at your entry. A "Take Profit" at your target. A "Stop" at your invalidation. A "Missed Entry" at the bar you should have traded but didn't. Six months from now, you can look back at any chart and see, in a single glance, what you did — and what you should have done.
Members-Only — By Design
Trade Buddy is gated to MicrosTrader.com members. The Battle Plan integration is the most obvious reason — you can't pin Battle Plan notes to your chart if you don't have a Battle Plan. But the broader reason is intentional: this is a serious workflow tool for serious traders. Membership ensures the people using it are the people who'll get value from it.
The Annotation Panel
The Trade Buddy panel sits as a floating overlay on your TradingView chart. It contains the complete annotation library, the journal/note buttons, and the settings access. Drag it to any corner of the chart — your position is remembered per device.
Trade Buddy annotation panel showing the sticker library and journal/note buttons.
Top Action Row
Four buttons at the top of the panel handle the higher-level workflows — capturing trades, opening the journal, dropping quick notes, and adding standalone text labels.
Scoreboard
Opens the trade scoreboard for the day — a running tally of trades taken, wins, losses, and net result. Built incrementally as you log trades.
Journal
Opens the full journal panel for today. Write structured entries: morning prep, trade logs, overnight thoughts, lessons. Auto-saves locally.
Note
Quick note mode. Drops a small text annotation directly on the chart at the time-and-price of your click. Faster than journaling for one-off observations.
Text
Standalone text label mode. Click anywhere on the chart to drop a styled label — useful for marking key levels, labeling structure, or noting bias.
The Sticker Grid
The main grid holds the annotation library — every visual marker you can drop on the chart with a single click. Color-coded by trade purpose so you can read past trades at a glance.
- Trade Direction — Long (green), Short (red), +Added (gold) for position scaling.
- Trade Management — Partials, Take Profit (blue), Stop (gray), Target.
- Directional Arrows — Up, down, left, right at various angles for marking momentum or structure.
- Trend Lines — Quick trend-line stamps for marking bias or structure.
- Context Markers — Battle Plan, Missed Entry, Speculator Special for situation-specific notes.
- Big Icons — Checkmark, Rocket, Bomb, Lightbulb for emotional or outcome tagging.
Bottom Row
Settings access on the left (opens the full configuration panel) and the MicrosTrader.com brand on the right. Pagination numbers (1, 2) at far right when you have multiple sticker pages defined.
Show / Hide the Panel
Click the Trade Buddy icon in your Chrome toolbar to toggle the panel's visibility on the current TradingView chart. The icon turns gold when you're on a TradingView tab and grays out on any other site — so you always know at a glance whether the extension applies.
Feature Reference
Chart Annotation Tools
Click any sticker to enter placement mode. Click again on the chart at the price and time you want to mark. The sticker drops as a native TradingView drawing — survives reloads, syncs with TradingView's chart save, and can be modified or deleted using TradingView's normal drawing tools.
Why this matters: Annotations are not external overlays. They become part of the chart itself, anchored to specific price/time coordinates. Your trade history is preserved alongside the chart it happened on.
In-Chart Trade Journal
The journal opens as a side panel alongside your chart. Each day gets its own entry with structured sections — Gratitudes, Overnight, RTH, Trades, Lessons, or whatever template you've configured. Write in real time. Paste in chart screenshots. Auto-saves locally as you type.
Export formats: HTML (styled, ready to read) or plain text (portable, AI-friendly). Save to a folder you choose using the File System Access API — your journal lives on your machine, not in the cloud.
Pre-Trade Checklists
Build customizable checklists for whatever discipline rules you want to enforce — "Have I read the Battle Plan?" "Is my stop within my max risk?" "Am I trading my A-setup?" Tick each item before you take the trade.
What it tells you: If you can't honestly tick all the boxes, you don't take the trade. The checklist becomes the gatekeeper between an impulsive entry and a planned one.
Battle Plan Notes
Today's MicrosTrader Battle Plan notes pin to your chart as a floating strip — or pop up on-click from labels in the Battle Plan mapping indicator (included with paid membership). See the day's setups, key levels, and trade ideas right where they apply. Auto-refreshes throughout the session.
How it works: Trade Buddy fetches today's notes from the MicrosTrader API once you verify your membership. Notes are cached locally so the floating strip works even if your connection drops mid-session.
Leverage & Risk Tracker
A live leverage matrix that converts your position size into real dollar risk. Choose your instrument (MES or ES), set your max risk per trade, and see your dollar exposure overlay directly on the chart. The matrix updates as price moves.
Why it matters: "I'm risking $200" is something you can act on. "I'm risking 12 points on 2 MES contracts" requires mental math. The matrix removes the math so the decision becomes purely about risk tolerance.
Real-Time Chart Alerts
Floating popup alerts for the moments that matter most: Initial Balance close (10:30 AM ET), high-impact news warnings (10 minutes ahead of release), NY Lunch chop (12:00 PM ET), and Power Hour (3:00 PM ET). Each alert auto-dismisses after 7 seconds — no clutter, no missed setups, no need to dismiss manually.
Each alert can be toggled independently in Settings — enable only the alerts you want for your trading style.
Cross-Device Sync
Optional Chrome sync via chrome.storage.sync. When enabled, your settings, custom checklists, journal templates, leverage preferences, custom tags, and custom symbols roam across every device signed into the same Chrome account. Window position and per-chart state stay local — different monitors deserve different layouts.
Journal entries don't sync — they live as files in your chosen folder. Use Dropbox, iCloud Drive, or any other file-sync service to roam journal files across devices if needed.
Complete Settings Guide
Identity & Membership
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trader Name | — | Your name as it appears at the top of journal entries. |
| TradingView Username | — | Required for Battle Plan Notes feature. Enter the username your MicrosTrader.com membership is tied to. |
| Verify Membership | — | Click to check status against the active member list. Re-verifies silently every 30 days. |
Journal Settings
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Journal Mode | Off | Toggles whether the Note button captures quick notes or full journal entries. |
| Journal Always Visible | Off | Pins the journal panel open by default so it appears every time you visit a TradingView chart. |
| Journal Template | Default (Gratitudes, Overnight, RTH) | Customize the template for each new day's journal. Use HTML for formatting. Restore default anytime. |
| Journal Font Size | 14px | Range 8–40px. Match to your reading comfort. |
| Save Format | HTML | HTML keeps formatting, screenshots inline. Text is portable and AI-friendly. |
Leverage Matrix
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | MES | MES (micro) or ES (full E-mini). Affects how dollar risk is calculated. |
| Max Risk Per Trade ($) | 150 | Your personal risk cap. The matrix shows you how many contracts and how many points fit within this dollar amount. |
| Always Visible | Off | Pins the leverage matrix overlay to your chart so it's always one glance away. |
Chart Alerts
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Balance (10:30 AM ET) | On | Floating popup when the first hour of RTH closes. The most-watched intraday level. |
| News Events (10-min warning) | On | Alerts 10 minutes ahead of high-impact USD economic releases. |
| NY Lunch (12:00 PM ET) | On | Warning that the chop zone is about to begin. Reduce size or step away. |
| Power Hour (3:00 PM ET) | On | Final hour of RTH. Liquidity returns, ranges expand, opportunities cluster. |
Battle Plan Notes
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Battle Plan | Off | Master toggle. Turn on after verifying membership. |
| Launch Toolbar | On (when enabled) | Shows the floating Battle Plan strip on your chart. Turn off if you only want click-to-popup access. |
| Refresh Notes | Manual | Forces a fresh fetch from the API. Useful if George updates the Battle Plan mid-session. |
Custom Tags & Symbols
| Setting | Notes |
|---|---|
| User Tags | Custom hashtags you can apply to journal entries (#scalp, #lottery, #revenge — your own taxonomy). |
| User Event Tags | Custom event tags for chart context (FOMC, CPI, opex, etc.). |
| User Symbols | Custom trading symbols beyond the built-in MES/ES set. Useful if you trade NQ, MNQ, RTY, or others. |
Sync Across Devices
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sync Settings Across Devices | Off | When on, settings + checklists sync via your Google account. Journal files and per-device state stay local. |
Building Your Journal
The journal is the heart of Trade Buddy. Every other feature feeds it — annotations get referenced in entries, checklists get logged, screenshots get pasted in, lessons get captured. This section walks through how to build a journaling practice that compounds over time.
The Default Template
Each new day's journal starts from a template. The default ships with four sections that work for most futures traders:
- Gratitudes — Three things you're grateful for. Sets the right emotional tone before the bell rings.
- Overnight — What happened in the globex session. Any news? Any setups developing? Any levels broken?
- RTH — Live trading notes. Trade entries, exits, observations, deviations from plan.
- Lessons — End-of-day reflections. What worked, what didn't, what to do differently tomorrow.
Customizing the Template
The default works for most. If your workflow needs different sections — Pre-Market Plan, Trade-by-Trade Log, Mental State, Sleep Quality, anything — open Settings and customize the Journal Template. Use HTML for formatting. The template applies to every new day going forward; existing entries stay as they were when written.
Embedded Screenshots
The Trade Buddy panel can capture a screenshot of the current chart and embed it directly into the active journal entry. Setup a long? Capture the chart at the moment of decision. Get stopped out? Capture the chart at the moment of pain. Six months from now, those screenshots will be more valuable than any words you could have written.
The first time you read back through six months of journal entries with screenshots and lesson notes, you will see patterns you didn't know existed in your trading. Patterns about emotional state, time of day, types of setups, recurring mistakes. That clarity only comes from real-time capture. It cannot be reconstructed.
— The Compound Effect of JournalingWhere Journal Files Live
Journal entries save as HTML or plain text files in a folder you choose. The extension uses the File System Access API — the first time you open the journal, you grant access to a folder (anywhere on your machine), and Trade Buddy writes files there. The folder handle persists across browser sessions so you never have to re-pick it.
Your journal lives on your computer. Not in the cloud. Not on any server. Want it synced across machines? Put the folder inside Dropbox, iCloud Drive, or any sync service of your choice. Trade Buddy is happily unaware of how the underlying folder gets synchronized.
Save Formats
- HTML (default) — Styled, formatted, screenshots inline. Open in any browser. Looks like a real journal.
- Plain Text — Portable, AI-friendly. Feed it to ChatGPT or Claude for analysis without any formatting noise.
Battle Plan Integration
Battle Plan integration is the most members-specific feature of Trade Buddy. It connects the extension to your daily MicrosTrader Battle Plan and surfaces the notes right where you trade — pinned to your chart and accessible via the Battle Plan indicator labels.
How It Works
After verifying your MicrosTrader.com membership in Settings, Trade Buddy fetches today's Battle Plan notes from the MicrosTrader API. The notes are returned to your browser, cached locally for offline viewing, and made available in two ways:
- Floating Strip — A small strip pinned to your chart showing the day's setups, key levels, and trade ideas at a glance. Always-on, always-visible, drag to reposition.
- Click-on-Label Popup — Click any label in the Battle Plan mapping indicator (included with paid membership) and the relevant note pops up exactly where the level is plotted. See the setup details where they apply.
The Battle Plan Indicator
The Battle Plan mapping indicator is a separate TradingView indicator included with your MicrosTrader membership. It draws the day's key levels on your chart with numbered labels (1–6). Trade Buddy hooks into those labels — when you click one, the corresponding note from today's Battle Plan appears as a popup right at the label location.
The integration is one-way: Trade Buddy reads your Battle Plan notes from the server but doesn't write to it. You can't edit Battle Plan content from the extension — that's still done in the Battle Plan tool itself. The extension is a viewing layer for traders, not an authoring layer.
Auto-Refresh Behavior
Battle Plan notes auto-refresh throughout the session. If George publishes an updated Battle Plan mid-session (e.g. after a major news event reshapes the day's setup), your chart will pick up the new notes automatically within minutes. The Refresh Notes button in Settings forces an immediate fetch if you need it.
Offline Viewing
Once notes are fetched, they're cached locally so the floating strip and click popups keep working even if your connection drops. The cache persists across browser sessions and automatically updates when the next successful fetch returns new notes.
Checklists & Alerts
Two of Trade Buddy's most discipline-focused features handle the moments between trades — pre-trade checklists force you to verify your setup, real-time alerts force you to pay attention to the session's key transitions.
Pre-Trade Checklists
Build customizable checklists of whatever rules you want to enforce on yourself. Each checklist is a list of yes/no items. Common patterns:
- The Setup Check — "Is this an A-setup?" "Does it align with the Battle Plan?" "Is the higher timeframe with me?"
- The Risk Check — "Is my stop within my max risk?" "Am I sized correctly for the volatility?" "Have I already taken my max trades for the day?"
- The Emotional Check — "Am I trading my plan or chasing a feeling?" "Am I down on the day and looking for revenge?" "Am I tired or distracted?"
- The Session Check — "Are we in a tradable session window?" "Is news within 30 minutes?" "Is liquidity normal?"
Run a checklist before every entry. If you can't honestly tick every item, the trade doesn't happen. The checklist becomes the gatekeeper between an impulsive entry and a planned one.
Most traders know what their rules are. Almost none follow them consistently. The gap between knowing and doing is what a checklist closes. The act of pausing to tick each box is what creates the moment of deliberate choice. Without that pause, instinct wins — and your instincts in front of a live market are often wrong.
— Discipline Architecture, MicrosTraderReal-Time Chart Alerts
Floating popups appear on your chart for the moments that matter most in a standard futures session. Each alert auto-dismisses after 7 seconds — no clicking, no clutter, no missed setups.
| Alert | Time (ET) | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Balance Close | 10:30 AM | The first hour's high and low become the day's most-referenced levels. Major bias signal. |
| News Event (10-min warning) | Variable | 10 minutes before high-impact USD releases. Flatten exposure or size down. Don't get caught. |
| NY Lunch | 12:00 PM | Chop zone begins. Volume thins. Reduce size or step away — many sessions get destroyed here. |
| Power Hour | 3:00 PM | Final hour of RTH. Liquidity returns, ranges expand, opportunities cluster. Be ready. |
Each alert can be enabled or disabled independently in Settings. If you don't trade the Power Hour, turn that alert off — you'll never miss anything you don't care about.
Daily Trading Workflow
How to integrate Trade Buddy into a typical futures trading day — from pre-market preparation through post-close review, with concrete examples of how each feature earns its place in your routine.
Initial Setup (One-Time)
- Verify your membership. Open Settings, enter your TradingView username, click Verify. Wait for the green check.
- Enable Battle Plan integration. Toggle Enable Battle Plan and Launch Toolbar in Settings. The floating strip will appear on your chart.
- Pick your journal folder. Click the Journal button. The first time, you'll be prompted to choose a folder. Pick one inside Dropbox or iCloud if you want cross-device file sync.
- Customize your journal template. Open Settings → Journal Template and adjust to fit your style. The default works for most.
- Configure your leverage matrix. Set instrument (MES or ES) and max risk per trade. The matrix is now ready.
- Enable the alerts you want. Turn off any you don't need.
- Build your first checklist. Start simple — 3 items maximum for your first pre-trade check.
Pre-Market Workflow (~7:00–9:30 AM ET)
- Open the journal. Click the Journal button. Today's entry opens with the default template. Write your three Gratitudes — sets your emotional baseline before the market opens.
- Read the Battle Plan strip. See today's key levels and setups pinned to the chart. Note any pre-session levels that price has already approached.
- Write your Overnight section. What happened in globex? Any news? Any levels broken? Be specific.
- Drop pre-market annotations. Mark any key levels you'll trade off — overnight high, yesterday's POC, expected support/resistance zones. These stay on the chart all day.
RTH Open (9:30–10:30 AM ET)
- The IB Close alert fires at 10:30. Note where the IB high and low printed.
- When a setup forms, run your checklist. Click your pre-trade checklist. Tick each item honestly. If even one item fails, the trade doesn't happen.
- Take the trade. Drop a Long or Short sticker at your entry. Drop a Stop sticker at your invalidation. Drop a Target sticker where you expect to take profit.
- Capture a screenshot. Click Note → take a chart screenshot. It auto-embeds into your journal entry under the RTH section.
- Manage the trade. Drop +Added stickers if you scale in. Drop Partials when you take partial profits. Drop Take Profit when you exit.
Midday and Lunch (11:30 AM–1:00 PM ET)
- The Lunch alert fires at noon. Reduce size, tighten stops, or step away from the keyboard entirely.
- Review your morning entries. Open the journal. Re-read what you wrote. Any patterns? Any rules broken?
Power Hour and Close (3:00–4:00 PM ET)
- The Power Hour alert fires at 3:00. Liquidity returns. Be ready for ranges to expand.
- Take trades using the same checklist + sticker + screenshot routine.
- When RTH closes, log your final trades. Mark any Missed Entries — bars where the setup was clear but you didn't take it. Those are as valuable to track as winners.
Post-Close Review (4:00–5:00 PM ET)
- Open the journal one last time. Write the Lessons section. What worked today? What didn't? What rule did you break? What rule saved you?
- Capture an end-of-day chart screenshot with all your annotations visible. Embed it in the Lessons section. Future-you will appreciate seeing the day at a glance.
- Save and close. The HTML file is in your chosen folder, ready to be reviewed days, weeks, or months from now.
The Compound Effect: Six months of disciplined journaling produces a body of self-knowledge no course, book, or coach can replicate. You'll know exactly when you trade well, when you trade poorly, and what conditions correlate with each. That clarity is the real edge — and Trade Buddy is the tool that makes capturing it nearly effortless.
Quick Reference Card
Sticker Color Legend
| Color | Sticker Type | Use For |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Long | Mark a long entry at the price/time of your trade |
| Red | Short | Mark a short entry at the price/time of your trade |
| Gold | +Added | Position scaling — mark where you added to a winner |
| Purple | Partials | Mark a partial profit-take location |
| Blue | Take Profit | Mark a full exit at target |
| Gray | Stop | Mark a stop-out location |
| Battle Plan | Battle Plan | Mark a level that came from today's Battle Plan |
| Missed | Missed Entry | Mark a bar where the setup was clear but you didn't trade |
Top Action Row
| Button | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Scoreboard | Opens today's running trade tally |
| Journal | Opens the full journal panel for today's entry |
| Note | Drops a quick text annotation at click location |
| Text | Drops a styled text label at click location |
Alert Timing
| Time (ET) | Alert | Recommended Action |
|---|---|---|
| 10:30 AM | IB Close | Note IB high/low — these become the day's primary references |
| Variable | News (10-min warning) | Flatten or reduce exposure ahead of release |
| 12:00 PM | NY Lunch | Reduce size or step away — chop zone begins |
| 3:00 PM | Power Hour | Re-engage — liquidity returns, opportunities cluster |
Toolbar Icon States
| Appearance | Meaning | Click Action |
|---|---|---|
| Full color (gold pencil) | You're on a TradingView tab and Trade Buddy is ready | Toggle annotation panel visibility |
| Grayed out | You're not on a TradingView tab — Trade Buddy is inactive | Disabled — switch to TradingView to use Trade Buddy |
Daily Routine Snapshot
| Phase | Trade Buddy Action | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Open | Open Journal → Gratitudes + Overnight + read Battle Plan strip | Mental + market preparation in one ritual |
| RTH Open | Setup forms → Run checklist → Drop stickers → Capture screenshot | Discipline gate + visual trade record + real-time journal |
| Mid-Session | Lunch alert → reduce size or step away | Avoid chop-zone damage to morning gains |
| Power Hour | Alert fires → re-engage with same routine | Last hour often has the day's cleanest setups |
| Post-Close | Open Journal → Write Lessons → Capture EOD screenshot | Capture the day while it's still fresh |
The Bottom Line: Trade Buddy doesn't replace skill, edge, or discipline — but it removes every excuse not to use them. The annotation library, the journal, the Battle Plan integration, the alerts, the checklists, the leverage tracker — every feature exists to push you toward the kind of deliberate, captured, repeatable trading practice that actually compounds. Use it daily. Read your past entries weekly. Watch yourself grow.
