T2W Trading Community

Principle #5:  Find a system that produces at least five trades per week

The higher the trading frequency the smaller the chance of having a losing month. If you have a trading system that has a winning percentage of 70%, but only produces 1 trade per month, then 1 loser is enough to have a losing month. In this example you could have several losing months in a row before you finally start making profits. In the meantime, how do you pay your bills?

If your trading system produces five trades per week, then you have in average 20 trades per month. Having a winning percentage of 70% - your chances of a winning month are extremely high.

That's the goal of all traders: Having as many winning months as possible.

Principle #6: Start small - grow big

Your trading system should allow you to start small and grow big. A good trading system allows you to start with one or two contracts, and then increases your position as your trading account grows. This is in contrast to many "martingale" trading systems that require increasing position sizes when you are in a losing streak.

You probably heard about this strategy: Double your contracts every time you lose, and one winner will win back all the money you previously lost. It's not unusual to have 4-5 losing trades in a row, and this would already require you to trade 16 contracts after just 4 loss! Trading the e-mini S&P you would then need an account size of at least $63,200 just to meet the margin requirement. That's why martingale systems don't work.

Principle #7: Automate your trading

Emotions and human errors are the most common mistakes traders make.  Clearly, they are to be avoided by any means possible. Especially during fast markets, it is crucial that you determine the entry and exit points fast and accurately; otherwise, you might miss a trade or find yourself in a losing position. For that reason you should automate your trading and look for a trading system that either already is or can be automated. Automating your trading makes it free of human emotion. The buy and sell operations are all automatic, hands-free, with no manual interventions and you can be sure that you make profits when you should, according to your plan.

Principle #8: Have a high percentage of winning trades

Your trading strategy should produce more than 50% winners. There's no doubt that trading systems with smaller winning percentages can be profitable, too, but the psychological pressure is enormous. Taking 7 losers out of 10 trades and not doubting the system takes great discipline, and many traders can't stand the pressure. After the sixth loser they start "improving" the system or stop trading it completely.

Especially for beginners it is a big help to gain confidence in your trading and your system if you have a high winning percentage of more than 65%.