What Are Your Trading Rules?

by the way as we've been talking about trading rules, there's an interesting article I came across in some other thread... =) really no rules are needed - you'll figure everything out yourself (which means you're a forex guru) =)

there's quite an unteresting article here about trading psycology and trading rules: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=3156

Yes, Mikhail, that is a good post - thanks for the reminder. Hey, and welcome to the FF, as I see you are new.

Do you trade spot forex? Do you have Trading Rules? Don't be shy - show them here if you do.

Happy Trades...

If the market is offering me a legitimate edge, determine the risk and take the trade, without hesitation.

The Fool, thanks, that's a pleasure =)
honestly, i don't trade much yet (for now i'm a convinced intraday trader) - i'm just studying =)) you know, lots of books there is, but i believe they cannot be compared with own experiance...

good. if you really believe that, you are on the right track buddy.

This thread should have close right then and there. That is the answer. Period.

Nah...that's not the answer. No period required.

Well bud, you can try out my rules, but you will fail with them. Not because you don't have some ability to follow rules, but because they are MY rules and they fit ME.

Or - you can take what you know, build a rule set as per *exactly* what Craig told you, work them in demo for 2 to 3 months, then evaluate whether the rules you fit you (or even work) as well as the beliefs about trading you have developed serve you or not.

It is your choice - living or dying in this game is 100 percent your doing. It cannot be given to you.

My sense is that you have no chance until you change - a lot.

I am just interested in what trading rules people use. I am not interested in adopting someone else's rules. I am also not interested in what a person who knows little about me may think about me or my chances for success.

I am working on some Trading Rules I am going to try to live within & will post them here when I am ready to. If anyone has anything positive & constructive to share, I would like to see it here.

Along with Trading Rules I am working on a written Trading Plan.

I have a Daily Trading Log in process, as well. I am basically trying to formalize my approach to trading and reform it..to result in a more professional approach.

Check out the T2W Trading Plan Template (see attached) & a big Thanks to Silverheat for the link. I am getting alot out of this document.

I imagine that most people who aspire to become traders - daytraders trading electronically - come into that aspiration by various means but in general they are on their own. They start trading and find a place like Forex Factory where there is a bewildering amount of Opinion, Guidance, Information, and Junk. Its not like they are coming into a job where someone says: OK, this is how we do things here & this is what we expect of you. No, you basically have to negotiate this maze and get to the cheese as best you can.

Is it any wonder so many fail?

So, at any time it might be a good idea for anyone in this situation to step back and take a good look at what they are doing. What is my Plan? What are my Rules? What am I doing right and how can I improve that? What are my bad habits - what am I doing wrong & how can I remedy that? This is where I'm at.

"...it is so important to follow one's trading plan. Your plan may not be perfect, and it may not work at all times. If, however, you are to build confidence in your judgement and train yourself to act with integrity, there's no alternative to following the ideas you believe to be correct. You can not build confidence by abandoning your convictions and contradicting your perceptions. The clearer you are about your market views, mapping out your actions under various scenarios and your rationale for trades, the easier it will be to act on your judgement and see, in your own experience, your own progress and growth."

- from "The Daily Trading Coach" - Steenbarger

I went through the T2W Trading Plan over the weekend and the draft I have so far is attached as a Word document. Parts are missing - I have several strategies that I trade and those take the longest to think about & write up. But you will not have the same strategies as I do, anyway - if anyone is interested, that is....

The Rules section has not been edited - those shown are the "classics" included in the original template. My "Rules" will be something different and more specific to my "issues" - and yours should be, too.....

Anyway, I hope someone gets some use out of the document. I have found it a good exercise & will continue to work with it.

Thanks for that Fool a very comprehensive plan it certainly is....I read something here on FF a few weeks ago but sorry I do not know who posted it but thought it was excellent in the fact it covered a lot of psychological factors and to be really worth while....I hope they dont mind me repeating it as I remember I wrote it down but was having some pc probs at the time so hopefully should be ok.

It was an extract from some Korean martial arts named Kum Da called the Four Poisons they being as follows:

1 Fear
2 Confusion
3 Hesitation
4 Surprise

a You replace FEAR with faith in your trading plan (eg. like using stop/loss)
b You replace CONFUSION with attitude of being comfortable with uncertainty.( every trade really is in the unknown)
c You replace HESITATION with decisive action ( self explanatory )
d You replace SURPRISE with taking nothing for granted ( eg. assume nothing)
I have added some notes to each.

In all these aspects most traders would have come across all these feelings I know I have and by going through these mantras each day to me has been a great learning.Hope you come out of your trading hole allright we have all been in them eh?

Thanks, siboy, I am going to be fine. Hope things are going well with you, too.

Read some of the stuff on here. Largely simplifies a lot of stuff. Look for posts from Greg Michalowski.