See how TradeJournal.co's founder grew a small stock account toward the $25K PDT threshold using the same Google Sheets journal thousands of traders copied—documented live with morning panics, small caps, and strict risk rules.
Pre-filled challenge trades · YouTube walkthrough
TradeJournal.co's $25K stock trading challenge case study includes a pre-filled Google Sheets journal with real trades, ~63% win-rate assumptions, and monthly position-size growth toward the pattern day trader limit. Alex Winkler documented morning-only small-cap trading, PDT workarounds, and risk management in a 2019 YouTube walkthrough—copy the example sheet or start from the blank 2019 v2 template on the pillar page.
Google Sheets trading journal template — all copy links & sheet versions
Full walkthrough of the why, background, plan, strategy, screener, and process behind the challenge.
Watch on YouTube · Case study from Alex Winkler (TradeJournal.co founder)
After years building Enzlo, Alex Winkler returned to equities rusty—not ready to fund a large account blindly. The challenge thread exists to perfect a known strategy (small-cap momentum and dip buys) while sharing trades openly. The first goal is not blowing up; only then does position size scale. Sharing the journal on TradeJournal.co and Trade2Win also surfaces mistakes others catch—like confusing cash accounts with PDT rules.
Alex traded small caps full-time in New York before going all-in on SaaS. When Enzlo paid clients in Bitcoin from 2017 onward, he applied equity rules to crypto and grew firm accounts—but noted three stock advantages: lower commissions than percentage-based crypto fees at size, predictable session volume around the 9:30 a.m. ET open, and a real opening bell instead of 24/7 markets. The $25K journey is about getting groove back in stocks with that discipline.
The target is growing past the $25,000 pattern day trader threshold so round trips are not capped at three per five business days. With limited trades, the process forces sniper entries and heavy review instead of overtrading. Alex split capital across a cash IRA (T+2 settlement, not subject to PDT) and a smaller margin account—about nine trades per week at ~$1.5K average size in the model. He planned not to withdraw until roughly $10K–$25K so compounding stays intact—cash flow matters, but the challenge account stays sacred until the rule stops pinching.
Trades focus on the first hour (sometimes two) after the open—no swing baggage. One October loss (~55% on ~$1,100 size) came from holding an illiquid name overnight; the journal shows how a single bag can wreck monthly stats. Setups emphasize morning panics on small caps (roughly $2M–$250M market cap on the screener, often $2–$10 names). Overnight holds are rare and require strong catalyst, momentum, and liquidity.
Transparency was the accountability layer: daily watchlists on Trade2Win, live YouTube streams around 9:10 a.m. ET, and lesson videos (e.g., custom dollar-volume columns on TD Ameritrade). Every trade logged on TradeJournal.co so followers could audit win rate, average loss, and whether the conservative spreadsheet model still pointed to $25K by the following fall—or faster if trade count and win rate improved slightly.
Full video course for the same small-cap momentum strategy behind this journal and case study.
TradeJournal.co's free $25K stock challenge Google Sheets journal and YouTube walkthrough document real trades, win rate, and growth toward the PDT limit. The companion course Day Trading Stocks (Focus On Momentum & Small Caps) teaches the full playbook—how to trade small-cap momentum, read SEC filings, use price action, pick brokers, and become a self-sufficient day trader using the same strategies behind the challenge.
In this class, Alex Winkler covers everything he uses to consistently pull profits from the market—the groundwork and foundations you need to run the challenge yourself. Follow along on YouTube and journal trades on TradeJournal.co as new lessons are added along the way.
Pre-filled trades and monthly growth model—make your own copy to edit projections.
Real trades, win-rate rollups, and monthly growth tabs from the documented small-account challenge. File → Make a copy to edit projections yourself.
Watch the walkthrough video · optional auto-import on TradeJournal
The example sheet mirrors how Alex journaled every round trip while rebuilding consistency after stepping back from full-time trading to build Enzlo.
Each row is a closed trade with auto P&L—critical when PDT limits how many day trades you can take.
The dashboard uses ~63% win rate and conservative avg win/loss ratios to model monthly growth.
Monthly tab adjusts size as equity grows—roughly $4K starting size targeting ~20% monthly in the model.
Morning panic and small-cap setups are tagged so you can see what actually paid during the challenge.
Study the pre-filled $25K example—or import brokers on TradeJournal.co when manual entry slows you down.
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