Guides
Trading guides
The habits that cost traders the most, explained with numbers, with concrete rules to fix them.
free templateFree Excel trading journal template (with stats)Download our free Excel trading journal template: R calculated automatically, running P&L, win rate, win/loss ratio, break-even win rate and the gap between trades inside and outside your plan.Read the guide psychologyTrading psychology: how to manage emotions in tradingLoss aversion, the disposition effect, overtrading: what research has measured about investor decisions, the costly trading habits they lead to, and concrete rules to manage your emotions.Read the guide psychologyRevenge trading: how to spot it and stop itRevenge trading means jumping back in right after a loss to win it back. Why it's so expensive, how to spot it in your trades, and four concrete rules to stop it.Read the guide disciplineOvertrading: the warning signs and how to stopToo many trades, too often: overtrading eats into results through fees and weaker entries. The signs that don't lie, what studies say and how to set your limit.Read the guide psychologyCutting winners too early: the disposition effect in tradingBanking winners fast and letting losers drag on: that's the disposition effect, observed across thousands of accounts. How to measure it in your history and fix it.Read the guide risk managementLetting losers run in trading: why it happens and how to stopMoving your stop, hoping a trade comes back: letting losers run is the mistake behind the biggest drawdowns. Why we do it and the rules to stop.Read the guide the mathWin rate vs risk-reward ratio: what win rate do you need to be profitable?A 40% win rate can be very profitable, a 70% win rate can lose money. The minimum win rate table for each risk-reward ratio, and how to calculate your expectancy.Read the guide risk managementDrawdown in trading: calculation, recovery table and prop firmsDrawdown measures how far your account has fallen from its last peak. How to calculate it, why −50% takes +100% to recover, and how to keep it under a prop firm's limits.Read the guide risk managementThe 1% rule in trading: how much should you risk per trade?Risking 1% of your account per trade: why this rule protects you from losing streaks, what it looks like in numbers next to 2% or 5%, and how to calculate your position size.Read the guide prop firmFTMO challenge rules 2026: profit targets and max lossProfit target, maximum daily and overall loss, minimum trading days: the rules of FTMO 1-Step, 2-Step and Instant read from the official site, and what they mean for your risk per trade.Read the guide methodHow to keep a trading journalWhat to log after each trade, how to review it each week and which mistakes to avoid.Read the guide methodHow to pass a prop firm challengeMaximum daily and overall loss, target, minimum days: take on a challenge without blowing it, with a simple risk plan.Read the guide
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Get my free diagnosticOfficial sources: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Eurostat. This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.