Building a trading plan

Emotional trading is the main reason deposits are lost. A trading plan turns trading from guessing into a system.

What the plan includes

• Instruments and time. What you trade (for example only gold and EUR/USD) and when — best in the London and New York sessions.
• Entry conditions. A checklist that must match. If even one item is missing, there is no trade.
• Risk. 1% per trade and a daily limit, for example a maximum of 2 losses a day — after that you stop trading.
• Exit. Stop and targets are known before you press the button.

Plan the trade and trade the plan. Without a plan, trading becomes gambling.