Investing journal: spreadsheet vs. app

Good: free, flexible, and you can compute anything. Easy to start.

Falls short: you have to look up and type prices yourself, so entries are often written after the fact. Any cell can be changed, so the record proves nothing to anyone else, and over time not much to you. Reasoning gets squeezed into one cell.

Good: room for real reasoning, no structure forced on you.

Falls short: no prices, no returns, no way to see your record as a whole. Entries rarely get closed.

Good: the price and date are filled in and locked when you post, so entries are made before the outcome. Each call has the same structure: direction, reasoning, what would make you wrong, time frame. Returns, process and calibration are worked out for you, and the record can be shared because it can't be edited.

Falls short: less freedom than a spreadsheet. SoFo tracks your calls, not your portfolio, so it doesn't know position sizes or cash.

• Want to model your whole portfolio: a spreadsheet.
• Want to think in writing, for yourself only: a notebook.
• Want to know whether your calls are any good, or to show others a record they can trust: an app that locks entries.