What to look for in trade journal software

[Shadow Trader]

Commercial journal software promises insights through automatic imports, analytics and charts. A few criteria help judge them.

Import: does it connect to the broker or platform directly, or require manual file uploads? Does it capture all fields, including commissions, swaps and times with the correct time zone?

Metrics: expectancy, R-multiples, MAE and MFE, performance by hour, day and setup, drawdown analysis. Flexible tagging for setups and mistakes matters a lot.

Data ownership: can everything be exported in a standard format? Subscriptions end, companies close, and a journal that traps data is a risk.

Privacy: where's the data stored, and who has access?

Cost: monthly fees add up, and a spreadsheet or small database can do much of the same job.

Usability: a tool that's pleasant to use gets used. One that demands constant manual correction doesn't.

A free trial with real data shows quickly whether the metrics are accurate and the workflow fits. Comparing its numbers against a hand calculation on a sample catches import errors.

Another feature to look for is the ability to tag trades with mistakes, such as "moved stop", "early exit" and "oversized", and to report the cost of each tag. Seeing that a particular mistake cost a few hundred pips over a quarter is far more motivating than a general resolution to improve.

What journal tool or setup is in use, and which feature turned out to matter most?