When laws are broken in a functioning society, there are consequences. These laws can have an influence on one’s behavior for the better or worse. If you abide by the laws your life should, in theory, be simpler and the path towards your goals more straightforward. On the other hand, if you are to break a law the outcome could be detrimental to your life and the progress you have made, depending on the severity of the law you break. Laws are meant to keep us from doing bad things and making stupid decisions.
Law Number 1: Trade With Confidence and Conviction
Trading is almost 100% a mental game. Once you put in the time to master your craft and have a good foundational understanding of Technical Analysis and how price moves, all that is left is to master your emotions while watching your money fluctuate. There is no simple answer on how to master your emotions as a trader, it is just something that you will have to develop over your career, and like most things, it will get easier with time. To trade with confidence and conviction is to trust yourself and have faith in your analysis. There is nothing worse than hesitating on a trade and watching it go without you because you didn’t have enough confidence in yourself- maybe because of a past trade where you bought the breakout and it failed, but let me tell you, not one trade is going to be the same as the last. Every trade you make will be different. That is why it is important to have a system that you follow religiously. When the stars are aligned, you will know. It is up to you to execute with conviction and confidence. Trust yourself. Be disciplined.
Law Number 2: Follow Your Plan
Before you enter any trade you need to have the following levels marked on your chart: Entry, Take Loss, and Price Targets. Without these you are aimlessly gambling, just with fancy stock charts instead of in the casino. Until you are disciplined enough to respect the previously listed levels you will not be consistently profitable. Not following your plan (or worse, not having a plan) will leave you with losing trade after losing trade, and you will be stuck asking yourself “What did I do wrong?”. No plan means no trade
Law Number 3: Manage Risk
The most crucial aspect of trading and staying in the game long-term, is how you manage your risk position size, and capital preservation. These are all relative to your account size and trading goals, but the principles remain the same. Always protect your downside while trading. No matter how nice the chart looks, no matter how “bullish” or “bearish” the sentiment is, things can always flip upside down on you. Unfortunately, you will most likely have to lose some money before this concept sinks in, but maybe it’s for the best- that way you know how serious it is to manage your risk and take capital preservation seriously. Better to make the mistake early on that down the road where it can be a career ending mistake
Law Number 4: Lock Profits and Take Losses
If only I had a crystal ball to look into to show me where my account would be if I took profits and cut losses like it was my job. Not taking profits on a trade when you are up 30%+ (relative to your risk) is like (insert cliché analogy here). This goes back to Law #2, Follow Your Plan, take PROFITS at your PROFIT targets. That’s the whole reason you put them there. Do not get greedy. If you’re asking yourself, “Should I take profit”, the answer is always yes. Yes yes yes. Lock in the profits so your account can continue to grow. Rewire your brain to the point where taking profits is your primary goal, not 100% plays. Leave runners for that. On the other hand, taking losses is equally as important. Respect your stop loss in every trade. “Trading is like a hitting lineup for a baseball game, if you aren’t a hitter you’re going to get cut from the lineup. Trading is the same way if trades aren’t winners, get them out of your lineup!”
Law Number 5: Wait for Confirmation
Although these are not listed in any particular order, it seems to me Law #2 is the most important, as Laws 4&5 go hand and hand with it. Waiting for your entry level to break or price to come down to your buy zone will leave you with higher probability setups, which at the end of the day is what trading comes down to. Probabilities. Wait for the confirmation on the trade. This will help you execute your trades with less emotion and more confidence. Waiting for price to confirm your thesis is a key metric to consistent profitability.