The moment
Before the trade
Risk, routine and the decisions worth making while nothing is at stake. Almost everything that settles the outcome is settled here, and almost everything written about trading starts later.
“What did I decide while I was calm?”
Risk
“How much is this allowed to cost?”
How Much to Risk Per Trade, and Why That Number
The one per cent rule is quoted everywhere and sourced nowhere. What the number has to be derived from, and what the regulatory limits actually tell you.
6 min · mixed sources
Position Sizing When It Is Uncomfortable
The arithmetic of position sizing is trivial. The hard part is the four situations in which people override it, and each of those can be checked for in advance.
5 min · mixed sources
Stop-Loss Discipline: The Decision You Make Early
Two different things are called a stop-loss, and research about one is quoted about the other. What was tested, and where the real decision sits.
5 min · peer reviewed
Routine
“What did I write down before anything was at stake?”
What a Trading Plan Has to Decide in Advance
Most trading plans are statements of intent, and intentions predict behaviour weakly. The psychology research is specific about the form that works instead.
5 min · peer reviewed
The evidence
“Where did that number actually come from?”
The Numbers This Industry Repeats Without Checking
We traced the most repeated statistics about trader losses back to their sources. One leads to a regulator's study of 14,799 accounts. One leads nowhere.
8 min · primary source
What Trading Psychology Actually Means
The phrase covers four different subjects, and only some of them have evidence behind them. What has been measured about trader behaviour, and what has not.
7 min · mixed sources