ARMFA trading diary program: trade journal services
A trading diary program is bought for one thing — getting rid of manual entry. Importing the history from the terminal, counting the result in units of risk automatically, breakdowns by types of entry and by mistakes: an ordinary spreadsheet does all the same things, but it requires discipline at every trade. We look at what exactly the paid services offer, which metrics they count for you and at what point a subscription pays for itself in time.
Journal services are external services with one task: to turn the history of trades into conclusions. Import from the terminal, tagging by setup, statistics in units of risk and breakdowns nobody would build by hand.
How a service differs from a spreadsheet
The difference is not in the set of metrics — the formulas are the same, and a spreadsheet counts them no worse. The difference is in friction: the service fetches the history itself, while the spreadsheet is filled in by a person who has just closed a losing trade and is in no mood to write anything down.
| Task | Your own spreadsheet | A journal service |
|---|---|---|
| Loading trades | by hand or by importing a file | automatically from the terminal's report |
| The result in units of risk | by formula | immediately, if the trade's risk is stated |
| Tagging by setup | with your own fields | with tags and ready filters |
| Chart screenshots | as links | attached to the trade |
| Breakdowns by tag | with a pivot table | in one click |
| Analysis of execution errors | if you created a field for it | as a separate section |
| Cost | zero | a subscription or a licence |
| Dependence on someone else's service | no | yes, including access to the data |
The conclusion is simple: if a journal has been kept in a spreadsheet regularly for several months already, there is nothing to pay for. If the spreadsheet was abandoned after the second week, a subscription buys not the metrics but the chance that the journal will exist at all.
The Edgewonk trading journal and other services: how they differ
Products of this class are similar in composition and differ in emphasis. Below are four common names and what each of them stands out for. The terms, prices and set of functions change for all of them, so check with the developer's site on the date you look.
A desktop program with an emphasis on analysing mistakes and on modelling: what the statistics would look like if the worst group of trades were removed. The licence is bought for a period.
analysing mistakesA web journal with import from many brokers and with analysis of the depth of the drawdown inside a trade. There is a free tier with a limit on how much can be uploaded.
import and analysisA web service where the journal is joined by running the rules over history and probabilistic modelling of results. It works on a subscription.
a journal and a modelA web and mobile journal with automatic recognition of setups and support for several asset classes besides currency pairs.
tags and mobilityFor forex one common question matters: how the service gets trades out of MetaTrader. Usually it is an export of the report from the terminal and an upload of the file — a one-minute procedure, but not an automatic one, unlike shares at brokers with a direct connection.
Which metrics a journal counts automatically
The set is the same everywhere and matches what is counted by formulas in a spreadsheet. The value is that every metric is immediately broken down by tag — and it becomes visible which part of the system feeds you and which quietly eats.
| Metric | Formula | What it shows in the breakdown by tag |
|---|---|---|
| Expectancy | the average result of a trade in R | which setup is actually profitable |
| Win rate | winning ÷ all trades | where the frequency of wins is deceptive |
| The average ratio | average win ÷ average loss | where the targets are too close |
| Profit factor | earned ÷ lost | the contribution of a group of trades to the result |
| Maximum drawdown | the maximum fall from the peak of equity | which streak was the worst |
| Discipline of execution | the share of trades taken by the rules | how much departing from the plan costs |
expectancy in R = the win rate × the average R of a win − (1 − the win rate) × the average R of a loss
The last row of the table is what exists neither in the terminal nor in account monitoring: the share of trades executed by the rules. It cannot be counted automatically, because only the trader knows the rules. That is exactly why a journal stays manual work even in a paid service.
When a subscription pays for itself
Four situations in which a paid journal saves more than it costs, and two in which it is useless.
Journal services: short answers
- Are there free options
- There are free tiers with a limit on the number of trades that can be uploaded. A full free alternative is a spreadsheet with your own formulas.
- How do trades get in from MetaTrader
- By exporting the report from the history tab and uploading the file to the service. Most journals do not need a direct connection to the trading account.
- Is access to the account needed
- No. A journal only needs the history file — the trading account passwords are not entered into it.
- Do journals count the risk per trade
- Only if you stated it when uploading or set a default rule. The risk that was planned cannot be reconstructed from the terminal's report.
- How does a journal differ from account monitoring
- Monitoring counts the result automatically and without your involvement, a journal stores the reason for the entry and the assessment of execution. The first is about the outcome, the second about the causes.
- What do I do if the service shuts down
- Check in advance that the data can be exported. A journal covering several years is an asset that is not worth keeping only in someone else's service.
Frequently asked questions
What is TradeZella and services like it
What TradeZella is, in essence, is a web trade journal with extra functions: running the rules over history and probabilistic modelling of future results. It works on a subscription and imports trades from the reports of a terminal or a broker.
Is it worth a beginner paying for a journal
Usually not. In the first months there are few trades, the statistics are unstable, and the habit of recording the reason for an entry is easier to build in a simple spreadsheet. A subscription makes sense when the volume of trades makes manual entry painful.
Do these services work with forex
Yes, all of the listed ones support currency pairs. The difference is in the way of loading: with MetaTrader it is a report file, whereas some stock market brokers offer a direct connection.
Does a journal count the result in units of risk
It does, if the risk of every trade is known. It is usually set when uploading, or a rule is stated: for example, that the risk always equals one percent of equity.
Why is tagging more useful than overall statistics
Overall profitability hides the structure: one group of trades feeds you, another loses. A breakdown by tag shows that split and turns the journal into a tool for selection rather than into reporting.
Can the history be moved from a spreadsheet into a service
As a rule yes: journals accept an upload from a file with columns for the instrument, the dates, the volume and the prices. The formats differ, so the first upload usually requires matching the columns up.
How important are screenshots of trades
They are useful for analysing execution: a month later it is impossible to recall the context of an entry. But without tagging by setup, screenshots stay a collection of pictures.
Do journals show the drawdown by equity
Usually by closed trades, that is, by the balance. A floating drawdown is visible in account monitoring, which reads equity in real time.
Do I need a journal if I trade with an expert advisor
You do, but in a different form: what matters is not the tagging of entries but checking that the real trading matches the expected statistics. A divergence is the first sign that market conditions have changed.
What is compulsory to fill in in a journal
The reason for the entry, the risk that was planned and an assessment of execution on a «by the rules or not» scale. The other fields are useful, but without those three the statistics answer no questions.
Does a journal help with discipline
It helps indirectly: a record of a broken rule makes it visible, and counting the cost of the breaches turns abstract discipline into a sum in the account currency.
How many trades are needed for the first conclusions
The reference point is a hundred, and that applies to any tool. On thirty trades the breakdowns by tag show noise that is easy to mistake for a pattern.
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