About the Trading Journal
Keep a trading journal in your browser and see how your trading is really going. Log each closed trade with its entry, exit, quantity, fees and stop, or type the profit or loss straight from your broker, and the journal works out your net profit, win rate, profit factor, expectancy, average R-multiple, longest winning and losing runs and maximum drawdown.
Trades are saved in this browser only, so nothing leaves your device. Export a CSV to back up the journal or move it to another computer, and import it again later.
How it works
Each trade's profit is the exit price minus the entry price, times the quantity, turned around for a short, minus the fees. When you add a stop, the initial risk is the gap between the entry and the stop times the quantity, and the R-multiple is the net result divided by that risk: +2R means you made twice what you risked.
Win rate is winning trades divided by all trades, with break-even trades counted in the total. Profit factor is the money made on winners divided by the money lost on losers. Expectancy is the average net result per trade, which is the same as win rate times the average win minus loss rate times the average loss.
Drawdown is the largest fall in the running total from its highest point. Enter a starting balance and it is also shown as a percentage of that peak, alongside your balance now.
Assumptions and limits
- Every trade is closed; open positions belong in the journal once you exit them.
- Trades are ordered by date, and trades without a date go last.
- Fees are taken off each trade's result; for forex lots, type the P/L your broker shows.
Worked examples
A long with a stop
Buy 10 shares at 100, stop at 95, sell at 110 with 2 of fees: +98, risk 50, so +1.96R.
A short that went wrong
Short 5 at 200 with a stop at 205, closed at 210 with 1 of fees: −51, or −2.04R.
Five trades together
Two winners (98 and 295), two losers (51 and 30) and one flat trade: 40% win rate, profit factor 4.85, expectancy 62.40 a trade.
How to use the Trading Journal
- Log a closed trade. Prices, quantity, fees and the stop you used.
- Read your statistics. Win rate, profit factor, expectancy and R.
- Back up the journal. Export a CSV and import it anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
What should a trading journal include?
At least the date, the market, long or short, the entry and exit prices, the size, the fees and the stop you planned. A short note on why you took the trade helps you spot which setups actually make money over time.
How is expectancy calculated?
Expectancy is the average result per trade: the net profit divided by the number of trades. It equals the win rate times the average win minus the loss rate times the average loss, so a low win rate can still be profitable with large winners.
What is an R-multiple?
It is a trade's result measured in units of what you risked. If your stop meant risking 50 and you made 100, the trade was +2R. Averaging R across trades compares results fairly even when your position sizes change.
What is a good profit factor?
Above 1 means the winners made more than the losers lost. Many traders look for 1.5 or more over a large number of trades; a very high figure from only a handful of trades usually says more about luck than skill.
Where are my trades stored?
In this browser's local storage on your device. They aren't uploaded anywhere, so clearing the browser's site data or switching devices loses them. Export a CSV regularly as a backup and import it to carry on elsewhere.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. What you enter or upload stays on your device and is never sent to our servers.