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Importing Trades

Purpose​

Trade import lets you quickly load historical trades from your broker into TradeMonkey using CSV files. This builds your equity curve, P&L history, and rule-compliance context without manually typing every trade.

What Trade Import Does​

  • Loads trades from broker CSVs into a specific TradeMonkey account.
  • Maps your broker's columns (symbol, times, prices, size, P&L) into TradeMonkey's trade fields.
  • Supports two P&L modes:
    • Direct P&L – your CSV has a profit/loss column per trade.
    • Balance-based – your CSV has opening and closing balance per row; P&L is calculated from the difference.
  • Avoids duplicate trades when you re-import overlapping history.
  • Highlights balance jumps so you can spot missing trades, deposits, or withdrawals.

Trade import is the fastest way to give TradeMonkey enough history for meaningful analytics, rule checks, and AI diagnostics.

How to Import Trades​

  1. Export a CSV from your broker

    • Use your platform's history or statements export.
    • Choose the date range you want (e.g., last 3–12 months).

  2. Choose the target account in TradeMonkey

    • Select the TradeMonkey account that matches the broker account or challenge.
    • Each TradeMonkey account should represent one real account or challenge.

  3. Upload and map columns

    • Upload your CSV.
    • If TradeMonkey recognizes the format, mapping is automatic.
    • Otherwise, match your CSV headers to required fields like:
      • Symbol
      • Side (Buy/Sell)
      • Entry time and price
      • Exit time and price
      • Position size
      • Either P&L or opening/closing balance

  4. Confirm P&L mode

    • Use Direct P&L if your CSV has a profit column.
    • Use Balance-based if it only shows balances per row.

  5. Review the import summary

    • See which trades were imported, which matched existing journal entries, and any rows that failed validation.
    • If some rows failed, you can fix the CSV or add those trades manually.

  6. Check your equity curve

    • Open the account's balance/equity view and look for unexpected jumps or gaps.
    • Jumps usually indicate deposits/withdrawals or missing trades.

You can also export your data from TradeMonkey as CSV at any time.

Orphaned Trades (Imported Without Psychology)​

When you import trades that were never logged manually in TradeMonkey, they come in with:

  • Financial data: entry, exit, size, P&L.
  • No psychology data: no emotions, conviction, or plan adherence.

These trades still count for P&L and rule checks, but:

  • They don't fully participate in emotion- or conviction-based analytics until you add that information.
  • You can edit any imported trade later to fill in emotions and notes, turning it into a complete journal entry.

Important Notes and Limits​

  • One CSV per account
    If you trade multiple real accounts or challenges, export and import each one separately into its own TradeMonkey account.

  • Duplicates are filtered
    If you re-import overlapping history, TradeMonkey skips trades it has already seen to prevent double counting.

  • Psychology is never in broker files
    Brokers only provide financial data. Emotional and plan-related fields must be added in TradeMonkey.

  • Time zones matter
    Broker timestamps are imported as-is. If your rules use specific session times (e.g., "No trades before 8:00"), make sure your account and rules use a consistent time zone.

  • Partial imports still apply
    If some rows fail validation, the valid trades are still imported. You can correct and re-import the failed ones later.

Support​

If you're unsure how to format your CSV or imports don't look right, contact hello@trademonkey.app.