Trading plan and psychology
Build your plan, keep a journal, master your emotions, spot scams and move to a live account.
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- 1Scalping, day trading, swing or position trading: which trading style suits you?Scalping, day trading, swing or position trading: time needed, costs, timeframes and the profile behind each trading style, so you can pick the one that fits.6 min read
- 2The trading plan: write your rules before you take a tradeMarkets, hours, setups, entry and exit rules, risk, routine and review: how to write your trading plan, with a ready-to-fill template and a worked example.6 min read
- 3The trading journal: record, measure, improveTrade rationale, screenshot, emotion, plan compliance: what to record in a trading journal, which stats to track and how to run a simple weekly review.6 min read
- 4Backtesting and forward testing: validate a strategy before you trade itManual or automated backtesting, sample size, forward testing on demo and overfitting: a clear method to validate a trading strategy before you risk money.6 min read
- 5Cognitive biases in trading: when your brain tricks youConfirmation bias, anchoring, loss aversion, overconfidence, recency and the disposition effect: the cognitive biases in trading and how to counter each one.6 min read
- 6Emotions and discipline: FOMO, revenge trading, fear and euphoriaFOMO, revenge trading, fear and euphoria: spot the emotions that sabotage your trades and build a checklist, mandatory breaks and a daily loss limit.6 min read
- 7Reading a track record: judge a trader on their real numbersReturn vs drawdown, history length, trade count, profit factor, risk per trade, live or demo account: how to read a real trading track record before following.6 min read
- 8Trading scams: how to spot them and protect yourselfFake signals, doctored screenshots, managed accounts, Ponzi schemes, miracle bots and clone firms: spot trading scams and check the FCA, ASIC or CFTC/NFA.6 min read
- 9Prop firms: challenges, drawdown rules and the real costsChallenges, daily and max drawdown, profit targets, profit split, costs and pitfalls: how a prop firm works and why so few traders actually succeed at it.6 min read
- 10Going live: the checklist before you trade with real moneyA checklist for moving from a demo account to live trading, a small starting account, raising risk step by step and realistic goals for your first live months.6 min read