Trade journal: learn from your own trades

The trade journal keeps your trades and measures each closed one against the chart: how far price went in your favour (MFE) and against you (MAE), and how much of the best move you took. Its analysis shows what works for you by setup, symbol, day and hour. It is a Pro Lab tool, part of the Pro and Elite plans.

Getting trades in

1. On a computer, press Pro Lab on the right-hand toolbar; on a phone, open the analysis centre from the chart's bottom bar and choose Pro Lab. Then choose Trade journal.
2. Add a trade by hand: symbol, side, entry and exit times and prices, quantity and fees, and if you like a stop, setups, mistakes, notes and a rating of how well you followed your plan.
3. Or import a CSV file: Binance futures or spot trade history, most broker statements, or a table with one trade per row. Fills are joined into whole trades; up to 20,000 rows and 5 MB are read.
4. Or bring in your closed Alerta Practice positions and the trades you took in Bar Replay on this device.

Reading your results

• The trade list shows net profit or loss, R when you entered a stop, MFE, MAE, capture and holding time. Filter it by side, outcome, setup, period and source.
• The analysis gives net profit, win rate, profit factor, expectancy, average win and loss, the largest drawdown and streaks, with an equity curve.
• Edges and leaks names the groups of at least 10 closed trades that do clearly better or worse than zero, and a day-by-hour map shows when you trade best.
• A chart of each trade's MAE and MFE shows whether your stops are too wide or you give back too much of the move.

Good to know

• The journal is kept on this device for your account and does not appear on your other devices. Download a backup file to keep a copy or to move it, and load it on the other device.
• Deleting every trade cannot be undone, so download a backup first.
• MAE and MFE are measured once a trade is closed; a trade whose prices are far from the symbol's bars is not measured.