Trading rules

• I protect my principle! This one is a no-brainer - no money, no trading. This is done by setting stoplosses and making sure that I practice proper risk management.
  
• I trade to trade well, not to make money. I must not forget that the real goal is to win pips not dollars. Winning pips always wins dollars but getting caught up in winning dollars can lose pips. When I am feeling excited and pumped, I trade for a little at a lower leverage in order to not bust my account trying to get rich in a couple of hours.
  
• I trade only when tops-down criteria are optimal. Each trade begins with identifying the support and resistance levels based on the daily, hourly, 30- and 15-minute charts.
  
• I never chase a trade/price; nor do I ever "bet the ranch" on a single trade. If I can't get into the market at the price I want, I wait until the next moment to enter the market; I don't get carried away and try to buy into the trend late anyway, just to make a pip or two.
  
• I enter trades on the long side only when the 50 MA is above the 200 MA (and on the short side when the 50 MA is below the 200 MA). The 50 and 200 moving averages form strong support and resistance lines. Trading against them is foolhardy.
  
• Every trade I make has a stop loss to which I adhere automatically. This one is pretty easy. My stop is usually 3-3.5 times that spread away from the entry point. I use Metatrader 4 to trade and therefore can execute stops automatically.
  
• I never risk more than 3.5 times the spread on a single trade. More than 3.5 times the spread starts to get a bit dangerous. I don't do it.
  
• I never take home a losing position. This actually means that I never get up from a trading session and leave a losing position running. I close the sucker out first.
  
• When I have reasonable profit, I take it. Again, trying not to be greedy, I take my profits when I can.