AvaTrade trading journal: the costs hide in the spread

AvaTrade runs MT4 and MT5 next to its own WebTrader and AvaTradeGO app. The MetaTrader accounts sync live into the journal with RBSync. For a file, AvaTrade's help gives the MT4 steps: open the Terminal, go to Account history, right-click, Save as report. Two things set AvaTrade apart: its servers run on GMT, and on the pricing we could find, your costs come through the spread, not a commission line.

Exporting from MT4

1. Open the Terminal window: View > Terminal.
2. Click the Account history tab and right-click inside it. Choose All History or a custom period first.
3. Right-click again > Save as report > Save.

The report opens in your browser as HTML. AvaTrade suggests printing it to PDF for records. Do not convert it for the journal: import the HTML file itself, which the journal reads directly. MT5 works the same way from the History tab, with an Excel option too.

Reports in My Account are for cash

AvaTrade's My Account has Reports > Transaction History, which downloads as an encrypted PDF (the password is your client ID). That report covers money in and out, not trades. Use it to check deposits and withdrawals against the journal's balance, not as a trade import.

AvaOptions is different: its Reports > Reports screen with type Account Statement can be exported to Excel with a right-click. Options trades have their own logic, so if you trade AvaOptions, keep them in a separate journal account and import through the column mapper.

GMT servers make time simple

AvaTrade says its servers are based on GMT, or UTC, as you see on the MetaTrader charts. Most brokers run GMT+2 or GMT+3, so their files need converting. AvaTrade's do not. Set UTC in the journal's settings and your hour-of-day heatmap is correct from the first import.

Measuring a cost you cannot see

We could not find a commission-based account on AvaTrade's site, so treat your costs as built into the spread. That means your journal's commission total will read zero. That is not a free lunch; it is a hidden one. Here is how to estimate it:

1. Note the typical spread on the pairs you trade, in pips. AvaTrade publishes its spreads.
2. Multiply by pip value and lot size. A 0.9 pip spread on 1 lot of EURUSD is about 9 USD per round trip.
3. Multiply by the number of trades in a month.

A trader taking 120 one-lot EURUSD trades a month at that spread pays around 1,080 USD in spread. That number belongs next to your monthly P&L, even though no report shows it. If you want it inside the journal, add it as commission on manual entries, or simply review it monthly.

What to look at once it is in

• Average win in pips. Compare it to your spread. If your average winner is under five times the spread, the spread is a large part of your edge.
• Hour of day. Spreads widen at rollover and in thin hours. With GMT timestamps, check results by hour and avoid the expensive ones. Our trading hours guide shows when liquidity is best.
• R. MT history keeps your stop, so R works straight away.

If you trade both MT4 and the app

Many AvaTrade clients place most trades on MT4 and the odd one from AvaTradeGO while away from the desk. If both use the same MetaTrader account, the RBSync EA still sees every trade, because it reads the account, not the app you clicked in. If the app trades sit on a separate WebTrader account, give that account its own journal account and log its trades by hand. Mixing them makes your MT4 stats look better or worse than they are.