Developing a Trading Plan

Your goal as a trader should be the same as your goal is in life. To get better every single day that you were the day before. The market favors the prepared mind, so always have a trade plan and never stop educating and developing yourself.

Trading is an art that is never fully mastered! Just build upon!

Find your motivation and keep it with you everyday while trading. Think about what motivates you to be a successful trader before entering the market each day. Trading is a beautiful thing and enjoyable but as a professional trader, there has to be a greater reason other than trading that pushes you to success. Just like profits are a by­product of you trading correctly; I believe trading is a by­product of a greater goal. Find your motivation and keep it in your mind at all times. This will help you stay more disciplined when trading.

Trading Plan

> What trading strategies will you use?

Keep it simple. Pick out a few key systems and stick to them. A trader can be successful with only 1 trading strategy. Keep the rules as simple as possible.

> Risk & Position sizing method

This is critical and the first step in controlling your risk when trading. Setting your risk and position size go hand and hand with each other. Know how much money you will risk per trade.

Next would be to set the size of your position. Professional traders put a strong emphasis on proper position sizing. After you determine how much capital you will risk on a trade you can set your position size.

> What is your Exit strategy?

There are 2 parts to this. You need an exit strategy when things are working and when they are not. First, you need to make sure you protect your downside on each trade. Stop­ losses should be used ​EVERY s​ingle time no matter what.

**Never, never remove or disobey a stop­-loss. That is a recipe for disaster when trading.

Second is how you will take profits. Have a specific way of locking in your profits. Make sure this is determined before a trade is put on. If you try and decide when you should take a profit when you are already in a trade, your emotions will take over. Fear of a winning trade becoming a loser or greed of wanting to make more money will impact your decisions. Your goal is to trade with as little emotion as possible so, have your exit strategy firmly set before entering a trade.

> How will you track your trade?

Have a way that you will track each trade you take(trade journal). This is simple but worth doing. It is great to take time each month and look back to review your trades. This is how you can make sure you have been executing according to your game plan.

A strict trade plan is a trader’s biggest ally. By having one, you take the guess work out of trading. The key is to be as mechanical as possible at all times. ​Trust and believe in your plan.​I can’t stress this enough! Always remember that if you do the work, the profits will follow!

[A Simple strategy ==> Rwaves] on a specific contract, specific daily timing, strict entry & exit plan, and a pre-defined Position Sizing plan.