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Notes from building a trading journal

Guides on prop firm evaluations, importing trades from your broker, and getting something useful out of your own data. Written by the person who builds FreeTradeJournal, so expect opinions.

FeaturedImports2 min read

Why your imported trades land on the wrong day

Broker files are written in the broker's clock, not yours. One setting per account fixes it.

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Imports2 min read

Import trades from a screenshot when there is no export

Phone app with no CSV button? Take a screenshot of your history and let the importer read it.

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Journaling2 min read

How to keep a trading journal you actually open

Most journals die in the second week. Here is the routine that survives, and what the app does to make it shorter.

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Journaling2 min read

Tag your setups, then find out which ones actually pay

A tag costs two seconds at entry. A month later it tells you what each setup earns per trade and what each mistake costs.

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Imports3 min read

How to import Tradovate and NinjaTrader trades into a journal

Which file to export, what the importer does with your fills, and the one setting that stops your trades landing on the wrong day.

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Comparisons7 min read

The best free trading journals in 2026, compared honestly (including mine)

Seven journals with a real free plan, what each one caps, and where the paid ones are still better. Prices checked August 2026.

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AI coach2 min read

I let an AI coach read my trading journal. Here is what it caught

It does not predict anything. It reads your own trades and tells you what is in them.

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Imports2 min read

How to import DAS Trader exports into a trading journal

DAS gives you one row per fill. Here is how to turn that into complete trades without a spreadsheet.

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Imports2 min read

How to journal MT4 and MT5 trades for free, no plugins

Export your position history, drop it in, done. Works with IC Markets, Pepperstone and most MetaTrader brokers.

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Prop firms2 min read

A free trading journal built for prop firm traders

Why I built FreeTradeJournal after paying for a combine and then paying again to journal it.

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Prop firms2 min read

How to pass a Topstep combine, the part nobody talks about

Failing a combine is not the problem. Not learning from it is.

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Prop firms2 min read

How to track several prop firm accounts in one place

Every fee, payout, drawdown limit and target on one screen instead of three dashboards and a spreadsheet.

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