General rules

1. Before thinking about putting on any trade, look to see if there is enough profit margin and a reasonable stop loss. If not, stand aside!

Emotional plan

1.If I see a good trade opportunity with a good profit margin, take it (eliminate fear)!
2.If I lose a trade, don’t get angry and don’t make revenge trades (eliminate anger)! Prepare for the next good opportunity!
3.Do not take trades just for the sake of trading!
4.Cut your losses short and let your profits run!
5.Always stick to the rules!

Trade plan

A. Breakout trades

Put a buy/sell stop above/below resistance/support with stop below/above resistance/support if:

1.Price has already touched the level at least twice recently or price has touched the level less than 10 hours ago.
2.Volatility is rising near the level (strong momentum).

Only take a breakout of a level a single time in a day span.

B. Classic S/R trades

1.Put a limit order for the strongest S/R zones!
2.For weaker S/R levels, wait for a confirmation on the M5 chart, before entering a trade!
3.Do not trade used and abused levels!
4.Do not fade the same level twice in a single day!

Hey guys. I decided I need to compile a set of rules to follow. I noticed that I lose because I don’t stand by my own rules. You see, from childhood, we are denied certain things. People give us rules. So when we grow up, we tend to want more freedom. We hate rules. In the Forex market, nobody limits you. Prices are always moving and if you find a way to guess what the market will do at any moment, then you have unlimited profits. And so, it’s hard to respect some rules in this market, until they become a habit. Until you become disciplined… So I think the best way to do that is to write my rules somewhere, print them and stick them on the wall, behind my laptop, so I can always see them. So, here are my rules:

1. Before opening up my platform, check out the economic calendar, see if important news releases came out that day, how did they affect the market, what other important reports are following and when and how can that affect the pairs I’m trading. Also read fresh financial news from the Bloomberg site and open up Bloomberg live TV. This gives me some hints about the market sentiment and what the general bias is for the pairs I’m trading (bullish or bearish).

2. Open up my platform. Update my charts if needed (maybe new support and resistance levels have formed). Check the MACD on the daily and H4 charts to see what the long-term trend is and check the MACD on the H1 chart to see the short-term trend.

3. Based on price action, momentum and market sentiment, make a forecast on how the price might act for the day, identifying the key areas that are most likely to act as a turning point. Write down this forecast.

4. After two consecutive losses, if emotions take over and I feel fear, greed or anger, stop trading for the day.

5. After two consecutive winners, stop trading for the day (euphoria is a killer).

6. If I win one trade and then lose the next one, stop trading for the day (don’t spend all my profits).

7. Always use a risk/reward ratio of at least 1:2 and optimally 1:3 or more. If the trade has weak chances of achieving that ratio, then don’t take it.

8. Only trade the H1 and H4 charts.

9. If in a bearish breakout trade, do not close the trade manually until I see clear confirmation that the price is using the resistance as support again. Only then think about closing the trade and trading the bounce. Likewise in a bullish breakout trade.

10. Cut my losses and let the profits run. Don’t widen the stop loss, stick with the RRR, only take partial profit if there are clear signals of reversal. Scaling out of positions will probably help at first.

11. The trend is your friend, stupid!

12. Buy a support only once, second time look for a breakout. Sell a resistance only once. Second time, look for a breakout.

13. Do not risk more than 2% of the account on a single trade.

14. Only trade your favourite pair, until you gain experience. If you watch more than one pair, you will not keep focus. Fall in love with a single pair and trade that until you are consistent!

15. Control your emotions. You will not win all the time. Losing is part of the game. Do not get angry when you lose. Don’t fear taking a good trade. If you only take high-probability trades, you should not feel fear or anger. Accept your losses and look forward for the winners. They will come if you don’t panic. Emotions confuse you and make you do things you normally wouldn’t. So stay as calm as possible. If you can’t stay calm, close the platform and take a walk, watch TV, do something else until you are calm.

16. Look at smaller timeframes like M5 and M15 when price is heading towards a support/resistance line and look for price action signals that would show the line will hold or will break. Especially look for pin bars forming, to jump in on the retracement. Breakouts are usually straight forward and you can predict them by price momentum/energy and the number of previous bounces off that support/resistance line ( if an intraday line already has 2 previous bounces, I would look for a breakout if price goes back to that line).

In the next article, I will compile a list of trade setups that I will take consistently.

Cheers!