Keep a changelog of every platform and setting change
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 8:46 am
Results move for reasons that have nothing to do with the market. A terminal build update, a new VPS location, a different chart template, a changed order type, even a switched account type: any of them can alter fills and costs. Without notes, a bad two weeks becomes a guessing game about whether the strategy broke or something else did.
The fix is boring and cheap. Keep one file with a line per change: date and time, what changed, the old value, the new value, and the reason. Two minutes of effort, tops.
A realistic example. Average fill time was 90 milliseconds for months, then crept to 250 after a move to a cheaper hosting plan. Win rate looked the same, but cost per trade rose by about half a pip. Without the log entry for the hosting change, that rise would have been blamed on a "tougher market".
Two habits make the log far more useful. Change one thing at a time, because three simultaneous changes make attribution impossible. And mark each change on the equity curve or journal timeline so the before and after can be compared with the same metrics.
What was the last change that quietly cost you money before you spotted it?
The fix is boring and cheap. Keep one file with a line per change: date and time, what changed, the old value, the new value, and the reason. Two minutes of effort, tops.
A realistic example. Average fill time was 90 milliseconds for months, then crept to 250 after a move to a cheaper hosting plan. Win rate looked the same, but cost per trade rose by about half a pip. Without the log entry for the hosting change, that rise would have been blamed on a "tougher market".
Two habits make the log far more useful. Change one thing at a time, because three simultaneous changes make attribution impossible. And mark each change on the equity curve or journal timeline so the before and after can be compared with the same metrics.
What was the last change that quietly cost you money before you spotted it?