ARMFTrade journal
The trade journal is the only source from which the win rate, the risk-to-reward ratio, the profit factor and the drawdown are taken. Without it every risk rule is tuned blindly. We take apart the minimum set of fields, the order of keeping it and what to count at the end of the month.
The trader's trade log: the minimum set of fields
The journal has to be detailed enough for the metrics to be calculated from it and short enough to be filled in. Twelve fields are the working compromise.
| Field | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
| Entry date and time | A breakdown by session and day of the week |
| Instrument | Statistics for each pair separately |
| Direction | A check for skew: buys against sells |
| Entry price | The basis for calculating the result |
| Stop level | The risk distance and a check on the size |
| Target | The planned risk-to-reward ratio |
| Size | A check that it was calculated by the formula |
| Risk in the account currency and in percent | Reconciling the actual risk with the rule |
| Exit price and time | The actual result and the duration of the trade |
| Result in money and in R | Every metric is calculated from this field |
| Reason for the exit | Stop, target, trailing, manual close, break-even |
| A mark for «to plan / off plan» | Separating execution mistakes from normal losses |
A thirteenth field worth adding once the main ones are filled in automatically: the maximum price move in your favour before the close. Without it you cannot check what another exit scheme would have given — a fixed target instead of a trailing stop or the other way round.
How to keep the journal so that it does not get abandoned
The instrument, entry, stop, target, size and risk are written down before the trade is opened. It takes half a minute and at the same time serves as a check on the calculation.
before the tradeWhile the reason for the exit is still remembered. A week later the field «why I closed» is filled in by reconstruction rather than by fact.
the same dayActual risk against calculated, the share of off-plan trades, adherence to the daily limit. Fifteen minutes.
weeklyWin rate, average R, expectancy, profit factor, maximum drawdown. A comparison with the previous month shows not luck but a change in behaviour.
monthlyThe format does not matter. A spreadsheet, a text file or a specialised service — any option works as long as you actually fill it in. Something else matters more: the journal has to be kept by hand at least in the fields «reason for entry» and «to plan / off plan» — these are exactly the ones the terminal does not export and exactly the ones that explain the result.
What to count at the end of the month
Five numbers that are enough for the decision «carry on as before, cut the size or stop and review the system».
- Number of trades
- A sharp rise with an unchanged market is a sign of overtrading. A sharp drop is a sign of avoiding trades after a drawdown.
- Win rate and average R
- They are counted together. A falling win rate with a risen average R can be a normal change rather than a deterioration.
- Expectancy
- The main result of the month. A positive one with a negative money result means an ordinary streak, not a broken system.
- Maximum drawdown for the month
- Compared with the limit from the trading plan and with the historical maximum.
- Share of off-plan trades
- The only metric that measures not the system but the execution. The reference is no more than 10–20 %.
- Adherence to the calculated risk
- The average actual loss on trades closed in the red is compared with the calculated one. A deviation of more than a tenth means the size was not calculated by the formula or the stop was moved.
What a forex trade log shows after a hundred entries
The first conclusions appear once a hundred entries have accumulated. Below are four slices that give the most: they almost always reveal a pattern invisible in the overall total.
- Result by day of the week
- A systematic minus on a particular day usually means not a property of the market but tiredness or a rush before the weekend.
- Result by hour
- Trades in inactive hours are closed at the stop more often because of the wider spread. A time restriction cures this without changing the strategy.
- Trades to plan against off-plan ones
- If the off-plan ones give a minus, the problem is discipline; if a plus, it is worth working out what exactly you do outside the rules and writing it into the plan.
- Result by instrument
- The overall figure often rests on a single pair. That is a reason to narrow the list, not to look for a new strategy.
- Maximum move in your favour
- Shows what another exit scheme would have given: a fixed target against a trailing stop and break-even.
- Distribution of results in R
- If the result was made by two or three trades, the system does not yet have a stable edge — it has lucky hits.
Frequently asked questions
How do you keep a trader's journal?
Fill in the plan before the entry, the result on the day of the close, reconcile the actual risk with the calculated one once a week, count the metrics once a month. The format is arbitrary: what matters is regularity and the presence of fields the terminal does not export.
Can the terminal report be enough?
The report gives prices, sizes and the result, but not the reason for the entry, the planned target or the mark on following the rules. Without them you cannot separate a loss from the system from a loss caused by a breach — and these are different problems with different solutions.
What to do with trades closed at break-even?
Count them as a separate category. Putting them with the winners inflates the win rate, putting them with the losers understates it. A separate «at break-even» row also shows whether the stop is being moved too early.
How much time does keeping a journal take?
Half a minute before the trade, a minute after the close and fifteen minutes a week for reconciliation. The main resistance comes not from the time but from having to record breaches of the rules in writing.
Which fields are needed specifically for forex?
The currency pair, the size in lots, the pip value at the time of the trade, the spread at entry and the swap if the position was carried. Without them you cannot check whether the actual risk matched the calculated one.
How do you record trades closed in parts?
In one row with a weighted average result and a note about the partial close. Separate rows for parts of one trade inflate the number of trades and distort the win rate.
Do chart screenshots have to be kept?
They help when reviewing entries but are not required for statistics. A practical compromise is to save the chart only for off-plan trades and for those where the result differed strongly from the expected one.
Why does the terminal report not replace the journal?
It has no reason for the entry, no planned target level and no mark on following the rules. These three fields are exactly what separates a loss from the system from a loss caused by a breach, and without that separation the statistics explain nothing.
Where should a trader's journal be kept?
In any spreadsheet you actually fill in. Exporting the history from the terminal gives prices and sizes, while the reason for entry, the planned target and the «to plan / off plan» mark are added by hand — the three fields the journal exists for.
How quickly does a journal start being useful?
The first conclusions come after 50 trades: adherence to the calculated risk and the share of off-plan entries become visible. Estimates of the win rate and expectancy become meaningful closer to a hundred.
Read next
