Free Trading Journal: Profit Factor, R-Multiple & CSV

This free trading journal keeps a record of every trade (date, symbol, side, entry, exit, size, stop, setup, emotion) and turns the list into numbers. Two of those numbers matter more than the rest. Profit factor is gross profit ÷ gross loss. Expectancy is your average net P&L per trade. When the first is above 1.0 and the second is above zero, the system made money over that sample.

It is an online trading journal only in the sense that it lives in a web page. Every trade stays in your browser, with no upload and no account. Call it a trading log with the sums done for you.

What to record in a trading journal

Ten fields cover it. The table gives an example value for each and the reason to bother.

How each metric is calculated

• P&L: long (exit − entry) × size − fees, short (entry − exit) × size − fees.
• R-multiple: P&L ÷ (|entry − stop| × size). +2R means you made twice what you risked. Use the stop you placed at entry, even if you moved it later.
• Profit factor: gross profit ÷ gross loss. Shows ∞ until there is a losing trade.
• Expectancy: total P&L ÷ number of trades in dollars, plus the average R across the trades that have a stop.
• Max drawdown: the largest fall of cumulative P&L from an earlier high, in dollars.
• Max losing streak: the most losing trades in a row. A break-even trade ends the streak.

Worked example with 10 trades

Ten stock trades at $2 fees each, every one logged with a stop. Prices read entry / stop / exit.

• Win rate: 5 of 10 = 50%
• Profit factor: $1,210 ÷ $605 = 2.00
• Expectancy: $605 ÷ 10 = $60.50 per trade, or +0.45R
• Average win / loss: $242 / −$121, a 2.00 : 1 ratio
• Max drawdown: $376, from the $298 high after trade 1 to −$78 after trade 4
• Max losing streak: 3 (trades 2 to 4)

Half the trades lost and the sample still made money, because the average winner ($242) was twice the average loser ($121). The setup table tells the rest. Breakouts went 1 for 5 and lost $195 for an average of −0.42R. Pullbacks went 4 for 5 and made $800. Three of the four losing breakouts carried a fomo or revenge tag.

Ten trades prove nothing statistically. They do tell you where to look.

What the profit factor calculator is telling you

Leave break-even trades aside and profit factor depends on two things only: win rate and the payoff ratio (average win ÷ average loss). PF = (win rate × payoff) ÷ (1 − win rate). The table shows which combinations clear 1.0.

A 40% win rate with 2:1 winners gives 1.33 and a 60% win rate with 1:1 gives 1.50. To plan the payoff side before a trade, use the risk-reward calculator.

How to review your journal weekly

1. Pick Last 7 days and read expectancy in R before you look at total P&L.
2. Check the setup table. Keep trading what is positive over a meaningful sample. Cut or paper-trade what is negative.
3. Filter to losses and read the emotion tags and notes. Rule breaks show up here first.
4. Compare the dollar risk on each trade with your plan. The position size calculator gives the size that matches it.
5. Change one thing for next week and write it in the notes of your first trade.

Trading journal template, CSV and privacy

With an empty journal, the export button downloads a blank CSV template with the header date,symbol,side,entry,exit,size,fees,stop,setup,emotion,notes,pnl,r_multiple,id. Fill it in a spreadsheet and import it, or export your journal at any time. pnl and r_multiple are recalculated on import. Trades already in the journal are skipped, so re-importing a backup creates no duplicates. Headers such as ticker, qty and commission are recognised too.

Trades live in this browser's localStorage and nothing goes to a server. Clearing site data deletes them, and another browser or device will not see them. Export a CSV weekly and keep it with your other records.

How it compares to paid trading journals

Paid journals usually add broker auto-import, cloud sync between devices, chart screenshots and deeper reports. This one has no account and no broker connection. You type trades or import a CSV, and the data stays on your device. For a few trades a day that is plenty. With hundreds of fills a day, auto-import is worth paying for.

How to use this trading journal

1. Enter date, symbol, long or short, size, entry, exit and fees. Add the initial stop to get R, and a setup name and emotion if you track them.
2. Press Log trade. Stats update at once: total P&L, win rate, profit factor, expectancy in $ and R, average win and loss, max drawdown, losing streak, best and worst.
3. Switch between All time, Last 7 days and Last 30 days to change the window, and use the wins and losses filter to scan the list.
4. Use Export CSV and Import CSV to back up the journal or move it.

Common mistakes and limits

• Moving the stop, then logging the new one. R has to use the original risk, or every loss comes out at −1R.
• Leaving out fees. On small, frequent trades they can turn a positive expectancy negative.
• Judging a setup on 10 or 20 trades. Wait for a bigger sample before you drop it.
• Drawdown here is a dollar figure. For what a percentage loss takes to recover, use the drawdown recovery calculator.
• The journal summarises the trades you enter. It recommends nothing.